Virtual Boy!

[2600Lives]

Who else loves this underappreciated system? I pulled it out tonight, and played the hell out of Jack Bros. (according to Digital Press' online rarity guide, the hardest to find game on the system), and Wario Land. It is really fun so long as you take frequent breaks. I picked mine up back in late '97 from the pawnshop I was working at. They'd had it under a counter forever, and I convinced my boss to sell it to me cheap. Fifty bucks got me the system (a little battered, but works GREAT. The little legs that go with it were broken, but some super glue, a little electrical tape, and some patience, and they work just fine now.), all the attachments, 5 games (the aforementioned Jack Bros. and Wario Land, Galactic Pinball, Vertical Force, and Teleroboxer, a VERY cool game that got very little attention), and best of all, a beautiful carrying case made by Blockbuster in which all the pieces fit tightly into molded foam compartments (I can even squeeze the games in there, too.). He also threw in a complete R-Zone and 3 games, but that was just cake really. None of the games had the little sleeves that fit on the bottom, BUT, I've found that they fit into Game Gear cases (which I got a bunch of while working at my next job, a game store), but tightly (you've got to squeeze the cases a little to get it to latch, but they do fit). Only Teleroboxer had the instructions, but meh, no biggie. So, anybody else here a fan of this system?

[Scumdogg]

My brother gave me his Virtual Boy along with the rest of his older games and systems a few months ago. I've played a little bit of Mario Clash since then and it seems pretty cool. He used to have Teleroboxer, but it was mysteriously missing in the box he gave me. Too bad, it's my favorite thing i've ever played on the system. The pinball game is also pretty great, i'd like to pick that one up eventually.

Other than Mario Clash, all i have is a sealed copy of 3D Tetris which i'm not sure if i wanna open, since it doesn't look like something i'd play much.

 

I have to be careful playing it though, i'm prone to headaches, and this thing certainly doesn't help in that department.

[A Sprite]

I lucked out. I don't get headaches, or experience eyestrain.

 

I love the Virtual Boy.

 

Looking into the viewer, the outside world vanishes. You literally can't see it, thanks to the rubber lining, which functions like horse blinders.

 

Just you and the game.

 

Perfect.

 

Mine's broken now, the price I paid for a free gift...the previous owner wasn't kind.

 

But just the memories put a smile on my face.

 

Thanks.

Edited June 11, 2007 by A Sprite

[TailChao]

I was actually playing mine for most of last Saturday since I wanted to compile a soundtrack for VB Wario Land (I'm amazed no one has, the music is quite excellent). I definitely need to pick up a copy of Jack Bros, it looks like a blast to play.

 

I've never gotten headaches from the VB either, and I always play without wearing my glasses, the focus and dominant eye knobs make a huge difference if you adjust everything properly. I have a feeling that most of the problems people had looking into a VB wasn't from the red, but just misadjusted settings.

 

I really should play with the hardware itself more, the design is quite spectacular and well balanced like the original Gameboy (You can tell it's "Yokoi Hardware").

[Atari5200]

i don't play mine that often as I never bought the ac adapter so it's pretty rare that I would have 6 batteries laying around. I only have 2 games Tennis and Wario land, but I enjoy both games. I never experienced any headaches or anything else from it either.

[Scumdogg]

i don't play mine that often as I never bought the ac adapter so it's pretty rare that I would have 6 batteries laying around. I only have 2 games Tennis and Wario land, but I enjoy both games. I never experienced any headaches or anything else from it either.

 

 

It's the same adapter as the SNES, just a heads-up. Easy to find and replace if you're interested.

[Crazy Climber]

I've been very tempted to pick a VB up, maybe some day here

[Bruce Tomlin]

Jack Bros. (according to Digital Press' online rarity guide, the hardest to find game on the system)

That's only because it doesn't suck, or Waterworld would be harder to find. But those are only the hardest US games to find.

 

The true hardest to find is the Japanese Space Invaders game, which is so rare that nobody has even dumped it yet.

[rockman_x_2002]

It's the same adapter as the SNES, just a heads-up. Easy to find and replace if you're interested.

 

Almost. While the wall wart is the same as the SNES adapter, you still need the adapter tap that inserts in the controller. And that's the part that's tough to find.

 

As for hard-to-find games, I always wanted Jack Bros.. Never could find it anywhere. Although I do have Waterworld. Only Jack Bros. and Virtual League Baseball are missing from my collection and I'll have a complete boxed US collection.

 

Basically, Waterworld is a "poor man's Defender clone", only in 3D. It's mildly entertaining, but nothing that will particularly keep you coming back for more.

 

For good common VB games, you want: Galactic Pinball, Mario's Tennis, Wario Land VB, Teleroboxer, and if you like good shmups pick up Vertical Force. I'd say these are the best commonly found games on the VB.

