The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's VR update isn't really VR, but it is a fun new way to play

First of all, set your expectations accordingly. The new VR updates for two of Nintendo Switch's most popular games do not hold a candle to the best experiences you might have had on Vive, on Oculus, or even on PSVR. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild boasts VR support for the entire game, but the framerate doesn't rise above the 30fps of the original version, there's limited motion tracking and it all looks a bit of a smear. It's even a push to call it virtual reality, really - the overall impression is more like holding a 3DS screen super close to your face, albeit a 3DS running a game that's as breathtaking today as it was when it launched over two years ago.

Super Mario Odyssey's VR mode has a greater claim to being a proper virtual reality experience, but even then it's a stretch. Here are three specially designed levels, taking place in various familiar kingdoms from the base game, each offering a small diorama you can look around as Mario collects coins and searches for musicians and their instruments - who, when found and reunited, perform a special concert of Odyssey's main theme.

It is 60fps - an improvement on Breath of the Wild, but still short of the 90fps that's recommended for a comfortable VR experience - but the visual fidelity is so poor that Mario becomes just a smudge when he's more than a few paces away from you. I'm not even sure you could say he's as lo-res as he was in his very first outing in 1981. At least back then you could make out his moustache.

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