During our third VR Game Roundup of 2021, we saw Brain Beats release on PlayStation VR, an interesting piñata bowling game, and a new croquet title. This week is again on the slower side, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few releases that should be on your radar. This week’s most notable virtual reality releases are X-Booster arriving on the Oculus Store, Brain Beats coming to additional platforms, and a new virtual reality cricket arcade title.
X-Booster
Kicking off this week’s VR Game Roundup is X-Booster, which is new to the Oculus Store. This fitness game has plenty of variety in your movement as you punch, block, and cut down objects. You can listen to your own music, which makes getting a quality workout in a breeze. There are also leaderboards to test your limits, so don’t expect to grow tired of X-Booster quickly.
It’s worth noting that there is also a demo on Steam, where the game exited Early Access late last year.
Fitness Potential
As you can see in the Oculus Store trailer for X-Booster, VR Fitness Insider has been a huge fan of the full-body workout that the game delivers. It really winds up testing your reaction speed as you dodge lasers and you wind up getting a great core exercise. Your arms and legs will also feel the burn as well. To check out everything the great VR fitness title has in store for you, check out our full review.
Developer and Publisher: NiVision
Release Date: January 21, 2021
Compatible With: Oculus Rift (also on Valve Index, HTC Vive, and Windows Mixed Reality via Steam)
Price: $19.99
Link: Oculus Store
Chase VR Cricket
https://youtu.be/emaHfqrYR2g
While not all that popular in North America, cricket is a sport that has a huge international audience. That’s why it’s great to see Chase VR Cricket release on the Oculus Store. While we’ve seen some simulation cricket games released in the past, this provides a more arcade experience. In fact, the game has you taking on alien robots in a batting contest.
Fitness Potential
The game has players batting for 20 minutes and looking to score over 200 runs in order to get the aliens to leave. Swinging a cricket bat, real or virtual, for 20 minutes can be tiring, so it should be a decent arm workout. It actually supports the Microsoft Kinect (version 2) if you own it as it can provide real-time full-body motion capture. If you don’t have Kinect, you’ll still get the standard Oculus tracking from your head to abdomen, so it is still fully playable. If you’re a fan of the sport of cricket, then this seems like a solid (and cheap) title that you should give a chance.
Developer and Publisher: One Edit – Lionel Jayaraj
Release Date: January 21, 2021
Compatible With: Oculus Rift
Price: $7.99
Link: Oculus Store
Brain Beats
Last week, Brain Beats arrived on PlayStation VR, and now even more virtual reality enthusiasts can check out the interesting looking fitness title as it comes to the Oculus Store. Developed by a team of psychophysical experts, the game is meant to deliver a workout that will relieve stress. You’ll be hitting color-coded spheres and cubes with each hand. Featuring nearly 30 songs to choose from, you can either play slower songs for a relaxing experience or faster ones if you want to get in a high-intensity workout. With three moods to choose from (relaxing, energetic, and adrenaline), the experience you receive is up to you.
Fitness Potential
Just like X-Booster, Brain Beats will deliver a full-body workout. It’s great to see the solid arm workout arrive on the Oculus Rift, and hopefully, it will come to additional PCVR platforms in the future.
Developer and Publisher: My World srls
Release Date: January 21, 2021
Compatible With: Oculus Rift (Previously on PlayStation VR)
Price: $14.99
Link: Oculus Store
Plumber
Fitness Potential
You will be physically crouching and moving around the environment in order to reach different pipes and then place them on the wall. However, this isn’t a physically active game that will get you sweating, so we can’t recommend it for workout purposes. It looks like a solid game for kids, though, as it will stimulate their minds while also keeping them moving rather than sitting on the couch.
Developer/Publisher: Miltan Ltd
Release Date: January 21, 2021
Compatible With: Valve Index, HTC Vive, and Oculus Rift
Price: $4.99
Link: Steam
That does it for this week’s VR Game Roundup. Let us know if you are checking out Brain Beats and if you are still using your PlayStation VR headset.
