List of cancelled Virtual Boy games
This is a list of cancelled Virtual Boy video games. The
32-bit tabletop video game console developed and designed by Nintendo. The system, released in July 1995 in Japan and August 1995 in North America, had an exceptionally short lifespan due to its poor critical and commercial reception. It was discontinued in December 1995 in Japan, and in August 1996 North America. With game development generally taking longer than this, many game cancellations resulted from its short lifespan. This list documents all known games that were confirmed for release for the Virtual Boy at some point, but did not end up being released for it.[1][2][3]
Cancelled games
Title(s) | Dates/Notes/Reasons | Developer | Publisher |
---|---|---|---|
Genjin Show: Tobidase! VB Genjin )
|
An entry in the Bonk platformer series was internally proposed at Hudson Soft for the Virtual Boy shortly after the completion of Super Bonk (1994). Design documents proposed using the Virtual Boy's 3D visuals to create the effect of viewing the game itself from the point of an audience member looking down and watching a performance on a stage. The game was cancelled and abandoned before it could even be publicly announced due to the poor performance and swift discontinuation of the Virtual Boy hardware. [4] | Hudson Soft | Hudson Soft |
Bound High! | A Chalvo 55 (1997). Later on, Bound High's source code leaked in 2010, which was eventually unofficially assembled into a playable version of the entire game.[2][5]
|
Japan System Supply | Nintendo |
Donkey Kong Country 2
|
Shortly after the successful release of Donkey Kong Country 2 for the Virtual Boy, as that was the Donkey Kong Country game being worked on in 1995. Only minimal work was done on the project - while they were happy with how it looked, creating the 3D effect was very labor-intensive, and the idea was abandoned as it was becoming clear that the Virtual Boy was becoming a commercial failure.[6][7][8]
|
Rare | Nintendo |
Doraemon: Nobita no Doki Doki! Obake Land
|
Translating roughly to Doraemon: Nobita's Pounding Heart! Ghostland, the game was based off of the | Epoch Co., Ltd.
|
|
Dragon Hopper | An action-adventure game announced in 1995 and present in playable form at | Intelligent Systems | Nintendo |
Faceball (Niko-Chan Battle in Japan)
|
A game where the player controls a ball with face on it from the SNES in the early 1990s, and a version was developed and almost completed for the Virtual Boy, but never saw release, as the platform was discontinued first. A playable Virtual Boy version leaked onto the internet in 2013.[13]
|
Bullet-Proof Software
|
Bullet-Proof Software |
Galaxian3: Project Dragoon | A 3D original PlayStation were all reportedly in the works, though only the PlayStation version ever materialized.[14]
|
Locomotive Corporation | |
GoldenEye 007 | Upon securing the rights to use the first person shooter, the Virtual Boy game had a completely different premise centered around driving Bond's car, shooting at enemies and avoiding obstacles. Rare, developer of the N64 game, clarified they had no involvement in the Virtual Boy title. The Virtual Boy game was cancelled, and an unrelated companion game James Bond 007 (1998) was published by Nintendo for the Game Boy instead.[15][16][7]
|
Nintendo | |
Intercept | One of four Virtual Boy game names announced by Coconuts Japan Entertainment at E3 1995. Little is known about the title; publication largely just reported on its name and publisher. None of the titles ever materialized except for Space Squash (1995).[17][18][19] | Coconuts Japan Entertainment | Coconuts Japan Entertainment |
J-League 3D Stadium | A soccer ball coming straight at the player's head. The game was scheduled for release in March 1996, but the Virtual Boy was discontinued prior to that and the game never materialized.[20]
|
J-Wing | |
Mario Bros. VB
|
A version of the original Nintendo Space World 1994. Its demonstration was generally poorly received by video game publications, which lamented the selection of a such an old game to demonstrate the new technology of the Virtual Boy. Mario Bros. VB as demonstrated, never released, though some gameplay concepts were utilized in Mario Clash (1995), a much more creative reimagining of the original Mario Bros.[21][22][23][24]
|
Nintendo | Nintendo |
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers | A video game adaption of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers franchise was listed on the Virtual Boy release schedule of Nintendo Power magazine for "Winter 1996", though no details were ever revealed, and the game never released.[25] | Bandai | |
Out of the Deathmount | A Nintendo Space World 1995, but the game never saw release in any capacity.[26]
|
J-Wing | |
Proteus Zone | One of four Virtual Boy game names announced by Coconuts Japan Entertainment at E3 1995. Little is known about the title; publication largely just reported on its name, publisher, and that it was an action/shooter game. None of the announced titles ever materialized except for Space Squash (1995).[17][18] | Coconuts Japan Entertainment | Coconuts Japan Entertainment |
Shin Nihon Pro Wrestling: Gekitō Densetsu | A Japanese | Tomy | |
Sora Tobu Henry ("Flying Henry") | A game where the player controls a flying dog like creature named Henry. | Human Entertainment | |
Star Fox | Nintendo | Nintendo | |
Street Fighter II | GameFan reported on Japanese publications reporting on the prospect of a version of Street Fighter II being developed for the Virtual Boy. Such a title was never announced officially, and is unrelated to unofficial fan efforts to port the game to the platforms after the fact.[31][32][33] | Capcom | Capcom |
