For many of us, the Virtual Boy wasn't a console we owned growing up. It only sold 770,000 units in its lifetime; I know that sounds a lot, but once I tell you that the Nokia N-Gage sold 3 million units, you start to realise how much of a flop the Virtual Boy really was.
Still, the games that released for it were pretty good, and they remain a slice of Nintendo history that, for many gamers, remains untapped. It's like that long lost aunt who comes round and lets you know that you're actually a millionaire, although in this case, you're just getting access to some red and black games you might not have played before...
Today Nintendo officially announced which of the 22 games for the console will be available when the Virtual Boy goes live on Nintendo Switch Online on February 17th:
- 3D Tetris
- Galactic Pinball
- GOLF
- Red Alarm
- Teleroboxer
- The Mansion of Innsmouth
- Virtual Boy Wario Land
All of the games will benefit from a rewind function and the ability to map your own button setups. Of the list above, Virtual Boy Wario Land is going to be the one I'm playing the most as I've spent time on it before. Still, if you've never clapped eyes on any of these titles, then take a look at the launch trailer video below to get a feel of what they're like!
The following games will become available later on in the year:
- Jack Bros
- Mario Clash
- Mario Tennis
- Space Invaders Virtual Collection
- Virtual Bowling
- Virtual Force
- V-Tetris
I know what you're thinking - why weren't there any Mario titles in the launch lineup? Honestly though, Wario can more than hold his own up there, and it'll give you all something to look forward to as we move through 2026.
There's also a new feature arriving later on in the year where players can change the colour of their game. It means you won't have to view everything as black and red and can even go for old school black and white, something I think will appeal more to the handheld players amongst you. You'll just have to remove the viewfinder on the Virtual Boy Switch accessory if you're opting to go for the 'real deal' feel.
So, that's 14 of the original 22 games accounted for. But surely Nintendo aren't going to leave us without any surprises?
It's reported that two previously unreleased games are coming to the service too - D-HOPPER, and Zero Racers. It's a big announcement for game preservation; not only are the 154 million Switch owners and 10 million Switch 2 owners going to get to play games for a console that lasted less than a year, but they're also going to experience games that never even made the cut - that's wild!
I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the Virtual Boy's back catalogue, and if you want to check out the time that we played with an actual Virtual Boy while visiting Europe's rarest Nintendo collection, then click on the video below!
