Warioland was great and it does have some replay value if you want to find all the treasures. I put a lot of time into Mario Tennis and never felt bored with it. Always challenged myself to finish every mode without losing once. I never finished Mario Clash level by level but I've always wanted to go back and do it.
I liked Virtual Boy a lot. It was the first console I ever bought. I had a lot of fun with Mario Clash, Mario Tennis, Red Alarm, Vertical Force, Teleroboxer (which was basically like a first person Mike Tyson Punch-Out with robots), Warioland. Even Galactic Pinball and Funky bowling were pretty good. The 3d Tetris was a little hard to judge the placement of the pieces.
I think it's got a bad rap. Everyone seems to enjoy the two player Hyper Fighting tournament at LPGE. I want to try and have more VB displays in the future to try and dispell the myth that they are subpar.
One of the VB issues I remember people talking about in the past was that nothing was ever really 3-d on it and that all 3-d effects in VB games could be designed in 8 bit or 16 bit games on handhelds. What's your response to this?
Personally, I think the VB seems dated for 1995. If it was released in 1992, with a better library of games that took advantage of the 32 bit capabilities, and was a bit more portable, I think it would be seen differently today.
I would agree that it's in no way a virtual reality system, it was probably never meant to be one at all. I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo's marketing team decided associating it with virtual reality thinking it would sell it better. The Virtual Boy should have been called 3D Boy. If there's one thing the VB does well, it's stereoscopic 3D. I've never seen better 3D done than the Virtual Boy, it's very easy to see and quite strong. It probably has to do with the fact the VB has two dedicated screens for each eye, rather than overlaying one on top of the other.
Pretty much any 3D headset does the same thing as this (i.e. an independent lens for each eye that focuses on a "separate" screen -- I put separate in quotes because cheaper implementations just split-screen a single widescreen, more expensive implementations have two individual screens)
The overlayed image technique is only really used for 3D projection (or TVs) where you only have a single screen to use that must be shared with numerous people.
Any "single-user" solution (other than 3DS) is going to "pop" just as well as the 3D image you see on the VB, assuming the software renders the binocular image correctly in the first place.
That said, you have a good point about the LEDs of the VB being much crisper than the vast majority of modern 3D headsets, due to the difference of LED vs LCD.
As to the OP: Aside from Wario Land, not really. And with Occulus Rift coming out as well as other VR devices, accurate emulation will finally become feasible (as is the case with Vectrex).
If Dragon Hopper gets found and dumped, I'll have another VB game that I am looking forward to playing, but I will be doing it under emulation, not an actual console. I sold mine with a disclaimer that it was suffering from the all-too-common ribbon issue.
It is a cool item to have, im glad I have one im my collection. But I cannot play it for more than a couple minutes without feeling like I am going to barf!
I played it when it first came out and thought it was crap. It was my friends b day and we rented it. It sat in the corner and we played super nintendo instead
Vb never did it for me. Rented it at blockbuster a few times as a kid. 6/10 at best. Innovative for sure but even at that tender age where the hype was easy to get wrapped up in I was like meh.
BUT
That controller! At the time and in perpetuity, one of te finest design feats in console gaming.
I've had Virtual Boys for about 15 years, at this point I've had the solder fix and bought a boxed AC adapter. I still enjoy it and there are a few games I haven't gotten yet. I still want to get my hands on a Bound High repro.
I've always wanted one and only played one once when I was 12 when it first came out in 1995. I remember being impressed by it. But I just never bought one. And like a few others said, it's more of a novelty item than anything, a cool collectible and not a gaming system you'd sit and play for hours upon hours. That said, I'd still buy one if I had the money and found one in very good condition.
I have owned one for about 15 years. I love it but more for nostalgic reasons. Blew my mind playing it at a kiosk at Toys R Us in 1995. I remember the foam eye peice around the headset being greasy as a teenagers forehead. Yuck!
Only missing a few games from the whole library and I would say every game is worth playing once. Just to experience them. I haven't played mine since I got it. I let everyone I know try it then it has been on display since. Looks great on the shelf.
I would say not as bad as people make it out to be. But not far off. Fun for nostalgic purposes if you're into that.
I think the main problem with Virtual Boy is that only what, 2-3 games of its already meager two dozenish library are actually 3D virtual reality? The others could've just as easily been done on the SNES (that Wario game is a perfect example).
Honesty when ever I used the VB for any longer then an half an hour it felt like someone punched me in my face. It was a major complaint during the time.
Comments
It's a piece of Nintendo history, so "of course" you need one!!
Other than that weird dancing Miis around the Virtual Boy deal on the WiiU, Nintendo would rather not consider it a piece of their history
Maybe my wife might like it...her favorite colors are red and black!
One of the VB issues I remember people talking about in the past was that nothing was ever really 3-d on it and that all 3-d effects in VB games could be designed in 8 bit or 16 bit games on handhelds. What's your response to this?
Personally, I think the VB seems dated for 1995. If it was released in 1992, with a better library of games that took advantage of the 32 bit capabilities, and was a bit more portable, I think it would be seen differently today.
I would agree that it's in no way a virtual reality system, it was probably never meant to be one at all. I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo's marketing team decided associating it with virtual reality thinking it would sell it better. The Virtual Boy should have been called 3D Boy. If there's one thing the VB does well, it's stereoscopic 3D. I've never seen better 3D done than the Virtual Boy, it's very easy to see and quite strong. It probably has to do with the fact the VB has two dedicated screens for each eye, rather than overlaying one on top of the other.
Pretty much any 3D headset does the same thing as this (i.e. an independent lens for each eye that focuses on a "separate" screen -- I put separate in quotes because cheaper implementations just split-screen a single widescreen, more expensive implementations have two individual screens)
The overlayed image technique is only really used for 3D projection (or TVs) where you only have a single screen to use that must be shared with numerous people.
Any "single-user" solution (other than 3DS) is going to "pop" just as well as the 3D image you see on the VB, assuming the software renders the binocular image correctly in the first place.
That said, you have a good point about the LEDs of the VB being much crisper than the vast majority of modern 3D headsets, due to the difference of LED vs LCD.
Edit: Yep.
If Dragon Hopper gets found and dumped, I'll have another VB game that I am looking forward to playing, but I will be doing it under emulation, not an actual console. I sold mine with a disclaimer that it was suffering from the all-too-common ribbon issue.
BUT
That controller! At the time and in perpetuity, one of te finest design feats in console gaming.
Only missing a few games from the whole library and I would say every game is worth playing once. Just to experience them. I haven't played mine since I got it. I let everyone I know try it then it has been on display since. Looks great on the shelf.
I would say not as bad as people make it out to be. But not far off. Fun for nostalgic purposes if you're into that.