Fall Cleaning!

Most people have Spring Cleaning. I have Fall Cleaning! I'm gonna review three Virtual Boy games at the same time! Ready, go!

The game I can remember best from the Virtual Boy's short lifespan is Galactic Pinball. You may think that this is no better than any other pinball game, but you would be wrong. It takes advantage of all the great features the Virtual Boy has to offer.

Instead of a ball, you actually hit a puck. As it comes closer to the flippers, it seems to actually come closer to you. There are also special modes that the game has to offer, such as protecting the spaceship from asteroids, which come flying at the screen as you shoot them down.

Essentially, the game employs several minigames that would simply be impossible to recreate on an actual pinball table. Plus, (and this is a big one), the game is actually fun! It may not be the best pinball game ever, but it's dang near the top.

This game has earned a Blatantly Biased:






Those who remember the good ol' days of Nintendo Power magazine will remember an exclusive comic featuring Nester, the clumsy but adorable Nintendo fanboy. The Virtual Boy gave him an unforeseen opportunity: to star in his own game!

Nester's Funky Bowling is like many other video game bowling games. An arrow moves back and forth across the lane, and you stop it at the right time to throw at the pins. Then you stop the power meter at the right time to allow you to hit as many pins as possible.

The game offers nothing that any other bowling game has, with the exception of funky ol' Nester. But, it does have something no other Virtual Boy game has... multiplayer! You take turns! Crazy!

This game has earned a Blatantly Biased:






One type of game that has been around for long time, and will likely continue to exist are space shooters. The screen scrolls at a constant rate and you shoot the crap out of everything in your way. But, not all space shooters are created equal.

Vertical Force uses some of the Virtual Boy's cool features in gameplay. The most noticeable is that you can not only move from left to right and front to back, you can move towards and away from the screen. Essentially, it gives depth to a depth-less style of game.

This feature can come in handy when there are tons of enemies flying all over. You can escape death by moving away from the action. Or, you could shoot stuff and get points. Who does that?

In any case, the game plays well and is actually quite fun. I can't say that it's the best shooter ever, but I can definitely say it's the best one available for the Virtual Boy.

This game has earned a Blatantly Biased: