Nintendo LABO Toy-Con 04: VR Kit

Genre: Accessory / Minigame Collection / On-Rails Shooter / Misc.

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Alternating Local, Local)

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Review:

Nintendo LABO is one of those uniquely Nintendo products that often seem to come out of left field and give players something strange and wonderful and often not quite completely thought-out. In this case, each of the four Nintendo LABO kits provides players with one or multiple objects that they can create using cardboard pieces included in the package, along with software that incorporates that cardboard into various games, usually by incorporating the Joy-Con controllers in various ways.

For the fourth of these LABO kits, the Nintendo LABO Toy-Con 04: VR Kit, players are given a construction that transforms the Nintendo Switch into a Virtual Reality headset (for this game and a select few others), as well as a few additional constructions to use with said headset. Players should be aware of a few things before getting the game, however. Firstly, while eShopperReviews tends to focus mostly on digital releases, Nintendo LABO is strictly a physical-only release. Secondly, because a part of the experience is constructing the cardboard objects included in the kit, you’re not likely to find much resale value in Nintendo LABO – once you open this game up and start making stuff, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a buyer wanting it used. Likewise, you should be wary of buying a Nintendo LABO kit used, for much the same reason.

Also, be aware that the Nintendo LABO Toy-Con 04: VR Kit absolutely requires an original model Nintendo Switch and a pair of Joy-Cons to play it. While the previous three sets could all fake it on the Switch lite, the entire experience of this set is built around VR, and the VR is designed for the original model Nintendo Switch. There do exist third-party headsets that Nintendo Switch Lite users can use in conjunction with this kit to get the Switch Lite to run this game, but I do not have one of those headsets nor a Switch Lite to test it with, so I cannot speak to the quality of that experience. In short, if you have a Nintendo Switch Lite, you do have options if you absolutely must play this game, but understand that this is a game that wasn’t intended for that platform.

I should also mention that there are multiple versions of this set. At this point, you’ll most likely be looking at getting the Starter Set + Blaster, but another version exists that includes other additional constructions. However, this more extensive set is pretty hard to come by these days, and likely to be expensive. If you want the extra content from this package, you might opt to instead buy the separate expansion kits, although again these may be hard to come by at the moment and as such highly-priced. Suffice it to say, I don’t have these, and will not be incorporating this content into this review, aside from to point out that it is available for those who buy these extra add-ons.

Finally, a few warnings for those looking to get this game for a young kid. Nintendo LABO is a very kid-friendly game, but making these various constructions is something that will require a fair amount of time and patience, decent reading skills, and the ability to follow directions. Specifically, whoever is building these constructions needs to be sure not to break the pieces, not to fold the wrong part or do things in the wrong order, and not to mess with stuff like the stickers unless they are specifically told where to put them (the stickers aren’t just for show – they serve an important function). What’s more, popping out the bits of cardboard can create a lot of mess. If any of these things sounds like it may pose a problem for your child, this may be something that will require some supervision on your part.

As mentioned before, this game comes with pieces of cardboard designed specifically for use with the game, with cutouts for each of the projects, and those cutouts having lines to be creased in the appropriate places. I suppose in theory it may be possible to use cardboard to produce replacement parts, but you likely won’t end up with something that has quite the same quality as what’s included. However, while the cardboard here is decent quality and fairly sturdy, it’s nothing revolutionary – it’s just cardboard. In addition to the cardboard, the game also comes with a plastic bag full of other components you’ll need for construction – rubber bands, reflective stickers, and a few other odds and ends… and most notably, the specially-crafted lenses used in the VR goggles you’ll be making. While the cardboard pieces could theoretically be replaced with your own hand-crafted duplicates, some of these parts are unique, so you’ll want to be sure not to lose them.

The game itself is separated into three sections, “Make”, “Play”, and “Discover”, with each of these sections further sub-divided into sections focused on individual components.

