This week, Nintendo surprised everyone by adding in Labo VR support to Captain Toad Treasure Tracker on Nintendo Switch. Some questioned how the game would play, and it if was even a proper fit for the game. After trying it out myself, however, I must say that this is the experience that shows off the capabilities of Labo VR.
Captain Toad Treasure Tracker is not given a full game in VR but about ten minutes give or take, of playtime with a set of levels. That playtime, however, gives you a completely different look at how the game works. On the Switch ( and Wii U for that matter), the game still feels a bit disconnected from the player despite the diorama viewpoint. You are not fully there and still have to adjust the worldview to get a close feeling.
With Labo VR, this is no longer the case, and you feel a truly intimate connection to the game world. You have a much better grasp of everything and the puzzles themselves become much more intuitive. It is not that the VR makes the game easier, but that the controls and nature of the game just click right. This could be because the Captain Toad levels originated in Super Mario 3D World, itself a successor to a 3DS game that utilized the 3D feature well. Being built on that framework would no doubt have an impact on the Captain Toad levels, so the transition is seamless here.
I didn’t feel any motion sickness I usually get with VR games (and that happens very quickly too I might add) but rather felt properly immersed. I am very hopeful Nintendo will expand on this down the road, because they have done something great here. It was a wonderful time playing and I just wish there was more.
The levels are far more realized and every small detail stands out. I even realized some small little tricks I could do here and there, that make full sense now. It is not a first-person look obviously, but the immediate view of everything really does change matters. I am fully serious when I say that Nintendo needs to make a full Labo VR Captain Toad game and not just a short experience. A full game would be a e killer app for Labo VR and show just how capable Labor VR really is.