Virtual Boy for Nintendo Switch 2 is a nostalgic pain in the neck, but not entirely devoid of value

Nintendo's first foray into "virtual reality," 1995's Virtual Boy, is one of gaming's most forgettable and colossal failures, selling less than 800,000 units worldwide. And so, 30 years later, it's been brought back! A new, plastic form of the Virtual Boy hardware launched today, and it's compatible with the Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch along with some software that makes the decades-old experiment playable with a number of games at launch. Here's what the Virtual Boy on Switch screen looks like. Screenshot by Destructoid To start with, there's seven games to play as part of Virtual Boy - Nintendo Classics for both Switch 2 and the original Switch: Tetris, Wario Land, Galactic Pinball, Golf, Red Alarm, TeleroBoxer, and The Mansion of Innsmouth. Nintendo sent me a physical version of the reimagined Virtual Boy, and it's as cumbersome as I remember. This time, you need an active Nintendo Online subscription to play the software that's required to even use the hardware in the first place. Then, you have to equip a tripod to it and insert a Switch 2 or Switch while disconnecting the JoyCons to play it. And herein lies the main problem, as ever, with the Virtual Boy: it's just not very comfortable to play. You have to play it on a tabletop and sit at a proper angle to view the screen properly, and this often means craning your neck. After about 15 minutes of play, I already felt uncomfortable and ready to move on to something else in my day. The Switch 2's screen is used to give the illusion of 3D play, and it honestly works pretty well after some minor tweaking to the separation of the dual images based on the horizontal distance between your eyes. The simulated 3D imagery is pretty cool, even with the drab, red and black appearance of all games available. Virtual Boy Wario Land on Switch 2. Screenshot by Destructoid From the games on offer right now, I had the most fun with Wario Land, Red Alarm, and TeleroBoxer. Wario Land is a classic, 2D side-scroller with some 3D elements where you can teleport to areas in the background of the stage, Red Alarm is a StarFox-like spaceship battler, and TeleroBoxer utilizes dodging, blocking, and punching in a Mike Tyson's PunchOut-like first-person style. Nintendo says it will add more games to the service over time, similarly to other Nintendo Classics. Unfortunately, inserting the Switch 2 console into the Virtual Boy means losing access to the console itself. This means you can't charge it while playing, which means sessions won't last long even if you can deal with the potential eye strain and neck or back pain. If you're into the idea of the Virtual Boy but not really stoked about the $100 price tag, there's also a cardboard version for $25 that also allows you to keep the JoyCons attached. This seems like the move to make if you wanna give the games a try without having to invest triple digits, although I don't have any first-hand experience with it myself. The funny thing is, the original Virtual Boy's price was one of the problems that contributed to its failure: it launched at $179.99 way back in the mid-90s, so this is actually a sizable bargain by comparison. I jest. $25 cardboard. Image via Nintendo I have to give Nintendo credit for one thing, though: it seems intent on celebrating all of its history, even one of its biggest missteps. This thing is cool for collectors and fans of the company. But in practice, decades later, it's still as unwieldy as ever. The post Virtual Boy for Nintendo Switch 2 is a nostalgic pain in the neck, but not entirely devoid of value appeared first on Destructoid.

Feb 18, 2026 - 05:34

Virtual Boy for Nintendo Switch 2 is a nostalgic pain in the neck, but not entirely devoid of value

Nintendo's first foray into "virtual reality," 1995's Virtual Boy, is one of gaming's most forgettable and colossal failures, selling less than 800,000 units worldwide.

And so, 30 years later, it's been brought back! A new, plastic form of the Virtual Boy hardware launched today, and it's compatible with the Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch along with some software that makes the decades-old experiment playable with a number of games at launch.

Here's what the Virtual Boy on Switch screen looks like. Screenshot by Destructoid To start with, there's seven games to play as part of Virtual Boy - Nintendo Classics for both Switch 2 and the original Switch: Tetris, Wario Land, Galactic Pinball, Golf, Red Alarm, TeleroBoxer, and The Mansion of Innsmouth.

Nintendo sent me a physical version of the reimagined Virtual Boy, and it's as cumbersome as I remember. This time, you need an active Nintendo Online subscription to play the software that's required to even use the hardware in the first place. Then, you have to equip a tripod to it and insert a Switch 2 or Switch while disconnecting the JoyCons to play it. And herein lies the main problem, as ever, with the Virtual Boy: it's just not very comfortable to play.

You have to play it on a tabletop and sit at a proper angle to view the screen properly, and this often means craning your neck. After about 15 minutes of play, I already felt uncomfortable and ready to move on to something else in my day.

The Switch 2's screen is used to give the illusion of 3D play, and it honestly works pretty well after some minor tweaking to the separation of the dual images based on the horizontal distance between your eyes. The simulated 3D imagery is pretty cool, even with the drab, red and black appearance of all games available.

Virtual Boy Wario Land on Switch 2. Screenshot by Destructoid From the games on offer right now, I had the most fun with Wario Land, Red Alarm, and TeleroBoxer. Wario Land is a classic, 2D side-scroller with some 3D elements where you can teleport to areas in the background of the stage, Red Alarm is a StarFox-like spaceship battler, and TeleroBoxer utilizes dodging, blocking, and punching in a Mike Tyson's PunchOut-like first-person style. Nintendo says it will add more games to the service over time, similarly to other Nintendo Classics.

Unfortunately, inserting the Switch 2 console into the Virtual Boy means losing access to the console itself. This means you can't charge it while playing, which means sessions won't last long even if you can deal with the potential eye strain and neck or back pain.

If you're into the idea of the Virtual Boy but not really stoked about the $100 price tag, there's also a cardboard version for $25 that also allows you to keep the JoyCons attached. This seems like the move to make if you wanna give the games a try without having to invest triple digits, although I don't have any first-hand experience with it myself.

The funny thing is, the original Virtual Boy's price was one of the problems that contributed to its failure: it launched at $179.99 way back in the mid-90s, so this is actually a sizable bargain by comparison. I jest.

$25 cardboard. Image via Nintendo I have to give Nintendo credit for one thing, though: it seems intent on celebrating all of its history, even one of its biggest missteps. This thing is cool for collectors and fans of the company. But in practice, decades later, it's still as unwieldy as ever.

The post Virtual Boy for Nintendo Switch 2 is a nostalgic pain in the neck, but not entirely devoid of value appeared first on Destructoid.

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