Super Mario Maker Glitch-ionary

I've gotta say, I love glitches, and when they're in a creation game like Super Mario Maker, they're even more fun since they can often be used as tools for cool level design. ...or they may be used for evil, troll-y level design. So whether you're looking for inspiration or giving yourself the tools to avoid being trolled, here's the place to look! I'm compiling a list of every known glitch in Super Mario Maker and organizing them all here. 

This post is no longer up to date. I'll remove this message when it is. But keep in mind that levels now retain the version that they were made in so in most cases, a glitch that is patched will still work in levels that were made before the patch.

Physics Glitches/Exploits
- Flying Cannons [Works as of v. 1.3]: Attach cannons to the undersides of conveyor belts in such a way that the one cannon falls onto another in mid-air. The cannons will stick together and continue moving through the air in the direction that the conveyor belts were carrying them. If a spring is used to launch a cannon during this, the cannons will freeze in mid-air after being launched. (Found by Luigisopa)


- Track Momentum Conservation (Launching objects off tracks vertically faster than normal) [Works as of v. 1.3 (But with physics changes when launching to the side. Momentum can no longer be maintained, at least with blue skulls... I think?)]: Objects moving on tracks seem to have a bit more speed when moving diagonally upward. This speed can be conserved if the object leaves the track and reconnects with another track in just the right way. By using multiple diagonal tracks above each other, the effect can be stacked in order to shoot objects, blocks, and enemies upward at a very high speed. (Additional juicy details) (Found by Phantal)


- Super Spring Jump [Fixed in v. 1.20]: In a Super Mario World level, hold an object and jump on a spring while mashing left and right quickly. If done correctly, you'll jump way higher than normal. (Found by Sockfolder and zilchfox)


- Spring and Note Block Clipping: By placing a bunch of note blocks and/or springs next to each other and against a ceiling or other object in certain ways, it is possible to cause Mario or an enemy to clip through various barriers.

- Bill Blaster + Note Block Zip aka "Phaseporting" [Works as of v. 1.3]: (Video) Place a Bullet Bill Blaster on a note block one tile above the ground so that it bounces and place another Bill Blaster adjacent to it. Position Mario under the note block so that he is pushed slightly into the other Bill Blaster whenever the bouncing one pushes down on the note block. Jump when the bouncing blaster is at its lowest point, and Mario will zip up between the two blasters and end up on top of the non-bouncing one. (Found by DJNfinity)

- Constantly falling Bowser [Fixed in v. 1.3]: If you put Bowser on top of a skull platform and place a ceiling two blocks above the skulls, he will become stuck in his falling/jumping animation whenever he tries to jump and will be unable to act except for moving his head. While in this state, Bowser is able to ride shells launched from a cannon. (Found by ExplosiveSheep)


- Donut Thwomp Push [Fixed in v. 1.20 for thwomps only]: A thwomp with space below it will be pushed up a little bit when a falling donut block passes through from above. If repeated enough times, the thwomp can be pushed upward through one-way platforms. If used to push the thwomp through solid blocks, it will move only a few pixels and then stop. Nonexistinghero notes that the same effect can be achieved with wall-mounted cannons (still works in v. 1.3).


- Conveyor Mole Projectile Glitch [Fixed in v. 1.3 for any future levels]: Place a mole on a conveyor belt and then stack a large projectile throwing enemy (Bowser or fat Hammer Bro) on top of it. Over time, the enemy's projectile speed will increase to insane speeds. If you wait long enough, Bowser will clip through the wall. The same effect can be achieved without the conveyor belt if using a big Bowser. Also, after around 25 seconds, there is a chance that Bowser will die upon pressing a P-switch (or when the effect wears off) if the wall he is pressed against is blocks (as opposed to a one-way wall).


- Wall jumping in SMB1, 3, and World [Works as of v. 1.21]: Run and jump off of a moving platform (skulls) while ducking, then with perfect timing and positioning, jump upon hitting a vertical wall. If done correctly, you'll be able to jump.


