Viewtiful Joe

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Description

Joe is your normal everyday guy, watching movies and hanging out with his girlfriend, Silvia. But when Silvia is sucked into a movie reel by an evil force, Joe's life is turned upside down. It's up to you to take everyman Joe and turn him into a superhero to end all superhero's and save his girl.

With a heavy dose of comic books, Viewtiful Joe is a action packed 2D side-scroller inside a 3D world, that will have you using the amazing abilities of the hero in question as you slice and dice the many enemies on screen with VFX special moves, such as Slow and Mach Speed.

You'll have the chance to earn 'Viewtifuls', which will boost your abilities with new killer moves and special items. You'll need them as you progress further into the seven episodes and big bosses at the end of each.

Screenshots

Alternate Titles

• "红侠乔伊" -- Chinese spelling (simplified)
• "Viewtiful Joe Revival" -- Japanese budget re-release title
• "Viewtiful Joe: A New Hope" -- Japanese PS2 title
• "Red Hot Man" -- Working title

Part of the Following Groups

• Games made into TV series
• Theme: Time Manipulation
• Viewtiful Joe series
• Visual technique / style: Cel shaded

User Reviews

Mad Japanese crazy superhero action!	GameCube	Garland (14)
Viewtiful Joe is an impressive form of art that also happens to be a great yet challenging game.	GameCube	diglot.net (28)
Side Scrollers Return	GameCube	Game22 (42)
Classic platforming action returns. New console, new look, same great fun	GameCube	Shadowcaster (238)
Lives up to the name: Viewtiful	GameCube	reyo (17)
Wow!	GameCube	Martin Greenberg (3)

The Press Says

Digital Press - Classic Video Games	GameCube	Feb 08, 2004	10 out of 10	100
DarkZero	GameCube	Dec 31, 2003	9.2 out of 10	92
Game Revolution	GameCube	Oct, 2003	A-	91
Gamer 2.0	GameCube	May 02, 2004	9.1 out of 10	91
4Players.de	GameCube	Oct 25, 2003	90 out of 100	90
Cubed3	GameCube	Sep 18, 2003	9 out of 10	90
Game Critics	GameCube	Oct 08, 2003	9 out of 10	90
Gamesmania	GameCube	Nov 05, 2003	89 out of 100	89
GameSpot	PlayStation 2	Aug 23, 2004	8.8 out of 10	88
Boomtown	GameCube	Jan 22, 2004	8 out of 10	80

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Trivia

Black Cat

A black cat appears throughout the game:

• Illustrated in posters on street scenes
• Driving the runaway jet-powered buses
• In a space suit at the beginning of the space station

Catchphrase

"Henshin" in Japanese means "transform", so Joe's catchphrase when he changes, "Henshin a go-go, baby!", translates (obviously) to, "Transform a go-go, baby!"

Influences

In an interview on 1UP, Hideki Kamiya mentions the movies that influenced the design process: Life is Beautiful inspired the Viewtiful Joe bonus video, and the bus in the movie Speed was the inspiration for the bus in Viewtiful Joe. Jaws was the inspiration for the Shark Boss.

References

• When holding down the X button, Joe will throw up a bomb, jiggle it on his knee, and whistle the first 6 notes of the Mario theme. If doing it in mid-air, he'll whistle another part of the Mario theme. In Slow Motion, he'll whistle yet another part.
• In level 2, Some Like It Red Hot, there are billboards with a scantly clad women titled Playguy, which is a reference to the Playboy magazine.
• Sometimes the third boss, Gran Bruce, spits out a Nintendo GameCube.
• Gran Bruce's name is quite possibly a reference to Jaws. More specifically, the mechanical shark used in the movie, which was nicknamed Bruce by the crew.
• The Japanese PlayStation 2 version is called Viewtiful Joe: A New Hope, after the later added subtitle of Star Wars.
• Most of the names of the stages are puns regarding famous movie names: Some Like It Hot, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Great Escape, Midnight Cowboy and The Magnificent Seven.
• Take a look at the back of the US GameCube box. It has a robot that looks very much like the R.O.B accessory for the NES console.

References

The final level has many references to Star Wars:

• The space dock interior with the the ranks of troops on the black mirror floor looks like the Death Star reception for the Emperor in Return of the Jedi.
• The Die Fighters have hexagonal wings.
• Blue tells Sylvia: "I am your father, Sylvia".
• In the end titles, the Joe and Sylvia poster is subtitled: "In a viewtiful galaxy, far far away".

Viewtiful Joe Revival

Capcom re-released Viewtiful Joe in Japan with some new content and a new, easier difficulty mode titled Suwito (Sweet) on December 18, 2003. The upgraded version is called Viewtiful Joe Revival and is priced at 3,980 Yen ($36).

Awards

• GameSpy
  • 2003 – #4 GameCube Game of the Year
  • 2003 - Most Stylish Game of the Year (GameCube)
  • 2004 – Better Late Than Never Award (PS2)
• Golden Joystick Award
  • 2003 - Unsung Hero Game of the Year

Information also contributed by CaptainCanuck, Garland, German Cruz, Jiguryo, piltdown man, Rupert Breheny, Tiago Jacques and timebender.

Related Web Sites

• Official Website (Everything Joe on the official Capcom website)
• Viewtiful Joe Official Site (Capcom's official site for all things Viewtiful Joe related.)