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Viewtiful Joe

by Michael Cole - June 25, 2003, 8:25 pm EDT

Here are a last few bits of factual info before our import impressions start rolling in.

Viewtiful Joe has just arrived in the land of the rising sun and he's looking even better than in previous demos. Capcom recently showed us the near-final Japanese version, and it showed even more polish than we'd seen in the E3 (and GameCube preview disc) demo.

One really cool new effect applied a slightly grainy worn-film look to the game. While the entire game is presented in a cinematic style, this extra effect only appears when Joe is 'normal Joe'. Once Joe 'Henshin-a-go-goes' (baby!), the picture cleans up. It's purely a graphical effect, but the change is quite noticeable and serves as a nice cue to the player as to when Joe is Viewtiful and ready to kick butt.

Also present were intro movies that set-up the story nicely. The game's story was nothing to write home about, but the style and feel were superb. The movies matched the feel of the rest of the game, evoking a wonderfully campy feel of Japanese live action superhero shows. However, one deviation from those Japanese shows was the voice acting. For better or worse, the days of Capcom's "Jill sandwich" and "master of unlocking" dialogue and voice acting are gone. Joe and company were voiced very well, as the audio in the movies complimented the visuals nicely.

One last new gameplay detail appeared before beginning a new level. Before starting a level, the player has access to a list of superpowers which can be purchased with pink "V" coins. These coins are collected throughout levels and will allow Joe to become even more powerful.

All in all, Viewtiful Joe is looking better than ever. Eager importers should be able to get their hands on the game now. Meanwhile, the rest of us will just have to rely on the usual superpower of Nintendo gamers: patience.


Last updated: 05/03/2003

The gaming world was shocked when Capcom announced it was working on a whopping five new games for the Nintendo GameCube. Resident Evil and Resident Evil 0 featured a dark and disturbing ambience, as will the upcoming Resident Evil 4, and P.N.03 boasted a surreal futuristic environment. However, one of the titles provided a stark contrast with a hilarious attitude, zany presentation, and a devilishly Japanese name: Viewtiful Joe.

Spearheaded by Devil May Cry’s Hideki Kamiya and Steel Battalion’s Atsushi Inaba, Viewtiful Joe is a game that harkens back to simpler times, when all video games had two dimensions and developers weren’t afraid to be ca-RAYZAY! Sporting a peculiar cel-shaded visual style inspired by classic comic books, VJ features your everyday goatee-wearing, righteous dude, aptly named Joe. All is not well, though, and Joe must “enter the World of the Movies”, where he gains heroic powers, to save the smart and sexy Sylvia from horrible monsters!

The whole premise is admittedly messed up, and Capcom is taking it all the way. Capcom’s cheesy English voice-acting makes a return in VJ, but that’s not all! The game is laid out much like Kirby 64, with 2-D gameplay in a varied 3-D world. Indeed, this game is a living, breathing comic book, complete with visual cues and textual exclamations. It also features comical sound effects and grunts, and yes, Viewtiful Joe verbally proclaims his special moves in typical superhero fashion. It even has an old geezer superhero, Captain Blue! HENSHIN-A-GO-GO-BABY!

But what’s with the name? In his superhero form, Viewtiful Joe relies on good old punches and kicks to save the day, but he has a few tricks up his sleeve in the form of views. Views are power-ups that alter Joe’s perspective of the world. Um…yeah. These enhancements give Joe a tactical or physical advantage over the situation to more effectively deal with the truckloads of punks he encounters. For instance, the Mach Speed view accelerates time so Joe can punish baddies before they see him coming. Conversely, Slow brings time down to a crawl, giving Joe the chance to skillfully evade the nefarious henchmen’s attacks. The Japanese commercial shows Slow used in tandem with another view, first evading a punch in Slow mode, then zooming in for a well-placed uppercut while the thug is vulnerable. Holy lamp post, Batman! Joe can also improve his viewtiful powers by beating up the scum with combos to earn points. Joe’s crazy powers (complete with psychedelic special effects) aren’t free, though, and depleting his energy meter will cause the goofy hero to revert to his average self for a short time. The Japanese footage also reveals non-combat, platforming gameplay such as Joe jumping over barrels and hiding under a giant missile’s path.

With a simple design and a wacky aura, Capcom’s Viewtiful Joe is one game comic book fans and old-school gamers will not want to miss. Viewtiful Joe comes out June 12th in Japan and Summer 2003 in North America.

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Genre Action
Developer Capcom
Players1

Worldwide Releases

na: Viewtiful Joe
Release Oct 07, 2003
PublisherCapcom
RatingTeen
jpn: Viewtiful Joe
Release Jun 26, 2003
PublisherCapcom

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