- Light Speed Mario (Bounce momentum stacking) [Works as of v. 1.3]: 

Video demo

By stacking wigglers and cannons next to sideways trampolines, you can essentially create a slingshot of momentum and cause Mario to go flying at incredibly high speeds. (Reddit thread)

- Sticky Fly [Works as of v. 1.21]: In a Super Mario World themed level, fly with the cape up into a long row of invisible blocks and hold left. If done correctly, you'll slide along the row and activate all of the invisible blocks without dropping back down.

General Gameplay Glitches
- Phantom Munchers [Works as of v. 1.3]: If a muncher is hit in mid-air by a sideways spring, it can be put into a strange "phantom" state upon landing. In this state, Mario and enemies will be able to pass through the muncher, although Mario will still take damage, and it'll have some other interesting properties as well. (Found by /u/Mariomaster2015 and /u/Luigi86101)

- Clown Car + One-Way Block Ceiling Clip [Works as of v. 1.3]: By positioning a clown car on a one-way wall, you can jump slightly from the wall-side and stand on top of one of the one-way wall objects. Once in this position, it's possible to jump upward and clip into a ceiling above.

- SMB1 Vine Clip [Fixed in v. 1.3]: In any Super Mario Bros. themed level, place vines hanging from a solid ceiling and one or more blocks against a corner as shown in the video below. Then, climb up the vine next to the corner block and press toward the block once you are at the ceiling. If done correctly and with a compatible block, you will pop up into the ceiling above the corner block. You can run around at that level or jump to move up a tile further into the ceiling. (Submitted by god_of_masks)


- Door Glitch (Invincibility) [Fixed]: This glitch can be activated by going through a door located on spikes, just as you are about to lose your invincibility from losing any power-up higher than "Super" Mario (i.e. a flower, raccoon tail, propeller suit). Upon passing through the door, you will be invincible for the rest of the level. (Alternate method [Fixed in v. 1.20]: Slide as big Mario under a muncher overlapping with a door and enter the door without getting hit.)


- Wrong State POW Glitch [Works as of v. 1.3]: By catching a POW block that after it has fallen off a track, but before it has hit the ground, the POW block will remain in the falling state for a moment after you drop it, allowing it to pass through semi-solid platforms (clouds or other one-way platforms). (Found by MYCRAFTisbest)


- Yoshi Eating Blocks [Maybe fixed in v. 1.20?]: In the Super Mario World style, Yoshi can eat a solid block placed above a coin or sometimes duplicate the coin. It is possible to eat rotating blocks, question blocks, hidden blocks, hard blocks, clouds, ice, donut blocks, note blocks, and music blocks. (Found by stendec365 and others)


- Frozen Yoshi Glitch [Works as of v. 1.21]: While underwater, eat a cheep cheep with Yoshi, but take damage from spikes before the cheep cheep reaches Yoshi's mouth. With the right timing, Yoshi's body (apart from his legs and eyes) will be frozen, unable to turn around, and unable to spit out the cheep cheep or eat anything else. This can be done in New Super Mario Bros. or Super Mario World themes. (Found by luigisghost227)


- SMW Yoshi/Shell/Flower Crash: In a Super Mario World themed level, carry a shell as small Mario and jump between a Yoshi and fire flower which are next to each other. At the precise moment that you hit both, be turning in midair so that Mario is hidden by the shell. If all goes well (?) you'll crash the game. (Video, Video 2)

- 1.5 Height Mario [Fixed in v. 1.3]:

Via DOMOHEAD of Reddit

In a Super Mario World or New Super Mario Bros. themed level, place a spike block just outside of a pipe. Upon exiting the pipe while riding Yoshi, the spike will knock you off Yoshi and into a frozen, 1.5-block tall state.

Editor Glitches
- Rail-Glitching Blocks (Putting two blocks on the same tile) [Fixed in v 1.20 - Levels made using this glitch will be played as if only one block is in a tile and the glitch can no longer be performed]: This is the glitch that is used to make invisible platforms, fake platforms (which you fall through), and any other "weird block glitch" which combines the attributes of two blocks into one. Working with this glitch is complex, so I recommend checking out the guide on /r/MarioMaker for all the helpful details. I wouldn't be able to write it better than they already have. In general though, put a block on a track, drag the track on top of another block, then use the track tool to remove the track, leaving both blocks on the same tile. To see the basics of how to do it in the editor, check out this video by GameXplain. Mysterio64 has also made a reference chart to help you understand the results of each block combination. 


