SD Gundam Dimension War (Virtual Boy review)

Developer: Bandai Co., Ltd.

Publisher: Bandai Co., Ltd.

Released: 1995

 

SD Gundam Dimension War is a turn-based strategy game that was only released in Japan.

 

There's eight missions and the objective in each is to wipe out all enemy troops and destroy their two ships. The action starts on the map screen with your team-mates positioned closest to the camera and the opposition at the back. Using a grid you can either advance a few spaces using the Move command, Attack (engage in a real-time, close-quarters battle), Indirect (long-range automated attack), or Ambush (hide and wait behind a meteor or building). The Attack command is interesting as you fully control the combat in a one-on-one fight. These consist of two phases, with the first allowing you to freely fire at your opponent in the distance for ten seconds; for some reason the CPU never moves which seems like a real missed opportunity to have back and forth action. The second phase is a side-by-side battle where you both compete by shooting weapons, attacking with your sword or dodging projectiles by moving into the foreground, middle ground or background. Unfortunately, the combat is poor as it's never obvious if your shots have actually hit the intended target, and it's difficult to dodge bullets as you can't always see which plane they're coming from. I do love that each troop has multiple weapons to use though (some unique to a particular troop) as it allows you to mix up your attacks depending on the proximity. Weirdly, none of the eight missions are remotely challenging and defensive manoeuvres are rarely needed as you can basically just keep attacking. After a while the gameplay becomes highly repetitive and bland as you're essentially doing the same thing for eight long missions, with little to no variety. The system's 3D capabilities aren't put to good use but at least there's some good music and you can save your progress at any time during a battle.

SD Gundam Dimension War is a middle of the road strategy game that does little to offend or impress. The gameplay is too basic with no advancements to the opening mechanics, and even if you decide to grind through all eight missions they pose little challenge and provide minimal satisfaction.
 

 

 

Random trivia: Despite this being a Japanese exclusive, Benjamin Stevens and Greg Stevens from the Planet VB forums have done an excellent English translation.

Virtual Fishing (Virtual Boy review)

Developer: Pack-in-Video Co. Ltd.

Publisher: Pack-in-Video Co. Ltd.

Released: 1995

 

Virtual Fishing is a sports game that was only released in Japan.

 

There's three modes including Tournament where you compete in seven cups. Each lasts for eight minutes and the final rankings are based on the total length of your catches. Starting on the Casting screen you throw bait, move your rod around and then press the R trigger once it bends to hook fish. Learning the exact timing is crucial as some fish put up more of a fight than others. For example, as soon as Char start pulling you should immediately try to hook it; with Catfish on the other hand, you must wait for the rod to bend and then straighten again. Figuring out these methods is fun and keeps the action feeling fresh. If you're successful you move onto the Underwater screen which requires you to wait until the fish tires before reeling it in, otherwise your line will break. It's a simple mini-game that gets quite intense in later tournaments, especially when you only have a few seconds left to bring it to the surface. Once you're accustomed to the different types of fish and how to reel them in this screen is a breeze; the hardest part is the final tournament due to the gigantic Salmoniformes you need to catch but with a little bit of patience they're not too challenging. The majority of the action is enjoyable but the gameplay is short and basic, with no upgrade abilities. However, you can save your progress and view previous records which adds some replayability. The 3D effect is disappointingly minimal though and the music is poor with generic tunes that repeat ad nauseam. There's also Free Mode (a practice area), as well as an unlockable Time Attack which challenges you to catch five fish within ten minutes without breaking a line. The latter takes place entirely in the Underwater screen and although it's a decent diversion it adds little to the overall experience.

 

Virtual Fishing is very accessible to newcomers of the sport with its simple, yet entertaining gameplay that's perfect for short gaming sessions. Where it falters is its lack of depth and modes as once you've beaten each tournament there's really no reason to stick around.

 

 

Random trivia: Although this is a Japanese exclusive, Benjamin Stevens and thunderstruck from the Planet VB forums have done an excellent English translation.

Insmouse No Yakata (Virtual Boy review)

Developer: Be Top

Publisher: I'Max

Released: 1995

Insmouse No Yakata is a first-person survival horror game that was only released in Japan.

