- Hey y'all, Scott here. Let's rank our cousins. Well, Betty stinks. Ted's great. That man
was born to be a cousin. Gary, not worth the hype. Jeremiah: the definitive
cousin experience. See, I am completely unbiased
when it comes to critiques. If I can hit my cousin, Betty, surely you can take my opinion on the Virtual Boy to heart. Oh my God! Nintendo is guilty of creating
some of the most beloved and iconic video games and video
game platforms of all time. Even though nearly all the
PlayStations outsold it, that original NES will forever be more widely recognized as "video game". They have the biggest word chest, the most quintessential
characters of all time, an ashtray of characters
they'll never use again. And the games they make could
be masterclasses of design. They appeal to damn near everybody, and most will forever
hold the test of time. They also made this (beep) thing. This is the Nintendo Virtual Boy, one of their biggest mistakes, outside of not naming it: "Stinky Stinky Mr. (beep)". See, Nintendo has this
lineage of iconic failures, the Nintendo 64 DD, the
Game Boy Micro, the Wii U, but none can compare to the Virtual Boy. At least with the 64 DD, that was just an add-on
exclusive to Japan. The Game Boy Micro was just a variant of the Game Boy Advanced. The Wii U outsold Sweden. But the Virtual Boy was different, it was its own platform. It was its own entirely unique creature, it had its own games, its own style. And it couldn't even outsell Maine. Let's head back to a simpler
time, before my conception. Nintendo was king. The Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo Entertainment System were at the top of both of
their respective generations. They were dominating the handheld world with the Game Boy and things
were looking up for them, as they were heading into the
era of their next console. Sure, competitors like
Sega put up quite a fight, and proved that Nintendo couldn't just rest on their laurels. But when all was said and done, Nintendo still reigns supreme. But what do you do when your next child is taking longer than
expected to conceive? Have one in the meantime. Nintendo's next system, the Nintendo 64, then named the Nintendo Ultra 64, was taking a while to come out. Sega released their
next generation console, the Sega Saturn in 1994, alongside newcomer, Sony's PlayStation. And don't get me started
on the slew of nobodies trying to be the next big thing. Looking back at my high school yearbook, oh my God, there was a 3DO? Everybody was releasing their next generation system around this time. But then there was Nintendo. The 64 ended up releasing in 1996. Jesus, you know this brand new system is getting delayed, left and right. These other guys are making us look weak in comparison with their
shiny new consoles. We got to just throw
something at the wall. See what sticks. Well, that doesn't. At this time, Nintendo
was already experimenting with a new display technology, allowing for 3D visuals. Not necessarily this 3D, but this 3D. Showcasing varying degrees of depth and featuring head tracking abilities, it was pitched to Nintendo by the company Reflection Technology, after Sega turned them down. Now, why was this technology
not appealing to Sega? It only displayed the
colors red and black, and they were pretty sure this was going to make
the nation motion sick. Now, Nintendo, they didn't give a (beep). They saw potential in this tech, and partnered with the company to potentially develop it
into a consumer product. The head of this whole endeavor was Nintendo's beloved Gonpei Yokoi, an employee who was with
Nintendo ever since 1965. This man was the embodiment of Nintendo's key design philosophies. He loved taking weaker hardware and making something special out of it. His talent could be seen
within the toys Nintendo made, their games, consoles,
and the influence he had on the company has, and
will forever live with them, even after his departure
from the company in '96, and eventual death in '97. He found the 3D screen technology in this VR headset-type thing, to have loads of potential. This could make Nintendo stick out that much more in gaming, and thus the project codenamed "VR 32" was kicked into production. And over the course of four years Nintendo chipped away at development. However, the device was
consistently being stripped down for cost cutting and health concerns. While the color screen
would have been possible, it would have made the
Virtual Boy cost over $500. I spend six on mine. So, red and black will do. It was perfect. Affordable and ugly. Head tracking was proposed
via the initial pitch, but was thrown to the side in favor of, I don't know, chopsticks? Motion sickness was a big concern. Making sure children could see after playing one of these things, was generally not frowned upon. The device was originally
said to be similar in design to modern day VR headsets. I mean, it had tracking,
potentially a colored screen. But the original and/or best vision was consistently whittled down, until we got this. All because Nintendo