- Out of Bounds Underwater Softlock [Fixed in v. 1.3]: If you have an area or sub-area which is underwater and have no objects placed above the lower half, you can place a warp pipe one tile below the thick dividing line in the editor so that when Mario comes out of the pipe he will be going upward. Upon trying to get out of the pipe, Mario will be above the playable area and the timer will not resume, nor will you regain control of Mario, forcing you to reset the game. (Found by NOKAUBURE)


- Intangible Wall Glitch [Fixed in v. 1.20]: Before creating a sub area, adjust the length of your level so that you add one tile per "screen" of length. This is easiest if your level is only one screen long since you only need to move the flag one tile and don't need to measure screens. Then, drag Mario into a pipe to create a sub area. Without adjusting the sub-area's size, you'll find that the final column of tiles will be glitched. Enemies and pipes cannot be placed in it and blocks that are drawn in it will not be solid when the level is played. (Found by metalflygon08, detailed and submitted by Chris Fritz)

Borderline Glitches
- While collecting a powerup, you can pass upward through invisible blocks without activating them. [Fixed in v. 1.20?] (Found by Luigisopa)

- Cannon sliding [Works as of v. 1.3]: Cannons placed on walls can be pushed up a little bit at a time by throwing objects up at them (easiest in Super Mario World style) or by using trampolines. It will keep going until it stops at a ceiling or, if there is no ceiling, it detaches and falls down. (Found by genotaru) Cannons can also be pushed up when a falling donut block passes through them from above.

- Centering a large enemy on a tile [Works as of v. 1.3]: By stacking a 2x2-tile-sized enemy or other large enemy on top of a smaller enemy like a Goomba, the larger enemy will be centered over a single tile. The Goomba can then be replaced with a Podoboo (which can't be stacked on) and then the Podoboo deleted, leaving your large enemy centered in a way that it couldn't be otherwise. (Found by jonahhl)

- Checkpoint clip [Works as of v. 1.3]: Place a checkpoint flag so that the lower half is inside a block, but with a space below that. After triggering the checkpoint and dying, you'll respawn in the area below the flag. (Video by GameXplain) (Found by Waverunner56)


If you know of any additional glitches that aren't on this list, let me know and I'll add them!

Top 5 Poopiest Games

Here they are, the most poopy games around. No, not crappy - I mean, yeah, in a sense, but... Okay, look, these games are literally the poopiest. They're games with poop. That's it. Games don't usually show that kind of stuff, but these ones do. Seriously, I don't know how you got here or why I'm writing this, let's just get this over with.

Cubivore

Via Japancommercials4U2

Cubivore is a pretty obscure GameCube game about eating other boxy animals in order to morph into new forms and become the strongest predator alive. Which form you turn into is determined by what you eat, but there are some points where it's required for you to eat certain enemies. That can throw off your desired transformation! But there's a solution: pooping. If you poop, you'll get rid of the attributes of one of the creatures you ate, allowing you to set yourself up for a more advantageous transformation.

Nintendogs

Via ZeRoyalViking

Nintendogs is a pet simulator, and anyone who has had pets will tell you that a pet simulator must have poop to be realistic. Everyone poops, ok? Dogs are no exception. Although... from the looks of it, these dogs crap out perfectly polished round turds. What are they, bunnies in disguise? I've had a dog and its poops didn't look at all like that! Screw this game; my immersion is broken.

Space Station Silicon Valley

Via SolidusSoap
Yes, the king rat is sitting on a porcelain throne.

