Another beauty from Viewty!
We'll start at the main menu. From here you have three options. The first option is "Story Mode" and this is the main mode of the game. When you originally start on this mode there are eight chapters available for you to play. The first one is called "Rehearsal" and is just a simple practice level to get you used to the controls and general idea of the game. The next seven chapters are the meat and potatoes of Story Mode. These chapters are actually seven separate parts of the film Captain Blue is shooting and take you to different locales around the world. These chapters are titled "Riddle of the Incan Empire", "Viewtiful Cartoon World", "Captain Blue Begins", "Truth of the Black Film", "Gulliver's Battles", "Atlantis: Four Adventures of the Sea" & "Les Acteurs Incroyable". Now, the first six of these chapters each consist of four separate sub-levels. The first three sub-levels are divided in to sometimes three, usually four separate battles. The fourth sub-level has just one battle, a boss fight. In each sub-level you will be given an objective beforehand that you have to achieve in order to successfully complete it. Usually the stipulations are along the lines of avoiding death a certain number of times, staying ahead of your rival in points, gaining a certain amount of points, or winning a pre-set amount of the individual battles in the sub-level. Each separate battle in each sub-level has it's own objective for you to complete. Completing these objectives is not a must for you to win the overall sub-level, but by completing these objectives it gains you maximum points and makes it a whole lot easier for you to win the sub-level. The objectives applicable to the individual battles usually include collecting the most diamonds during the battle (1 - green, 5 – blue, and 10 – red values), being the one who captures the flag as time runs out, destroying the most enemies, collecting or destroying the most environmental objects (object specified beforehand), being the last one standing, or destroying a boss. In these battles you compete against one other random character in the game, for the most part. In some of the latter chapters one or two more characters join the fray, but for the most part it's just one-on-one, may the best man/woman/shark/bat, etc. win.
As you complete each of the above chapters I mentioned, you will then unlock their corresponding "Special Edition" chapters. These Special Edition chapters are actually the exact same as the original chapters only a ton harder! The colouring and artwork change a bit to give things a different look and feel, but the objectives and battles are all the same. Your competitors change too, some new characters enter the game and that is who you have to compete against in these battles. And they are tough. The only chapters that don't have Special Edition counterparts are "Rehearsal" of course, and "Les Acteurs Incroyable". "Les Acteurs Incroyable" is a different chapter from the rest in that it is simply just a big boss fight, that's all there is to it. Once you complete all the Special Edition chapters you will then unlock two final chapters, but I'm not going to say what they are as I don't want to spoil absolutely everything! I know Story Mode must sound pretty confusing and it is! But once you get in there and used to how things work it's pretty simple.
The second option from the main menu is "Battle Mode" and this is the multiplayer mode. Up to four players can partake but if you are an only child like myself, you can only enter one character and the other three are all controlled by the computer. In this mode the seven main chapters from Story Mode are represented in the form of four separate levels per chapter that take place amongst it's various environs. The first six chapters have four levels each but the last chapter has only one, so the total amount of levels in Battle Mode is 25. Actually, each of these 25 levels has a corresponding "Special Edition" level, so in essence there are 50 total levels to complete. These Special Edition levels are all available right off the bat, you don't have to do anything to unlock them. The Special Edition levels are exactly the same as the regular levels, only a lot harder and as with Story Mode the colouring/artwork changes to give a different vibe. The structure of each of these Battle Mode levels is very similar to Story Mode. The first three levels from each chapter are divided in to three or four separate battles, and the fourth level is just one battle, a boss fight. The lone level representing the seventh chapter is simply the last big boss fight of the game. Battle Mode differs from Story Mode in a couple of ways. First, you are not fighting against one other character, you are fighting against three other characters which sure makes for a busier and more confusing battle! Also, there is only one objective you have to achieve in order to successfully complete these levels, and that is to be the one who finishes with the most points. Easy peasy . . . not so much.
The third and final option from the main menu is "Options". Once you get there you have a few choices. The first is "Game Settings". Here you can adjust the Rumble, Sound, and Monitor settings in the game. The second choice is "Battle Records". By choosing this option you can view all of your play records from Battle Mode. You can see how many attempts you have made to complete each level and how many times you have had success. You can also view info on each character you've used in Battle Mode, how many times you've used them and their career winning percentage. The last choice is "Gallery", and this is where you go to view all of the bonus material you have unlocked throughout the game. First you'll come across the "Video Gallery". As you make your way through Story Mode you'll unlock the cut scene movies they show every so often. This is where you go to watch them if you feel so inclined. There are only four movies in all. The second Gallery option is called "Anime Concept Art". As you beat each of the Special Edition chapters in Story Mode you will unlock a portion of concept art associated with that level. This is where you go to view that material. The last Gallery option is called "V-Puzzle". In the first six Story Mode chapters as well as their corresponding Special Editions you will see little pink puzzle pieces scattered about from time to time. There are 16 pieces located in each chapter and when you collect all of them you unlock that chapter's associated V-Puzzle. These V-Puzzles are simply cool pieces of artwork taken from the Viewtiful Joe universe.
I'll now touch on the characters in this game. When you originally start I believe you have access to about half a dozen characters. As you complete the Special Edition chapters in Story Mode you will begin unlocking all of the additional characters available in this game. In total there are 20 playable characters. I've got all but one of them, I have no idea how to unlock that last character!