wanted something cheap, and something that wouldn't get them sued. And they still got none of that. Nintendo started to discuss VR 32 via Nintendo Power magazines
and press releases, eventually giving it the name
"Virtual Boy" in late 1994, showing it off publicly for the first time at the Shoshinkai Software
Exhibition in Japan. This was an expo Nintendo held, that eventually was
renamed to "Space World", where Nintendo would talk to
the press about their feelings, that, of course, involved
game and console showcases. Basically, what Nintendo had
planned for the near future. And the 1994 show was
all about Virtual Boys. Well, I misread that. Nintendo's then president,
Hiroshi Yamauchi, stood proudly and unveiled
the future of his company. (crowd booing) "You don't even know what it is!" Keep in mind, prior to this, rumors of Nintendo's revolutionary take on virtual reality were constant. People were expecting to be blown away. What they got, just straight blew. Power-wise, it was 32 bits, which the Super Nintendo was 16 and their next home console was 64. So, take that as you will, but the decision to
make the display limited to red and black-- I mean you could get away with something like that on the Game Boy, that handheld was five
years old at this point, and it wasn't meant to be cutting edge, or about the graphics. It was meant to give you
something to do in the car. The Virtual Boy's entire thing was its graphical capabilities. It was supposed to wow
you with its immersion, or at least, that's what Nintendo's marketing wanted you to think. "Virtual Reality" was the
term constantly coined, "The Virtual Boy will transport players into a virtual utopia
with sights and sounds unlike anything they've ever experienced." You know, drugs are a safer option. Turned out, Virtual Boy was
far less virtual reality than Nintendo was letting on. When I think VR, this comes to mind, feeling like I am truly in the game world. I move my head in real life, I move my head in the game. Attendees at the show were puzzled by the lack of head tracking and the use of simple
red and black visuals. Units at the show were using AC adapters. So it wasn't like he could walk around with this thing on, living the rest of your
life in Space Pinball. Only three games were
on display at the event, Teleroboxer, Mario Brothers
VB, and Space Pinball. These games didn't necessarily show off Virtual Boy in the greatest light. They were perfectly playable games, nothing inherently wrong with them, but they weren't drawing anybody in. They didn't validate
what was going on here. Teleroboxer was pretty much a clone of Nintendo's Punch-Out series. Mario Brothers VB was just Mario Brothers. Everybody's played that at this point. And Space Pinball? My God, that is the last place I'd want to play. These were games that would work perfectly on the Game Boy, NES, SNES, Nintendo 64. If you're going to have this giant muffler on sticks, these better be games I
couldn't play any other way. At the end of the day, attendees discovered
Virtual Boy was pretty much just a View-Master for video games. You remember this thing? It was burglar's favorite toy. "Damn it." Basically a little headset, where you insert these special photo reels and look into it, and bam, you're viewing 3D images. It never really occurred to me that these were 3D images as a kid. I just thought this was a
stupid way to look at pictures. Looking at them now, I
can see so much depth! It's like the background is
really in the background. So, take everything about this, right down to the design, and play a video game on it. Didn't matter, fans were still interested. Nintendo, I would play
Mario on an enema for you. Virtual Boy was less
about virtual reality, and more about stereoscopic 3D visuals. Having background elements
way in the background, and shoving some graphics
right in your face. While this aspect of the system worked, it wasn't enough for critics, and Virtual Boy failed to win
over attendees at the show. The games were lackluster
and frankly not abundant. Many could feel headaches coming on after playing for a bit, and the proposed price tag
of around 200 US bones, was quite a lot for was being shown off. Regardless, it was releasing in 1995. So get your face ready. (Scott yells) The Virtual Boy was later
shown off in the US, at the Consumer Electronics
Show in January, 1995, where more games were
announced and shown off, including a demo of a Star Fox title, VB Mario Land, some tech demos, the games Red Alarm, Vertical Force, known at the time as "shoot 'em up", and virtual league baseball. Guess who wasn't impressed. Nintendo brought the Virtual Boy to various other events throughout 1995, such as the E3 and Game Expo, before releasing in
Japan on July 21st, 1995, and on August 14th, 1995, here in North America for 180 bolts. You know, Nintendo
initially projected to sell 3 million units within the
first year on the market, and with a $20 million marketing campaign here in the States, no matter what, I think it deserved to sell at least 771k. Damn! The Virtual Boy came
packed in this here box. It looks more "magic eye