In “Make”, players are given step-by-step instructions for how to build all of the main components in the box, complete with a full 3D representation of the process in action that players can play at multiple speeds, rewind, or even spin the example around to see it at different angles. This was actually a really excellent guide, although I did find myself sometimes mixing up the button for rewinding and the button to exit, causing a bit of mild frustration every time I did. Overall though, these instructions are fairly fool-proof, and should make it easy for a young child to complete all of the DIY projects contained within the box so long as they’re patient and can follow instructions properly, and the written directions include lots of cute little comments to keep things entertaining. However, be aware that these instructions are only written, not voiced – the only sound you’ll be listening to are the cartoony sound effects signifying cardboard being creased and popped together, and music that sounds like… well, like bad porn music, really. It’s fine, though it can get a bit annoying after listening to it long enough, and thankfully in this entry in the LABO series, this music is mixed up with other tunes that are a bit nicer to listen to while you’re working.

A large part of the joy of this game is piecing things together and seeing how everything connects and builds as you progress, sorta’ comparable to putting together a puzzle except you have instructions for how to do it. So if you’re looking at this game and thinking about the ordeal you have to go through to build the stuff before you can play with it, you’re probably approaching Nintendo LABO with the wrong mindset.

In “Play”, players can make use of the objects they’ve created to play one of multiple minigames (which I’ll go into in a moment). Finally, in “Explore”, players are given insight into how all of this works, as well as being given a utility to create their own LABO projects (again, I’ll get to this a bit later).

For what’s included in the box, you have the following construction projects, and while some of the constructions you’ll be building will be associated with specific games included here, all of the games will require the VR goggles. First, here are the projects you’ll be building:

Joy-Con Holder – This is a little box for your Joy-Con. Which… is completely unnecessary and pointless, but acts as a simple project to get players acquainted with how to use Nintendo LABO. This item is not used with any minigame.

VR Goggles – Clearly the main attraction here, the VR goggles are fairly sturdy and look pretty good in use, so long as you bear in mind that the Nintendo Switch was not originally designed for this purpose. This means that everything you’ll look at in VR mode will have a greatly-reduced resolution, as this mode only uses a fraction of the Nintendo Switch’s 720p screen for each eye. Visuals will be more pixelated, blurry, or both, and the way the thing magnifies the screen means that any dust, scratches, or other marks on the Nintendo Switch or lenses will be magnified, resulting in a messy-looking image. Also, the construction of this headset does not include any sort of head strap, meaning that players will either have to hold it with one hand and a single Joy-Con in the other, or play with both Joy-Cons attached and have their hands on the Nintendo Switch at all times, or play using one of the attachments that you hold – there are no hands-free options here. Perhaps in part because of this, it has you pushing the thing into the bridge of your nose in a way that ended up actually being a little painful for me.

Clearly, this headset has a lot of limitations that make it less than ideal. However, if you can tolerate those limitations, the headset works well enough. It’s clearly not going to give PlayStation VR or Oculus Rift a run for their money, but this kit is a fraction of the price of one of those, so comparing them directly doesn’t exactly seem fair. In addition to the VR Goggles themselves, there is also a cover that goes with it to help keep the Nintendo Switch inside it when the Joy-Cons aren’t attached.

Pinwheel – This is one of those flowery-looking wheels, and this one is designed to be attached to the headset for players to blow on. Out of all of the Nintendo LABO constructions from all four kits, this is the only one that I simply was not able to get to work. I checked and double-checked it, and it appears to have been assembled correctly (yes, I alternated the stickers as the game instructs), but for whatever reason the game fails to recognize it. It spins fine when I blow on it though, so it’s not entirely worthless?

Blaster – This is a two-handed pump-action gun that connects directly to the 3D headset, and it actually takes roughly 3-4 times more time to assemble than the headset itself. It’s totally worth it, though – even before using it in a game, this thing is a joy to hold and play with. It’s even designed so it needs to be pumped to prime it after every shot, with it having a satisfying feeling locking it into place. I will add one frustration I noted with this construction, though – sometimes pumping the thing didn’t seem to work, and I needed to pull the trigger repeatedly before it would let me pump it again. However, overall this may very well be my favorite of all of the Nintendo LABO constructions, save for perhaps the VR headset itself.

Nintendo Switch Holder – This is a holding case for the Nintendo Switch, literally just cardboard that wraps around the front and back of the Switch but leaving holes for the screen and Joy-Cons. I have no idea what this is supposed to be used for.

There are also a few little extra pieces for more minor uses, such as to demonstrate features discussed in the Explore mode.