As you make your way through all of the various battles in this game you have to be aware of the pickups that will show up regularly. The most common of these pickups are what look like little medallions and come in a few different sizes and colours. These medallions represent points in this game. Collecting as many of these medallions as possible is one of the most important aspects to success or failure in this game. You gain points by causing damage to your opponents and if you destroy one of your opponents you can collect all the points he/she drops when they die. However, the same applies to you, when you die you will lose about half of your collected point total. Also very prevalent are the VFX Powerup pickups that come in the form of little coloured orbs. There are four different types of VFX Powerups including Mach Speed (red), Slow (blue), Sound Effects (purple), and Zoom (green). These powerups temporarily give your character a relative power that causes enemies extra damage and usually help to protect your own character at the same time. From time to time you will see some health pickups show up as well. There are three different kinds including a pig with ketchup on his back running around the screen, a hamburger, and a fast food combo meal. There is a special fast food combo meal that is not a health item and actually causes damage by setting you on fire. So definitely learn to differentiate between the two. A pickup that is pretty rare is the chewing gum pickup. When you grab the pack of gum and then throw it the gum will land in a big pink blob and characters (including yourself!) can get stuck in it and not be able to move for a short time. A second rare pickup is the character double pickup. A little statue of Viewtiful Joe will appear from time to time and when you nab it a double of the character you are using will show up during the battle and help you out a bit. The last pickup you have to watch out for is the mini-game pickup. This looks very similar to one of the points medallions only it has a moving ring around it. When you pick one up and then throw it, all competitors will be taken away temporarily to play a mini-game. There are five different mini-games in total. The first one I call Mash the Buttons. All you do is press as many buttons on your controller as fast as you can and if you fill your meter first you win. In the second mini-game you have to rotate both the control stick and the c-stick as fast as you can, the first player to fill their meter wins. In the third mini-game one of the generic bad guys who appears in all levels of the game (called Binky) will hold up a sign three times in a row. Each time a certain button on the controller will appear on said sign. The player who has the fastest total time correctly pressing all three of the appropriate buttons wins. In the fourth mini-game you have to press the Y button at the right time. A meter will fill across the top of the screen on three consecutive occasions, each time faster than the last. The person who presses their Y button the most consistently as the meter reaches it's end wins. The last mini-game I call Pass the Binky. In this game you press one of the buttons on your controller to punch a Binky character across the screen at your opponent. He/she then tries to punch Binky back to you . . . rinse, repeat, etc. The first player to miss loses. Winning these mini-games is key to success in this game, especially in the harder latter stages. When you win these mini-games your opponents will take a big hit and lose a lot of their points that you can then steal. It's always fun to perform a robbery! Just ask the Situation . . .
As for the controls in this game, they are pretty simple. The control stick is used to move your character around the game's environments. The c-stick is used only in the one mini-game I mentioned above. Both the B and Y buttons are used as your attack buttons. String them together, along with moving your control stick in different directions, and you will perform various combos. The X button is used for your special attack. Each character in the game has their own signature attack that only they can perform and this is how you unleash it. Both the L and R buttons are used to activate the VFX Powerup pickups. And lastly the A button is used to make your character jump. When your character is in the air press it again to double jump. And when you are standing on a platform, hold down on the control stick and press A to drop down from said platform.
The pros to this game are many and conversely the cons are relatively few . . . if any. The first strength of this game I noticed was the story behind it. I thought the whole movie premise of this game was very unique and a great way to mix up the franchise a bit. Another strength was just the sheer amount of stuff to do in this game. At first it doesn't look like there is much to this game, but as you get in to it and start unlocking all the extra levels and characters, it all of a sudden becomes a lot longer more involved! There is a large amount of bonus material to unlock which contributes to the overall length and value of this game. Another huge pro I found was the graphics. The Viewtiful Joe universe is a very colourful, cartoony, richly imagined place that is so different from most other games, and that is one of the main reasons why I like this franchise so much. This originality and creativity is displayed to great effect in this game. Lastly I thought the gameplay was really good as well. The controls were spot on and there were no issues with camera angles or anything of that ilk. As for cons, the only thing I could come up with is that it was so bloody hard! I don't really see that as being an actual con, but I had to put something here! This game starts off easy but as it progresses, man it gets tough. But it's worth it, a lot of the games you play afterwards will probably seem easy in comparison!
For tips I might offer people starting out on this game, I do have a few. First, be patient. There is so much going on on the screen at any given time during the battles in this game that from time to time you may not know what the hell is happening! Hidden enemies, environmental objects, opponent powerups . . . many random things can kill you at the last second just before a level is completed and totally put you in the situation where you were just going to win a level to finishing dead last. This will happen . . . a lot. Just be patient and keep plugging away, the time will eventually come when you will be the one who gets the lucky break. The second tip I offer is to get to know each level and each character as well as you possibly can. Both the characters and the levels all have their little subtleties that if you pick up on and get to know, you can exploit to great effect and get quicker, easier wins. Also, get to know the various pickups. For instance, I find the Sound Effects VFX Powerup useless. So I'm not going to rush across the screen to get it and in the process get whacked and die and lose half my points. Know your pickups, which ones work for you and which ones don't, and grab the good ones as often as you possibly can. Lastly, you can collect and stockpile more than one VFX Powerup at a time. So by grabbing a VFX Powerup, even if you don't plan on using it, it takes it out of the hands of your opponents which is equally as important. Stockpile these powerups and save them for the right time, just don't use them willy nilly though. They can come in really handy right at that perfect time when you need to land a killing blow or stave off death for a few more seconds.
And that's all she wrote! These Viewtiful Joe games I find pretty hard to locate, and when I do find them they're usually not the cheapest games out there. But this is a case of if you can't find it in the bargain bin and have to pay a bit more than usual it's worth it, because you will definitely get the value out of it in the end. You will also get extremely frustrated at times, but that's beside the point . . .