Nintendo has released a new Virtual Boy app for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers. In the 1990s, the Virtual Boy was a short-lived 3D gaming console; now, it’s software that works with new Nintendo accessories. The app is called “Virtual Boy – Nintendo Classics” and users can download it now on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 consoles.
The app is designed to work with Nintendo’s new Virtual Boy-style viewer, which houses the Switch or Switch 2. The headphones are available in plastic for $99.99 and cardboard for $24.99. While the plastic viewer comes with a stand that can be placed on a table, the cardboard version has to be held up to your face via Joy-Con attached to the console.
Virtual Boy applications include 3D Tetris, Gactic Pinball, Golf, The Mansion of Innsmouth, Red Alarm, Teleroboxer and Virtual Boy Wario Land at launch. According to VGC, Nintendo said it will add more games over time, including Mario Clash, Mario Tennis, Brother Jack, Space Invaders Virtual Collection, Virtual Bowling, Vertical Force, V-Tetris, and two previously unreleased games, Zero Racing and D-Hopper.
The app supports typical Nintendo Switch Online emulator features such as save states, rewind, and controller remapping. Nintendo also plans to introduce a color setting that will allow players to move away from the original all-red look. The Virtual Boy app is free to download, but it’s only available with Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack (the service’s highest tier).