picture" than "video game". Oh, it's a piece of (beep). The Virtual Boy's marketing was bizarre. Many commercials portrayed
it as a B movie monster, with the player running away from it. Ah, reverse psychology, not a bad idea. "Oh, don't buy the Virtual Boy. You'll (beep) hate it. Seriously. Don't buy it. It'll kill you. For the love of God, don't buy it!" Some commercials really honed in on the "futuristic alternate
dimension of reality" aspect. Others just treated it like
any other game console, which made the fact that the gameplay was all red and black, stick out that much more. Sure, when you're trying to
sell this on being futuristic, the red and black is jarring, but you could swing it as, "In the future, when the world ends, these will be the only colors left." A 3D game for a 3D world. That spinning vortex, ominous voice, how could this possibly fail? Well, there's the first problem. This is the Nintendo Virtual Boy. It's red. You know, you got to hand it to Nintendo, the design of the
headpiece isn't too far off from something like the PlayStation VR. The difference is, this
rests on your head, this has chicken legs. So Nintendo opted for this design, as putting a head strap on here, would be too much of a bother for them. What if a kid is wearing
this while walking around, and falls on a hungry bear, or something? What if the Virtual Boy
induces motion sickness, or hurts the child's eyes during
crucial retina development? What if the Virtual Boy
causes them to go blind? We can't have that. Then they can't play more Virtual Boy. What if they don't want to
take the system off their face? Who wants to live in the real world, when you can escape from reality into Mario's Tennis realm? Putting the system on a stand like this, sort of forces you to approach
it like a quick novelty, almost like a tower viewer. Video game addiction has always
been a concern with parents, but it was definitely at a peak back then, since it was a newer concept. They probably didn't want
to create a system, where, to play it, you had to completely
disconnect from reality and zip tie it to your face. So, for this design, we can put it on a desk and bend over, or lay on our back and have
it spill all over our face. It's like my eyes are being waterboarded. However, it turns out Nintendo was developing a
shoulder harness for the system, and I'm sure it would have
made necks better everywhere. There are two controls
on the headset itself, one to adjust the focus of the screen, and another to adjust the placement and angle of the eye pieces. The stand can be adjusted as well, for ultimate viewing pleasure, but that doesn't stop it from looking incredibly shoehorned on. This thing looks unfinished. Like, the stand is something your dad would whip
together to hold this up. You can remove it from
here, just like that, and man, look, without the
stand this looks more natural. Volume slider, headphone jack, a link cable port for multiplayer, and a port for the controller. Now the Virtual Boy's controller is actually pretty good, and fairly ahead of its time. It's got these grips,
which aren't entirely new. We saw that on the PlayStation controller, and on my thighs, but these feels so ergonomic
and honestly pretty modern. Two buttons on the back act
like normal shoulder buttons, but these really feel like
precursors to triggers, or even the back buttons on
those PRO line controllers. And two D-pads, which is the most unique thing about this. That's a lie. But barely any games on
the system utilized them. This is incredibly forward
thinking for the era. We didn't really have dual
analog controllers yet. And the Virtual Boy was one of the first to implement... something. All these buttons feel fantastic. Nice sizes, comfortable locations. This is a legitimately good controller. Though I find its mere design kind of odd, like, the Start, Select, A, and B buttons are all the exact same size, and mimic each other on both sides. If any system needed buttons
of varying shapes and sizes, it's the Virtual Boy. This is an experience where
I can't easily look down to check what button to press. A button layout like
the GameCube controller, or something as simple
as making some buttons concave and convex like
the Super Nintendo's, or even just engraving something into the buttons themselves, like on the Nintendo 64's, would have made perfect sense. Out of all controllers not to do that, it's bizarre to me, it's
the one where I physically have the hardest time
looking at it during a game. And with prototype versions
of this controller, each button was colored differently, which makes even less sense. "Hey, hit the yellow button." Well, I can't see the controller. I'm playing the damn game. Unit's powered through the
controller too, which is weird. You couldn't turn this thing
on without the controller, even the power buttons on it. You can use an AC adapter, or six AA batteries, because Nintendo kept claiming the Virtual Boy was a portable device. So was a house. With six AA's, the Virtual
Boy lasts roughly four hours, which is pretty bad by
