After nearly 18 years, the Virtual Boy version of Faceball (NikoChan Battle) will finally be released
1/6/13 7:30pm
It might not have been the most beloved piece of gaming hardware during its initial eight month run but after many years have past, it seems many within the gaming community have opened up a piece of their hearts for Nintendo’s first attempt to cash-in on 3D gaming, the Virtual Boy. In fact, the red-cased stepchild of the Big N has a large enough following that some developers are even crafting homebrewed Virtual Boy games to this day on the Planet Virtual Boy forums.
The next big project to come from Planet VB will be the Virtual Boy port of Niko-Chan Battle (A.K.A. Faceball in the US), which was thought to be long-lost before a member of the forums recently tracked down and purchased a prototype of the game. This user is currently planning to release Niko-Chan Battle as both a reproduction cartridge priced at $100 and as a free ROM.
There's currently no word of a release date.
How would I describe the game itself? Well, it’s hard to explain but if I had to say something, I’d say it’s like Doom with happy faces, or a 3D Pac-Man…that’s a shooter kinda. I don’t know. Just watch the video above. It’s pretty weird.
Do any of you collectors out there think this reproduction is worth $100? Or would you prefer to just stick with the free ROM? I certainly wouldn’t pay the $100 for it. Just sayin’.
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g1 DISCUSSIONS
pollo20x6
A new virtual boy game??? Yes! $100? No! Dang it, but oh well, I still have wario land and mario tennis to keep me entertained.
Camden
The original version of the game, MIDI Maze, is probably the best version. There's also the Shockwave version, Faceball 3000, which is actually hard to find nowadays on the net. This is neat, although I can't look at just one colour all day. Ouch.
3B
god that video alone hurts my eyes
nerdman
i coul understand if it would be any other console... but Virtual Boy...?
Whatthefnu
That is a bit much. It's a niche market, though, and just like certain rare anime figurines, I'm sure there are people in the community willing to pay the price for their passion. I'm not one of them, but still.
MegaSilverX1
Being a new owner of a Virtual Boy I'm glad to see another game being released on the system, but I don't think I would spend $100 for a physical copy when I could just get the Game Boy or SNES version, especially since the game has mixed reviews.
cOrYoPhUs
It's a novelty for sure. An expensive novelty.