As someone who had never played the Virtual Boy, I was excited when Nintendo announced it was giving a second life to its games on the Switch 2.
That took a hit when I heard you couldn’t play them in 2D and I was put off entirely after finding out the plastic accessory you’d need to play in 3D costs $139.95 AUD.
Thankfully, there’s a cheaper $29.95 AUD cardboard version, releasing in Australia on February 17th.
And after 30 minutes playing with a few of the Virtual Boy’s launch games, I can confidently say the cheaper option is the more comfortable way to play.
Why the cheaper option is the better way to experience the new Virtual Boy
Craning your neck into the device (while it stands on a table) wasn’t ideal for getting your eyes into the perfect spot.
There’s little room for error and it’s much easier to hold your position with the cardboard alternative by placing your elbows on a table. The only downside is, it doesn’t do as great a job of blocking out the light around you.
Of the 16 games coming to the system, seven will be available on launch day:
- Galactic Pinball
- Teleroboxer
- RED ALARM
- Virtual Boy Wario Land
- 3-D Tetris
- Golf
- The Mansion of Innsmouth
I played a little Galactic Pinball, some Teleroboxer and the first level of Wario Land in my half an hour with the system and that was enough.
I had fun with what I played, but keeping your face perfectly aligned with the device at all times is a chore that I won’t be willing to spend more than 30 minutes doing at a time.
Will I buy the cardboard casing? Yes. And I’m excited to try Zero Racer (an F-Zero spin off that never made it to store shelves) whenever that releases later this year.
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But like the ill-fated system, which sold just 770,000 units worldwide, Nintendo’s Virtual Boy Classic will likely be nothing more than a curio to all but the most die-hard fans.
It’s a novelty. It’s fine for what it is.
But the Virtual Boy wasn’t a great way to play games in 1995 and the same is true in 2026.
Mark Santomartino was invited by Nintendo to play a number of upcoming games at their Melbourne headquarters.
