Mario Bros. VB (lost build of cancelled Virtual Boy remake of "Mario Bros." arcade game; 1994)

Screenshot of the game's title screen.

Status: Lost

Mario Bros. VB is a cancelled remake of the 1983 arcade platformer Mario Bros. intended to launch alongside the Virtual Boy in August 1995. The game was first unveiled at Shoshikai Software Exhibition 1994 alongside the Virtual Boy itself, Space Pinball (then known as Pinball VB), and Teleroboxer. Screenshots from the game would appear in various magazines until July 1995. Its last appearance was in issue 13 of EGM², where the game was mistakenly referred to as the actually released game Mario Clash, which is likely what Mario Bros. VB evolved into.

Gameplay

Man playing the Mario Bros. VB demo at the associated kiosk.

Being a remake of the Mario Bros., its gameplay would have been practically the same. You would have platformed around a simple stage as either Mario or possibly Luigi to defeat all enemies and progress to the next level. The remakes stand out additions would have been all-new sprites as well as three-dimensional backgrounds and effects. Players may have even been able to play through the game with co-op by using the Virtual Boy's unreleased GameLink Cable.

Availability

During its first and only trade show appearance at Shoshikai 1994, a demo of the Mario Bros. VB could be played by attendees. A ROM has neither resurfaced or been leaked to the internet since and it is unknown if Nintendo still has a copy.

Gallery

Screenshots

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Footage

A 3 minute Virtual Boy report by Brut Press. Audio from Mario Bros. VB can be heard from 0:12 to 0:22.

An episode from a Japanese TV show called Game Catalog II covering Shoshinkai 1994. Gameplay footage of Mario Bros. VB can be seen from 15:40 to 16:01.

The British TV show Movies Games and Videos' report on Shoshinkai 1994. Mario Bros. VB gameplay can be seen from 0:33 to 0:39.

See Also

Virtual Boy

Main Article

• Virtual Boy (partially found unreleased games for Nintendo virtual reality system; mid 1990s)

Individual Articles

• Doraemon: Nobita no Doki Doki! Obake Land (lost build of cancelled Virtual Boy action game based on manga; 1996)
• Dragon Hopper (lost build of cancelled Virtual Boy action-adventure game; 1995-1996)
• Goldeneye 007 (lost build of cancelled Virtual Boy movie tie-in game; 1996)
• Mario Demo (lost Virtual Boy tech demo; 1994)
• Out of the Deathmount (lost build of cancelled Virtual Boy game; 1996)
• Shin Nihon Pro Wrestling Gekitou Densetsu (lost build of cancelled Virtual Boy wrestling game; 1995)
• Sora Tobu Henry (lost build of cancelled Virtual Boy action game; 1995)
• VB Mario Land (lost build of cancelled Virtual Boy platformer; 1995)
• Virtual Block (lost build of cancelled Virtual Boy game; 1995)
• Virtual Dodgeball (lost build of cancelled Virtual Boy game; 1995)
• Virtual Jockey (lost build of cancelled Virtual Boy horse-racing simulation game; 1996)
• Wangan Sensen Red City (lost build of cancelled Virtual Boy game; 1996)
• Zero Racers (lost finished "F-Zero" Virtual Boy racing spin-off game; 1996)