This game was originally designed for and released for the Nintendo Gamecube but was later released for the Playstation 2. Seeing how I have the Playstation version only this review will be that version.

Viewtiful Joe is a traditional 2d side scrolling beat'em up. What makes this game unique is the special abilities that you unlock as you go through the game. These special abilities (governed by energy in the V watch (activated by the word "HENSHIN") are limited for a certain amount of time before the v watch powers down taking you back to the minimalistic version without special powers..

These special abilities are: The power to slow down time, which means you can cause greater damage to enemies or cause greater effects by other objects like massive gobs of water or bombs.The power to speed up time, this means you can instantly rush through several enemies at a time using several other Joe's appearing on screen copying your moves to another bad guy.The power to zoom in. this ability means you can accomplish more damage inflicting movements and dodge enemy attacks easier. when combined with the slow ability you can be unstoppable (as long as your v points sustain)

Unlike most games of this type there is a plot that revolves around Joe being sucked into movie land and setting out to rescue his girlfriend Sylvia from the evil clutches of an unknown (till the final battle) foe. Captain Blue an old hero in movie land trains Joe but in order not to spoil plot twists I shan't comment on what happens to him.

Many games of this type are repetitive and lack much replay value. Viewtiful Joe is an exception to this rule as it has much more replay value by offering the chance to be the ultimate fighter and obtain all of the moves within the game (if you finish the game you start from the beginning but with the abilities you had obtained).

Unlike the Gamecube version the Playstation gives the player the chance to go through the game as "Devil May Cry" Star Dante. Dante offers the player the opportunity to use bad ass sword moves and pistols to destroy enemies. The dialogue is different because it is reversed.

The only real point where the game falls is the graphics during the cut scenes as the mouth movement of the characters does not match the spoken lines

Overall Viewtiful Joe is a (dare I say it) Viewtiful game giving breath to a thought extinct genre of game. The game suffers from no camera obscurities or problems in game play. This game is almost impossible to improve. Highly Recommended

Rating: 9.7
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Commodore Modesty