Canceled Mario Platformer For The Virtual Boy Has Resurfaced

Summary

The Virtual Boy was a short-lived console you wore on your head, released byNintendoin the mid-1990s. The console’s lifespan was so short that it didn’t even get its ownMarioplatformer. That’s despite Nintendo showing one off in 1995, and now screenshots from the unnamed platformer that were previously believed to have been lost to time have been discovered 30 years later.

The discovery was madeby rabidrodentwho shared the images on Bluesky (thanks,Polygon). They found the screenshots in an AOL Directory on The Internet Archive, meaning they were likely put there by Nintendo a long time ago. The very red screenshots reveal that the unreleased Virtual Boy game would have included a combination of typical 2D Mario sidescrolling and top-down elements that were more commonly associated withZeldagames at the time.

Since the Virtual Boy game was never released, it never officially got a name. Rabidrodent refers to it as Mario Smash in their post, but apparently, Nintendo called it VB Mario Land when it was showcased to attendees at CES 1995. The attendees weren’t given the chance to play the game, nor could they see what it might look like through the Virtual Boy. Instead, the game was shown on a big screen and those watching had to wear glasses in an attempt to replicate the Virtual Boy’s 3D effects.

The Virtual Boy Was Supposed To Have Its Own Mario Platformer

But It Didn’t Last Long Enough To Get One

The Virtual Boy was released in Japan and North America in 1995, and by 1996, it had been discontinued in both regions, failing so hard that it didn’t even make it to Europe. There were 22 Virtual Boy games in total, it’s limited library being one of many reasons it flopped, but Mario Smash, or VB Mario Land, wasn’t one of them.

Mario did make it onto the Virtual Boy via a game called Mario Clash and a VB version of Mario Tennis. However, the Virtual Boy’s lifespan was so fleeting that none of Nintendo’s other flagship characters were featured. NoKirby, Zelda,Metroid, orStar Fox. There was a Virtual BoyTetrisgame, but most of the other titles in its library were created to show off what it was capable of rather than as excuses to give its best-known characters the chance to star in what could have been groundbreaking games.

We’re now less than two months away from the launch of theSwitch 2. Some have criticized Nintendo for playing it safe by simply creating a better version of what might soon become its most successful console ever. To those people I say, look at the Virtual Boy. Sometimes playing it safe is the right thing to do.