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)

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

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

Classic platforming action returns. New console, new look, same great fun

The Good
The style of the classic platform shooter games of yesteryear returns with a brand-new style. As Joe, you find yourself thrust into a movie world filled with gorgeous graphics and bizarre movie-esque villians in a battle to save your girlfriend. Veteran games who remember the challenges of classic NES and SNES games will not be disappointed, and even new players will find the action incredibly enjoyable.

The Bad
Some players may find the minimal frequency of save options makes the game artificially difficult.

The Bottom Line
If you like platform shooters, and want to play one of the best platformers ever, buy Viewtiful Joe.

GameCube · by Shadowcaster (252) · 2003

[ 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.