Henshin a Go Go Baby…

With his pink scarf and the name Viewtiful, I was almost sure Capcom was publishing a game developed by GLADD. But soon after seeing Joe in action I knew I was wrong. Capcom's side scrolling cel-shaded beat'em-up title Viewtiful Joe has been out in Japan for some time now (those lucky mother #@%$!%). But since US gamers live on the west side of the planet, we waited till now for the anticipated game to hit our living rooms. Viewtiful Joe the lovechild of Capcom’s Atsushi Inaba, acclaimed producer of Steel Battalion and Hideki Kamiya, director of Devil May Cry and Resident Evil 2, and what a cute baby he is. The game with the most anticipation out of Capcom’s 5 exclusive Cube games (well besides RE4) was agonizing to wait for. But was well worth the wait. With one released a month back with mixed reactions, one cancelled, and two still highly secretive. It’s really sweet to have the second released in 2003. Capcom has really gone to town with high production values, old-school gameplay, and cool, visuals. Viewtiful Joe is absolutely unique. There's not a single game I can remember that's this wacky and cool at the same time. Sporting one of the weirdest and slickest game premises imaginable, fans of action platforming are in for a real treat.

Joe at a glance…
It all begins as Joe and his main squeeze, Silvia, are at the movies watching his favorite superhero, Captain Blue in action. But suddenly, Silvia is somehow warped into the motion picture realm and it is up to Joe to fight the silver screen baddies and rescue her. In the effort of saving his damsel in distress, Joe becomes more than just any ordinary dude. With the help of his hero Captain Blue, Joe learns the magic word “Henshin” to become the stylistic hero VIEWTIFUL JOE. Naturally beat ‘em ups generally aren’t heavy on the storyline, and Joe is no exception. It’s cheesy real cheesy, true but fortunately the game doesn’t take itself very seriously. Each cut scene is brief and enjoyable, with a fair amount of laughs scattered throughout Joe’s quest.

The Last Action Hero…
At first glance, Viewtiful Joe is stylish but run-of-the-mill action-platformer. Joe moves through each area, punching and kicking zillions of enemies until they die. Within each level, there are a few different types of goals. Some demand that you kill a certain amount of bad guys within a time limit or solve a simple puzzle, but basically the entire game consists of beating up the enemy. There is a boss at the end of each level, and then the next one begins. But with further examination you’ll see what makes the game stand apart from the rest, the VFX!

At the top of the screen is the Viewtiful FX bar. Using VFX powers drains the power, which quickly replenishes itself when not in use. Let me explain the process. The VFX meter located at the top of the screen shows you how much, say, juice Joe has to either slow down, or speed it up time. For every second the L or R button is held down, the meter is drained. When it goes completely empty, Joe changes from the "Viewtiful" superhero version of himself back to his regular self. The good news, though, is that he won't remain his boring self for long because the meter is always regenerating, and it only takes a few seconds for it to max back out. So if you're a smart player, you learn when to start and when to stop using VFX for some serious, stylish ass kicking. It's all done to balance the game, and a very well implemented way of doing so. Collecting Viewtiful Film Reels allows Joe to expand the size of the VFX bar for the remainder of the level. You also use Joe's powers to solve various puzzles. For example, you can slow down time to win on a huge slot machine that falls from the heavens. Also, certain enemies are puzzles in themselves, and you need to use your powers wisely to defeat them.

Joe can kick butt VFX but that wouldn’t be to Viewtiful now would it? That’s where Joe’s powers come in. The first of which, slow, brings time almost to a halt. When Slow is active, Joe can dodge bullets and other attacks like Neo himself, as well as deliver extremely powerful punches and kicks. Mach Speed gives Joe super-human speed. Among other things, it allows Joe to deliver a flurry of kicks or punches so fast it would make the Flash break down in tears. Even moving so fast he torches himself, but while on fire he can dish out more devastating blows. Joe’s final power, Zoom, for some reason is easily the most un-popular. It zooms the camera in quite a bit, actually making it a bit difficult to see Joe’s surroundings. This is a small price to pay, as Zoom allows Joe to dish out his most powerful attacks. While active, it enhances all of Joe’s moves. His standard kick becomes a whirling helicopter kick, and his regular jumps become dangerous attacks. Try mixing up your VFX for some of the best effects ever seen in a videogame. Not a believer yet? Ask my grandma whose jaw hit the floor, when I pulled off one of the more complicated combos using all my VFX powers. And the more style you have the more you get bonus points, which are used at the checkpoint item shops. There, Joe can refill his health, buy extra lives, expand his initially small health meter, and learn new moves.

Stages are put together well. And the high difficulty is a breath of fresh air, due to the easy games of the current generation. But it might be too high for the casual gamers. There are about 13 give or take 1 or 2 enemies to battle, mostly robots, with several variations of each. Each type has different attack patterns and weaknesses, so you’ll need to change up battle strategies to succeed. Some are more vulnerable to slow attacks, while others will only fall to your Mach Speed.

Joe also has a couple of downfalls. The main one being the games length. The 7 episodes are great to battle through, but I was left wishing there was 3 or 4 more. But that’s only because the game is so damn fun. The other thing some will hate is the control layout. With that damn small D-pad used to move primarily it can get a little frustrating, but everyone should easily get over it.