Viewtiful Joe is a fun and refreshing change from other game genres.
While the story may seem like your typical "save the world and get the girl back" theme, the humor of the game as well as the graphics make it more than worth your time to sit down and play through this game at least once.
Viewtiful Joe is full of action, brightly colored environments and enemies, and of course, a healthy serving of humor and laughs that will keep you wanting more as you progress. Viewitful Joe is unique as even during the "serious" parts of the game, Joe, the hero, finds some sort of joke or silly comment to make towards whatever's going on. This coupled with the already easy to use controls and fun factor tossed in, you have a wonderful game that is a refreshing break from your typical action bang'em up style video game.
The difficulty of your game depends on which difficulty you choose at the beginning of the game: "kids" or "adults." Both are self-explanatory in the fact that one is easier while the other is harder. This simplifies the game for you, but you'll be having a blast on either difficulty, even if you go for the harder one on your first go through the game. The controls of the game are pretty simple, and you won't be hassled by trying to remember a million and one combos to do the attacks you gain as you progress, some of them you purchase through the "shop" in the game, allowing you to defeat enemies and bosses easier. The shop element of the game also makes collecting V-points, points you collect by defeating enemies, more than just something tossed into the game for fun. You can purchase anything from health, moves, extra lives, etc.
The enemies and bosses in Viewtiful Joe are both funny and cute in a way, as they are all a bit comical and you'll find yourself amused by the way bosses act and talk when you encounter them. The difficulty varies based on what difficulty setting you have, but the bosses are quiet fun to beat.
The only two downsides to Viewtiful Joe, which are not major issues, are the VFX Gauge and the game length. The bar that's at the top of your screen shows you how much 'VFX' you have left, this can be used to do VFX moves and also shows how long Joe can stay as Viewtiful Joe, as the VFX will deplete when Joe uses 'Slow' or any of his other moves. The VFX Gauge doesn't become such an issue if you're collecting the small V-canisters that are in each level, as they will increase the length of the gauge, allowing you to stay as Viewtiful Joe longer. Lastly, the game itself is not very long. It's only 7 "episodes" long and can become longer if you're playing on a harder difficulty or as a different character but personally, if the game was any longer, it wouldn't feel right.
In the end, Viewitful Joe is a game that any fan of the genre should pick up, or if you're a gamer looking for a short, but fun and humorous game to play, then you should grab a copy of the game, which is also available on PS2.