July Together Retro: Nintendo Virtual Boy Exclusives

[dunpeal2064]

Two more down!

VB Wario Land

I quite enjoyed this. It keeps things mixed up throughout the game, with fun powerups (The dragon eagle combo is super fun), neat puzzle solving for collectibles, and fun bosses. It makes various use of the 3D without ever feeling like a gimmicky game. I liked this enough that I kinda want to replay the others now, and see where this falls.



I managed to get the best ending (<2hr clear time + all treasures), which unlocked a hard mode (I think you only need treasures for this, the clear time gets you a saucy lady pic), which apparently throws spikes everywhere. Might have to give that a shot too! So far VB Wario Land has been, pretty easily, the best game I've played for the console. Solid game.

Innsmouth no Yakata

I wanted to try something off-beat, and Innsmouth fit that bill quite well. Its a first-person "shooter", but while shooting is there, its more of an "escape the level" game, with each level having a pretty short timer. Each map gets larger, but otherwise looks the same, and items are randomly scattered throughout, including a key (Which you need to exit), and 2 orbs (1 reveals items, 1 reveals the floor map), as well as ammo and health. The enemies are pretty rough, and ammo is scarce, so it ends up feeling like an arcade-y survival horror game. The game also features a Darius-like branching path, where based on your clear time the game will get easier or harder. I managed to stay high enough to get the B path (just barely), and I think the A path requires no deaths and fast time.



Its a fun little game, and only takes 30-45 minutes for a single playthrough. It feels a bit too random, as sometimes the key and exit are right next to you, and sometimes you are just surrounded by more enemies than you have ammo for (The things are bullet sponges), but for what it is, I rather enjoyed it. Its at least impressive technically, and though the target for shooting moves a tad slow, you do get to move it with the right pad, making the game feel like its control scheme is a few gens ahead of it.

[Exhuminator]

Nice reads so far Dunpeal2064. Don't skip Jack Bros., it's good.

[ESauced]

I was going to start with other games in my collection for this together retro but my virtual boy’s left eye is bad so I decided to play the most playable one I could emulate on Wii without 3D (and I ordered some 3D glasses but they’re not here yet). The most playable one in 2d is Wario of course. And it is still a ton of fun. The clear best game in the Virtual Boy library. I also tried Water World just for kicks. Still as awful as I remember it.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Virtual Boy Wario Land is done. Pretty swell game, much better than its predecessor. My rank was pitiful, but once again I didn't find the collectathon element very compelling.

[lordb0rb4]

Ah man, Brazil lost ((
But on July's TR we have only winners!
I'm done with Virtual Boy Wario Land and what a BLAST!

Loved it to the last minute, clocked 2 hours and something but i took my sweet time with it, did not give attention to collectables at all as usual.
And with it, i'm done with this TR, Wario Land and Mario Tennis were more than enough to get to know this little console, i'm so glad i did finally.

[Exhuminator]

And with it, i'm done with this TR, Wario Land and Mario Tennis were more than enough

You can't quit now, you still haven't played Nester's Funky Ass Bowling!

[lordb0rb4]

And with it, i'm done with this TR, Wario Land and Mario Tennis were more than enough

You can't quit now, you still haven't played Nester's Funky Ass Bowling!

Oh my! hahaha

Nah man, my Summer Challenge list is a monster of it's own now, i can't let it winnnn...

[Sarge]

Hey, for anyone that ordered glasses, what did you end up getting? I see there's a lot of choices, and I don't want to spend a fortune, but I also would like something that works well.

[ESauced]

Hey, for anyone that ordered glasses, what did you end up getting? I see there's a lot of choices, and I don't want to spend a fortune, but I also would like something that works well.

Mine haven’t come yet but I ordered a pair for $1 on Amazon. Are you just talking about the red blue glasses? You don’t need anything that costs any more than $1. There’s nothing to making those so there aren’t good and bad pairs; you could color a piece of glass with red and blue magic marker and it would do the job.

[dunpeal2064]

I do think you could get a nicer pair of those glasses, though. The cardboard pair I used sit pretty far from my eyes, making the effect a little poor, and they don't cover most of my viewing space.

I'd imagine a snug-fitting pair with actual plastic on the sides to not let in so much would go a decent way.

Also, I've dabbled a bit in a few games:

Jack Bros

This seems fun, I like the moment-to-moment gameplay enough that I thought I'd surely stick with this one... but it has one pretty vital flaw that has hampered my enjoyment. Your life doubling as a timer that doesn't reset on level (It does on Stage, but there are like 4-5 levels per stage).

Its not that its difficult (Though the timer is pretty tight), my issue is that I can get hit a few times and be dead, but not know it until I end up playing through the rest of the stage. I'll tank a hit or two early on, do fine from there, be fighting the boss, and just run out of health because of damage I took stages ago. This leads to some un-fun play, at least for me, since I tend to just reset the Stage if I get hit, as I'd rather not waste time playing when I've already lost. For what feels like a light, quirky little game, this just goes against that hard, and has kinda put me off it for now. Admittedly, I still need to try other characters (And apparently there is a special attack, so maybe just bombing bosses solves this), but initial takeaway was pretty mixed. I'll at least give it another go before the month is up.

Red Alarm

I also spent some time with this one , and it's the most impressive 3D I've seen from the VB so far. I suck at the game, so I didn't make it far, but if I had to pick a game to play specifically for the 3D, so far this would win out. It also has a LOT of movement options, making you feel pretty nimble for a rail shooter. I would like to return to this one for sure.