So far all of the entries have been relatively natural occurrences of poop. This one only partially follows that theme. Yeah, Space Station Silicon Valley has a lot of animals that poop, but they aren't really animals; they're all robot animals. It's not like they have to poop to survive. Instead, these robot animals often poop as a form of attack. It turns out that robot poop tends to be explosive and works well as land mines. Aside from dropping turds as a form of attack, there's also that one level where you have to eat all the poop in the level as a rat to get a trophy. It's like a prophetic jab at achievement hunters of the future!

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

Via Kakujo

While The Binding of Isaac bears a passing resemblance to Zelda games, it doesn't really play like one. But for the sake of explanation, you know how there are always pots to smash in Zelda games? The Binding of Isaac basically has those too, except instead of pots, it's piles of poop. There's poop everywhere. There's also an item that can make you poop. Also, as pictured, Rebirth added a bunch of new stuff including the poop boss, Dingle. I know, right? Holy crap!

Conker's Bad Fur Day

Via Poon

Aw, a game about a cute squirrel! How nice! No, mom, this game is rated M, and one of its most famous parts is the giant singing poo boss, The Great Mighty Poo. It's a vulgar crap-slinging pile of excrement with indigestible corn for teeth. Its only weakness is a roll of toilet paper thrown into its mouth and a good strong flush. But the famous Mighty Poo isn't the only poo in this game. You also have to roll giant balls of crap around, snowball style, just to get into the Poo's chamber (all while a beautiful soundtrack of fart sounds plays in the background). Then, later in the game when you're transformed into a bat, you can drop poop on your enemies as a mode of attack. Basically, Conker's Bad Fur Day is probably the poopiest game ever made.


Honorable mentions to free online games: Don't S#!+ Your Pants and Muddy Heights.

User submitted: 
Blue Dragon has poop enemies including a poop dragon boss! (Submitted by Brad H. via Google+)
Platypus Evolution every time a platypus poops, you get money! (Submitted by Gianna C via Google+)
Digimon series apparently has a lot of poop, including poop-themed monsters which eat poop and throw poop. How delightfully poopy! (Submitted by mrqewl via Reddit)
In Duke Nukem Forever, you can grab a piece of poo right out of the toilet and throw it. (Submitted by multiple readers)

9 Most Forgotten Game Sequels

Even great games can have forgotten sequels. Here's how to make one: release it in limited quantities at the end of a console's life, don't advertise it, and don't release it in every region. The problem with writing an article about this is that I might not even know about the most forgotten sequels. After doing some research, these are what I came up with, listed in order of their release. If the one you had in mind isn't on the list, drop a comment below and maybe I'll even add your suggestion to the post!

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992, SMS)

(Via World of Longplays)

Yes, I know, everyone knows and loves Sonic the Hedgehog 2, but that's the Genesis version! This is the totally different game released at the same time on Master System and ported to Game Gear. Thanks to having the same name as the Genesis version and needing to compete with it, this 8-bit Sonic 2 gets a whole lot less love even though it ain't half bad.

Bubble Bobble Part 2  (1993 - NES, GB)

(Via World of Longplays)

Even though the original Bubble Bobble is pretty unforgettable (probably thanks to its single-track soundtrack), I had no idea there was a second one for NES until last week. It's the same basic idea - shoot enemies with bubbles and then pop them - but with better graphics, different, less memorable, music, and a few new gameplay elements thrown in for good measure. It doesn't help that there weren't many copies of the game to go around. If you want to get one on eBay, it'll set you back between $200 and $300 for just the cartridge. Wowzers.

Ducktales 2 (1993 - NES, GB)

(Via World of Longplays)

Back in the good old days, even games based on movies and TV shows were often quite good. Ducktales on NES was one of those games. Everyone loved the great gameplay, great soundtrack, and basically everything about it. It even got a remake in 2013. Unfortunately, even though there's a sequel with all new levels and the same great gameplay, hardly anyone seems to remember it since it was released so late in the console's life. Even the remake, which could have combined both games into one epic combo, seemed to forget this game's existence. And if you thought the NES version was overlooked, don't forget that there was also a port of Ducktales 2 on Game Boy.

