Viewtiful Joe
Games like this just aren't made these days... Life is indeed finally Viewtiful for PS2 gamers.
Published: August 23, 2004
Before I start the review proper, you really should take a moment to thank your respective deities that this game actually made it to the PlayStation 2. Be it because of lots of moolah thrown at Capcom by Sony, Capcom's desire to get this game out to more gamers, or any other random convergence of fates that just happened to have this little gem land on our lovable black brick, the bottom line is this should be a default purchase for any gamer looking to round out their library.
Now, on to that review thing.
For years, us old gaming fogeys have been proclaiming the death of 2D gameplay -- if not 2D as a whole -- and while the latter certainly won't be saved with the way things are going these days, the former has gotten a significant shot in the arm thanks to the boys and girls at Clover Studios, Capcom's internal development offshoot. In much the same way Namco blended 3D graphics with a 2D plane of play with the Klonoa games, Viewtiful Joe uses a heavy cel-shaded look to take what would normally appear to be fully polygons into something that resembles a comic book brought to life (rather than, say, your garden variety cartoon).
What does this mean? Aside from having style in spades, it means a reinvigoration of the old-school style of gameplay, meaning things move left and right or up and down, but there's very little interaction with that third plane of depth. It also allows our transformed hero to pull of some impressive dodges and jukes that wouldn't otherwise work if the game were in 3D. But as usual, I'm getting ahead of myself here.
See things all start off with Joe and his girlfriend Sylvia enjoying a flick starring Joe's favorite superhero, Captain Blue. When the on-screen villains trounce ol' Cap and suddenly punch through the screen to capture Sylvia, things rapidly become a bit surreal. Joe's acid-trip-turned-real gets weirder when his favorite superhero pops through the screen again to pull Joe into the celluloid world, then gifts him with superpowers, as well as a nifty pair of red long johns, a fancy helmet and a oh so fashionable cape.
Joe quickly gains the ability to slow time, speed it up and have the camera zoom in on him for some ultraslick moves like corkscrews into the air (and back down to the ground) and mid-air cartwheel kicks. These, combined with his ability to duck and jump incoming punches and kicks makes for some incredibly addictive combat, and offers impromptu ways to get past a variety of basic puzzles scattered throughout the levels.
The depth in the game, if you call it that, lies in the little nuances to the combat system and the way slick moves add up to big V-Points that you can use to buy new moves and upgrades for Joe at the beginning and middle of each level. For instance, kicking on slow mode and then ducking or jumping to avoid an attack (there's a tell-tale cute little skull icon that flashes a few moments before the attack) will open up enemies to a counter-attack, which can send them flying into other enemies or skyward. Hitting multiple enemies in slo-mo will add a multiplier to your V-Points, quickly racking up your total.
Each section of level also grades you on your performance, from the number of V-Points to the amount of damage taken to how long it took you to get through a particular section. High marks can actually net you goodies like unlockable characters. Speaking of which, beating the game unlocks Dante from Devil May Cry, which is, of course, a fun little exclusive, as well as a hilarious set of character-specific bits like Dante dropping to his skivvies when he's out of V-Power and yelling "Devil May Cry's a rockin', baby!" when he reverts to his more familiar look. It's an awesome extra for PS2 owners getting to the Viewtiful party a little late, and it really does feel like a quality extra.
That's really all there is to the game, aside from some hilariously wigged-out bosses and level designs that regularly force you to creatively use your powers cleverly, such as upper-cutting a barrel into the air and then running under it in slo-mo or using slo-mo then super speed to prime and propel a rocket-fueled school bus off a ramp (no, we're not kidding here; this is exactly the kind of off-the-wall style craziness that permeates every part of the game). It's just the concentration of pure gameplay and endless style that keeps the game so refreshing, and it's exactly the splash of cold water to the collective faces of gamers everywhere that this industry needed.
It's also no walk in the park. If Viewtiful Joe can be faulted on anything, it would be the difficulty, but with three difficulty levels available from the start, even this is almost a non-issue. It's worth mentioning, really, because the game really is old-school, from design to challenge to learning curve. By the end of the game, you'll be throwing down your controller in anger, but all of the aforementioned pluses mean it won't be long before you end up going back for more.
There's also the look of the game, and the overall presentation. I've already gushed over how cool the comic bookish look is for the game, but it's the little flourishes that really sell the whole effect. Sure, the texture work is great (if a little low-res looking, but I suppose that's the whole idea), and the framerate is rock-solid, but it's the smaller things like objects put in the foreground that go transparent when Joe runs by them, or the nifty little blurred lines when walls move past the camera.
Viewtiful Joe makes ample use of the comic-brought-to-life look when kicking on the effects (activating mach speed turns the screen into a blur of lines and distorted, hurricane-like visuals), and taking plenty of cues from classic anime sequences with lots of high-speed zooms and speed lines. It's all incredibly well polished, and just helps the whole attitude of the game hit home.
The audio is just as good, with hilariously good (bad?) voice acting that just seems to fit perfectly. (Who knew a giant axe-wielding reptile should sound like a quasi-robotic black guy?) All the effects, from the smacky punches and kicks the reverberate a bit during the slow-mo mode to the robotic klaxons and warning signs (which, admittedly get a little old after a while, but still sound pretty darn cool) all perfectly meld with the visuals.
Here's the bottom line: this is a game that anyone craving some old-school action needs. Not should get, not that wants. Needs. It's just evilly fun, and it'll kick your butt and you'll hate it for being so hard, but it won't really matter, because there's enough charm and downright fun here to keep you coming back. And when you finally do beat it? There are plenty of characters to unlock, ridiculously high completion goals to meet and... well, let's just say the masochists our there will have plenty of replay value.
