Viewtiful Joe 2
The cel-shaded beat-em-up blazes onto the PS2, and boy is it on fire.
Published: May 25, 2004
Thousands of games may have bombarded the Los Angeles Convention Center for the three surreal days of E3 2004, yet only few had a truly lasting effect. One such example is Viewtiful Joe 2, the sequel to one of the best beat-em-ups ever to grace a console. Although previously exclusive to the GameCube, both VJ2 and its predecessor are making their way onto the PlayStation 2, and from our hands-on time with the former, we can whole-heartedly state that this is a series worth getting giddy over.
In the demo we played, superhero Joe was traversing across a beautifully rendered, cel-shaded environment (as all of the game's graphics are) where a volcano in the background presented to be a problem, regularly spurting out boulders to block the path ahead. On top of the incredibly addicting fighting elements of the game (there's nothing quite like dodging an enemy's attack in slo-mo and proceeding to know the living poop out of his with a crazy combo of punches a kicks), a bit of puzzle-solving strategy is necessary in progressing through the game. On example occurs when one of the previously-mentioned boulders activates a switch in front of you, requiring you to slow down time and execute a devastating uppercut in order to send the giant rock back to the volcano mouth from which it came. Another instance has you using the "Slow" visual effect once again to your advantage to slow down the propellers of a normally unreachable floating platform above. There's no doubting that this is a game with brains, brawn and beauty... sounds like your ideal woman, doesn't it?
Not that we had any skepticism of Viewtiful Joe's transition onto the PS2 before E3 2004, but playing the demo for ourselves only reassured us of how much ass this series will kick come its release in early 2005 (or at least we suspect it'll hit then). You'd better believe we'll keep you updated as new details arise, so check in frequently.
In the demo we played, superhero Joe was traversing across a beautifully rendered, cel-shaded environment (as all of the game's graphics are) where a volcano in the background presented to be a problem, regularly spurting out boulders to block the path ahead. On top of the incredibly addicting fighting elements of the game (there's nothing quite like dodging an enemy's attack in slo-mo and proceeding to know the living poop out of his with a crazy combo of punches a kicks), a bit of puzzle-solving strategy is necessary in progressing through the game. On example occurs when one of the previously-mentioned boulders activates a switch in front of you, requiring you to slow down time and execute a devastating uppercut in order to send the giant rock back to the volcano mouth from which it came. Another instance has you using the "Slow" visual effect once again to your advantage to slow down the propellers of a normally unreachable floating platform above. There's no doubting that this is a game with brains, brawn and beauty... sounds like your ideal woman, doesn't it?
Not that we had any skepticism of Viewtiful Joe's transition onto the PS2 before E3 2004, but playing the demo for ourselves only reassured us of how much ass this series will kick come its release in early 2005 (or at least we suspect it'll hit then). You'd better believe we'll keep you updated as new details arise, so check in frequently.