1995 Nintendo standards. Many attributed the excellent battery life of the Game Boy to its success, but it could have been more successful if it caused seizures. Nintendo had to cover
their ass with this thing, putting as many warnings as possible here. Basically, if you had troubles with nausea, motion sickness, epilepsy, I'm pretty sure your doctor
already gave you a list of "don't even think about it". Me, personally, the Virtual Boy doesn't give me a seizure. It just makes me sad. So, what is it like playing one of these? Well, line your eyes up with
the two eye pieces, and bam. Basically, it looks like a
small widescreen display, surrounded by black, which I mean, hey, black is one of the two
colors the display can show. So it works. It could look far worse. While looking through, you do see quite a lot
of depth with the images. 3D-wise, it's a lot more
that's deep in the background, than that's right in my face. But I think the 3D looks pretty
good for the time, honestly. And the display quality
itself is very crisp. The Virtual Boy achieves this by using oscillating
mirrors to reflect LEDs on each side of the system for both eyes, allowing for stereoscopic, three-dimensional depth in the visuals. You know, that sounds stupid
enough to try 16 years later. Yes, Nintendo revisited the
idea of a portable system with stereoscopic 3D later
on with the Nintendo 3DS, this time not requiring you to
shove your face in anything. Glasses-free 3D was
definitely the way to go here, but after trying the Virtual Boy out, these two have a lot more in
common than I ever imagined. Much like the 3DS, you
can't see the 3D effect on anything but an actual unit. However, if you've ever
experienced a 3D effect on a Nintendo 3DS, imagine playing that system in the dark, and the game was just in red and black. That's the Virtual Boy. At least with the 3DS you could turn the 3D off if you want. If you want to turn it
off with the Virtual Boy, I don't know, wear an eye patch. Let's move on to the games. They go in the front, like a debit card. They all come with a dust cover, mainly because the connector is completely exposed with this design. Boxes that are like this, square. You know, Nintendo has
loads of Virtual Boy titles, third party supporters, all that. It was clear they wanted the first year of this system's released to be impactful. Let's call their bluff. I got a stack of Virtual Boy games that released within a year of the launch. Let's give them all a whirl. Yes, let us delve into
the world of Virtual Boy, with the help of my patented
12 point scale and liquor. Each Virtual Boy game will be rated on a scale from 1 to 12. If you're asking why it goes up to 12, why are you asking about the validity of Virtual Boy review scores? First up is Mario's Tennis, originally known as
"Mario's Dream Tennis", prior to launch. Here in North America, this was bundled with
each Virtual Boy system, which never made much sense to me. "Wow, this system is so badass. Did you play the tennis
game it came with?" Each Virtual Boy game
starts off with a warning-- No, a plea. I don't care. Even though I'm of age, I still lie about my age on adult websites. Moves onto the Virtual Boy startup screen. This is here for you to adjust the focus or viewing angles prior
to starting the game. And afterwards, we have to set
the automatic pause feature. Every single game does this. Turning this on pauses the game after 15 to 30 minutes, to force you to get a life. That's right, Nintendo
has been doing that, "Go take a break" shtick, ever since the Virtual Boy. "Stop playing our games, you (beep) dork." Mario's Tennis stands out to me as being one of the first
legitimate Mario sports games. Sure, we had Mario featured in some golf games prior to this, but this is the first one to carry Mario's name in the title. We can select between
singles or doubles play, play in a tournament or a single match, choose the difficulty,
one set or three set, pick a Mario character. "Wow. Tell me more." Mario's Tennis is incredibly
basic and bare bones. The characters all pretty much feel like carbon copies of each other. The courts are all the same, with random background elements
being the only differences. But even then, you can't pick and choose
which court you want. You can't even play multiplayer. Not only is it not an option, there was never a Virtual
Boy link cable released. They went to all that
trouble of making this port. I can't let it go to waste. I keep all my spices here. Weirdly enough, various
marketing materials and commercials for Mario's Tennis claim it does have a multiplayer mode, but I refuse to look any further. I don't have anywhere else for my spices. The Virtual Boy link cable
may have been canceled, but fans have created their own version. There are no official
games that support it, so it's good we aren't spending our time making (beep) that doesn't matter. What makes Mario's Tennis
stand out is the 3D effect. You ever play a tennis game from this era? It's terrifying. It is so difficult to
judge where the ball is in relation to your racket. With the Virtual Boy's 3D effect, and the specific camera angle, it's so much easier now. And the overall feeling