Space Station Silicon Valley (1999, GBC)

(Via mcill)

This one is almost definitely the most obscure on the list. The original Space Station Silicon Valley on N64 was somewhat obscure in its own right, but it had incredibly unique gameplay and was quite fun to play. Now, I'm cheating a little here because the version on Game Boy Color isn't so much a sequel as it is a "de-make" of the original. This Europe-exclusive port totally re-imagined every level and mission of the original 3D game into a 2D version. Seriously, it stays true to the original to a fault, but since the transition to 2D is so drastic, most casual gamers wouldn't even realize just how similar it is. That's probably part of why it faded into obscurity; it might've been better off creating new puzzles that were more suited for 2D, while still maintaining the brilliant gameplay of the original SSSV.

Bomberman 64: The Second Attack (2000, N64)

(Via gameguy888)

I was a pretty big fan of Bomberman 64 and Bomberman Hero as a kid, so I was hyped when I heard Second Attack was coming out. At last, I saw it in a store, but didn't buy it right then. Then I never saw it again. From the looks of it, it's more similar to Bomberman 64 than Hero, but it seems to have more of a story and more complex gameplay. Maybe I'll get around to playing it eventually...

Klonoa Beach Volleyball (2002 - PS1)

(Via MrGamingZone)

Klonoa is already a bit of a cult classic series that isn't super well known. The games are typically platforming games with 3D graphics, but this one's a sports spinoff (so, yeah, I'm kinda cheating with this one). It has all the ingredients of a forgotten sequel: it's different from the rest of the series, it came out after the next gen console was already released, and it was only released in Japan and Europe. It's too bad; it seems fairly fun.

Army Men: Major Malfunction (2006 - PS2, XBox)

(Via Mackspot)

When I was younger, I thought the Army Men games were so cool. Going back to them now, I've realized that most of them are pretty mediocre. I've also realized that basically the whole series is made up of forgotten sequels and spinoffs. I was going to tell you about Sarge's War, which I thought was the last real Army Men game before the kiddie reboot, but then I discovered Major Malfunction. I haven't played this one, but by the looks of it, it was forgotten for good reason. It's apparently quite a crappy game and did a good job of making people care even less when the series died.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006, GCN)

(Via ZorZelda)

Yes, I know, Twilight Princess isn't the least bit forgotten and neither is any other Zelda game really. Even the Zelda games on CDi are pretty well known. But I'm not just talking about Twilight Princess, I'm talking about the GameCube version of Twilight Princess. Like most of these forgotten sequels, the GameCube version came out just as the next generation console was coming out. Everyone was hyped for Wii, and with hardly any worthwhile launch games to buy, everyone bought the Wii version of Twilight Princess. Only years later, did some realize that they might've been better off with the version that mapped actions to buttons after all.

Excitebots: Trick Racing (2009, Wii) (Review)

Sequel to the Wii launch title, Excite Truck (which was, itself, a sort of sequel to Excitebike), Excitebots is one of the most fun games I played last gen and also one of the most overlooked. The presentation and audio is forgettable and nonsensical, but the gameplay is unbelievably satisfying. It's not just about racing, it's about getting more stars than everyone else. The game gives you stars for practically everything, so it's nonstop rewards and off-the-wall action. You gotta play it.


If you're interested in obscure games, you might like to check out this post where I reviewed the entire Virtual Boy library. Yep, I beat them all. Have at it.

5 Things Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Does Better Than Mario Kart 8

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is good. Dang good. Maybe not quite better than Mario Kart 8 overall - its name is way too long for one thing - but it still does a bunch of stuff better than Mario Kart. It makes me wonder if the developers of recent Mario Kart games are just slacking because they know you'll buy the games anyway... Well, in any case, let me tell you some cool stuff about Sonic & Blahblah Transformed, counting down to what I consider to be the biggest and best things.

