Viewtiful Joe

aka: Red Hot Man, Viewtiful Joe Revival, Viewtiful Joe: A New Hope
Moby ID: 10626
GameCube Specs
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Description official descriptions

Joe is your normal everyday guy, watching movies and hanging out with his girlfriend, Silvia. But when Silvia is sucked into a movie reel by an evil force, Joe's life is turned upside down. It's up to you to take everyman Joe and turn him into a superhero to end all superhero's and save his girl.

With a heavy dose of comic book visuals, Viewtiful Joe is an action-heavy 2D side-scroller inside a 3D world, that will have you using the amazing abilities of the hero in question as you slice and dice the many enemies on screen with VFX special moves, such as Slow and Mach Speed. You'll have the chance to earn 'Viewtifuls', which will boost your abilities with new killer moves and special items. You'll need them as you progress further into the seven episodes and big bosses at the end of each.

Spellings

  • 红侠乔伊 - Chinese spelling (simplified)
  • 뷰티플 죠 새로운 희망 - Korean PS2 spelling (Hangul)

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (GameCube version)

66 People (54 developers, 12 thanks) · View all

Director
Producer
Executive Producer
Lead Engineer
Stage Programming
Authoring System
Technical Support
Character Design & Modelling
Stage Design & Modelling
Motion Animation
Special Effects & Interface
Music Composition
Sound Design
Voice Over by
  • Soundelux Design Music Group
Voices
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 89% (based on 68 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 74 ratings with 6 reviews)

Viewtiful Joe is an impressive form of art that also happens to be a great yet challenging game.

The Good
The gameplay of Viewtiful Joe (VJ) is not entirely original but its style and execution is. Viewtiful Joe literally puts you in the limelight of the action and although the camera is a flat panning 2D, the characters and enemies are 3D giving a visceral and fleshed out feel of the game. Many believe that side scrolling genre has died a long time ago but VJ restarts it with a shot of steroids. Many development teams understand the limitations of 2D side scrolling but the team behind VJ exploits new strengths behind these limitations by adding a wrinkle or two on the formerly impacted genre. VJ gives a masterful combination of 2D action and cinematic play that is reminiscent of Ninga Gaiden on the NES. Part of this good execution is made by the brisk pacing of battling enemies and solving puzzles. Most of the puzzles are physics based but the physics of VJ are not what you're used to in other games. The game gives you the power to slow down or speed up time giving you the added ability add extra power to that punch or attack several enemies at once. In addition, it can be used to slow down propelling blades on a helicopter or speed up running vehicles. VJ makes up its new rules on how physics works in its world but it works perfectly with the look of the game and those rules stay consistent.

What's really impressive is how the controls play during the battles and puzzle elements in the game. Control is extremely tight but very satisfying. VJ is one of the few (if not the only) 2D side scrolling games that make use of all the buttons and sticks on the Gamecube controller but for some reason it isn't overwhelming at all. Executing VFX moves in the game are intuitive and natural. If anything, it should teach a thing or two to game developers trying to make their complex action games more accessible to more casual gamers.

The characters are memorable as well as the puzzles. Most puzzles are pretty simple but are not tricky or obvious. Some of the puzzles in the game are very original and made me wonder how much they've learned when going back to 2D.

The Bad
My only gripe is that it is short. In 10-15 hours you can quickly finish this game. Furthermore, there are no co-op modes or fighting modes to add to the single player story. If you're not an experienced gamer that is used to all the twitchy type action, prepare to be frustrated. There are many boss battles in the game that require precise timing and understanding patterns but overall you should find something to like.

The Bottom Line
Viewtiful Joe is a good game with an original concept and gameplay. It takes the best of 2D and 3D and places it in a very refreshing perspective in side scrolling.

radcastro.com

GameCube · by diglot.net (27) · 2005

Lives up to the name: Viewtiful

The Good
The side-scrolling genre (at least on home consoles) has been becoming more and more endangered. But every once in a while a game comes along and shows that no matter how long the genre's been floating around, it's still definitely viable. AND entertaining.