of depth works quite well. The camera angle does make doubles matches a bit weird, though, 'cause
if I'm closer to the net, I can't see a lick of what my partner's doing back there. It's a perfectly playable tennis game. The problem is, who the hell
wanted that as a pack-in for their next gen virtual
reality experience. I get that Mario's Tennis
is a Virtual Boy game that definitely benefits
from having the 3D effect. So it makes sense to
shove it at the forefront, but as a pack-in title? I don't know. It's just not exciting. May I suggest, it's quite boring? Well, that's a great first impression. Not only are my eyes being gouged out, but I'm bored too. Let's move on to another one of the four launch titles, Red Alarm. This one's a bit of a technical showcase for the Virtual Boy. While its main selling
point with stereoscopic 3D, it could also do a bit of graphical 3D. Wow, a portable system
that can do 3D graphics? A system that can do 3D graphics? Well, Red Alarm seems to
be a technical showcase for what the Virtual Boy... can't do. This is a game very similar to Star Fox on the Super Nintendo. You pilot an aircraft,
shooting down the enemies. It's pretty self-explanatory. The problem is, I have no
clue what I'm looking at. The Virtual Boy couldn't
render this many 3D graphics. So, due to technical limitations, the developers settled
for basic wire frames. Because of that, everything looks the same. The environment, enemies,
projectiles, it all blends in. Now, to be fair, when played on an actual unit, the 3D effect does help to distinguish what's a background detail and what's not, but it's still confusing. Sure, the Virtual Boy can do
some light 3D stuff like this, but if you have to
strip it down this much, I think at that point
you should just consider not making this game for the Virtual Boy. If it wasn't for the wire frames, this obviously would have been a pretty impressive game for the time. Plus, there's nothing really
wrong with the gameplay, but as it stands, I don't know, man. I just feel like my time
is worth more than this. That's right, I'm moving
up the totem pole. Teleroboxer. Honestly, if any game should
have been a pack-in title, it's this one. Sure, Mario's Tennis is pretty easy for anybody to understand, but Teleroboxer is
probably one of the most at home-feeling games on the system. It's played via the first person, uses the two D-pads on the controller. The 3D works quite well. And with this perspective,
it's pretty effective. The futuristic robot theming works well with the design of the Virtual Boy. This feels like a game
for the Virtual Boy. Mario's Tennis and Red Alarm feel like Game Boy and Super Nintendo games that were left out in the sun. It's a pretty good game,
incredibly similar to Punch-Out, as you have to find openings
to punch your opponent, while blocking and dodging
at the right moments. The two D-pads control each separate fist, and with the overall
theming and 3D effect, this feels like the definitive
Virtual Boy experience. Not that I'm saying this
couldn't work on other consoles, but out of most of this
system's other games, this feels tailor-made for it. Galactic Pinball. Yeah, one of the first titles
shown for the Virtual Boy. Initially titled "Space Pinball",
they settled on galactic, because you're more
likely to try something if your friend says,
"This (beep)'s galactic!" You'd think a pinball game does make quite a lot of sense on here, considering the static nature of it. Like, when you think about it, if you play the Virtual Boy at a desk, it kind of feels like your
own personal arcade cabinet. Plus, the back buttons feel pretty similar to those on a pinball machine. And the 3D effects could be pretty cool. At the end of the day, Galactic Pinball, it's all right in my book. It's pinball in space. They have some fun mini
games here and there, like Samus' ship from Metroid appears, and you have to shoot at enemies. I do kind of like this one, though, much like Mario's Tennis, there's not a lot to it. And that was the full launch
line of North America. Impressed? Let's hope not, because we have more games to talk about. You don't want to get over-impressed. Next up is Virtual League Baseball. They have a whole league for that now? A few weeks after launch, came Virtual League Baseball, or, as it's known in Japan, Virtual Pro Yakyuu '95. They're the exact same games, but the Japanese version has far more cartoony character designs. I'm sure they wanted this to be a more mature traditional baseball
game here in the west, appealing to the every-man. "I'm no (beep), I want a
realistic baseball game for my one video game
console, the Virtual Boy." Oh, are these character designs truly too Japanese, or cartoony, to where they just had to
change every single one? Like, they just have bigger heads, and they didn't even
change the title screen. They still have the more
cartoony character design here. What was the point of any of this? I think changing the box
art to this made sense, but changing and the sprites in-game? I don't know. What's the point? Well, Virtual League Baseball...
