Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11901 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Capcom
• Released on: 2003-10-24
• Rating: To Be Announced
• Platform: GameCube

Amazon.co.uk Review
Okay, granted Viewtiful Joe is just about the stupidest name for a video game ever--but seeing as the game is one of the most original, fun and visually stunning for years, it's pretty easy to forgive. Not that the name is the only thing that's odd about Joe, mind: the plot sees you sucked into an old movie, in which you've got to battle evil as a hokey superhero with some nevertheless impressive powers.

Viewtiful Joe is a side-scrolling adventure with highly stylised cel-shaded graphics that look literally like a moving comic book. The big gimmick with the gameplay is the "viewpoint" fighting system, which lets you speed up or slow down time whenever you want. The system works beautifully and allows for the kind of balletic, slow-motion fighting that Enter The Matrix utterly failed to deliver.

The viewpoint fighting is more than just a gimmick, as many items in the game, from bad guys to bullets, move too fast for the human eye to see. Slow down time, though, and you can duck and weave your way through a hailstorm of missiles and take down your enemies before they've had a chance to even move.

The only problem with Viewtiful Joe is that it's so unremittingly hard. It's heartily advised you choose the "Kids" difficulty level, because even that is anything but child's play. The various puzzles can also be a bit tricky but they're all internally consistent and don't come anywhere near spoiling this superb game. --David Jenkins

Edge Magazine
"The moments that stay with you... are characterised by inventiveness, wit, verve, charm, style, vigour, and, above all, fun. 8/10."

GamesMaster Magazine
"An entertaining splash of eye-exploding colour in a sea of bland video games. Laugh-out-loud funny and play-all-day fun. 90%."

Customer Reviews

Sheer Excellence!
Smartypants 70 obviously has some serious issues with gamecube.
One does not welcome derrogatory comments on a game, which is blatantly obvious, he hasn't played. The anology to Blinx on the Xbox is irrelevant as the time control system is completely different. Viewtiful Joe is in a class of its own, it is a classical game of epic proportions. Time can be manipulated to pull off amazing manouveres with psychadelic effects.
Nintendo has once again graced us with a classic, I urge every gamecube owner to buy this game, it is sheer class, stylish and (excuse the pun) 'Viewtiful'. I'd even go as far as to say that people without a gamecube should buy one for this game, it really is that good, and unlike other people who have the audacity to rubbish this game, I bought it on import and have played it extensively. Unfortunately as I don't speak fluent Japanese I will buy the PAL version as soon as it is released. This game deserves to be acclaimed.

Capcom's beat-'em-up
Viewtiful Joe is an extremely stylized quasi-2D side-brawler in which the main character, Joe, journeys into the land of the movies in search of his kidnapped girlfriend. Joe quickly meets up with his mentor, Captain Blue, a super-hero, who endows his abilities onto the young, inexperienced character and then sets him off to kick some serious enemy booty. At first glance, Viewtiful Joe seems like a straightforward beat-'em-up with a warped graphic presentation, but as you progress through the title you'll discover its at-first-hidden depth. Joe's polished control mechanics -- the way in which you can effortlessly slow down time, speed it up, or strike fascinating poses in fights, and more still the interaction between Joe's abilities and the environments -- are what ultimately set this punch-and-kick offering apart from any other. To call them well done would be the understatement of the year. At times, manipulating the character through the worlds and fighting characters feels close to flawless. Meanwhile, the game's graphic presentation, from the intentionally dark-lined, cel-styled worlds that Joe explores to the advanced particle system, breathtaking slow-time and speed-time effects, and fluid animation that drowns every character, is just gorgeous.

Bring it Back
This is a great innovational title which really does remind you of how gaming used to be! The 2D style mixed with 3D elements works effortlessly, and the fighting techniques are very fluid and easy to learn, before you know it you will be fighting with beautiful...sorry viewtiful style! This title is fresh and welcomed to the slowly repetetive market of today. This game brings style, substance and a bit of Retro to your living room. This is worthy of your purchase, if not your missing out on one of the sleeper hits of 2003!