Viewtiful Joe

Trivia

Take a look at the back of the US GameCube box. It has a robot that looks very much like the R.O.B accessory for the NES console.

Gran Bruce's name (he's the end boss for the 2,000,000 Leagues Under The Sea level) is quite possibly a reference to Jaws. More specifically, the mechanical shark used in the movie, which was nicknamed 'Bruce' by the crew.

A Black Cat appears throughout the game.

1) Illustrated in posters on street scenes

2) Driving the runaway jet-powered buses

3) In a space suit at the beginning of the space station

The final level has many references to Star Wars.

1) The space dock interior with the the ranks of troops on black mirror floor looks like the Death Star reception for the Emperor in Return of the Jedi.

2) The Die Fighters have hexagonal wings

3) Blue tells Sylvia "I am your father, Sylvia"

4) In the end titles, the Joe and Sylvia poster is subtitles "In a viewtiful galaxy, far far away"

Most of the names of the stages are puns regarding famous movie names: "Some Like It Hot", "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", "The Great Escape", "Midnight Cowboy" and "The Magnificent Seven". But I won't spoil the jokes here. :)

"Henshin" in Japanese means "transform", so Joe's catchphrase when he changes, "Henshin a go-go, baby!", translates (obviously) to, "Transform a go-go, baby!"

The Japanese PlayStation 2 version is called Viewtiful Joe: A New Hope, after the "new" subtitle of Star Wars.

In level 2, "some like it red hot" there are bill boards with playguy displayed on them with a scantly clad women, which is a blatant product replacement for "playboy"

Sometimes the third boss, Gran Bruce, spits out a Nintendo GameCube.

If you hold down the X button, Joe will throw up a bomb, jiggle it on his knee, and whistle the first 6 notes of the Mario theme. If you do it in mid-air, he'll whistle another part of the Mario theme. If you do it in Slow Motion, he'll whistle another part.

In an interview on 1UP, Hideki Kamiya mentions the movies that influenced the design process: "Life is Beautiful" inspired the Viewtiful Joe bonus video, and the bus in the movie "Speed" was the inspiration for the bus in Viewtiful Joe. "Jaws" was the inspiration for the Shark Boss.

Contributed by Sciere (123498) on Mar 02, 2004.

Capcom re-released Viewtiful Joe in Japan with some new content and a new, easier difficulty mode titled "Suwito" (Sweet) on December 18, 2003. The upgraded version is called Viewtiful Joe Revival and is priced at 3,980 Yen ($36).

Contributed by Sciere (123498) on Jan 18, 2004.