this is just baseball. Nothing else really do it. 3D does help to judge when
you should swing the bat. So, yes, this is warranted. Next game to release was Mario Clash. So this is kind of what came of that Mario Brothers VB demo
when the Virtual Boy was first revealed. It's a new take on the original Mario Brothers arcade formula, kind of like Donkey Kong on the original Game Boy. That took the original arcade Donkey Kong and expanded it with a huge
single-player campaign, turning it into a puzzle platformer, with new moves, mechanics, enemies. It's one of my biggest turn-ons. Mario Clash is more-so just another game in the same style of
Mario Brothers arcade. It's all about clearing
a level of all enemies. You throw shells at them, but some require you to throw them from the foreground or background. This ends up being more of a chore, than a puzzle or challenge, however. Half of the time, the enemies change direction so much, it's just annoying to
constantly line myself up to throw a shell and... it missed. So, line myself up again,
miss again. Line up again. My head's in a (beep) tub. Mario Clash is a fine
little arcade throwback, but it doesn't hold my attention for long. It definitely feels like
it's missing something. This came out after Donkey Kong '94, and follows a similar idea of taking an arcade game and expanding it. But the difference is, Donkey Kong '94 adapted itself to the video game system it was on. Mario Clash feels stuck in the arcades. Its gameplay is a test of endurance. Not necessarily like a
high score arcade type, more-so "see how patient you can be" type. Jack Brothers. Easily one of the most
expensive Virtual Boy games. That's right. I'm an idiot. Not only is it rare because of low sales, but it's generally
considered one of the better Virtual Boy games out there, while also being the only game for the system developed
and published by Atlus. It's actually a spinoff of their Shin Megami Tensei franchise, with this being the first game from the series to
release outside of Japan. I can totally understand
why, if you're Atlus in 1995, what do you think would
do better in America? This? Or this? Well, joke's on you, because you made this
one for the Virtual Boy. The game stars the Megami
Tensei mascot Jack Frost, alongside two other Jack characters. Your goal is to find all the
keys in an overhead maze, defeating enemies along the way. Once you get all the keys, you can head for the exit and drop down to the next floor. You repeat the process,
until you hit a boss fight. It's pretty simple. And the 3D effect is barely there. It's just, "Ooh, this
game has a background! The future is here (beep)." But it's legitimately pretty fun, and the music is great. I'm... very happy I spent two grand on this. Golf. Much like Virtual League Baseball, it's not tennis. This is another very basic
traditional sports game. The 3D here doesn't matter at all. At least with the other ones, I felt like hitting the
ball was made easier. Here, I gain nothing from this. It's shocking. Virtual Boy Wario Land was
the big holiday release for the Virtual Boy in 1995. And for good reason. Originally titled "Wario Cruise", it's even called that on the
Virtual Boy's box itself, why they settled on
Virtual Boy Wario Land? I don't know, but it inspired the name
"Little Big Planet PS Vita". This released after Wario
Land Super Mario Land 3, but before Wario Land 2. So which of these can be
considered the true precursor to Wario Land 2, 3, and 4? I assume not the one nobody played. We control Wario, exploring
a handful of levels. It's a fairly short game, but each area is fun to dig
through and uncover secrets. You want to find the key hidden in the level to finish the stage, and get these awesome
power-up pads and bonus games. The level design is excellent here. This is just a fantastic 2D platformer, but of course, Virtual Boy is in the name, so where did the unique properties of the system come into play? You jump into the background sometimes, the boss fights are from this perspective. Well, that stinks. You have this great game that's stuck on the Virtual Boy for no reason. It's like you have a fine steak you have to eat off the shower floor. Panic Bomber. A Bomberman-themed puzzle game. I'm looking at this and
it seems pretty familiar, looking like most other falling
block puzzlers out there. This is actually a
full-blown series of games, though we wouldn't know that. Panic Bomber games rarely left Japan. In fact, this is pretty much
the only one that ever did. The only thing we can play is Story Mode, which is super weird. There's not even just a single
match mode, or whatever. If you'll want to play Panic Bomber, you got to play Story Mode. To play, you want to match up like-icons which sends unlit bombs
to your opponent's side. When we get a lit bomb, it can detonate the ones
piled up from your opponent. First one to fill up their board loses. It's very easy to pick up and play. Now why it's on this thing, is beyond me. Who wants to cock their
head into a coffin on stilts to play a falling block
puzzle game like this, that has no worthwhile
3D effect whatsoever? Oh, the background is
obviously in the background. Holy (beep)! Vertical Force, one of the most basic names
possible for a vertical shooter. That Super Mario Brothers?