#5 - In-game achievements which can be displayed on your license

In Mario Kart, there's no one place to go to marvel at all your achievements. That's not a huge deal. What's a bigger deal is that there's no way to show off your achievements publicly next to your name when playing online as you can in Racing Transformed. You can't even have stars next to your name in Mario Kart 8 any more for beating all the grand prix with star rank or higher. In Racing Transformed, not only are there unlockable stickers for doing obvious things like winning a grand prix, beating staff ghosts, and progressing through World Tour, there are also fun achievements for stuff like passing a certain number of people in a single drift or having a certain accuracy percentage with attack items. Out of all the stickers unlocked, you can pick three to put on your license, which will show next to your name while waiting in online lobbies. Also, you can view any other player's license and statistics in more detail at this time as well. It sure would be nice if Mario Kart let you do that.

#4 - You can change your character/vehicle between online races

Note that I played on the Steam version and that characters vary between versions.

In Mario Kart, you'd better be sure you picked the vehicle you want when playing online, because you won't be able to change it again without leaving the lobby. This is in spite of the fact that, in an interview somewhere I can't find any more, one of the developers of Mario Kart 8 acknowledged that different vehicles have the advantage on different types of tracks. That's to be expected. So why can't you change your vehicle in between races? Well, you can in Racing Transformed. After the next track is selected, there's a bit of time for you to strategically change to a vehicle suited for that track.

#3 - Tracks transform between laps

Differences are usually much greater than a floating island getting blown up, but harder to show in screenshots.

Does this happen in Mario Kart? I don't think so. Except in Grumble Volcano (Wii) where the ground falls away throughout the race and in that one homebrew course, tracks rarely change at all throughout the race. In Racing Transformed, on the other hand, pretty much every track changes between laps. Usually this makes use of the game's transforming gimmick by having parts of the track be destroyed or rerouted so that you're forced into boat or plane mode. It's not hugely necessary, but the dynamic nature of all the tracks certainly makes them more interesting and is a fun twist.

#2 - Tricks require risk, not just a guaranteed boost

It may be hard to tell in this screenshot, but I'm flipping out right now.

The tricks introduced in Mario Kart Wii are dumb. The reason why is that they're essentially guaranteed speed boosts that require no skill whatsoever. All you need is the knowledge that a trick can be performed at that particular place and the press / mash of a button. It's a freebie. There may as well be a boost pad at those trick points because it'd be just as easy to get the boost. But, in Racing Transformed, doing tricks for boosts actually requires a bit of skill. Instead of pushing a button for an instant, unfailable trick after every jump, tricks can be performed anywhere you can get air. Not only that, but you can do front flips and back flips and more than one at a time for greater boosts upon landing. That means that you have to judge how many flips you can fit in before landing and need to time them to be not too early or too late. This way of handling tricks is more skill-based and more fun - much better than Mario Kart's mindless button presses.

#1 - There are more single player challenges than just Grand Prix and Time Trials

One of my biggest complaints about the Mario Kart series is the games' lack of single player content. You always get grand prix and time trials and that's it. I thought we were making progress with Mario Kart DS's Mission Mode, but then that was gone in every future sequel. Laziness! That's what this is! Thank goodness Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed has this covered with a buttload of fun different challenges on each of the tracks, each with four different difficulties to attempt (not to mention the sticker achievements mentioned earlier). These aren't just races. There are drifting challenges, where you have to try to drift within a certain area to keep the clock from counting down, there are traffic avoiding challenges, boost pad hitting challenges, deathmatch challenges, tank boss destroying challenges, and more. Winning on harder difficulties nets you more stars, which let you progress through this World Tour mode and unlock new vehicle mods and characters. This mode offers a range of challenge and makes unlocking things more satisfying and fun. Grand Prix and Time Trials are still there, of course, but World Tour is far better suited for a single player experience. Mario Kart's Grand Prix: a monotonous character/track-unlocking prerequisite. Racing Transformed's World Tour: a mode that uses existing tracks in new ways and offers a fun break from online multiplayer that you'll actually want to play. Let's hope that Mario Kart gets with the program and starts doing more than simply being a bunch of new tracks with each game.

Agree? Don't? Let me know in the comments! 

