Nintendo Labo VR Headset

amazon Nintendo Labo VR Headset reviews

When Nintendo first announced the Labo VR Kit, it was met with a mixed reaction. While a modern Nintendo VR headset seems like a possibility, no one expected it to take the form of a cardboard gaming peripheral. Still, it makes for a feeling of foolhardy. The Labo VR kit is the perfect introduction to virtual reality that Nintendo Switch owners will love. It combines its existing system and Labo DIY kits to deliver an innovative, welcoming, family-friendly, and affordable experience.

Nintendo’s VR headset, paired with any of the five Toy-Cons, is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. A Blaster, Bird, Elephant, Camera, and Wind Pedal decorates the lineup, and at first glance, carefully assembled origami panels look like something you’d do in fourth-grade art class.

During my preview of the Labo VR suite, I played many VR games that used Toy-Cons as the base part of the experience. Blaster is my gun in an alien shooter on rails. Elephant’s trunk takes on the role of my brush in a 3D art studio. I flipped the bird’s wings while flying through the air in search of food for the chicks. I used the camera to take pictures of the fish deep in the sea.

A meeting of two worlds

Nintendo’s VR glasses work like Google Cardboard. The only difference is that you will slide your Nintendo Switch in front of the camera instead of the smartphone. However, the advantage of the VR Labo kit over Google’s cardboard headset is its approach to creating a more immersive experience. Its picture quality can’t be compared to the Oculus Rift, but Nintendo’s Toy-Cons make up for that with their unique hooks.

The Labo VR kit includes six items. VR Goggles, Toy-Con Bird, Toy-Con Elephant, Toy-Con Camera, and Toy-Con Wind Pedal. Playing games using VR Googles with Toy-Cons — cardboard creations seen in the headset-mounted trailer — yields these items.

My first (and favorite) game used the Toy-Con Blaster. While holding the Blaster like a bazooka, I place the viewports in front of me. Inside I saw a crawling city with squid-like aliens that looked like they were straight out of Splatoon. I pulled back the slide mechanism at the bottom of the Blaster with my left hand and heard a distinctive click. I pulled the trigger and fired a bullet right at a large alien on the side of the building. It explodes with a satisfying splat.

I was immediately hooked. I pan left, right, up, down, and sideways, using the Blaster as a pump-action shotgun. Sometimes I have to constantly pump the Blaster to register for reloads, which is frustrating on fast levels, but it’s not enough to ruin the fun. The game has three levels, each with many enemies that I have to try to eliminate. In the end, my score was a shameful 78%. I would blame that on the Blaster’s sometimes unreliable controls.

I fired a bullet right at an ugly alien climbing up the side of the building, and it exploded with a satisfying splinter.

Next up is the Bird Toy-Con, and I can’t help but chuckle at the thought of sticking my face behind it. But in my face went. I firmly grasp the handle beneath its wings and begin to squeeze. With each squeeze, the game bird’s wings flap. Looking up, down, and sideways allowed me to steer the bird in the direction I wanted to fly. The world is sunny and filled with grasslands, mountains, and sapphire blue oceans.

My goal is to find all the nests where the eggs are. Each baby bird required a different food in specific amounts.

I went looking for apples, wasps, and fish, among other things. When I collect the items, I fly back and go straight into the mouth of the little bird. Before I knew it, the chicks had grown, and I had a new member of the flock.

It was novel, but I had a few things I had. Hold the Bird Toy-Con and squeeze the handle repeatedly so that flying becomes fatigued quickly. I found myself fumbling around with the device, trying to find a more comfortable way to hold it. That was made worse by the fact that the bird flew very slowly. After squeezing the handle like a madwoman to make it go faster, it continued to dodge at a leisurely pace.

Nintendo, sly dog

While my favorite experience was with the Toy-Con Blaster, the Toy-Con Camera solidified my positive first impressions of the Nintendo Labo VR set. Its robust construction immediately impressed me. The lens can be rotated to zoom in and out, and a joy-con is cleverly placed in the upper right to use my index finger to take pictures.

Through the viewing, the gate is an ocean filled with all kinds of fish. I’ve been warned that a shark likes to swim along occasionally, even though it’s harmless. My duty? Take three pictures of each fish. A swordfish swam past. I zoomed in, clicked the button, and the snapshot was taken. I did it four more times. Once done, the images are shown to me, and I can check the photos I want to add to my album. Back in the ocean, I discovered that looking down the game allowed me to sink deeper. The ocean turned dark, and the big fish’s shadows bounced off the rocks as a cute version of an Angler fish swam past.

The memory of Pokemon Snap came to mind, and excitement hit me like a thunderbolt.

The memory of Pokemon Snap came to mind, and excitement hit me like a thunderbolt. What if these Toy-Cons are paving the way for experiences like Pokemon Snap and Splatoon VR? Toy-Cons can easily be used for much more.

There are more experiences, each quirky but interesting in its way. Doodle used the trunk of a Toy-Con Elephant as a brush, placing me in a large empty room with a range of tools that I could use to express myself and create masterpieces artistically 3D effects. Jumping dog Dodge uses the Wind Pedal, turning me into a frog that jumps to avoid a barrage of balls from a circus bear. I use my feet to press the pedals every time I want to jump, and a blast of refreshing cool air hits my face, adding to the immersion. Whenever a level is completed, I will move higher into the atmosphere, where attacks will be harder to avoid.

However, not every game needs to be enjoyed with a Toy-Con. I also saw VR Plaza, a compilation of 64 mini-games played with just VR Goggles. The Nintendo Labo VR Kit also comes with Garage VR, a tool that can create your games. It is even used to create all the games in VR Plaza. The option to play in 2D is available for those with a physical aversion to virtual reality, and that’s the icing on the cake for the Nintendo Labo VR Kit.

Fun to use, at the right price

I made reservations about Nintendo jumping into VR. While Nintendo has never been a company that tries to follow trends, it has fumbled in the past to create products that appeal to a wider fan base. Nintendo Labo VR looks like it could be one of those products, but if my short time is anything to go by, it seems like a free addition to the Nintendo Switch with great potential for the future. It won’t take you hours to play it, but it’s a fun gadget with many potentials.

The entire Nintendo Labo VR Kit will be available April 12 for $79.99 and comes with all six Toy-Con accessories. There will also be a Starter set for $39.99 that comes with VR Goggles and Blaster, as well as two expansion sets that come with Elephants and Camera Toy-Cons, or Birds and Wind Pedals, for $19.99 per set. They’re all pretty affordable, at least compared to other VR headsets, which is part of the appeal. The Labo VR Kit could be the panacea for gamers curious about VR but don’t want to drop $400.

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