Nah, x-axis antics. A pretty generic shoot 'em up, where you have targets to shoot at, at two different planes. You can shift between the
background and foreground, which really is the only major thing this game can call its own. Again, much like Virtual League Baseball, it's not tennis. Waterworld. The only movie license
game to grace the system. What the hell am I looking at? So we have to shoot everything in sight, and then move on to the next stage. Huh. Nester's Bowling. No, Nester's Funky Bowling. Oh, I am so (beep) ready! Nester's Funky (beep) Bowling. Leave it to Nester to
give bowling the funk. Nester was a character from
Nintendo Power magazine. So to see him get his
own game is pretty cool. Now was he an avid enough bowler in the comics he was in, to warrant funky bowling? Ah, this would have
been a prime opportunity to put a little Nester comic
in the instruction manual, but no, all it says is he
wanted to be in a bowling game. You can play as Nester,
or his sister Hester, who only ever appeared in this game. The physics feel weird here, but that's to be expected
for a mid '90s bowling game. The pins just don't act like pins, but if you can get over that, it's a serviceable bowling game. I can't. 3D Tetris. Right away, this is probably the most enticing Virtual Boy game to me. Just the idea of Tetris in
3D is kind of intriguing, and it actually sort of takes advantage of the bane to my life expectancy. I'm pretty sure I'm infertile now. 3D Tetris is played from
an overhead perspective, and you knew your normal Tetris shtick, but this time you have a whole three-dimensional plane to fill. So basically instead of
trying to clear one line, you have to clear the
entirety of the square we see from this perspective. It is quite literally playing Tetris, by looking down on the play field. It's a really cool concept, but I find there to be
no real middle ground I'm happy with here. It's either too slow and easy,
or too fast and confusing. The lower levels are chump change. It's just like, come
on, give me some action. What the (beep) was that? There's higher levels of Tetris pieces not normally found in
regular Tetris games, and it just gets confusing based on how many layers of puzzle pieces we're dealing with here. You flip the pieces around
with the dual D-pads, making this another
fabled Virtual Boy game to use this thing. In the end, I'd love to see
this concept attempted again. I think it has loads of potential, and it's all right here. Though I would've liked
it if they included a standard Tetris mode, on top of the 3D Tetris stuff. Well, next up... huh. Well, in the process of going through the Virtual Boy's first year of games, I accidentally went through only its first eight months of games, which in tandem is all of its games. The Virtual Boy lasted from August, 1995 to March, 1996 in North America, with only 14 releases, but Japan had 8 exclusives. You really think I'd play Waterworld, and say no to Space Squash? First up, V-Tetris. No wonder 3D Tetris only had 3D Tetris, for V Tetris play V Tetris. This is just Tetris, no real advantage as to
playing it on Virtual Boy, though the 3D effect that happens when you clear Tetris is pretty neat, kind of right in your face. There's a mode that
involves an entire cylinder of Tetris going on, and
you can rotate around it, which is a concept that appears in Pokemon Puzzle League on Nintendo 64. This is Tetris, but with an extra letter. Space Squash! Honestly, I was expecting a 2D shooter, but what I got was Kinect Adventures. Now this is a cute concept that takes advantage of Virtual Boy. Imagined Pong, but from a
3D perspective, with limbs. Cute game, not much more than that. Virtual Fishing, a fishing
game on Virtual Boy. It's not tennis. Insmouse no Yakata. Now this is an experience. One of the most unique
titles on the console, a first-person, survival horror game. It uses both D-pads,
works surprisingly well, and for a console like this, what better game to play on it, than a first-person, survival horror. I want to put this game in the same league as something like Virtual Boy Wario Land. That was a legitimately good game, regardless of the system it was on. But Insmouse no Yakata is
an extremely cool novelty that deserves more attention. Space Invaders, virtual collection. Is there anybody who's a legitimate fan of Space Invaders? Anybody? Well, here's the first
two games on Virtual Boy. You can play Part 1 and Part 2, as they usually play, or try a brand new version with a slightly tilted 3D perspective. This game costs me $500. And now we have the final
