Memorable Gaming Moment 2003: Viewtiful Joe

2003 was a good year for the Gamecube. I already mentioned my love for Wind Waker in a previous feature, but another game came very close to topping that little Zeldarific memory. The game in question is Viewtiful Joe. This was a game birthed by Hideki Kamiya, the genius who’s brought us games like Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry, Ōkami, and the recently released Bayonetta. Kamiya is known for his style, but he really upped the ante with Viewtiful Joe.

It’s hard to notice anything other than the absolutely beautiful (insert cheese: viewtiful) visuals of Viewtiful Joe. The game uses cel-shading just like Wind Waker – cel-shading was quite the rage back then – and it benefits greatly from it. The game itself has a larger than life feel to it and the visuals do a great job of reinforcing this feeling; you could play it today and not have a single problem with the visuals. I can only honestly see someone complaining about the visuals if they were an epileptic, but even then I think they may let this game slide.

Visuals mean nothing if the game plays like an abomination of man, but thankfully Viewtiful Joe’s gameplay was on par – if not better – with the game’s visuals. The action worked extremely well and the game did a good job at slowly introducing new ways of dispatching your enemies. What was different about Viewtiful Joe was its power system called Visual Effects Powers. These powers allowed you slow time, speed up Joe’s attacks, and zoom in for extra damage, but they also came at a price; you had a gauge for these powers and if you let this gauge deplete completely, you would lose your powers for a bit and be turned into boring ol’ normal Joe.

The game could get a tad difficult and overwhelming at times, but that never really caused many problems for moi; it’s a rewarding challenge like the challenge found in a game like Contra. The music was good, but the sound effects were what really shined. Viewtiful Joe was a game that deserved to sell better than it actually did, but we’ve been lucky enough to receive multiple games in franchise – some not so great – and Kamiya has mentioned that he wouldn’t mind returning to the series in a magical world where he actually had the rights. All I can say is that Viewtiful Joe is a great game and if you haven’t played it, go out and pick up a copy right now!