Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack has added five Virtual Boy games to Nintendo Classics, giving subscribers access to a small but unusually rare slice of Nintendo history.
In an official update, Nintendo listed V-TETRIS, Jack Bros., SPACE INVADERS VIRTUAL COLLECTION, VIRTUAL BOWLING and VERTICAL FORCE as part of the Virtual Boy lineup. Several of those games were originally released only in Japan in 1995, which makes the update more notable than a standard retro catalog refresh.
There is one important catch. Nintendo says players need to slide their console into a dedicated accessory to play the Virtual Boy collection. The company is offering two options through My Nintendo Store: one styled after the original Virtual Boy hardware, complete with a stand, and a simpler cardboard model.
The lineup mixes puzzle games, arcade classics and action. V-TETRIS includes the standard line-clearing game alongside Loop Tetris, where the field can loop to set up larger clears. Jack Bros. sends the three Jack Brothers through dungeon floors as they try to return to the World of Fairies before midnight. SPACE INVADERS VIRTUAL COLLECTION includes Original 2D, Virtual 3D and Challenge modes based on Space Invaders and Space Invaders Part II.
VIRTUAL BOWLING brings a 3D bowling alley to the service with settings such as ball weight and dominant arm, while VERTICAL FORCE is a sci-fi shooter where players pilot the Ragnarok battle machine across two altitude levels and deploy AI drones against enemy fighters.
The update sits inside the broader Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack classics library, which already covers systems including Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, Super NES, Game Boy, NES and SEGA Genesis. Nintendo also notes that members with a Nintendo Switch 2 system can access Nintendo GameCube titles through Nintendo Classics.