Edited June 11, 2007 by rockman_x_2002

[Video]

I was actually playing mine for most of last Saturday since I wanted to compile a soundtrack for VB Wario Land (I'm amazed no one has, the music is quite excellent). I definitely need to pick up a copy of Jack Bros, it looks like a blast to play.

 

Hey, i'd love a copy of the music if you ever get all compiled or whatever. I personally love the old console, and handheld music in these games. But all I find online are 'artist interpretations' whcih while good aren't the original.

 

i don't play mine that often as I never bought the ac adapter so it's pretty rare that I would have 6 batteries laying around. I only have 2 games Tennis and Wario land, but I enjoy both games. I never experienced any headaches or anything else from it either.

 

 

It's the same adapter as the SNES, just a heads-up. Easy to find and replace if you're interested.

 

The wall plug is the same as the SNES, but you'll either need an adaptor to plug it into the controller. you might could just wire any 6v DC adaptor to the pos and negative terminals in the battery pack, I did that for a while befor I finely paid for the adaptor from Nintendo.

 

Anyhow. Yeah, I'm a fan, I love this ssystem, and it's just so dissappointing that Nintendo didn't even try with it. I mean, a system I'll admit with few games, but no absolute crap?

 

I'm also dissappointed that there is NO homebrew scene for this thing. As there is just so much that was never done on it. Hell, I'd love an actual 3D FPS game. Even if it was a simple Faceball 2k type of game, I'd buy it, since that could truely showcase what this systems designed to do. Also, how about something...\anything with link support? And a link cable to work with it?

 

To my understanding, it's got similar archatecture to the GBA (though considerably eaker) So why no homebrew? It should be fairly simple to get something out of it.

 

Anhyhow, enough ranting. The system has it's problem, the first being, the vast majority of people ignored the instructions on how to adjust the screen to not cause eyestrain. Hey, it doens't if you take the five seconts to adjust it. And after that, it shouldn't need it unless someone else plays it. The bypod was stupid, but a safety feature, if Nintendo is to be believed (it's to keep kids from walking around wearing it) And the fact it wasn't packed in with the power supply, hey, 4 hours sucks ass, I don't care who you are. And While I always sued rechargeables, most people didn't know thos existed, and it's still inconvienant.

 

But the idea is perfectly sound. And should be persued.

[kevincal]

I got mine on clearance in '96 or '97. I've always really like Mario Tennis, Red Alarm and Wario Land. But, mine's been collecting dust on my desk for some months now...Gotta get a play in here soon.

[2600Lives]

I saw one of the A/C adaptor things that fit on the controller on ebay for 25 bucks (buy it now that is). That's not too bad, really, if that's all you need to get the thing to work.

[Trooper]

Yeah I love my VB, don't get the time to play it as often as I'd like. I've only got a few games for it, namely:

 

Galactic Pinball

Mario Clash

Mario's Tennis

Panic Bomber

Red Alarm

T&E Virtual Golf

Vertical Force

Virtual League Baseball

V-Tetris

 

I'd like to get some more but it's hard to justify paying for games you never have the time to play

 

/T

[orangest]

The true hardest to find is the Japanese Space Invaders game, which is so rare that nobody has even dumped it yet.

 

i think SD gundam dimension war and virtual bowling are harder to find than space invaders; a loose gundam sold recently on ebay for slightly more than i recently paid for a CIB virtual lab. of course, i also say that because i still need them , along with the american version of jack bros. and the wario land "demo only" cart. i need to break my VB out to experience the wonder of virtual lab, and also play some red alarm while i'm at it.

 

now, if i could only go back in time and order again from united game source, knowing now what i do...

 

[FastRobPlus]

I find I like a lot of the VB's music. I don't think the sound of the unit is that special, it seems as if the immersive nature of the games help imerse you in the sound too.

 

Red Alarm is a favorite of mine for music.

[Giltygear]

the systems awesome... love teleroboxer

[cyberfluxor]

I haven't played my VB in a few months and it's over due. It's really great because there's just a few games to get for a complete collection! I actually got a boxed system last summer/fall from a friend and he has put about as much time into it as I have. The negativity does suck because most that bitch about it haven't even touched, let alone played the system before. On top of that, the system is available via emulation for the PC and doubt most even mess with it. So how can they consider even the quality of the games? Personally, I believe it has one of the best good to bad game ratio on the state-side releases since I've never played a JP release. My favorite title is Vertical Force, which I got complete for $10 from a local store and it was worth every cent.

[rockman_x_2002]

The system is available via emulation for the PC and doubt most even mess with it.

 

Yes, that's true. There are two emulators out there, however neither are particularly great, or have been updated in a long time. The best one emulates most games fine, and includes options for using anaglyphic red-cyan glasses. However, some games like Red Alarm do not work at all, and what's more the emulator does not really feature sound (it tries to emulate sound, but it's rather less than impressive).

 

While emulators exist, it's no substitute for the real thing. The best way to really experience the Virtual Boy is through the actual system, which is really worth tracking down.