| “You gotta speed it up and then you gotta slow it down”… so sang legendary popsters Bucks Fizz when they won the Eurovision Song contest with a track apparently prophesising the fighting mantra of a future superhero named Joe — Viewtiful Joe.
Viewtiful Joe; GameCube; Capcom; www.capcom.com
By Richard Bell
VIEWTIFUL — that’s the only way to describe it.
The brainchild of Hideki Kamiya, the director behind classic titles Devil May Cry and Resident Evil 2, this game is so ‘out there’ that it’s actually merited the addition of a new word to the gaming vocabulary.
But just what does Viewtiful mean? Well, it’s not easy to explain and perhaps the only true route to understanding is by watching Joe in action, but it basically means doing things in a way that makes them look good on film, or beautiful to those viewing. Rest assured, you'll know Viewtiful when you see it.
The story begins with Joe on a date to the cinema with the sweet Silvia. Things are going well until Silvia is pulled into the silver screen by the movie bad guy.
After some remonstrating with the evil lead, Joe gets pulled in too — and, as luck would have it, acquires some superpowers into the bargain, activated by saying the magic words, “Henshin a go-go, Baby!”.
Alternating between ordinary human and powered-up Viewtiful states, Joe must battle through a series of increasingly frenetic levels, defeating all manner of oddball bosses in order to free his girl.
But this is no ordinary cinematic, side-scrolling, combat extravaganza. Lamping lugs willy-nilly might be ok for run-of-the-mill slug-fests, but in Joe’s world, everything must be done Viewtifully.
Get it right and Joe’s ViewtifulFX Meter swells as he breezes through a series of beautifully choreographed fights with a multitude of enemies, each punch, kick and duck served up in a dazzling flash of brilliant colour and graphical psychedelia.
Joe’s a bit of a mind reader and generally knows his opponent’s next move. This skill is manifested in the little skull icons that appear in front of enemies just before they attack and affords a tiny widow of opportunity to avoid incoming blows. It’s an easy code, with a high skull meaning you'd better duck and a low one suggesting you might want to jump sharpish.
Defeated foes leave behindV-Medals and these are well worth collecting as they can be traded for devastating new skills and moves.
With Joe all Viewtifulled up, time becomes his playground, the L Button making it almost grind to a halt, the R Button winding it up to Mach Speed.
Have Joe go slo mo and he can administer punishment Matrix-style. Picture the scene… it’s boss time… robotic thugs surround our hero as a helicopter appears screen right and fires off a couple of Joe-seeking missiles…
Joe launches into the air, gracefully spinning and somersaulting as he goes, a blazing punch destroying one missile, a crackling kick eliminating the other…
Gravity grabs Joe and pulls him back… seemingly hovering above the head of a robot, a reverse kick crumples its cranium and flings the mechanical menace into the air… arcing to its doom, a lethal three-punch combo shatters the ’bot’s tin ribs, cogs and gears spilling out.
Mach Speed attacks play out in much the same way, only they last a fraction of the time and the beatings become a blur of blows and broken bits and pieces.
But it’s not all frantic fighting. Puzzles, from activating lifts to access new areas, to punching a puggy machine to line up health-boosting hamburgers or V-Medals, help keep the action fresh and let you catch your breath.
VERDICT: More than 2D, but less than 3D, Viewtiful Joe looks and plays like an interactive comic book. Brought to life by some very stylish cel-shading, it is both crazy and addictive in equal measures and without doubt one of the GameCube’s definitive titles.
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