I beat every Virtual Boy game, here's how they stack up! (Part 1: 11 Worst)

Inspired by TheMexicanRunner's NESMania and the other similar game system challenges, I recently embarked on a quest to beat all 22 Virtual Boy games released in America and Japan. Well, after approximately 49 hours and 20 minutes, it's now complete! It's only right that I now tell the internet a bit about each game and rank all of them in an epic countdown of somewhat epic proportions! Keep in mind that I am ranking these as a game critic and not by how much I actually enjoyed them, at least to the best of my ability. Keep in mind that many of these are so close in quality (or lack of quality) that they should probably be tied in ranking. Also, I should note that I didn't comment much on the 3D effects in these games because, for one, I played them on emulator, and for two, I can't see the 3D effect on the actual console anyway because my eyesight is poop. Anyway, here we go, starting with the worst game on Virtual Boy...

#22 - SD Gundam Dimension War

Video playthrough - Time to beat: ~2 hours 52 minutes

What could be at the bottom of the barrel of Nintendo's failure of a console? This Gundam game is what! The reason why is that this turn based strategy game requires almost no strategy, contains almost no story, and amounts to an overly simple series of repetitive and easy battles that go on for a few hours before ending in a predictably unsatisfying way. This is what you get when you decide to make a turn based strategy game, but then stop at the most basic level. It's hardly even a game and certainly not a fun one. There's no reason for anyone to play it. It's not so bad it's good, it's just bad and boring.

#21 - Nester's Funky Bowling

Video playthrough - Time to beat: [No ending]

Once again, the problem here is the unforgivable simplicity. You can choose to be a boy or a girl (which makes no difference in the gameplay), change the weight of your bowling ball, and the strength and direction of your throw, but figuring out the winning timing is simple. Once you've got that, all there is to do is play games against yourself and go for high scores or practice in challenge mode with preset configurations of pins set up. That's all there is to the game and there's really no incentive to do any of it. There's nothing wrong with high scores exactly, but since it's bowling, the highest possible score is easily attainable. There's really just not much to this game at all.

#20 - Space Invaders Virtual Collection

Video playthrough - Time to beat: [No ending]

You know Space Invaders, right? It's the old arcade game where aliens go back and forth down the screen at them and you shoot them. Well, that's what this is, but now you can play it in 3D. Or the original style. Or play challenge mode and go for a fast time or high score in a time limit. That's all there is to it. It's the same old Space Invaders without much we haven't seen before. Unless you're a fan of the old arcade game, you'll be bored in minutes and have no reason to go back.

#19 - Waterworld

Video playthrough - Time to beat: [No ending]

According to Wikipedia, Waterworld is considered by many to be the worst game on Virtual Boy. Obviously, I disagree, but I'll admit that it's pretty bad and for the same reason as most of the games on the console: it lacks content. It's basically an arcade style game where you drive a boat around in a 3D ocean containing drowning people and various debris in the center. Your goal is to defend the drowning people from jetskis that race in and try to drag them out of bounds. You do this by shooting and bumping into stolen guys to send them back to the middle. You lose by having all your guys stolen or by crashing into the jetskis too many times. It's actually not that terrible, but it's not all that fun either. It just goes on forever and you have to try to keep going as long as you can. It would've been better if it had more complexity or other modes, but instead it just throws you right into the game or right into the credits when you die. It's a decent concept, but unpolished. It has really good, chill music though, reminiscent of the underwater music in Donkey Kong Country, so that's a plus. Also, why is the goal to keep the drowning people from being saved?

#18 - Virtual Lab

Video playthrough - Time to beat: [No ending]

This one's a fairly unique puzzle game. You get intestine-looking pieces which fall down and the goal is to connect them strategically so that all the open ends get capped with an end piece or an edge of the game area. It's a cool idea and starts out working well enough, but as the endless levels go on, the field will start with more and more pieces which tend to be in unsolvable configurations. By around level 20, the game devolves into resetting until you get an optimal setup that you can actually solve. Even when you have a solvable setup, finishing, which is done by clearing all the tiles in play, puts you at the mercy of the game's random number generator since you'll need specific pieces at just the right time. It's almost good, but then it's not due to these oversights.

