Virtual Boy Wario Land

1995 · Platformer · Virtual Boy

Overview

Virtual Boy Wario Land (1995) is Nintendo's platformer for its 3D headset, where Wario jumps between foreground and background layers.

Deep Dive

Wario, trapped underground after chasing treasure, must climb back out through a series of cave levels, collecting power-ups such as the Bull, Eagle and Dragon hats. The Virtual Boy's stereoscopic display is used for more than decoration: Wario can leap between the foreground and background planes, and enemies attack from the depths. Developed by Nintendo R&D1, it is widely regarded as the best game on the Virtual Boy.

Developer Story

Virtual Boy Wario Land was developed by Nintendo R&D1 under Hiroji Kiyotake. It was one of the last games released before Nintendo discontinued the system.

Did You Know?

Virtual Boy Wario Land is consistently rated the system's best game and cited as evidence that the Virtual Boy's failure was a market problem rather than a design problem.
The game used the full capabilities of the system in ways that simpler launch titles did not.