This Vision Pro Virtual Boy emulator isn’t fancy, but it gets the job done

The Vision Pro got its first Virtual Boy emulator in an app called VirtualFriend, finally giving me, a person with an irrational love for Nintendo’s most short-lived console, a chance to play it in immersive 3D once more. The app is also available for iOS and iPadOS, where it’s a virtually identical experience, minus the 3D effect.

The first games I played after downloading VirtualFriend were those I owned as a kid: Red Alarm, Wario Land, and Mario’s Tennis. I’m pleased to say that apart from some minor audio glitches in Red Alarm, the games run well — it’s all just as I remember it.

VirtualFriend supports Bluetooth controllers and keyboard control on the Vision Pro, as well as touchscreen buttons if you’re playing on an iPhone or iPad. Visually, the games look as good as a Virtual Boy game can and have a little help from the app, which lets you customize the console’s two-tone color palette. VirtualFriend also has an eye adjustment slider that helps adjust the image if you find a particular game isn’t working for you.

The big missing features are controller mapping and the ability to save your game at any point using save states. (Developer Adam Gastineau acknowledged the latter in an open issue on the project’s GitHub page.)

Still, VirtualFriend is easy to recommend if you’re at all curious about playing Virtual Boy games or, like me, you once owned and loved the console. It’s free with the option to tip the developer, doesn’t show ads, and according to its App Store listing, won’t collect your data. It’s just good, clean, mid-90s VR fun.