Red is for Love.
Written: Nov 23 '00 (Updated Nov 23 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Lots of fun, nice sound/graphics. If you think GameBoy is awesome.
Cons: Lack of games, controller not comfortable for big hands.
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| chemfet's Full Review: Nintendo VirtualBoy |
Before the Virtual Boy came out, Nintendo Power (Nintendo's magazine, which, like everything Nintendo, is geared towards kiddies) was hyping it like you wouldn't believe. Virtual Boy this, Virtual Boy that! Look, 3D Glasses, brought to you by Virtual Boy! You get the idea. Flipping through pages, I found some coupons to rent the thing at Blockbuster. I bugged my mom, obviously sold on all the hype.
We ran out to Blockbuster, rented the Virtual Boy, and three games: Teleroboxer, Galactic Pinball, and Red Alarm. I quickly set it up, shoved in Galactic Pinball, and switched it on. My nine year old head was spinning with amazement. It's like GameBoy! But 3D! And Red! Oh, gosh, is it ever red!
The Virtual Boy uses two LCD screens, and some mirrors to generate the 3D effect. Which explains it's bulk. They should have just called it "Virtual Nintendo" because it's not exactly portable. You have to have a flat surface and decent posture to be able to play it. The manual even warns against playing in cars and other whatnot. It's a pretty bulky system.
The controller is wonderful. Obviously inspired by Playstation, it's made for smaller hands. I've got pretty big hands, and if my back doesn't get sore first from playing, my hands do. It's a pretty nifty controller, just the directional pad(s) are a little weird feeling, as are the trigger buttons.
With your head in the system, there's two speakers positioned close to your ears. The sound effects are pretty much GameBoy quality, but with a wonderful, and much needed, stereo feeling. It adds a lot, and there could have probably been some really great things done with the sound.
Speaking of... That's the stand out issue with this system: So much could be done with it, but it never will be, because it failed so early on. No one can take any steps to make more games for such an innovative and wonderful system. Kudos to Nintendo for making this before the hugely terrible Nintendo 64. Kudos to Nintendo for trying to be ground breaking, and failing miserably.
Anyway, to get back on track... The graphics are really great. That is, if you find carboard cut outs, much akin to Gameboy, in 3D worlds rather amazing. OK, that sounded negative. Basically, Virtual Boy looks very much like GameBoy, except with much more detail, and, of course, it's in 3D... In Mario's Tennis, the balls actually look like they're kind of coming at you.
Another problem: When I was nine, the graphics were much more 3D. Now, they're not so good. They're still pretty nice, and add a good feeling of depth sometimes, but in reality it's nothing a good artist couldn't do in a Super Nintendo Tennis game.
The entire system is in shades of red. Much like the GameBoy is shades of green, this system is red. When you have your eyes in it for about an hour, coming out into the real world can hurt, and you can even feel a little dizzy, but you recover quickly. Some people would probably just be made sick by it, but that is also probably why it failed.
Anyway, it's a pity this system failed so harshly, with only about eight games out, it doesn't give a gamer who actually enjoys the system a lot to play. But, I suppose I'll stick to Mario's Tennis and Red Alarm.
Bottom Line: If you can get a system, power pack, and two games, all in good condition for about $10... Go for it! You wont be disappointed, I mean, it's $10, right? That's all I paid for mine. Check it out, you just might like it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
chemfet
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Member: Brad Root
Location: Whittier, CA
Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 3 members
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