Go buy this game (in fact, buy it through us, we can use the money!), you won't be sorry you dropped the cash on it, and it'll send a nice clear message that more developers need to keep making games like this. After all, if we as gamers can't tell publishers what games should be made with our sales, why the hell are we playing games to begin with?
Now, on to that review thing.
For years, us old gaming fogeys have been proclaiming the death of 2D gameplay -- if not 2D as a whole -- and while the latter certainly won't be saved with the way things are going these days, the former has gotten a significant shot in the arm thanks to the boys and girls at Clover Studios, Capcom's internal development offshoot. In much the same way Namco blended 3D graphics with a 2D plane of play with the Klonoa games, Viewtiful Joe uses a heavy cel-shaded look to take what would normally appear to be fully polygons into something that resembles a comic book brought to life (rather than, say, your garden variety cartoon).
What does this mean? Aside from having style in spades, it means a reinvigoration of the old-school style of gameplay, meaning things move left and right or up and down, but there's very little interaction with that third plane of depth. It also allows our transformed hero to pull of some impressive dodges and jukes that wouldn't otherwise work if the game were in 3D. But as usual, I'm getting ahead of myself here.
See things all start off with Joe and his girlfriend Sylvia enjoying a flick starring Joe's favorite superhero, Captain Blue. When the on-screen villains trounce ol' Cap and suddenly punch through the screen to capture Sylvia, things rapidly become a bit surreal. Joe's acid-trip-turned-real gets weirder when his favorite superhero pops through the screen again to pull Joe into the celluloid world, then gifts him with superpowers, as well as a nifty pair of red long johns, a fancy helmet and a oh so fashionable cape.
Joe quickly gains the ability to slow time, speed it up and have the camera zoom in on him for some ultraslick moves like corkscrews into the air (and back down to the ground) and mid-air cartwheel kicks. These, combined with his ability to duck and jump incoming punches and kicks makes for some incredibly addictive combat, and offers impromptu ways to get past a variety of basic puzzles scattered throughout the levels.
The depth in the game, if you call it that, lies in the little nuances to the combat system and the way slick moves add up to big V-Points that you can use to buy new moves and upgrades for Joe at the beginning and middle of each level. For instance, kicking on slow mode and then ducking or jumping to avoid an attack (there's a tell-tale cute little skull icon that flashes a few moments before the attack) will open up enemies to a counter-attack, which can send them flying into other enemies or skyward. Hitting multiple enemies in slo-mo will add a multiplier to your V-Points, quickly racking up your total.
Each section of level also grades you on your performance, from the number of V-Points to the amount of damage taken to how long it took you to get through a particular section. High marks can actually net you goodies like unlockable characters. Speaking of which, beating the game unlocks Dante from Devil May Cry, which is, of course, a fun little exclusive, as well as a hilarious set of character-specific bits like Dante dropping to his skivvies when he's out of V-Power and yelling "Devil May Cry's a rockin', baby!" when he reverts to his more familiar look. It's an awesome extra for PS2 owners getting to the Viewtiful party a little late, and it really does feel like a quality extra.
That's really all there is to the game, aside from some hilariously wigged-out bosses and level designs that regularly force you to creatively use your powers cleverly, such as upper-cutting a barrel into the air and then running under it in slo-mo or using slo-mo then super speed to prime and propel a rocket-fueled school bus off a ramp (no, we're not kidding here; this is exactly the kind of off-the-wall style craziness that permeates every part of the game). It's just the concentration of pure gameplay and endless style that keeps the game so refreshing, and it's exactly the splash of cold water to the collective faces of gamers everywhere that this industry needed.
It's also no walk in the park. If Viewtiful Joe can be faulted on anything, it would be the difficulty, but with three difficulty levels available from the start, even this is almost a non-issue. It's worth mentioning, really, because the game really is old-school, from design to challenge to learning curve. By the end of the game, you'll be throwing down your controller in anger, but all of the aforementioned pluses mean it won't be long before you end up going back for more.
There's also the look of the game, and the overall presentation. I've already gushed over how cool the comic bookish look is for the game, but it's the little flourishes that really sell the whole effect. Sure, the texture work is great (if a little low-res looking, but I suppose that's the whole idea), and the framerate is rock-solid, but it's the smaller things like objects put in the foreground that go transparent when Joe runs by them, or the nifty little blurred lines when walls move past the camera.
Viewtiful Joe makes ample use of the comic-brought-to-life look when kicking on the effects (activating mach speed turns the screen into a blur of lines and distorted, hurricane-like visuals), and taking plenty of cues from classic anime sequences with lots of high-speed zooms and speed lines. It's all incredibly well polished, and just helps the whole attitude of the game hit home.
The audio is just as good, with hilariously good (bad?) voice acting that just seems to fit perfectly. (Who knew a giant axe-wielding reptile should sound like a quasi-robotic black guy?) All the effects, from the smacky punches and kicks the reverberate a bit during the slow-mo mode to the robotic klaxons and warning signs (which, admittedly get a little old after a while, but still sound pretty darn cool) all perfectly meld with the visuals.
Here's the bottom line: this is a game that anyone craving some old-school action needs. Not should get, not that wants. Needs. It's just evilly fun, and it'll kick your butt and you'll hate it for being so hard, but it won't really matter, because there's enough charm and downright fun here to keep you coming back. And when you finally do beat it? There are plenty of characters to unlock, ridiculously high completion goals to meet and... well, let's just say the masochists our there will have plenty of replay value.
Go buy this game (in fact, buy it through us, we can use the money!), you won't be sorry you dropped the cash on it, and it'll send a nice clear message that more developers need to keep making games like this. After all, if we as gamers can't tell publishers what games should be made with our sales, why the hell are we playing games to begin with?
