From the moment Capcom announced Viewtiful Joe just one year ago, old-school gaming fans the world over knew they were in for quite a treat.  The occasional screenshots and video clips released over the months only served to confirm that fact.  Now the time is finally upon us and that wacky side-scroller with crazy, off-the-hook visuals that we’ve all been anxiously anticipating for the last 12 months is here at last.  Does Viewtiful Joe meet expectations?  No.  It exceeds them, and does so in such a way that side-scrolling platformers will never be looked at the same again.  This exclusive GameCube release delivers a wonderful cel-shaded visual presentation while adding gameplay elements that are truly revolutionary despite the game’s traditional foundation, making each of the game’s brilliant individual elements so much more than the sum of their respective parts.

The story in Viewtiful Joe is unlike that of any game before it, it isn’t exactly the main selling point of the experience but it does add considerably to the originality and enjoyability of the proceedings.  The titular Joe is a diehard fan of old-school, Japanese kung-fu flicks, particularly the ones that feature his favorite superhero Captain Blue.  Not unlike many superheroes before him, Captain Blue is a caped and costumed crusader who fights hordes of enemies in the name of truth and justice.  While Joe and his girlfriend, Silvia, are watching a Captain Blue film on the big-screen, something strange happens.  Suddenly the characters come alive and Joe’s girlfriend is kidnapped by a monster from the movie and carried away inside the screen.  Joe, more than a bit bewildered, pursues Silvia’s captor and meets up with Captain Blue himself who trains Joe in the way of the mighty V Watch, which allows the person wearing it to pull of insanely spectacular feats.

As Joe makes his way through the movie world, he will acquire new skills and deft-defying powers that allow him to practically mold his environment as he sees fit.  Joe starts out with basic maneuvers such as punches, kicks, and acrobatic flip jumps, but as he progresses through the movie he’ll learn new tricks.  Such as the ability to drop his surroundings into a cinematic slow motion, allowing Joe to easily dodge bullets and attack his foes with the utmost precision.  By holding the left trigger you can execute slow motion, and though he can only maintain this maneuver for a short time initially, it won’t be long before Joe’s power drastically improves.

Slowing down time isn’t only useful for taking out baddies and dodging bullets, though.  His environment will also be affected in useful ways by kicking things into slow motion.  For example, floating propeller platforms will drop to the ground when utilizing the slow motion VFX, and slowly dripping water will increase exponentially in size when gravity is no longer such an issue.  Every now and then you’ll be presented with a slot machine with quickly spinning reels representing different things, by executing slow motion VFX you can easily discern when to stop the reels.  Basically, the scope and power of many things are magnified hugely by the slowing of time. 

As if the ability to slow down time, creating a Matrix-caliber sense of style, wasn’t enough, Joe will also acquire the power to drastically speed time up, knocking the action into high gear and allowing him to perform countless punches and kicks in the blink of an eye.  Mach speed VFX is really something that has to be seen to be fully appreciated, it goes without saying that these screenshots simply do not convey the sense of velocity needed to understand.  As is the case with slow motion VFX, mach speed is also useful for other things, not the least of which is the ability to quickly get around from area to area.  Without going too much into detail about the specifics of Joe’s VFX powers, it’s safe to say that you’ll need to put your smarty pants on in more than a few of the game’s inventive scenarios to figure out how to proceed. 

The last VFX ability Joe will acquire is the Zoom maneuver.  By pressing up on the c-stick the camera will zoom closely towards Joe, giving the player a perfect view of the man in tights.  When you perform normal actions such as kicking, punching, or jumping while in this mode Joe will execute stunningly elaborate moves.  If you hit the kick button Joe will perform a devastating copter-kick, hitting jump will turn Joe into a spinning vertical bullet, etc.  You can also combine your VFX powers for a greater variety of action and eye candy, combining slow motion with zoom gives way to some of the most outrageous maneuvers in the game.

As previously mentioned, you are only able to sustain VFX powers for so long before your VFX meter is depleted and Viewtiful Joe reverts back to standard backward-wearing-hat Joe.  Luckily, Joe’s VFX meter automatically replenishes after a short time, allowing him to jump back into the fray limbs ablaze.  The VFX meter is split up into separate film frames, the more frames you have the longer you can execute viewtiful maneuvers.  For every 50 collectable items you earn or collect, you’ll receive an additional frame, though your VFX meter reverts to normal size at the beginning of each game.

By destroying enemies you’ll receive viewtiful points that can be spent between levels in the shop.  Here you can purchase lots of nifty power-ups like extra lives, automatic health replenishing, a longer energy meter, new types of attacks and VFX upgrades.  The latter power-ups don’t come cheap, though, so you may need to hold off on splurging on the smaller enhancements in order to afford them.  The number of viewtiful points you receive during combat is completely dependant on how viewtiful you look while dishing out the pain.  The more intricate and stylized your moves, the more currency you receive.

A game that has the adjective “Viewtiful” smack dab in its title has to look pretty damn good to be taken seriously and Viewtiful Joe is easily one of the best looking games, ever.  The characters and environment are constructed using polygons but the method in which they are delivered on-screen is distinctively 2D-like.  The cel-shaded style that permeates throughout the game is used to maximum effect, giving it a flawless comic book look and feel.  The animation is incredibly smooth.  Watching Joe execute a series of strikes, transitioning seamlessly from one move to the next, instantly inspires excitement and exhilaration.

In terms of sound Viewtiful Joe features tons of glorious sound effects complimenting every on-screen action with an over-the-top cinematic aural representation.  Tons of things are constantly happening at any given time so it’s quite impressive that the development team was able to put together such an elaborate and perfectly synced orchestration.  The sounds of multiple robot enemies blowing up, rampant machinegun fire, and environmental effects (such as the echoing reverberations of underwater combat) add greatly to the intensity and immersion of Viewtiful Joe.  The music definitely plays second string compared to the rest of the sound presentation but effectively adds to the inherent entertainment value.  Voice work across the board is spot-on, especially for Joe whose biting quips you’ll never get tired of hearing.

It’s a rare game that manages to stay true to the roots of 8 and 16-bit side-scrolling platformers while playing and looking as good as Viewtiful Joe does.  The VFX powers are just plain cool and the game is consistently satisfying and challenging.  The fact that this game has been green-lighted in a day and age where perfecting the intricacies of 3D rendering is the holy grail of most development teams is a good sign indeed.  If you own a GameCube you owe it to yourself to pick this game up and if you don’t, well, then, Viewtiful Joe is the perfect excuse to drop a tidy c-note on one.   

Gameplay: 9.1
At first glance the gameplay couldn’t seem more simplistic, but upon further observation you’ll realize that this game goes far deeper than your average side-scroller.

Graphics: 9.6
Simply viewtiful, the graphics, animation, and special effects used throughout the game simply have to be witnessed firsthand to truly appreciate.

Sound: 8.6
Top-tier movie quality sound effects perfectly compliment the proceedings while the voice acting and music serve their purpose with aplomb.

Difficulty: Medium
Multiple difficulty levels ensure that regardless of skill level you’ll have a great, and challenging time.

Concept: 10
Videogames don’t get much more original than this, Viewtiful Joe came completely out of leftfield and has proven that innovation and creativity are still alive and kicking in the industry.

Overall: 9.4

Aside from the a few noteworthy Nintendo-published games of recent months, Viewtiful Joe is currently the single best reason to be a proud GameCube owner.