Virtual Boy emulators: Difference between revisions

| emulated = yes

The '''[[gametech:Virtual Boy|Virtual Boy]]''' is a fifth-generation luggable game console released by Nintendo and created by Game Boy creator Gunpei Yokoi on August 14, 1995. It has a NEC V810 CPU. It was the first games console to utilize 3D effects, however, is notable for only displaying graphics in red and black, as well as requiring users to attach the console to their head, usually while rested on the included tripod. The product was pulled shortly after releasing due to the majority of users getting headaches from using it. Notably, it was rushed to market and was never meant to be released in its current form.

== Emulators ==

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;width:64.97%"

!Name

!Platform(s)

!Latest version

![[libretro]]

!<small>[[RetroAchievements]]</small>

![https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Netplay Netplay]

![[Licensing|License]]

!Active

![[Recommended emulators|Recommended]]

! colspan="9" |PC

|[[Mednafen]]

<small>[https://docs.libretro.com/library/beetle_vb/ Beetle VB]</small>

| align="left" |{{Icon|Windows|Linux|LinuxARM|macOSx86|FreeBSD|Web|Pandora}}

|[{{MednafenURL|releases/}} {{MednafenVer}}]

[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]

|{{Ya}}

|{{~}}<ref group="note">Exclusive to libretro core.</ref>

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

| align="left" |{{Icon|Windows}}

|svn103||{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

| align="left" |{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}

|[https://github.com/emu-rs/rustual-boy git]||{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

| align="left" |{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}

|[http://www.mamedev.org/release.html {{MAMEVer}}]||{{Ya}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Na}}

| align="left" |{{icon|Windows|Linux}}

|[https://tasvideos.org/BizHawk/ReleaseHistory {{BizHawkVer}}]||{{Dunno}}

| align="left" |{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}

|[https://www.virtual-boy.com/tools/pvb-emulator/ 2019-03-27]||{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

| align="left" |{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}

|[https://www.virtual-boy.com/tools/red-dragon/ 0.38 Final]||{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

! colspan="8" |

| align="left" |{{Icon|Android|iOS}}

|[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]||{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|Virtual Virtual Boy

| align="left" |{{Icon|Android}}

|[https://github.com/SupernaviX/vvb git]

[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simongellis.vvb 1.18.2]

| {{Na}}

| {{Na}}

| {{Na}}

| {{Ya}}

|[[Manic EMU]]

| align="left" |{{Icon|iOS|iPadOS}}

|[https://apps.apple.com/us/app/manic-emu-game-emulator/id6743335790 {{Manic EMUVer}}]

[https://github.com/Manic-EMU/ManicEMU/releases git]

| {{Dunno}}

| {{Dunno}}

| {{Dunno}}

|{{Ya}}

| {{Dunno}}

| align="left" |{{Icon|iOS|iPadOS}}

|[https://apps.apple.com/us/app/provenance-app/id1596862805 {{ProvenanceVer}}]

[https://github.com/Provenance-Emu/Provenance/releases git]

|{{Ya}}

! colspan="9" |Console

|[[Virtual Boy - Nintendo Classics|Virtual Boy -]]

[[Virtual Boy - Nintendo Classics|Nintendo Classics]]

| align="left" |{{Icon|Switch}}{{Icon|Switch2}}

|[https://www.nintendo.com/jp/nintendo-switch-online/nintendo-classics/index.html NC]||{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

| align="left" |{{Icon|PSP|PS3}}

{{Icon|Wii|3DS|WiiU|Switch}}

|[https://www.retroarch.com/index.php?page=platforms libretro core]||{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

| align="left" |{{Icon|3DS}}

|[https://github.com/skyfloogle/red-viper/releases/ {{Red ViperVer}}]||{{Na}}

|[https://github.com/skyfloogle/red-viper/issues/7 roadmap]||{{Na}}

|{{Yellow}} {{License|Custom}}<ref name="RealityBoyLicense" group="note">Reality Boy is code is licensed under a {{License|Custom}} {{License|NC}} license</ref> {{License|NC}}<br>{{License|MIT}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

| align="left" |{{Icon|PSP}}

|[https://www.virtual-boy.com/tools/red-dragon-psp/downloads/979068/ 1019]||{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

| align="left" |{{Icon|3DS}}

|[https://github.com/mrdanielps/r3Ddragon/releases git]||{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Yellow}} {{License|Custom}}<ref name="RealityBoyLicense" group="note">Reality Boy is code is licensed under a {{License|Custom}} {{License|NC}} license</ref> {{License|NC}}<br>{{License|MIT}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

== Hardware features ==

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;width:100%"

! style="width:50%" |Name

!Mednafen

!VBjin

!Red Viper

!Virtual Boy - Nintendo Classics

|GameLink cable||{{Na}}

| {{Dunno}}

: Has 100% compatibility with commercial games. Lets you change the Virtual Boy's '''color output''' to any hex color. For example, changing it to white shows all the games in greyscale instead of red, which really helps. 3D is enabled by default, but you can turn it off. To play it on platforms not supported by Mednafen use the [[libretro]] port which also supports SBS 3D by using glsl shaders, check this [https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/4ibw0b/emulating_virtual_boy_in_3d_on_gear_vrgoogle/ Reddit post] for instructions. Doesn't seem to run at playable speeds on 3DS using the latest nightly build as of 2020-06-15. (Side by side 3D is now available built into the normal Beetle core options. A special shader is not necessary.)

: An updated fork of r3Ddragon, which itself is based on Reality Boy / Red Dragon. Runs all officially released Virtual Boy games at full speed on the original 3DS and has 3D support with the 3D depth slider (and anaglyph mode for 2DS users with 3D glasses). Also lets you change the Virtual Boy's color output (including individual layers) to any hex color, customize controls and touchscreen buttons (including support for New 3DS inputs and Circle Pad Pro), save settings per game. Local multiplayer support is also available in v1.2.0 onward, allowing two nearby 3DS systems to play multiplayer locally together (New 3DS systems recommended for full speed in multiplayer, as there may be slowdown for both players if one is on an Old 3DS).

: The games run and are playable, since 0.254, most non-pirate games (and one pirate game) got promoted to "working". However, accuracy is very poor, specially graphics wise. Lastly, it's slow, but not as slow as Rustual Boy.

: A Virtual Boy emulator written in Java, and it was first released in 2018. 3DS support was planned. [https://www.virtual-boy.com/forums/t/pvb-emulator/ Forum thread].

; [[Virtual Boy - Nintendo Classics]]

: The first official emulator of the system from Nintendo. Released on February 17, 2026; it supports at least 17 different games for Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack subscribers (of these 17, one is exclusive to Japan and two were originally unreleased). Although a set of special set of lenses that are "required" to play does exist from Nintendo, it only implies that the emulator does not run in TV mode when docked.

== Notes ==

{{Notelist|group=note}}

== References ==