The next Nintendo Switch game to be getting Labo VR support is none other than Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.
Nintendo Japan confirmed the news via the below trailer. A free update today (in Japan at least) adds a handful of levels that you can play with the Switch’s Cardboard headset. From what we can tell, these are existing levels brought into VR rather than all-new content but we might be wrong about that.
In Captain Toad you navigate worlds avoiding enemies, gathering coins and gems. The Labo VR levels seem to keep that gameplay largely intact, although it looks like there’s also an on-rails first-person shooter segment.
Now, historically speaking, Nintendo’s VR updates for existing Switch games have been pretty bad. Super Mario Odyssey was under cooked, Zelda was awkward and Super Smash Bros was pretty horrific. But Captain Toad actually makes a fair bit of sense for a headset of this type. It’s got adorable diorama-sized worlds just like Astro Bot and its puzzle-based gameplay seems perfect for VR.
Granted it’s often Labo VR’s technical limitations that hold experiences back. Switch’s 720p screen only allows for blurry 3D images and the three degrees of freedom (3DOF) tracking often feels limited. The minigames that come bundled with the hardware itself are much better reasons to own Labo VR. Even then, though, it’s only really worth it as a means of introducing VR to kids.
Recently we discovered that Nintendo’s new Switch, the Switch Lite, won’t support Labo VR. The redesigned device isn’t replacing the original, though.
