The Virtual Boy Arrives: My Review!

Oh man oh man! My Virtual Boy showed up today and boy did I have some fun! Here's a little review of the gizmo, and some pictures of some hot box-opening action! (Mature audiences only.)

The Virtual Boy (VB) is one unique piece of hardware. :-) It consists of a visor, stand, controller, and AC adapted/battery pack. The system only ever had 19 games released for it, and I got 5 along with the hardware.

It's amazing to me that Nintendo saw this as the successor to the Game Boy. It's so clunky. I mean, I literally dream of playing my Nintendo DS (or Game Boy) on a deserted beach somewhere to pass the time. The idea of bringing my VB to play on an airplane is quite unthinkable!

Still, despite the VB being an infamous failure, you must still play the system to truly understand it. Was it a commercial flop? Yes. Does that mean it's a horrible system? No way.

I've played 4 games for the VB. Two of them, Mario Clash and Wario Land, are 3D adaptions of 2D games. Neither of them had to be on the VB.

Red Alert, on the other hand, is a beauty. Think Tempest 2000, but more reality. You fly a fighter jet going through a 3D world in standard shooter action. The game consists of wireframe graphics, but is totally fun to play. You "feel" the space. It's an experience you can't describe. It's familiar, but you've likely never played a game like this before in your life. Really, really cool.

Mario Tennis is also great! What better example of playing in 3D space do you need than being on a tennis court, having a ball actually come at you in three dimensions. It's really fun to play, and most people who've played the VB will tell you it's the best game on there.

As for me, I love baseball, and I LOVE the VB baseball game! Of all the games, it's the one instantly familiar to me. The controls are just like every other baseball game of the 80's and 90's era, and it's totally intuitive. Right now, I don't have this game...but my buddy Mobat does, so I may trade with him this weekend. He doesn't like it anyway. :-)

...

The good and bad of the Virtual Boy are plentiful. On one hand, it's easy to see how cool the system is, but on the other hand, you can see why it failed.

First, why it failed. There are many reasons:

* Only supports two colors: red and black!
* There is no 2-player support. (It was likely going to come, though.)
* No one can watch you play! (The player must stare into the visor.)
* It's not portable enough to be handy, and not powerful enough to be a console.
* It can't be played for too long a period of time.

Oh, just a few negatives. ;-) However, there are also some positive points to focus on:

* The VR experience is one-of-a-kind in the home market.
* Playing baseball or tennis in true 3D is a great experience!
* Nintendo frickin' made it -- of course it r0x0rz!

I still need to play more with the system, but as a mantle piece (for my console collection) and as a game system to play and enjoy -- I'm glad to have bought it and it's well worth the excellent bargain I got it for!

WHOOO HOOOO!