Viewtiful Joe

aka: Red Hot Man, Viewtiful Joe Revival, Viewtiful Joe: A New Hope
Moby ID: 10626
GameCube Specs
Note: We may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made via eBay or Amazon links (prices updated 3/24 1:15 PM )

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)

Mad Japanese crazy superhero action!

The Good
It looks stunning! It uses old comic book techniques such as blurring, thick black lines and pretty, bright colours that give it a real classy look unlike any other game out there! The game plays like old’ side scrollers of the past and is best for it, though it has a few features which bring it out the past. These features are VFX which allows you to slow down, speed up and zoom in giving you handy abilities to clear out each room of enemies. The fighting because of this can be really joyful, using these techniques. Coupled with this a real comic book/ cheesy superhero movie feel, like the old batman programmes with Adam West that really tops it off.



The Bad
There’s too much of an emphasis on using slow VFX to get a good grade in each section of a level, while this isn’t necessary a bad thing as slow mo is fun, but I find that it doesn’t give you time with the other two VFX powers. Another bad thing is that it isn’t as hard as the Japanese version, perhaps in a effort to make it more attractive to the casual gamer. Also ironically, it is frustratingly hard in places. Also music is annoying after a while, but suits it the game sum what. The last thing that ticks off is that the graphics strain my eyes, but I don’t think this will applies to everyone.



The Bottom Line
Side scrolling fighters are back! VIEWTIFUL!!

GameCube · by Garland (12) · 2004

Wow!

The Good
This game has a really great graphical style. The gameplay is amazing. I loved the level design and the VFX. The environments are huge! The puzzles are great. I had tons of fun playing this.

The Bad
This game is HARD! Even on Easy, this game is really hard! It's almost impossible to finish. The enemies are almost all the same. The boss battles usually consist of just doing one thing over and over again (e.g. zoomed punches).

The Bottom Line
If you like a challenge, definitely pick this up. If you don't consider yourself hardcore or avid gamer, then maybe you should try some tamer fare, such as Sid Meier's Pirates! for the PC or NCsoft's Guild Wars for the PC.

GameCube · by Martin Greenberg (2) · 2005

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

[ 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

Information also contributed by CaptainCanuck, [Garland](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,48990/), [German Cruz](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,99948/), [Jiguryo](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,9748/), [piltdown man](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,168784/), [Rupert Breheny](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,40963/), [Tiago Jacques, [timebender](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,39366/) and [Thomas Dowding](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,532749/).](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,46057/)

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

Viewtiful Joe 2
Released 2004 on GameCube, PlayStation 2
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!
Released 2005 on Nintendo DS
Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble
Released 2005 on GameCube, 2006 on PSP
Joe Blade II
Released 1988 on Amiga, 1988 on Atari ST, 1990 on DOS...
Joe Gunn
Released 2007 on Commodore 64
Joe Cable
Released 2010 on iPad, iPhone
Joe Danger
Released 2013 on iPhone, iPad, 2022 on Browser
Joe Wander and the Enigmatic Adventures
Released 2023 on Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series
Joe Jump
Released 2019 on Nintendo Switch, Windows

Related Sites +

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 10626
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

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.