PixlBit

Developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom, Viewtiful Joe was released for Gamecube in 2003 (it would later be ported to the PS2). At the time of its release, there was nothing like it. The game is a huge homage to wacky Japanese superheroes, specifically Super Sentei (the precursor in Japan to Power Rangers here in the West). The game is cell shaded, which means the graphics hold up pretty well. More than anything, VJ is oozing with style--Joe fights with only the most stylish moves, there are cool super powers, the bosses are scene-chewing narcissists, and the levels are full of plenty of eye candy and goofy visuals. But what I really love about this game is that it's not just a basic action game. It's actually a puzzle action game (I'll explain in just a bit).

Opening cutscene (fully voiced): The game opens with Joe and his girlfriend Silvia watching an old movie. The movie stars Captain Blue, Joe's favorite superhero. Suddenly a giant villain reaches through the screen and grabs Silvia! Joe has to save her, of course, and finds himself in Movie Land. The adventure has begun!

Episode 1: Joe the Hero

Joe doesn't make it very far before he is confronted by Captain Blue, who fights him to "test him." After a very brief battle, Joe gets his very own V-watch. By saying "Henshin," he can transform into his superhero form (the V-watch and Henshin are both direct references to Super Sentei). This is where the game teaches you the basic fighting moves. You can punch and kick. When an enemy approaches you, a skull icon will appear either at Joe's head or at his feet. By pressing up or down, you can dodge the attack, which will stun the enemy, and then you can beat the snot out of them (one cool thing about Slow is that Joe will automatically dodge attacks, although it uses a lot of his VFX gauge). This means VJ is not a mindless action game because--of course--it's all about style. By fighting with style, you'll get points, and a crowd somewhere will cheer, and Joe will even shout sometimes ("Oh yeah"). As you progress, you'll want to collect V-emblems scattered about in order to increase your VFX gauge.

When you hear "Just Go For It," that means this section will be awarded a score based on your performance. The objective could be to defeat all the enemies or get a key and unlock a door. When it's done, you'll see your score (V, A, B, C, or D). After fighting Captain Blue again, you get your first VFX power: Slow. By pressing L, you can slow down time and do some really flashy moves. The key here is to dodge an attack, then use slow before attacking the enemy. This is how you rack up points and will be your bread and butter for fighting. Slow is easily the coolest power in the game. You'll come to a room in which you fight Joker, who comes out of a slot machine. After defeating him, you have to use slow in order to line up the slots.

As you progress, you'll notice that you're in some kind of mansion with ornate statues and fancy paintings. The scenery is so cool, and certain objects can be destroyed as you fight. The game does a good job of introducing simple puzzles. When your V-watch is glowing, it means that you have to use a VFX power in order to solve a puzzle. In one room, there is a leaking pipe just over a large switch. You can't hit the switch normally, so you have to use slow so that the drop becomes huge and causes the switch to activate (it's ridiculous, but anything goes when it's a superhero show). Soon after this you will get your second VFX power: Mach speed. By pressing R, Joe will move really fast, allowing you to tear through enemies if you don't like fighting them in slow motion. Not only that, but by moving so fast, Joe will catch on fire!

Between sections the game will allow you to go to a shop and buy power-ups using your V-points. There are all kinds of fighting moves, such as a sliding kick, Red Hot Kick, V-Boomerang, and other moves. It's all about looking stylish while you fight. You can save your game before moving on. As you progress, you'll be working your way out of the mansion and into a cellar. Watch out for giant barrels that are rolling right at you. One barrel blocks the path. In order to get past it, you must use Slow to hit it into the air and then use Mach Speed to run under it.

You finally make it to the boss's lair. You walk down a winding path and come to a coffin. Punch the coffin and out comes the first boss: Charles the 3rd. He's a giant bat. The banter between the bosses and Joe is always great. Unfortunately, it's hard to understand what Charles says, but after some trash talk, the fight begins. Charles is really easy. All he does is float around and throw some kind of wave attack. When you hit him, he splits into a bunch of smaller bats, which you can attack to lower his lifebar. His lifebar is very short (most bosses in this game will have huge lifebars). After beating him, Joe strikes a cool pose as the narrator announces what's coming up next. I love these moments because they really DO feel like you're watching some kind of superhero show.

Episode 2: Some Like It Red Hot

We're back in the city. Right away you'll notice that your VFX gauge has been reduced down to the minimum amount. That's right, you have to build up your guage each episode, but it's not a problem. As you move forward here, watch out for cars as they can damage you by driving 2 mph (seriously?). I love the details here as there are plenty of things to look at, such as different signs like "Cats Cafe" (has a black cat) and a movie theatre. You'll even see Charles the 3rd on a sign (because he's a movie monster). You can jump down an open manhole, but you won't be able to do anything. So jump out and keep moving forward. You'll have to fight Captain Blue one last time. After beating him, he gives you the last VFX power: Zoom!

Zoom is great because you can combine it with your other abilities. By zooming in, Joe will strike a pose and enemies will start quaking in fear. His punch is normal, but if you kick while zoomed in, Joe will do a spinning kick, which is very useful when you're surrounded by enemies. Zoom will also allow you to attack when jumping and when coming down. With this new power, now you can go back into the sewers and use Zoom to do the spinning kick and open a giant door (which I don't think is a thing in sewers, but y'know). Now things get interesting. You will have to use all three VFX powers in order to make it through this section, which involves floating platforms, moving lasers, and getting keys for doors. You'll fight Joker again, and after beating him you will need to use Zoom and Slow this time because the slot machine is really small.

