Delivers consistently engaging gameplay with a flair and personality rare amongst side-scrolling action games.
User Rating: 9.3 | Viewtiful Joe (Pink Version) GC
Unlike individual sports such as ice skating and snowboarding, where style points go a long way towards the athlete’s final score, video games are often like team sports, where an ugly win is a win, just the same. So, in a world in which most gamers are concerned with the win, no matter how ugly it may be, we have Viewtiful Joe, a showy and refined game that not only rewards the player for stylish moves, but delivers them with often brilliant high fashion. The final result not only delivers consistently engaging gameplay, but does so with a flair and personality rare amongst side-scrolling action games. Viewtiful Joe’s story is appealing, if mostly straightforward. You play as Joe, a fan of movies featuring Captain Blue, a revered protagonist who fights against the forces of evil, as any good superhero should. In a strange twist of fate, Joe’s girlfriend Silvia is abducted into the film world, and Joe is recruited by Captain Blue himself to save her, as well as Movieland itself. The story is told mostly through cutscenes, with plenty of humor and knowing winks. Once in Movieland, Joe must fight his way through hordes of enemies, using three main superhero powers he earns along the way. The first and most useful power Joe learns is “slow,” in which the world slows to a crawl, allowing Joe to dodge attacks and pound spinning enemies with ease. Slow motion also causes helicopters and other such objects to fall to the ground, allowing Joe to attack flying enemies, as well as to use flying platforms that appear quite often as aspects of Viewtiful Joe’s various puzzles. Next, Joe learns the mach speed power, which is mostly the opposite of slow motion: rather than slow the world down, mach speed moves Joe at a frenzied pace. While mach speed is not as handy in combat as the “slow” power, it does have a variety of uses. For example, not only does it have obvious defensive uses, but as you attack in mach speed, multiple “ghost” Joes are created, who can then open treasure chests in the background that Joe himself cannot reach. The third power is “zoom,” in which the camera zooms into Joe, causing your attacks to become more powerful and allowing you to perform even more complex combat moves, such as the spin attack. More abilities can be acquired along the way. As you fight enemies, you will accumulate “viewtifuls,” which both float freely as coins and serve as rewards for successful combat. The more damage you do in one particular combo, the more viewtifuls you earn; they can then be used to purchase new powers, such as the “red hot kick” attack, or upgrade existing ones along the way. However, your powers are not freely available: you must keep an eye on your VFX meter, which tells you how much time you have to complete your move before you turn back into regular Joe. Simply not using your powers will allow the meter to replenish, and as you collect items throughout the levels, your meter will grow, allowing you to perform longer and more stylish combos along the way. While three basic powers may seem limited, in practice, the different combinations of abilities available keep the gameplay varied, especially because some attacks are more effective against certain enemies than others. The game’s bosses, in particular, will all force you to use different techniques to successfully beat them, although each one is particularly susceptible to one type of attack. Unfortunately, the zoom-punch combo attack seems to cause the most damage across the board, potentially making the player too dependent on that one move, although this isn’t always the case. Various puzzles throughout the levels also ensure that you are not dependent upon any single power, although the game is forgiving enough to allow you to develop your own style. Using a variety of attacks, however, is the best way of earning viewtifuls for superior combinations. Joe is thankfully simple to control, considering the large number of potential attacks available to you. At times, however, the gameplay can be unforgiving, making reloading a frequent occurrence. Save points are few and far between, often adding to the frustration, as the player is forced to replay large portions of a level before reaching the point at which he died. Fortunately, revisiting those levels is rarely a disappointment, as they are wonderful to look at and remain enjoyable in multiple replays. Viewtiful Joe initially features two difficulty levels, with others unlocked upon finishing the game in the “adult” difficulty. Viewtiful Joe’s snazzy, colorful graphics are a treat for the eyes, with a variety of styles and colors from level to level. There are generally a lot of things happening at once, making the impressive superpower effects that much more impressive. Animation is superb and the cel-shaded characters and backgrounds enhance the comic book excitement of the gameplay. In some later levels, there is a drop in frame rate during periods of high onscreen activity, but these moments are rare and temporary. Sound effects are equally impressive with an appropriate “whoosh” as Joe moves into slow motion, the sounds of breaking glass as shards go flying from enemies, and the twirl of swords or guns in the hands of your adversaries. The techno music that accompanies the game is appropriate but can get repetitive, however, although the voice acting is consistently excellent throughout. Thankfully, gameplay is never compromised for the sake of glitzy graphics and sound effects. Instead, those effects actually enhance the frenetic combat at the core of the game. Viewtiful Joe is an extraordinary example of how addicting and diverse gameplay can be as much a part of its replay value as its length or unlockables, and is a must-play for anyone who has ever wanted to be a superhero; in other words, everyone with a GameCube should pick up Viewtiful Joe post haste.