#17 - Virtual Bowling

Video playthrough - Time to beat: 1 hour 47 minutes

Oh, hey! It's another bowling game! This one is better because you can adjust your throw in a couple more ways, change the slipperiness of the alley, use different throw types, and compete in a multi-game tournament with computer players with an actual ending! However... you don't really need to worry about all that extra complexity in throwing because you'll eventually figure out the one strategy that works every time. Then you just do that over and over until you're done. And that's Virtual Bowling. This one does have better 3D graphics than Nester's Funky Bowling as well, although they glitch out a bit on emulator (many Virtual Boy games have glitchy graphics on emulator), which is why this screenshot is different.

#16 - Virtual League Baseball

Video Playthrough - Time to beat: 5 hours

Since I haven't played many baseball games, it's hard for me to say how this one compares to others in the genre. It's what you'd expect though; you can do all the usual baseball related things and play through a league of eight games or just play a single game. It uses a password system for the league games, which isn't as great as normal saving, but it's better than nothing. Unfortunately, like Virtual Bowling, there's a winning strategy that will almost guarantee victory. Utilize that, and it's just a four to five hour sleep-inducing waiting game.

#15 - Virtual Fishing

Video Playthrough - Time to beat: 3 hours 26 minutes

In this one, you participate in several different fishing tournaments, each with different fish and locations. In each competition, you have eight minutes to catch the most fish adding up to a total length higher than your computer-controlled opponents'. Each variety of fish has a different timing for when you need to yank the rod, but since each competition has only one kind of fish, it's an easy win once you figure out that particular timing. To hook a fish in the first place, you just cast and reel in until something bites. You can also change your lure, but it doesn't seem to make much difference. When you do actually get a bite, the game switches to an underwater view where the goal is to reel in the fish further whenever it isn't fighting. If you reel too much when it's swimming away, your line will break. It seems like a decently enjoyable game, but it quickly becomes mind-numbingly easy after you figure out how to play.

#14 - Bomberman: Panic Bomber

Video Playthrough - Time to beat: 48 minutes

It may have Bomberman, but Panic Bomber is just your standard match-three-falling-blocks puzzle game. Not that that's a bad thing. The game has you playing alongside a series of computer-controlled opponents as you try to arrange your falling sets of tiles (or animal faces) so that three of the same shape line up. Getting a match causes bombs to appear at the bottom of the play area. These bombs can then be detonated by the occasional lit bomb, sending a flood of blocks over to your opponent. It's not terribly innovative, but fans of puzzle games will enjoy it. It's not very long of a game, but it does have four difficulties, so that's something. If it counts for anything, I actually enjoyed this game more than several of the games ranked ahead of it on this list. It's just not technically that impressive or innovative or long.

#13 - Golf

Video Playthrough - Time to beat: 4 hours 30 minutes

Well, in Golf, you hit a ball with one of your choice of clubs and try to get it in a hole. You can adjust your stance and swing strength and try to get the best score over an eighteen hole course. It's harder than it sounds because there isn't much room for error, the computer players are also quite skilled, there's variable wind to account for, and part of the swing which determines where in the ball you connect is extremely difficult to time correctly. This game also uses a password system, so if you really want to win, you can reset and re-enter your most recent password until you can finish the hole with an acceptable score. It's not bad, but that where-to-hit-the-ball thing is extremely frustrating and makes the game much more difficult than it needs to be.

#12 - V-Tetris

Video Playthrough - Time to beat: 1 hour 11 minutes

On the one hand, Tetris is a fantastic game that I'd rate very highly in general, but on the other hand, it's hard to rank this too highly since it does very little that's new and different from past versions of Tetris. If you've played more recent Tetris games, you'll be disappointed that this one does not have many of the modern Tetris features and is pretty bare-bones. V-Tetris offers three modes: ye olde endless Tetris, line-clear Tetris (where you have to clear a certain number of lines to progress to the next level and start fresh again), and an actually new mode where you can push the blocks around the back of the playing area, essentially having two play areas at once. That new mode is actually pretty interesting and unique and worth checking out for fans of Tetris. Otherwise, there's not a whole lot to this game.

Continue to Part 2!