Virtual Lab

******************************************************************************* Virtual Lab for Virtual Boy FAQ by BHodges Version 1.0 Created 06/15/04 This document Copyright 2004 by Brian Hodges. This FAQ is not to be posted without explicit permission by me. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. ******************************************************************************* Table of Contents I. Introduction II. Adjusting the Virtual Boy III. Background Story and Useless Trivia A. Background Story B. Useless Trivia IV. Getting Started V. Gameplay and Controls VI. My High Score VII. Game Review VIII. Special Thanks IX. Version History X. Contact Information ******************************************************************************* I. Introduction This is a FAQ for the Virtual Boy game Virtual Lab. Virtual Lab was released only in Japan late in 1995, but it will work on an American Virtual Boy without any modifications. ******************************************************************************* II. Adjusting the Virtual Boy If you have never used a Virtual Boy before, here is how to adjust the screen. On the screen that says 'Virtual Boy' and has squares in the corners, turn the dial on top until you can see all four squares. Then use the sliding bar until the screen is in focus. ******************************************************************************* III. Background Story and Useless Trivia ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A. Background Story There seem to be several pages of background story in the instruction booklet, but it is all in Japanese, so I have no idea what is going on. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B. Useless Trivia They spell Nintendo wrong twice! On the box it is spelled with one extra N (NINTENNDO). On the cartrige label they have two extra N's (NINNTENNDO). ******************************************************************************* IV. Getting Started On the title screen press up or down on the left control pad to change the game speed. The three speeds are Low, Mid, and Hi. I honestly can't tell the difference between the speeds during gameplay, it wouldn't suprise me if they forgot to implement the extra speeds. Press Start to begin. ******************************************************************************* V. Gameplay and Controls The object of the game is to remove all of the pieces from the well. The pieces look like part of an intestine. You remove pieces by sealing all of the open parts of the intestine. An opening is sealed when it is: - Facing and touching a wall. - Facing and touching the floor. - Is capped by a piece with only one opening. It is important to realize that an opening touching the side of another piece is NOT sealed. Be very careful not to do this with pieces on the same section! Once you have sealed all openings on a section, that section will disappear. Any loose pieces on top of that section will fall. If another section is sealed, it will disappear and so on. All of these count as one clear. If you clear 10 or more pieces at once, the screen will flash and a fairy with a pickaxe will appear and clear all of the pieces of the bottom layer. This appears to be the only way to clear sections where you have openings next to other pieces on the same section. One time I cleared ten and after the fairy cleared the section, the pieces fell, and I ended up sealing six more of them (so I cleared a total of 16). The fairy came back and cleared the bottom row again! You position the pieces with either control pad. Pressing A or R will rotate the pieces clockwise. Pressing B when there are two or more pieces falling will change the order of the pieces. You can press Start to pause. The pieces are hidden while the game is paused but you can sneak a peak by pressing the A button. On the right side of the screen you will see your score (SCORE), the highest amount of pieces you have cleared at once (MAX), the amount of pieces you cleared last, and a picture of a girl that looks like it was drawn by a ten year old. When you have gotten rid of all pieces on the screen, you move on to the next level. If a piece lands above the line at the top of the screen, then your game is over and you go back to the title screen. If you press Start you will continue on the same level you left off with a score of 0. According to DogP, there are 99 levels, then you just keep playing level 99 forever. After each level is a screen with some English text telling you to take a break, some Japanese text, and a number (e.g. 0032032). No one knows if the number is some sort of password or scoring info or whatever. That's about it, this is a very simple game and there isn't that much to it. ******************************************************************************* VI. My High Score My high score is 1520. ******************************************************************************* VII. Game Review I didn't think it was possible, but this game is actually worse than Waterworld. This game is BAD! Supposedly this game was still in development when Nintendo decided to pull the plug on the VB, so the developers rushed it into stores. If you ever get a hold of a cheap copy of this game, don't even bother playing it, just put the thing straight on eBay and forget you ever saw it. Pros - This game is every bit as good as its spelling. Cons - Copies of this game are EXTREMELY rare and expensive. It routinely goes for $1000+ on eBay. - The graphics are horrible. There is no detail and the only real 3D effect are the stars in the background. The worst part is that every few seconds the pieces "pulse" where they become brighter and move forward and back a bit (this and the title screen for Wario Land are the only VB graphics that make my eyes hurt). - The sound is even worse than the graphics, it sounds like something from an Atari 2600. - The play control is also terrible. Unlike Tetris, you can only rotate the pieces clockwise and placing them is tricky because the controls are very twitchy. ******************************************************************************* VIII. Special Thanks Special Thanks go to DogP and Neil Schuldenfrei for their info on the game. ******************************************************************************* IX. Version History 1.0 06/15/04 Created FAQ. There isn't that much info here right now, but there really isn't that much to know about this game to begin with. I may update this with more info later. ******************************************************************************* X. Contact Information You can contact me at Bhodges080@aol.com I would appreciate hearing what you thought of this guide and any thoughts you have for improving it. Be sure to let me know if I have missed anything. I realize this is a pretty crummy FAQ, but then again this is a pretty crummy game. ******************************************************************************* End