Rarely Seen Screenshots of VB Mario Land (Mario Adventure) for Virtual Boy Surface

Photo credit: Rabid Rodent
VB Mario Land, also known as Mario Adventure by some, was a planned but canceled platformer for Nintendo’s Virtual Boy, a short-lived 1995 console that aimed to deliver stereoscopic 3D gaming with its signature red-and-black visuals.

The game was intended to be a flagship title featuring Mario, building on the Super Mario Land series from the Game Boy. Unlike the eventual Virtual Boy Wario Land, which did release, VB Mario Land never progressed beyond a tech demo and was scrapped, likely due to the Virtual Boy’s commercial flop.

It was showcased only once, at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 1995 in Las Vegas. Attendees didn’t play it directly on Virtual Boy hardware; instead, Nintendo displayed a single-level demo on widescreen TVs, with viewers wearing special glasses to simulate the console’s 3D effect. This suggests the game was in an early stage, possibly more a proof-of-concept than a fully playable title.


The game was primarily a 2D side-scroller, like Super Mario Bros., but it used the Virtual Boy’s stereoscopic 3D to let Mario move between foreground and background planes, adding depth to the gameplay. This mechanic was similar to what later appeared in Virtual Boy Wario Land.


Some areas featured an overhead, top-down perspective, reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda. The demo included familiar Super Mario staples: Koopa Troopas, Goombas, Jumping Piranha Plants, Coin Blocks, pipes, a flagpole goal, and a castle at the level’s end.
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