Now, as for the different games included in this package, you have the following:

VR Plaza – This is a collection of numerous minigames designed to show off the functionality of the headset. Even by Nintendo LABO standards, these games are very rudimentary – they’re more like tech demos than minigames. However, there’s a huge number of them (48 unlockable with what comes in the Starter Set, and even more if you get the expansions), and some of them are fun little distractions. However, it bears mention that these little minigames hide a greater purpose… that I’ll get to a bit later.

Blaster – This is an On-Rails Shooter designed to be used with the Blaster construction, and this is probably my favorite minigame out of all of the Nintendo LABO minigames, just edging out Adventure in the Vehicle Kit. In this minigame, players shoot down aliens in various parts of a city using what seems to be a grenade launcher. This game was an absolute blast to play, and surprisingly lengthy – there are 18 levels in all, with each level taking a few minutes to progress through it, and with players fighting a boss on every third level. If you’re looking to play something fun that makes good use of the VR, this minigame is the highlight of this package.

Kablasta – This is a 2-Player alternating game using the Blaster construction, where players vacuum up fruit and aim them at a pool of hippos, with the goal being to try to lure more hippos to your side than the opponent. This is a cute idea, but the need to swap with the other player after each shot slows the game’s pace to a crawl.

There are other minigames that can be unlocked by getting the expansions to this game, but I don’t have those, so I can’t detail them here.

I should note that in pretty much all of these constructions and minigames, you’ll find a lot that’s impressive and that makes ingenious use of the features of the Joy-Cons, but you’ll also find some degree of disappointment at how shallow a lot of this is. These constructions really make amazing use of the Joy-Cons’ motion-sensing capabilities, infrared camera, and HD Rumble in ways that you wouldn’t necessarily consider or even think possible, but it feels like every one of these minigames could do with more content to expand upon what’s included here. At the very least, Blaster has a decent amount of content to it, but that’s about it.

Compared to the other Nintendo LABO kits, I think this one slightly edges out the Vehicle Kit for first place – it has a smaller variety of games (unless you count all the tech demos in the VR Plaza as separate “games”, but Blaster is so darn fun that it carries this package all on its own in terms of gameplay. I should note that while most of the games presented here are fairly simple visually, Blaster adds some nice visual touches, like some good use of lighting, weather effects, and decent textures. Of course, again, I add the caveat that due to the Nintendo Switch not being designed for VR, everything suffers from a very low resolution, but even despite this flaw, the game still manages to look pretty good.

I should note that the VR Headset is usable in five games other than Nintendo LABO. Here are my thoughts on its implementation in each:

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker – This game lets you play through four select levels in VR. This actually looked really good, especially the fourth level, which is a first-person perspective mine cart level that felt perfect for VR. Unfortunately, players can blast through these levels very quickly.

Neonwall – I do not yet have this game, and as such I cannot comment on the quality of the LABO VR implementation here. Sorry.

SmileBasic 4 – I know that this game received Nintendo LABO support in Japan, but I do not know if it got similar support in the US. I haven’t tested it, sorry.

Spice and Wolf VR – I do not yet have this game, and as such I cannot comment on the quality of the LABO VR implementation here. Sorry.

Super Mario Odyssey – Players can play in limited areas in a few levels from the game, viewing the action from a stationary position as you have Mario search for music notes. This is a decent little distraction, but it’s a bit disappointing that you only get to play a small portion of the game this way, and in such a limited fashion. You can also watch the opening and ending cinematics in 3D.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – This game lets you play against computer opponents (or spectate an all-CPU battle) with very limited game conditions. This felt tacked-on and didn’t really make good use of the VR.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Unlike every other game on this short list (aside from maybe Spice and Wolf VR, I don’t know), this game actually lets you play the entire full game using VR. I found this to be an interesting experience, though it’s a bit of a tradeoff – you get motion-controlled camera controls, sure, but I’m not sure how much the visuals benefit from VR, and the lower resolution definitely makes the quality of the graphics worse. I might have enjoyed this more if I didn’t have to hold the Nintendo Switch up while I was playing it.

I’ve also seen it claimed that 3D videos in YouTube are supported by searching for “Cardboard VR” in that app, but the videos I tried didn’t work properly – nearby objects looked right, but farther away things just looked like double-vision.

