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5. Galactic Pinball VB
Galactic Pinball probably isn’t something you’ll be going back to time and again, but that counts for the entire VB library. As pinball titles go, though, this is a decent one, with controls and physics which work well, and if you fancy yourself as a wizard of the pinball variety, this is your first, last, and only port of call on Virtual Boy.
Fortunately, it’s a pretty good one. It’s not worth hunting down an original system to play, but one to seek out on NSO, that’s for sure.
4. Jack Bros. VB
Once you’ve got the hang of it, Jack Bros. is a short game and it’s a shame that there aren’t more puzzles on offer. However, multiple characters and two difficulty settings extend the life of a game that is a lot of fun to play already.
It features great music and looks good, too, though it doesn’t really gain anything from being on the Virtual Boy. Overall, the game’s strengths help to make up for any weaknesses, making it an essential VB purchase.
3. Zero Racers VB
For decades, F-Zero spin-off Zero Racers existed as little more than a rumour, discussed online as one of those lost games that would surely never see the light of day; that makes its Nintendo Classics emergence a genuine delight.
This does not feel like an underbaked curiosity from Nintendo’s archives. This is a fully fledged futuristic racer that takes the speed, structure, and mechanical DNA of F-Zero and translates it brilliantly to the Virtual Boy’s stereoscopic display (or the next-best approximation of it available through Nintendo’s pricey replica Virtual Boy peripheral for Switch).
For anyone still on the fence, its inclusion alone arguably justifies the price of Nintendo Switch Online’s cardboard Virtual Boy peripheral.
2. D-Hopper VB
D-Hopper — renamed from the original, unreleased Dragon Hopper for its belated 2026 debut via Nintendo Switch Online — is pleasantly approachable throughout and never especially demanding, which makes its three-to-four-hour playthrough easy to settle into.
Bolstered by a great chiptune soundtrack, expressive spritework, and dashes of quirky personality, Dragon Hopper is a polished adventure from the Virtual Boy vault that is a genuinely welcome addition to its library. It might have taken 30 years, but we’re happy we got to play this cute Zelda-style adventure eventually.
1. Virtual Boy Wario Land VB
Arguably the only truly indispensable title on the console, this platformer featuring Mario’s greedy counterpart boasts fabulous visuals and audio to match, and plays much like Wario Land on the Game Boy. It’s easily the system’s best game and one you have almost certainly played already if you are a proud Virtual Boy owner.
While it’s tough to recommend buying any console just for one game — especially at current prices — this is a fine, fine outing for the anti-Mario and, although we don’t endorse stealing, Virtual Boy Wario Land is worth begging or borrowing a Virtual Boy to experience.
Failing that? It’s on NSO now, if you’ve got the requisite accessories. Happy days.
Finally, we’ve answered some common NSO-related questions elsewhere (yes, Labo VR fans, you can use your goggles with the VB app), but here we’ll answer a few more common questions Nintendo Life readers have about the Virtual Boy games on Switch.
