30 years later, Virtual Boy games are finally playable in color

[Daniel Sims]

Through the looking glass: Nintendo's ill-fated Virtual Boy tried to bring VR gaming to the masses decades before the tech was ready, resulting in a fabulous flop. Now, as the console turns 30, a portable emulator is out of beta – and it finally fixes one of the device's primary flaws.

Nintendo 3DS owners who install custom firmware can now play Virtual Boy games in colors other than black and red. The functionality comes with a significant update to the Red Viper emulator released to celebrate the early VR system's 30th anniversary.

Released in Japan on June 21, 1995, and in North America that August, the Virtual Boy aimed to deliver a virtual reality experience with dual 384×224 LED displays and basic 3D graphics. However, Nintendo's use of cheap red LEDs left the system stuck with dull, headache-inducing red-and-black visuals.

Also see: Virtual Reality Then: A Look Back at the Nintendo Virtual Boy

Aside from the graphics giving users migraines, other significant issues included its relatively high price point and the required stand, which hindered portability. Nintendo discontinued the system after less than a year, and only published 22 games.

However, the rise of emulators on Nintendo's 3DS handheld decades later created a unique opportunity for the Virtual Boy's return. Last year, modder Skyfloogle released Red Viper – a Virtual Boy emulator that uses the 3DS's glasses-free top screen to recreate the 3D effect in a far more portable and accessible format.

Last week, Skyfloogle marked the Virtual Boy's 30th anniversary by releasing Red Viper 1.0. The update runs all official titles at full speed, adds numerous performance improvements, supports the Circle Pad Pro analog stick, and introduces color customization. Players can pause gameplay at any time to freely modify up to four hues.

Although the colors don't match typical pixel art or 8-bit console games, this feature makes visuals easier to distinguish. For example, switching to a high-contrast scheme in Red Alarm helps enemies stand out clearly against the terrain.

Red Viper is available via the 3DS's Universal Updater homebrew app and on GitHub. However, users need to find or dump their own Virtual Boy ROMs. Over the past 30 years, modders have also created numerous free, unofficial aftermarket games.

For a more authentic VR experience, Virtual Boy emulators are also available for Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro.

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30 years later, Virtual Boy games are finally playable in color

 

[Megalomaniac]

I still have Virtual Boy in my closet and it still works. I still have Red Alarm. I played through it a few times. It was fun, but yes it did cause headaches.

Amazing that a product like that could be green-lit by Nintendo.

 

[FaTaL]

Why do people actually waste hours of their life with projects like this?

 

[stewi0001]

I still have Virtual Boy in my closet and it still works. I still have Red Alarm. I played through it a few times. It was fun, but yes it did cause headaches.

Amazing that a product like that could be green-lit by Nintendo.

That is one of the key tactics for Nintendo is to do something that makes them stick out. If I am recalling correctly, the light gun is what made their first system a big hit. The downside is that most of their ideas they end up bailing out on: light gun, ROB, power glove, and power scope to name a few. Virtual Boy just had bunch of problems. I do not recall if I got headaches from it, but it definitely wasn't that portable.