three Virtual Boy games that I just flat out don't own. It's because I'm not good enough. Virtual Lab is an intestine puzzle game. You have to connect the intestines. That's about it. This game was rushed out the door. You get passwords to save your progress. There is no password input screen. I did not feel like spending two grand. I already bought Waterworld for 500. Virtual Bowling. This one I would consider, unofficially, the rarest Virtual Boy game. Considering I can't find
a single copy for sale. It doesn't help them any just assume you're talking about
Nester's Funky Bowling, but there's nothing funky about this one. It's a very similar game, in the sense that it is also
a bowling game on Virtual Boy. It's not bad, but what
else can I possibly say? It isn't (beep) tennis. Finally, SD Gundam Dimension War. I'm going to speak for me here, and say, this isn't really my thing. A tactical role-playing game, out of all games to make with
giant robots on Virtual Boy, a tactical role-playing game At least there's big action scenes when you fight opponents, and back to chess. Can you tell this system was rushed? Nintendo released Virtual Boy before it was properly finished. Gonpei Yokoi was not pleased that they decided to
release it in this state. And when the system
itself wasn't finished, it's a miracle most of the games are as tolerable as they are. None of them outside of Wario Land are really anything to write home about, but I honestly think the Virtual Boy has a pretty quality library, overall. Just none of them are worth
going through all of this. It's an awkward system to play, and when the games are mostly simple, high score based ones, or games that play like anything on a Super Nintendo or Game Boy that truly gain nothing from the Virtual Boy's gimmick, it makes playing it
that much more annoying. The 3D is all right, though. And I do think the rumors that it'll make you go blind, for most people, is untrue. I think, at the most, it can just be a bit hard on your eyes, but combine all of this,
the unfinished system, games that, while fine, nobody really cared about, a gimmick that wasn't thought through, and not utilized properly. This number makes so much sense. Nintendo discontinued the
Virtual Boy incredibly quickly. This system was always seen by them as something to put on the
market and nothing more. But that doesn't mean they didn't try, and that nobody likes this thing. So many canceled projects, VB Mario Land, a traditional
Mario platformer, a Golden Eye 007 racing game, port of Donkey Kong Country 2, various other projects like Bound High. This game leaked online. You can play it. And this would have been
lovely on this system. It actually utilizes the 3D, and is a unique and fun
little action puzzle game. Dragon Hopper by Intelligence Systems, a traditional Bomberman game,
Virtual League Baseball 2, Worms, Star Fox, an F-Zero
spinoff, Zero Racers. They were given in an actual go. And then they realized this
thing was beyond saving. But fans still really liked this thing. The homebrew community is pretty wild. They made games to actually
use the fan-made link cable. Now, do they actually like this thing, or do they like it because
it makes them quirky? The Virtual Boy is a prime example of what happens when Nintendo just thinks of a gimmick
and rolls with it, before thinking up any
worthwhile uses for it. But it's not that bad. I think the 3D effect works okay, and the games themselves are inoffensive. While they aren't going to
light the world on fire, and are too simple and
basic, they work fine. They aren't anything crazy,
but they're fun enough. The problem is, barely any of the games are good enough to
warrant shoving your head in this thing for over 15 minutes. And when they are, they're games that would work better on normal-ass game consoles. But in the end, I don't hate this thing. In fact, I think it's a bit misunderstood. It's not good, but it's
better than my cousin, Betty. (chiptune music plays)
heard it as "It couldn't even outsell ME" instead of "outsold Maine" at first, which is funny because his sub count and the Maine population are both 1.34M :D
Isn’t this episode 199
I am terrified of what the cost of this episode must have been.
Guys, episode 200 is next. Turn your gex meters up to 100.
Nester’s Funky Fucking Bowling
Hey guys, look! Scott finally played a Megami Tensai game.
jesus christ 500$ for water world
Quite odd that Nintendo never revised the Virtual Boy and gave a notice about the critical sads that it can cause. Hospitalized me for nearly a week on my first try of playing.
Then again, that could have been due to the septic shock from hopping into a sewer an hour later to save the servo sausage roll I dropped down the shower drain. Can say, though, that sausage roll came out clean.
Has he used the Earthquake videos that he asked for on Twitter