After coming up out of the sewers, the game gives you what I think is the most aggravating puzzle in the entire game. You have to get across a chasm by using a bus. You jump on the bus and then use Slow in order to cause the two engines to produce increased flames, then let go at the right time in order to propel the bus to the other side. It's a great idea, but it's actually really difficult. I would fall into the chasm over and over again and then have to run back and try again. It's basically just trial and error until you get it, which is super frustrating. Once you make it to the other side, you'll fight a couple attack helicopters. Slow is essential here, as it will allow you to dodge the barrage of bullets they shoot at you. Here's something really cool: when they shoot missiles, you can hit them and they will turn around and go right into the helicopter. If you use Slow upon impact, they will do extra damage (because the explosion will be much bigger, you see). This is something you will want to remember when it comes to any kind of explosion.

Now you head into a fancy building, which I think is a hotel. You'll be gathering keys to unlock doors, moving up elevators, and making your way to the boss (who is just chilling in his office). This is where the game really shines with its mix of fighting and puzzles. You will have to use all three VFX powers in order to progress. At times you will need to use Zoom to break through floors or ceilings. A couple times you will be trapped in a hall fighting enemies while spikes behind you slowly approach, so you have to dispatch the baddies as fast as possible, grab the key from the last one, and get outta' there! One puzzle involves bombs. You have to hit a bomb over to the far wall and then use Slow so that the explosion will be big enough to break open the wall. Later you'll have a bomb, but it won't be lit, so you have to light it yourself using Mach Speed (since Joe catches on fire) and then use Slow to open the wall. And all along the way, you'll be fighting a lot of enemies (including some new ones). It's so good!

Eventually you make it to the boss. You have to use a bomb in order to blow a hole into the wall and get into his office (and while you're doing this, you can hear the boss singing to himself lol). The boss is Hulk Davidson (a big green ogre), who is wearing a biker's vest and has a collection of motorcycles (Harley Davidson, get it?). Joe and Hulk do some trash talkin' then they fight! This fight is much harder than the first fight. Hulk will swing his giant battle axe, do a charge attack, use missiles (which will sometimes catch the floor on fire), throw the axe, and will jump right on top of you. The problem here is that the camera will sometimes zoom in too close, and you're not sure where Hulk is. But this fight is still great. You will want to dodge his axe swing and then pummel away on him, but then use Mach Speed to get away quickly when he does a massive down-swing with his axe. You can also hurt him by hitting the missiles back at him and using Slow to do extra damage. If you catch on fire, you can use Mach Speed to quickly put out the flames on Joe. After beating him, Joe discovers that Jadow has planted a bomb in the underwater city of Loo. So Joe jumps into his sweet ride "Six Machine" and heads into the ocena depths.

Episode 3: 2,000,000 Leagues Under the Sea

This episode opens up with a side-scrolling shoot-em-up section, which is a ton of fun. You will want to use both Slow and Mach Speed. You can shoot missiles and cause them to turn against the enemies, then using Slow to cause a larger explosion. By using Mach Speed, you can shoot faster and take out hordes of enemies quickly. You'll fight a mini-boss at the end--a fighter jet. This fight is easy since you can use its missiles against it and once again use Slow to do a lot of damage. Afterwards, Joe will jump out Six Machine into an open hatch that leads to the underwater base.

You will be falling for awhile (apparently 2,000,000 leagues down), and during the fall you can pick up items and V-emblems in the air. You'll notice a robotic voice saying the same thing over and over: "Warning! Warning! A bomb has been armed." Joe's mission is to disarm this bomb. You finally make it to the bottom, being completely submerged in water (somehow Joe can breathe underwater, sure). You'll notice that the visuals are now a little blurry (a neat touch). The puzzles here take a backseat to the action as you will fight quite a few enemies as you head in one direction.

Eventually you will fight Joker. Upon beating him, you have to jump and use Slow to do the slot machine because it's slowly moving up and down in the water (which is kinda tricky). Doing this gives you a key card that you put into some kind of machine. This disarms the bomb! The water is drained and you head back the way you came. Along the way, you fight more enemies. I failed to mention that there are these floating wheels that emit electricity, which can be dangerous since they shoot out extra bolts if you use Slow too close to them. You eventually make it to a branching hallway and Joe goes down the hall into a large room to find the boss.

The boss here is Gran Bruce, one of my favorite boss characters. He's kinda dumb, and accidentally gives away that the submarine in the background leads to the main base. Oops! So the fight begins. This is quite the fight. A water level will be rising and falling as you fight, and there is plenty of room to move around. Bruce will spew out garbage, emit piranhas to attack you, and push you away with a tail spin attack. But his most dangerous attack is when he starts chasing you in a Jaws-like rampage. You've got to be quick to dodge him and these moments make this fight pretty tense at times. Before he does this attack, Bruce will summon underwater bombs that are scattered about. The key to defeating him is to have him chomp on a bomb, which he will start to choke on, and then attack him using Slow so that the bomb blows up in his mouth. This is a pretty fun fight, and can be a little challenging due to all the different things you have to be aware of. After the fight, the submarine starts to move, so Joe hitches a ride. Where will it lead?

Viewtiful Joe so far has been a ton of fun. The game holds up very well, and STILL in 2021 there isn't a game like it. The mix of puzzle and action is done so well. The style and presentation is off the charts. Join me for the second half of the game next week, it will be a good time.