"One of the best games in years."

Henshin! Now that that is out of the way here's an introduction. When I decided to get a GameCube, one of the games I had been eyeing up was Viewtiful Joe. I remember reading about it in a magazine and it looked cool. In my opinion, it turned out to be one of Capcom's best games ever in. I rented it and it I found it was an extremely hard and good-looking game. However, I wanted to keep playing because it was so fun. Soon I got better at it and bought more upgrades and got much farther into the game. I purchased the game a few months later and finished it. After finishing it I played halfway through it again without stopping and getting tired and going to sleep. I finished it again the next morning. That's the only time I've done a thing like that. Let's take a better look at Viewtiful Joe to see what makes it so awesome and fun.

Graphics 10/10

VJ's graphics are cel-shaded which means they look like a cartoon or a comic book, similar to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. They look spectacular and don't ever slow down even when there are mass enemies on-screen. VJ's graphics are very stylish and very appealing to graphics whores and non-graphics whores alike. Since there was no other category for this, there are a few Nintendo references throughout the game. There's a GameCube, a R.O.B., the Mario theme etc.

Story 10/10

VJ's story may not be original but it is extremely colorful with great characters. Joe and his girlfriend, Silvia, are the only ones in a movie theater watching an old movie starring Joe's favorite movie superhero, Captain Blue. Silvia would rather go down on Joe than watch Captain Blue but she doesn't mind. Suddenly, both of them are sucked through the screen into the movie world. When Joe arrives, he meets his hero, Captain Blue who teaches him how to be a superhero and some sweet moves. Joe must stop the evil organization, Jadow, from escaping the movie world and conquering the real one. They have also captured Silvia. Along the way Joe meets a few Jadow villains like Hulk Davidson who are great characters themselves. There's even an interesting plot twist. Will Joe save the day? Go find out yourself.

Sound 9/10

The music is a perfect fit for each level. The boss tunes are catchy. The voice actors give a great performance. There's even a Viewtiful Joe music video (that I assume is in Japanese) at the end of it all. The only gripe I have about the audio is…

spoiler warning

When you complete the game on the higher difficulties, you get to play again as Silvia, Blue, or Alastor. You play through the same game as before, but with a different story. For example: Silvia has to save her twin sister Goldie. There is no English recorded dialogue for these stories, just gibberish with subtitles. Some of the lines would've been funny too like Gran the Shark asking if Silvia would like to go on a danish with him instead of a date.

end spoilers

Gameplay 10/10

This is one of the most original games I have ever played and yet is reminiscent of video games on the Nintendo Entertainment System on the 1980's. The goal is simple. You must beat up enemies on a 2D plane to finish a level. The controls are also simple. You can punch, kick, jump, and use VFX powers. These attacks are upgradeable between levels. You can also buy new moves, more health, and 2 extra weapons, the Voomerang and the Shocking Pink. The Voomerang allows Joe to throw a shuriken (ninja star) that returns to him. The Shocking Pink is simply a bomb that explodes and damages enemies. There are some ingenious puzzles along the way, which involve using your VFX powers. “What are VFX powers?” you say. Do you remember The Matrix? Of course you do because that was the movie where Keanu Reeves dodged a bullet in slow motion. That is one of the VFX powers Joe can use. Joe can slow down time to dodge enemies, bullets, lasers, missiles, fireballs, and whatever else Jadow throws at you. VFX Slow will also increase the amount of punches and kicks you can do in an amount of time. VFX Mach Speed does the complete opposite of VFX Slow, it speeds things up. Joe can use Mach Speed to beat up Jadow's evil robots faster. This will also set Joe on fire if he does enough attacks. It's good fire though, not a bad, damaging fire. Fire is implemented into the puzzles and so on. One of the upgrades for Mach Speed makes multiple Joes appear on-screen. Double or even triple the ass kicking. The last VFX Power is called VFX Zoom. VFX Zoom allows Joe to (omfg no way) zoom in. The camera zooms in on Joe, and increases the power of any punch or kick. It also allows Joe to perform a spinning jump and a deadly drop attack.

VJ has some great boss fights. They are like the puzzles and the fighting rolled into one. First you have to figure out the boss's weakness and patterns, then you must exploit them exploit them. There is one level in Viewtiful Joe that is unlike the others. You fly Joe's mini-plane, Six Machine (who's favorite food happens to be ramen) and shoot enemies with its laser. This plays just like Capcom's U.N. Squadron (based on the anime Area 88) for SNES, another old-school game. Viewtiful Joe has some of the best gameplay of this generation. It is mindblowingly fun and the GameCube controller is perfect for it.

Replayability 7/10

Obviously, this game is fun enough to finish a couple times without an incentive. There is an incentive though. 2 extra difficulties for you masochists and 3 extra characters are waiting to be unlocked. Sadly, the characters have almost the same moves as Joe. The game can be beaten in under 10 hours.

Difficulty 9/10

In my opinion, the difficulty of Viewtiful Joe was perfect. I died a lot of times but not so much that I'd get stuck and bored. The puzzles were just hard enough and the save points were placed perfectly. One stage in particular had some issues though, The Magnificent 5. In this stage, you fight 4 of the bosses you've previously encountered and 1 new one in succession with only a normal amount of lives. They are also much stronger than before. There is no save point and there is only a checkpoint after beating 4 of the 5 bosses. A lot of people quit the game here, which is a shame because there's still some more fun to be had afterwards. And to think there's 2 harder difficulties to play the stage on.

Overall 9/10

To put it frankly, you should buy Viewtiful Joe if you own a GameCube. It is stylish, original, and well paced with great sound, story, and graphics. It now costs only the price of a budget title or less. There is a sequel to VJ as well and the may even lower the price of the original. This game was given great reviews but overlooked. You shouldn't overlook this game as it's one of the best on GameCube.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/04/05