Galactic Pinball - All Virtual Boy Games

[Cube]

The Virtual Boy was a sort of “portable” games console released somewhere between the SNES and N64. Despite the name and the “headset” design of the console both making it sound and look like a Virtual Reality machine and other companies were experimenting with in arcades at the time, the Virtual Boy is not an attempt at Virtual Reality. Instead, the console focused on stereoscopic 3D – giving depth to the image by showing something different to each eye. In order to enhance this effect, the console was made so that it could only display red and black colours.

The Virtual Boy wasn’t actually something initially started by Nintendo, but a company called Reflection Technology. It was pitched to companies like Hasbro, Mattel and Sega, with the latter citing the concern with headaches and the red-only display (not to mention they were already working on too much hardware at the time). Eventually, Nintendo’s Gunpei Yokoi saw the device and instead of looking at the limitations as problems, saw how they could be utilised as an advantage. The technology was reworked into the Virtual Boy.

The console was released in 1995 and was a complete failure, with only 22 games released in North America and Japan combined, and the console not releasing at all in Europe. The build-up to launch was not smooth, though, as members of the media were unimpressed with the console at events and Nintendo fans were already anticipating the Ultra 64, not to mention that the PS1 was already out in Europe and less than a month away in America.

The expected complaints with the red and black screen were made, with more complaints about how you use the device. It didn’t strap onto your head, but came on a little stand which required you to hunch over or faff about to get the right height. The device was considered a failure, with up to 920,000 units sold in total.*

This wasn’t the end of Nintendo experimenting with stereoscopic 3D, as they later developed a form of stereoscopic 3D that doesn’t need glasses and doesn’t need to be placed close to your eyes – the Nintendo 3DS. The intended features of a Virtual Boy could now be experienced in a much better way. It seemed like a perfect time for Nintendo so do something with the games that were hidden away on the Virtual Boy, but nothing happened.

Emulation is a popular way to experience old consoles, but the unique features of the Virtual Boy means that on a PC, you’re not really getting the intended experience. There are emulators for some Virtual Reality headsets, but the resolution of the games really does not suit being close to the eye, not to mention that most games weren’t developed as Virtual Reality style games.

Then in 2024, a fully working Virtual Boy emulator called Red Viper was released for the 3DS. This emulated the Virtual Boy’s stereoscopic 3D in an extremely comfortable way and the games look extremely crisp (far nicer than any screenshot can portray). Even more bizarre is that some Virtual Boy games seem to use the 3D effect better than any 3DS game (although it should be noted that 3DS games had to be designed with the 3D slider and 2D) and pop out far more (my guess is that there was a “limit” Nintendo kept developers to in order to avoid headaches).

You can also change the red to different colours, although I found the red to have less chance of ghosting, but your eyes may vary. I also found it to be surprisingly clear, considering that I often have a lot of problems seeing red on black. This is the best way to experience Virtual Boy games, and I will be going though the full library, and a few unreleased games.

*Note: Most places seem to list 770,000 units sold, but I can’t find anywhere that lists an original source for this number. The 920,000 figure is from Issue 442 of Famitsu, with numbers provided by Nintendo, but I haven’t been able to see a scan to verify. Still, an actual magazine and page is more of a source than nothing.

 

[Helmsly]

Very much looking forward to this as I know very little about the Virtual Boy. I've always wanted to own one, just to see what it's like first hand.

4 hours ago, Cube said:

This wasn’t the end of Nintendo experimenting with stereoscopic 3D, as they later developed a form of stereoscopic 3D that doesn’t need glasses and doesn’t need to be placed close to your eyes – the Nintendo 3DS. The intended features of a Virtual Boy could now be experienced in a much better way. It seemed like a perfect time for Nintendo so do something with the games that were hidden away on the Virtual Boy, but nothing happened.

This always felt crazy to me that Nintendo never released some of their VB games on the 3DS, it would have been a perfect opportunity to re-release some of these titles again and give them a second chance.

[Glen-i]

I believe @Dcubed has that emulator (along with an actual Virtual Boy). It's very impressive.

I really should play through Wario Land at some point...

[Dcubed]

I have a real VB and I've used the Red Viper emulator on a New3DS.  The emulator is a much better way of experiencing the games, and the 3D effect is excellent.  Though I've only ever tried it with VB Wario Land; since it's the only actual VB game I currently own.  Really does show how much of a massive missed opportunity it was that these games never came to 3DS; as the screen resolution is the perfect size for these games, and they run very well on a New3DS; with the original 3D effect fully intact.  Real shame it never happened, because real VBs are a neck fracture waiting to happen!

I do plan on getting round to picking up more of the library over time; but when I do? It'll probably be played on a 3DS rather than the real thing.  It's a neat novelty, but the neck strain is real!