Playing as a detective your mission is to escape the Mansion of Insmouse in one piece. The levels are timed and the premise in each is to locate a key, find the White Orb (which shows the map layout) and the Black Orb (shows where items are on the map) and then head for the exit. Monsters block your path but they can be shot using the R Trigger. Although the scrolling isn't smooth the controls are excellent and make great use of the two d-pads to move around and face different directions. The action is intense as you hunt around for the items you need to move onto the next level while peeking at the remaining time. However, the constant rushing around gets old after a while and I personally found myself wishing for more variety as all the levels look and play the same. Ammo is always in extremely limited supply and although it's understandable given the survival horror setting it actually made the action less enjoyable for me; there's no way to move past monsters that are blocking your path so on many occasions you'll be hunting around for ammo but have no chance of proceeding; therefore, death is the only option. Another issue is that once you shoot a monster the action pauses for a split second, at which point it suddenly veers away from your crosshair at high speed, leaving you open to an attack. One of the better aspects of the game is its multiple routes and endings (there's 45 levels but on each play-through you'll only see 11 of them). This is great for replayability and there's also a password system so you can pick up your game at a later date. Despite its minimalistic tunes the music is actually done very well and the footsteps that revolve around the Virtual Boy's stereo speakers create a real sense of paranoia.

 

Insmouth No Yakata is a unique game in the Virtual Boy's library and there's certainly some fun to be had if you enjoy survival horror games. However, the repetitious level design and lack of gameplay variety means the action quickly gets old and after a while it reveals itself as a one trick pony with no real depth. 

 

 

 

Random trivia: The game is based on a 1992 television series called Insmus wo Oou Kage.

Virtual Lab (Virtual Boy review)

Developer: J-Wing

Publisher: J-Wing

Released: 1995

 

Virtual Lab is a puzzle game in the same vein as Pipe Mania (1989, Amiga) and it was only released in Japan.

 

It consists of 100 levels and the objective is to construct and rotate falling pieces so they fit together and complete a whole; this then makes them disappear from the play area. There's only a singular mode where you have to clear the entire field but there are options to select Low, Medium or High speed settings. Annoyingly, the controls are atrocious and simply tapping the d-pad once can result in the cursor moving halfway across the screen! Other times you have to be more forceful to make it line up with your chosen column and in a genre that requires quick reflexes it's a serious flaw. After a while several blocks start falling together and it's here that faulty gameplay algorithms and a lack of testing becomes abundantly clear; it's not uncommon to continually receive a large number of blocks that do nothing except litter the play area which eventually results in a Game Over. There's no way around it and it will make you shout random curse words and debate whether to shut the console down! There also doesn't appear to be any noticeable difference in the three speed modes as the pacing is consistent throughout. After you complete each level you're given a password so you can continue at a later date; there's just one small problem though... the developers forgot to include an option for you to actually input these codes! To be honest, it wouldn't have been worth it anyway as once you've played a single level you've literally seen everything the game has to offer. The stereoscopic effect is insignificant and apart from the title screen and 'space themed' backgrounds during gameplay there's nothing here that couldn't easily be achieved on a standard TV or handheld. The music is horrible and even the opening track consists of a boring drum loop with no other instruments.

 

Virtual Lab is a buggy mess with barely any content and J-Wing should be embarrassed that they released a game in this kind of unfinished state. Everything about it is dreadful and the fact that the developers couldn't even get the controls right speaks volumes about how much effort went into this title.

 

 

 

Random trivia: The working title for the game was Chiki Chiki Labo.

V-Tetris (Virtual Boy review)

Developer: Bullet-Proof Software

Publisher: Bullet-Proof Software

Released: 1995

 

V-Tetris is a puzzle game from the same developers as Yoshi's Cookie (1993, NES) and it was only released in Japan.

 

The gameplay tasks you with rotating singular falling blocks and lining them up to create lines. There's three modes to select with the first being Classic Endless where you keep clearing lines until your blocks stack up to the top of the screen. Classic Standard has ten levels with six rounds each; here you need to clear 25 lines to complete the round before moving onto the next. These two modes play similar to each other but while the controls are responsive the action is uninspired as there's nothing you haven't seen a million times before. Even the stereoscopic effect is almost non-existent and it's possibly the worst example of 3D on the system; there are some static and animated backgrounds to choose from (including an aquarium with swimming fish) but they feel completely tacked on. The action takes place in a tiny window in the centre of the screen with lots of unnecessary space reserved for your score and number of lines. While the narrow view isn't a huge issue there are times where lining up your block is trickier than it needs to be as you can't always see which column you're lined up with. Also, the pacing is odd as the difficulty is moderate for a long time before suddenly becoming a nightmare with blocks falling at a faster rate than you can react. The final mode is Loop Tetris which is the most interesting option available; here you can rotate the play area with the triggers and push each block around the corner. It's an interesting way to play as you can constantly change the column structure depending on what block is about to fall. However, once the speed increases it becomes too unwieldy and eventually exposes itself as a gimmick. The most disappointing aspect of the game is that there's no battery back-up so you can't save your high scores.