All told, the best use of VR in a non-LABO game is probably in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, but that game also features the least amount of content supported by the VR goggles, and that content can be completed in 20 minutes or so. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the only one that actually fully supports the thing (again, aside from perhaps Spice and Wolf VR), but it’s harder to say for that game whether the game is truly enhanced by it. All in all, if you’re looking to get Nintendo LABO VR to use with other games, odds are good you’ll walk away a bit disappointed.

In addition to gameplay, players will find a selection of over 30 short videos supported in VR in this game, located in the Explore mode. These range from silly joke videos to nature videos to “find the hidden object”-style videos, and make for a nice demonstration of what videos can do in VR.

However, beyond gameplay, for the more ambitious creative types, there is of course the Explore mode that’s included with each of the Nintendo LABO games, which not only acts as a fascinating tour through the different features of the Joy-Cons (simplified so that kids can understand them), but also gives players access to a “Garage” tool that enables them to design their own interactive applications using a drag-and-drop interface. Don’t get too excited, though – you’re not going to be getting any sort of extensive game design kit here, as there’s not any way to alter the graphical interface beyond the buttons and light-up panels you’ll be using, so you won’t be producing anything as visually impressive as the minigames included with this package. However, for those looking to jerry-rig their own tools using the Joy-Cons, or get a very, very basic grasp of how programming languages work (including interface features that represent “IF/THEN”, “AND”, and “NOT”). I should note that while most of Nintendo LABO is extremely kid-friendly, this final section may be confusing to even more seasoned game players, despite that it is very, very simplified compared to actual programming languages.

This kit also goes a step beyond the earlier Nintendo LABO kits by offering a second additional tool in the Explore mode that wasn’t in the previous games, and a different and unique one compared to what was in the Vehicle Kit: Toy-Con Garage VR, which actually lets players use some of the game’s assets to create their own simple games. This is the big secret of the VR Plaza collection of minigames, by the way – all of these minigames were created using this content creation software, meaning that you could potentially create your own that’s just as good or even better, if you have the computer design skills to make it work. Again, no programming languages are used here, it’s all a simple drag-and-drop interface, but it’ll still be complex for anyone who can’t wrap their head around the basics of how game design works. I should note that this game is extremely generous with the amount of space it provides players to save their own creations, with players having dozens of spots in the VR Plaza reserved for their own custom-made games.

In the end, Nintendo LABO Toy-Con 04: VR Kit is my favorite of all of the Nintendo LABO kits for multiple reasons – The blaster/VR goggles combo is my favorite construction, the Blaster minigame is my favorite minigame, and this release goes much farther than any of the previous LABO titles in enabling players to create their own custom content. I wish the goggles had a damn head strap, I wish the Nintendo Switch’s comparatively low resolution didn’t make the graphics suffer as much as they do here, and I wish this game had better and more extensive support in non-LABO games, but for players looking to experience VR for under $100, this is an excellent package, and those looking to get their feet wet in the world of game design may find this to be a worthwhile experience as well.

Finally, for players deciding on which LABO kit to get, I think there are good qualities to the Variety Kit, Vehicle Kit, and VR Kit (not the Robot Kit – that’s pretty terrible all-around), but of the whole lot of them, if you only get one, I’d say to get this one, as it provides a unique experience you simply can’t get anywhere else (well, unless you want to drop $300 on a professional VR headset).

tl;dr – Nintendo LABO Toy-Con 04: VR Kit is a really unique hybrid of a Minigame Collection, an On-Rails Shooter, a series of Accessories you create yourself using the included pieces of custom-made cardboard, and a misc. tool you can use to explore the features of the Nintendo Joy-Con controllers, and even a halfway decent beginners’ game design tool. While the Nintendo Switch clearly wasn’t designed with VR in mind, this kit makes it work, albeit in a highly limited fashion, and it’s comparatively cheap compared to more professional VR headsets. Overall, while it isn’t without some major flaws, this is my favorite Nintendo LABO kit, as the Blaster construction and minigame are both my absolute favorite, and this game goes much farther than the others in its game creation tools. If you only get one Nintendo LABO kit, get this one.

Grade: B+

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