Micro-64: Virtual Boy

We don't normally cover non-N64 subjects on Micro-64, but the Virtual Boy is a curious exception for quite a few reasons. The most notable of them is the Virtual Boy, had it not bombed so badly, would have shared shelf space with the N64 and both consoles even share some games, released and unreleased. The Virtual Boy also shares much similarity with the 64DD, both were tragically failed consoles in their own right. Share in the disappointment and surprise with our review of the Virtual Boy console, which can be found here.

Seems like a fair assessment. I always liked the VB despite not being able to play it for very long sessions. I was happy to find Space Squash locally a month ago.

Also, your location says Canada. Stop using US-centric terminology, like saying "USA" where "North America" would also apply. ;) Happy July 1!

The Virtual Boy... a system that even the 32X can point and laugh at.

I pulled my Virtual Buddy out of the closet the other day while cleaning and gave it a play for awhile. Pretty fun for about 15 minutes and then I put it away.

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Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater

Also, your location says Canada. Stop using US-centric terminology, like saying "USA" where "North America" would also apply. ;) Happy July 1!

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But, most Americans (who are the majority reading this article) don't know what Canadia is, they have to be appealed to as they are the largest demographic.

A lot of Americans (including writers for major sites like IGN) do refer to the North American market nowadays. Back in the '90s that wasn't the case.

It's nice that this review wasn't too harsh on the Virtual Boy, which is a cool system in general, but was also impressive for its time.

But the TurboGrafx-16 doesn't have the same kind of sound as the Game Boy and NES. Separate from that, the Virtual Boy is supposed to have a more primitive version of WSG sound than the TG-16 and its games sound like cruder variations of below average TG-16 sound.

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Originally Posted by The Coop

The Virtual Boy... a system that even the 32X can point and laugh at.

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LMAO rep'd!

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Originally Posted by The Coop

The Virtual Boy... a system that even the 32X can point and laugh at.

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Hah, the 32X might have more games, and it might have lasted longer, but Virtual Boy Wario Land is better than any single game on the 32X!

They're both fun systems though, for sure. Good games on both of them.

I would say Space Harrier is better than anything on VB. But the 32X version isn't special anymore given all the re-releases of the game since.

Regarding the review, I think that there's little question that the Virtual Boy is more powerful than the SNES! Most obviously, the VB can do full hardware sprite scaling and rotation, and it can do a lot more layers of parallax scrolling than the SNES too, and all with real stereoscopic 3d. In comparison all the SNES can do is scale and rotate one background layer (unless you do some in software; this would almost certainly require an enhancement chip, like a Super FX or something). The VB has a 20Mhz CPU and a total of 312KB of RAM, too. The SNES has less RAM and a 3.5Mhz CPU which doesn't even usually run that fast.

Now, with a Super FX 2 the SNES does have a 21Mhz CPU, but only three games use it. Of course, it is true that the (10.5Mhz) Super FX 1 allowed for shaded 3d graphics on the SNES, while on the VB the 3d is mostly wireframe, but the VB is also probably putting more geometry on screen, and I'm sure the VB could have done better with a longer lifespan -- we only saw first-generation titles, of course! Also that SNES Super FX 1 3d has ATROCIOUSLY low framerates, while polygonal 3d games on the VB like Red Alarm and 3D Tetris run at full speed no problem -- a huge improvement over the SNES.

So no, only the Super FX 2 (Winter Gold, Doom, Yoshi's Island) comes close to the Virtual Boy, and even there it's arguable about which one is more powerful overall. The VB has higher-resolution graphics than the SNES, too, if you include both images (and even just one image is higher-res than low-res on the SNES, which is what most games use!). The VB's pretty nice hardware power is sadly usually ignored in favor of more stupid bashing it for being in monochrome, but I at least have never cared about that all that much. Sure color is nice, but monochrome systems like the GB or VB are great too! So yeah, I know the criticism of the system for its lack of color that you see in this review reflects the opinions of many at the time, but that's an opinion I entirely disagree with. The VB is far too powerful a system to deserve so many years of attacks for not being in color. They couldn't have done it in color in 1995 anyway, it was technologically impossible at that point!

The review was meant to be positive without being biased. I absolutely love my Virtual Boy. The red graphics look really nice on the original hardware, the controller is comfy and the game selection is quite good. That doesn't really translate into a decent review.

You are very much correct in your SNES/VB comparison, the VB can do stuff that the SNES would need a co-processor for. Don't forget, the Virtual Boy has to fill two independent screens, cutting its power in half. Imagine what it could do if it only had one screen to worry about.

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Originally Posted by Guntz

The review was meant to be positive without being biased. I absolutely love my Virtual Boy. The red graphics look really nice on the original hardware, the controller is comfy and the game selection is quite good. That doesn't really translate into a decent review.

You are very much correct in your SNES/VB comparison, the VB can do stuff that the SNES would need a co-processor for. Don't forget, the Virtual Boy has to fill two independent screens, cutting its power in half. Imagine what it could do if it only had one screen to worry about.

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Even cutting its power in half that's still 10Mhz per screen, about triple the power of a SNES without Super FX. I know you can't just compare clock speeds, but this reflects in what you see in games too. Sorry, but I absolutely disagree with the review here. Apart from color, there's no comparison between the two! The VB blows away the SNES.

I played the VB in '95 in stores, but didn't buy one because it was clearly going to fail; I was very interested, being a Game Boy owner, but didn't get it because of the lack of success. When I finally got one in 2008, I'd say that the graphics might be the thing that surprised me the most- - that is, how good they are! In retrospect, the GBC really is disappointing; I loved it at the time, but compared to the VB it's so sadly dated... lower res, slower clock speed, less memory, no scaling and rotation, no parallax, etc. Sure, it has color, but that's nowhere near enough to make up for the rest of that stuff! It's really too bad that the VB didn't do better, or at minimum that Nintendo didn't wait until the tech was good enough for better mass-market appeal to people who sadly couldn't look past the monochrome graphics. If you like the red and black graphics, that does not really come across in the review -- instead, multiple times you criticize the VB for not being in color, etc. Why is this a problem for any reason other than not meeting public opinion of what gamers wanted in 1995? That alone is an issue, but only because it contributed to the system's short life and tiny game library, not because it actually hurts the games; I at least think it does not. The hardware features the VB does have are more important. 3/5 for graphics is way off.

As for the systems' audio, I think I've heard some comparisons between VB and TG16 audio before? Except VB audio is probably better. Maybe that would explain why Vertical Force sounds so amazing, though! Great music.

Edit: Also, Wario Land II for the original GB released 2 years 3 months after VB Wario Land (Dec. '95 to Mar. '98), not three years. The GBC version of WLII released in October '98 in Japan (they didn't get the B&W-only release though) and March '99 in the US, but the B&W release predates it. I waited for the GBC version myself, at the time, but the original release is out there.

Also, do you not think Innsmouth no Yakata is good?

Also, the Flash Boy is great, but it doesn't support battery save as far as I know, which means it's near-useless for Wario Land, Teleroboxer or 3D Tetris, and no good for Galactic Pinball either... or SD Gundam Dimension War, for those few people who care about that game.

I will take your notes on graphics into consideration.

As for the whole color thing, I take it you didn't quite understand what I meant by it. Maybe it's a bit hard to tell, but I mean the red scale is quite decent, nowhere near as bad as everyone says. Perhaps I will reword what I said prior so I'm better understood.

I much appreciate any criticism, it means the Virtual Boy gets more attention.

Also, I stay away from horror games, so I wouldn't personally know if Insmouse is any good or not. I don't hear too many opinions on it either, probably because it's an import only title.