Viewtiful Joe is a beautiful title, taking full advantage of the cel-shaded style that was so popular for too short a time. The animation is smooth, the enemies and attacks flowing like water (even when the speed and slow capabilities are turned on, which actually help showcase the detail of the characters and animation). The controls are bang-on, though slightly hampered by the Gamecube's slightly odd control scheme... with some practice, however, the button placement becomes second-nature (which is also surprising because of the large number of buttons used to control Joe).

Even the story is unique,

The Bad
Early on the game is incredibly easy. Except for the few scattered puzzles the enemies are easily beaten by just button-mashing (as are many of the enemies throughout the game; punching and kicking are basically interchangeable for attacking). Also, when it comes to the game's puzzles, many are trial and error... with little or no instruction as to even where to start. I spent a significant number of time on the first few puzzles just trying to figure out where to begin.

The Bottom Line
"If you'd like a little bit of the old-school with your new school, check out Joe!"

GameCube · by reyo (16) · 2008

Side Scrollers Return

The Good
I've been waiting for a next-gen system to deliver a quality side scroller for a while, and here it is!

The combination of 3D rendered characters playing on a 2D plane looks fantastic. If that weren't enough, Viewtiful Joe has a number of other graphical treats up its sleeve. Slow-Motion, Fast-Motion, and Zoom-In effects (all which are essential to gameplay) create constantly changing environments.

The graphic style, a sort of anime-comic book, is also a tremendous innovation.

The game itself is a definite challenge. You'll probably think back to those early side-scroller games like mega man when it comes to the pre-final boss stage (a series of previous boss refights). Extensively complex gameplay elements, primarily revolving around fighting styles, sets the learning curve a little higher than most games; however, the payoff is worth it.

The cine-story presentation (complete with intentionally over-the-top announcer) moves along the plot in a refreshingly self-aware manner.

Lastly, the inclusion of power-ups based on previous level success is great.

The Bad
There is actually a little lag when the screen becomes consumed -- however, after years with the original NES side-scrollers, it almost feels like it was intentional.

The Bottom Line
One of the Must-Have Gamecube titles.

GameCube · by Game22 (35) · 2004

[ View all 6 player reviews ]

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Viewtiful Joe appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Alternate Packaging

Europe saw two GameCube releases of this game; one with a yellow front cover and the other with a pink front cover. There are no gameplay or story differences between these two versions; it is purely cosmetic.

Black Cat

A black cat appears throughout the game: * Illustrated in posters on street scenes * Driving the runaway jet-powered buses * In a space suit at the beginning of the space station

Catchphrase

"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!"

Influences

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.

References

  • When holding 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 doing it in mid-air, he'll whistle another part of the Mario theme. In Slow Motion, he'll whistle yet another part.
  • In level 2, Some Like It Red Hot, there are billboards with a scantly clad women titled Playguy, which is a reference to the Playboy magazine.
  • Sometimes the third boss, Gran Bruce, spits out a Nintendo GameCube.
  • Gran Bruce's name is quite possibly a reference to Jaws. More specifically, the mechanical shark used in the movie, which was nicknamed Bruce by the crew.
  • The Japanese PlayStation 2 version is called Viewtiful Joe: A New Hope, after the later added subtitle of Star Wars.
  • 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.
  • 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.

References

The final level has many references to Star Wars: * The space dock interior with the the ranks of troops on the black mirror floor looks like the Death Star reception for the Emperor in Return of the Jedi. * The Die Fighters have hexagonal wings. * Blue tells Sylvia: "I am your father, Sylvia". * In the end titles, the Joe and Sylvia poster is subtitled: "In a viewtiful galaxy, far far away".

Viewtiful Joe Revival

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).

Awards

  • 4Players
    • 2003 – Biggest Console Surprise of the Year (GameCube)
  • GameSpy
    • 2003 – #4 GameCube Game of the Year
    • 2003 - Most Stylish Game of the Year (GameCube)
    • 2004 – Better Late Than Never Award (PS2)
  • Golden Joystick Award
    • 2003 - Unsung Hero Game of the Year

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Kartanym.

PlayStation 2 added by crbr.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, okJigu, Shoddyan, Sciere, Freeman, Patrick Bregger, Rik Hideto, FatherJack, Deleted.

Game added October 10, 2003. Last modified January 8, 2024.