Nintendo will release two Virtual Boy games that were never published, thirty years after the hardware they were built for was discontinued. On August 4, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 owners will be able to play D-Hopper and Zero Racers through Nintendo Switch Online.
Both titles were in development and scheduled for release in 1996 before Nintendo canceled them following the commercial failure of the Virtual Boy. Nintendo revealed on July 30 that the pair would arrive within days, announcing them in a trailer.
The Virtual Boy was added to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack tier in February. It arrived with seven titles, and Nintendo said at the time that more would follow, including games that were never released. D-Hopper and Zero Racers are the first of that second category to actually appear, which makes them additions to the console’s library rather than re-releases of anything players could previously buy.
What the two games are
D-Hopper, also known as Dragon Hopper, is an action-adventure game developed by Intelligent Systems, the studio behind the Fire Emblem and WarioWare series. Polygon describes it as working in the vein of The Legend of Zelda: players control a prince who explores the world, rescues allies and works toward defeating a corrupt politician.
Zero Racers is a racing game in the F-Zero series, built with two modes. Grand Prix puts the player through a circuit of races against opponents, while Practice allows solo runs on any individual track. Like D-Hopper, it was finished far enough to carry a 1996 release date before the Virtual Boy’s commercial performance ended those plans.
The announcement trailer leans on the hardware’s distinctive look, showing a man in a desert unearthing a buried Virtual Boy and playing it, with gameplay shown in the system’s signature red palette. Nintendo also used the trailer to confirm that soundtracks from Virtual Boy titles are now available through Nintendo Music.
Join the conversation — sign in to comment.
Sign in