 

V-Tetris is okay for a quick game or two but then it simply gets boring as it doesn't do anything to take advantage of the hardware and the options are limited. In my opinion, there's no reason to play this over Tetris (1989, Game Boy) as that version does pretty much everything this game sets out to do but in a much better fashion.

 

 

 

Random trivia: A release was planned for North America but ultimately it was cancelled.

Space Squash (Virtual Boy review)

Developer: Tomcat System

Publisher: Coconuts Japan

Released: 1995

 

Space Squash is a Japan-only action game that shares many similarities with Pong (1972, Arcades).

 

The premise is to repeatedly deflect the ball back to your opponent's side and hit it behind them to score points; get three and you win the match. Hitting the ball is intuitive as you choose your shot with the right d-pad while moving with the left d-pad. Before each match you can select which power-up you'd like; these include Speed and Homing and after charging them they can be unleashed with the triggers. Similar to Outrun (1986, Arcades) the game adopts a grid system where you can choose between five paths towards the final boss; this means there's a massive 75 stages to try so replayability is sky high. There's also plenty of variety to spice things up such as different sized playfields (including some that are extremely narrow) and obstacles like floating heads and pillars that rebound the ball back in your direction. The controls are fantastic and have a great degree of accuracy meaning you can easily place your shots; some opponents struggle to deflect low shots and it's satisfying to whack the ball below them when they're out of position! The 3D and depth perception is remarkable and the stereoscopic effect feels vital to the whole experience. The bosses (which include snakes, giants bats and a monkey with extendable arms) are fun as you need to repeatedly hit them with the ball while they throw projectiles at you; selecting the Homing power-up beforehand saves a lot of time so it's recommended! Even the Bonus Stages are enjoyable as you have ten available balls and must hit every part of a board to win a gift which can either be a Power, Speed or Life increase. This area really shows off how accurate the controls are as you'll feel in total command rather than relying on luck. The music is unmemorable though and adds nothing to the experience.

 

Space Squash is highly entertaining with some fantastic gameplay and it feels like it was made for the system (unlike, for example, Panic Bomber). There's so much to see and do and while playing all the available routes will take a while you'll have a blast the whole way through.

 

 

 

Random trivia: Several people on the Planet VB forums have done an excellent English translation of the game; find out more here.

Virtual Bowling (Virtual Boy review)

Developer: Athena

Publisher: Athena

Released: 1995

 

Virtual Bowling is a Japan-only release and one of two simulations of the sport on the VB (the other is Nester's Funky Bowling, 1996).

 

There's three modes, the first being Standard where you bowl ten, non-competitive frames in an attempt to gain the highest possible score. The bowling mechanics are similar to traditional golf games; after setting your lane location with the d-pad a metre starts swinging and you use Button A to stop it at your desired spin strength. Another metre then appears whereby the peak represents power and the base affects accuracy. Training mode allows you to set up pins in any formation for practice but the real meat of the game is Tournament. Here you face CPU opponents in four matches; each consists of three games and the points are tallied up to decide whether you move onto the next match. This gives it a real competitive edge that was missing in Nester's Funky Bowling. The control system is intuitive and easy to get the hang of with some great pin physics. The low camera angle and first person perspective also add to the illusion of depth and there's some impressive looking scaling effects. Although the action is very entertaining bowling a strike is easy once you know the best position to stand in and how much spin to use. It still takes skill to stop the metre at the precise location but once muscle memory kicks in most matches are a breeze. There's no humorous LCD screen animations like in Nester's game but you do get a cool replay looking back from the pin-side. It's also hilarious when you bowl three strikes in a row as a giant turkey runs towards the camera, splatters on the screen and rains feathers down onto the lane! There's some excellent cut-scenes (complete with CPU trash talking!) and the music, SFX and voice samples do a nice job of bringing excitement to the action. There's no save option but passwords are available to pick up your progress at a later date.

 

Virtual Bowling might not be the deepest game but it does a fine job of simulating the sport and it's miles ahead of Nester's weak attempt. The gameplay is simple, yet addictive, and the smooth controls and fun Tournament mode make it a perfect game to dip in and out of.

 

 

 

Random trivia: By patching the game you can unlock a hidden debug menu which offers a sound test; find out more here.