Sunday's Point | One of four Virtual Boy game names announced by Coconuts Japan Entertainment at E3 1995. Little is known about the title; publication largely just reported on its name and publisher, and that it was an action/shooter game. None of the announced titles ever materialized except for Space Squash (1995).[17][18] | Coconuts Japan Entertainment | Coconuts Japan Entertainment |
V1 Racer / F1 Racer | Nintendo | Nintendo | |
Virtual Boy Mario Land / VB Mario Land / Untitled Super Mario game | A top-down perspective similar to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The game was cancelled, with some of its content being reworked into other Virtual Boy titles. Some graphics were implemented into the released Mario Clash (1995), while the gameplay mechanic of having Mario move back and forth between the main and background levels was implemented into Virtual Boy Wario Land.[36][37]
|
Nintendo | Nintendo |
VB Mario Kart
|
German magazine Big N reported that Nintendo was developing a Mario Kart entry titled VB Mario Kart in their Virtual Boy future release schedule, though such a game was never officially announced or shown in any capacity, let alone released.[34][38] | Nintendo | Nintendo |
Virtual Block | A game with a premise similar to | Bottom Up | |
Virtual Bomberman
|
Unlike the released Panic Bomber (1995), Virtual Bomberman was planned to have traditional Bomberman gameplay, but due to the discontinuation of the Virtual Boy, it was cancelled and never released.[41][30]
|
Hudson Soft | Hudson Soft |
Virtual Dodgeball | A 1-on-1 dodgeball game that spanned different environments that would affect gameplay. The game never materialized in any capacity.[29] | Jorudan | Hect |
Virtual Mahjong (Virtual Double Yakuman) | After releasing a | VAP, Inc. | |
Virtual Gunman | A shooting game announced in 1995 that never materialized.[9]
|
Victor Entertainment
|
|
Virtual Jockey | A | Right Stuff | Right Stuff |
Virtual League Baseball 2
|
A sequel to the original | Kemco | Kemco |
Virtual Tank | Pitched to Nintendo in early 1995 as a game that played similar to Battlezone (1980) under the working name 3D Tank. The project was greenlit and worked on for months, though progress was slowed as the team had difficulties with the Virtual Boy's brand new hardware, or getting support from Nintendo on it, so parts were developed on PC with intentions on porting it to Virtual Boy. That, coupled with the Virtual Boy's commercial failure and discontinuation, lead to the game's cancellation. The game was not finished, but the developers have a working, playable build of a few levels from the game, which were shown online in 2020, though Nintendo would not authorize its release onto the internet, so only screenshots and videos exist publicly.[46] | Boss Game Studios | Nintendo |
Wangan Sensen Red City | A shooting game announced in 1995 that never materialized.[29]
|
AIM | Asmik Ace |
War Simulation | The tentative title of a fifth Virtual Boy title in development by Coconuts Japan Entertainment, in addition to Proteus Zone, Sunday's Point, Intercept, and Space Squash. Of the five titles announced, only Space Squash ever released. Few details were revealed for the other titles beyond their name and developer.[47] | Coconuts Japan Entertainment | Coconuts Japan Entertainment |
Worms | A version of the original Worms (1995) was announced for the Virtual Boy, but was cancelled very early in development. Not much was done besides a basic proposal to publisher Ocean Software and some early tests with Virtual Boy hardware.[48][49] | Team17 | Ocean Software |
Zero Racers / G-Racers | A spinoff of the | Nintendo | Nintendo |
References
- ^ "Introduction by Nintendo". The New York Times. August 22, 1995. Archived from the original on 2018-07-07. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
- ^ a b Kohler, Chris (December 12, 2012). "When Games get Canceled, These Guys Bring them Back to Life". Wired. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
- ^ a b https://www.ign.com/articles/looking-back-at-the-virtual-boy-nintendos-most-famous-failure
- ^ https://www.timeextension.com/news/2022/11/never-before-seen-documents-for-abandoned-virtual-boy-bonk-project-surface-online
- ^ Bound High Developer Interview
- ^ Linneman, John (16 December 2017). "DF Retro takes on Donkey Kong Country and Killer Instinct • The story of Rare's SGI revolution - as told by the developers". Eurogamer. Gamer Network Ltd. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
- ^ Rareware. 10 August 2001. Archivedfrom the original on 5 August 2002. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
- ^ https://www.vg247.com/games/donkey-kong-country-2-diddys-kong-quest
- ^ a b "バーチャルボーイ ゲームフラッシュ - 新作VBゲーム情報発信基地". Dengeki Super Famicom (in Japanese). Vol. 4, no. 1. MediaWorks. January 5–19, 1996. p. 46. Archived from the original on 2019-05-30. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
- 1UP.com. Archived from the originalon 2015-04-16. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
- ^ Nintendo Power, August 1996, page 103
- ^ https://www.ign.com/games/dragon-hopper
- ^ https://www.engadget.com/2013-01-06-lost-virtual-boy-game-nikochan-battle-found-and-being-re-release.html
- ^ Kuroki, Junichi (29 May 2019). "黒木 淳一: プロフィール - バーチャルボーイゲーム開発3本" (in Japanese). Wantedly. Archived from the original on 2020-08-14. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
- ^ Official Nintendo Magazine, January 2010, page 62
- ^ Nintendo Trade Show Flier
- ^ a b c "E-3 The Biggest And Best Electronic Entertainment Show Ever! — '95 Next Generation Software Listing: Virtual Boy - Bullet-Proof Software". GameFan. Vol. 3, no. 7. DieHard Gamers Club. July 1995. p. 41.
- ^ a b c Maniac (German magazine), July 1995, page 26
- ^ Virtual Boy 追悼記念ガイドブック - 改訂第ニ版 (in Japanese). Toyo Baphomet Council. 24 January 1998. p. 8.
- ^ "Release Schedule: VB < バーチャルボーイ (Virtual Boy)". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 363. ASCII. December 1, 1995.
- ProQuest 294877556.
- ^ Electronic Gaming Monthly, January 1995, page 6
- ^ Edge, February 1995, pages 10-11
- ^ Electronic Gaming Monthly, January 1995, page 89
- Nintendo of America. January 1996. p. 111.
- ^ "Out of the Deathmount (仮)". Marushō Super Famicom (in Japanese). No. 20. Kadokawa Shoten. December 8, 1995. p. 83. Archived from the original on May 30, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
- ^ "TV Game - 新日本プロレスリング 激闘伝説 (VB) • スポーツ&レース". Jugemu (in Japanese). No. 9. Media Factory, Recruit Holdings. January 1996. p. 175. Archived from the original on 2019-05-30. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
- ^ Nintendo Space World 1995Guidebook, November 1995, page 27
- ^ a b c "Virtual Boy Game Flash". Dengeki Super Famicom (in Japanese). Vol. 3, no. 17. MediaWorks. October 27, 1995. p. 29. Archived from the original on May 30, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
- ^ a b "Feature: Virtual Insanity - The Games You'll Never Play". Official Nintendo Magazine. No. 51. Future plc. January 2010. p. 62. Archived from the original on 2019-05-29. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
- ^ "Software - バーチャルボーイ 『ストリートファイターII』!?". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 336. ASCII. May 26, 1995. p. 91. Archived from the original on May 30, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
- ^ Des Barres, Nicholas (July 1995). "Japan Now - News & Rumors". GameFan. Vol. 3, no. 7. DieHard Gamers Club. p. 90. Archived from the original on 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
- ^ https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/02/finally_street_fighter_ii_has_been_ported_to_the_nintendo_virtual_boy
- ^ a b Seidel, F. (July–August 2000). "Feature: Der verlorene Sohn - Die verlorenen Spiele". big.N (in German). No. 9. LiveEmotion Verlag. p. 19. Archived from the original on 2019-05-29. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
- ^ GameFan, March 1995, page 107
- Nintendo Magazine SystemMarch 1995, pages 6-7
- ^ https://gamerant.com/every-cancelled-super-mario-game-explained/
- ^ Jurkovich, Tristan (May 22, 2020). "10 Canceled Mario Games You Never Knew Existed". TheGamer. Archived from the original on September 27, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
- ^ Radke, Christian (2019). "Virtual Block Flyer (Japan)". planetvb.com. Archived from the original on 2019-05-29. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
- ^ Maniac magazine, March 1996, page 15
- ^ a b Nintendo Power, January 1996, page 33
- ^ "Virtual Boy Game Flash - バーチャルジョッキー". Dengeki Super Famicom (in Japanese). Vol. 3, no. 15. MediaWorks. September 22, 1995. pp. 32–33. Archived from the original on May 30, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
- ^ Radke, Christian (2019). "Virtual Jockey Flyer (Japan)". planetvb.com. Archived from the original on 2019-05-29. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
- ^ "Virtual League Baseball 2". Entertainment Software Rating Board. Entertainment Software Association. 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
- ^ "ケムコ - バーチャルプロ野球'96 (VB)". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 363. ASCII. December 1, 1995. p. 106.
- Nintendo Life. Nlife Media. Archivedfrom the original on 2020-09-21. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
- ^ "Aktuelles - Virtual Boy". MAN!AC (in German). No. 21. Cybermedia. July 1995. p. 26.
- ^ "Reportaje: Extraña mezcla... de gusanos - Worms". Micromanía (in Spanish). Vol. 3, no. 8. HobbyPress. September 1995. p. 58.
- ^ https://www.digitalspy.com/videogames/retro-gaming/a562419/virtual-boy-retrospective-nintendos-disastrous-foray-into-vr/
- ^ https://www.gameinformer.com/2022/02/28/virtual-boy-f-zero-spinoff-that-never-released-was-done-according-to-former-nintendo
- ^ https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/02/mythical-virtual-boy-f-zero-spin-off-was-100percent-complete-according-to-former-noa-staffer