Edited Monday at 05:17 PM by Dcubed

[Cube]

Mario’s Tennis

• JP release: 21st July 1995
• NA release: 14th August 1995
• Developer: Nintendo
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Super Play Score: 6/10

As the pack-in title for the Virtual Boy, Mario’s Tennis is a really strange choice. The 3D effect in this is rather subdued, with the most impressive thing being when the scores are shown at the end of a game. The depth perception doesn’t really help that much, and with the lack of any shadow on the ball (due to the ground being black), you’ll spend your first 30 minutes of the game missing the ball every single time.

Over time, players may adjust to the timing, only to discover that Mario’s Tennis is a simplistic and unremarkable tennis game, notable only for being on the Virtual Boy. It’s slow, dull and has very few modes. On top of that, as the Virtual Boy was rushed to stores before accessories like the link cable were developed, it has no multiplayer functionality, which is a major issue for a sports game.

When you get a game bundled with your console at launch, you really want it to show off what the console could do, with either impressive 3D or gameplay that wouldn’t work quite so well without it. Mario’s Tennis failed at that and doesn’t offer anything beyond what Tennis on the NES and Game Boy already did.

Poor

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The familiar Nintendo characters have been realised accurately and with good humour – they all waggle their hips as they wait for a serve and show both delight and disgust depending on the outcome of a point. The game’s 3D isn’t perhaps as effective as we’d expected – the court looks, well, virtual(ish), but the characters don’t quite achieve the same kind of effect.

Tony, Super Play #36

Remake or remaster?

Not needed for this one.

[BowserBasher]

I actually own a real and boxed VB. I had found one at a car boot sale once for £5 but it was just the machine, a controller and I think a game. Snapped that up of course. But later I found one fully boxed with all bits still with it in a Gamestation shop. Can’t remember how much but I think it was low £100 mark. So yeah snapped that up too. Both work. I think I only have like two games though. Wish I could get more but I see prises are very high. 
 

Can’t wait to hear your views. 

[Will]

This is a really interesting one! Look forward to reading more.

On 3/10/2025 at 11:20 AM, Cube said:

Then in 2024, a fully working Virtual Boy emulator called Red Viper was released for the 3DS.

As I was reading I was thinking I really must get a 3DS again (no idea where mine is anymore) as I really enjoyed it. I had no idea there was a Virtual Boy emulator for it but now I know that I’m definitely going to pick one up and give it a try.

I think pretty much my only gaming regret is not buying a Virtual Boy when I had the chance. I was in Japan on a business trip about 15 years ago (can’t believe it’s that long ago) and someone had obviously discovered some unsold stock somewhere - in Super Potato they had about 10 brand new machines and they weren’t too expensive. It was just way too big to get home easily so I didn’t bother with it. Damn.

[Ashley]

1 hour ago, Will said:

I think pretty much my only gaming regret is not buying a Virtual Boy when I had the chance. I was in Japan on a business trip about 15 years ago (can’t believe it’s that long ago) and someone had obviously discovered some unsold stock somewhere - in Super Potato they had about 10 brand new machines and they weren’t too expensive. It was just way too big to get home easily so I didn’t bother with it. Damn.

I have this exact same story about the orange GameCube I saw at their Osaka branch. Was just before I was leaving and my next stops were Hiroshima for a few days (a weekend) then flying to Okinawa so I knew I wouldn't have a chance to send it back home either. 

[Cube]

Galactic Pinball

• JP release: 21st July 1995
• NA release: 14th August 1995
• Developer: Intelligent Systems
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Super Play Score: 5/10

A pinball game with four sci-fi themed machines. The 3D effect in this one is neat, but something you start to ignore fairly quickly, as it simply isn’t utilised in any way. The movement of the game is immensely smooth and feels like a tilted ice rink, which is definitely on purpose as, instead of a ball, you have a “puck” that glides up and down with some wonderful physics.

Each board has unique features, with my favourite being the colony board, which has multiple modes, lots of stuff condensed in a small place and a shooting minigame as you defend the colony from asteroids. The others are fine, but I could spend quite a while on this one machine. Good fun. This would have been a much better pack-in than Mario’s Tennis: its simple, but shows off the 3D well and is very replayable.

Fun

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Of particular disappointment are the game’s bonuses. The completely separate bonus table section which pops up at one point is deathly dull, with no features on offer – the challenge being merely to eliminate groups of swirling stars. One clever bit stands out, though, when, after taking out a group of bumpers on the Cosmic table, Samus Aran’s ship from Super Metroid pops up in the middle of the screen. You control it left and right with the left D-pad and proceed to take out little waves of alien craft, Galaxians-style, to rack up extra points.

Tony, Super Play #36

Remake or remaster?

A re-release in colour would be a nice little eShop title.

[Dcubed]

Will defo have to get this one eventually.  Love a good pinball game.