Ajinryu
CAG Veteran
Viewtiful Joe (Gamecube, PS2)
Developer: Capcom Production Studios, Clover Studios
Publisher: Capcom
Players: 1
The Decline and Rebirth of Side Scrolling Beat em ups
Side scrolling beat em ups, when people hear this term a lot of people think of the Streets of Rages, River City Ransoms, and Golden Axes of this world. All great games but compare them and they don't really bring much new or original to the beat em up formula. Over the past few years the Side Scrolling beat em up has become an old and obselete genre, a thing of nostalgia. Not many developer have pursued the task of creating a side scroller that brings something new to the market.
Developers stray away from side scrollers due to the lack of interest in them these days which has led to decline of them in the home console market, instead focusing on the Arcade Market to release their beat em ups instead. But of course a company comes along and gives a few people what they want and have been waiting for, and Capcom came along and gave Beat em up purists a reason to dust off their consoles and play a rather unique and special old school brawler again...
Camera! Action!
Since the game doesn't take itself serious then neither does the story, it's all a bit simplistic, and it reeks of that "B Movie" atmosphere, which is quite suiting due to the fact that the game takes part inside an actual movie. The story goes that Fred durst look a like and antagonist Joe is spending a night out with his girlfriend Silvia to watch an old airing of the Well reknowned "Captain Blue" films, which Joe is a fan of, after Silvia breifly attempting to make out with Joe a huge hand comes out of the screen grabbing Silvia and pulling her into the movie, after that a robot called "6 Machine" pulls Joe into the movie too. From here on in the action heats up.
Straight from the off the unique style is apparent, the game has a distinct look about it that sets itself apart from other games of this current gen. Viewtiful Joe goes for a Psuedo Cel-Shaded look mixed with hints of 2D. Although cel shading has been done to death Viewtiful Joe manages to pull it off in such a great way. Instead of constant fully rendered 3D models the game sets itself sideways most of the time, many of the objects, scenery, and character models being rather distant from the screen, allowing for a very smooth looking game, instead of the rough edges you'd get from a fully 3D engine (XIII being one of the victims as models and objects looked rather rough when inspected close up). This doesn't mean the game is being deceptive though, the character models have been smoothened out, rough edges being kept to a minimum. But as per usual with unique styles, it's a style that only certain people will like. But there's no denying that it has a certain charm to it.
Henshin Around!
After the introduction ends your thrown straight into the action, a quick tutorial teaching you about the fighting basics such as kicking, punching, and avoiding/countering attacks. This system in itself feels a bit different from the limited block/attack system of most other standard fighters. Avoiding an attack stuns the enemy that tried to strike leaving them oepn for a combo, yet again, another distinct feature, instead of just saving your sorry ass it leaves your opponents sorry ass open for a kicking. With a bit of practive you can stun multiple enemies in one whole string of manuevering between attacks.
Apart from that the formula seems pretty basic to start with, a few minutes into the game though you'll be introduced to Joes super heroic Viewtiful form, this is when the game really opens itself up to the player. In this form you can slow down the gameplay leaving the enemies at a disadvantage, this allows you to get a string of combos in on enemies before they even get a chance to attack, it even effects some enemies attack patterns too. In this mode stunning leaves them open to be juggled around at super force into other enemies, kinda using them as make shift torpedos to manipulate at your own will. Recticles appear on the target you stunned, when hitting that target all the other opponents around you also get that recticle above them, hitting them all in succession brings up a multiplyer.
The higher the multiplayer the more "V-points" you are rewarded. These points can then be traded in for extra moves and ability enhancements at shops between saving points throughout the game. This leaves more focus to improve your fighting technique. It's a lovely addition that is extremely well put together, and translates well into a 2D game for a concept that originally was included in 3D beat em ups, and Hack and Slash games.
You'll encounter more of these abilities throughout the game including "Mach Speed" which allows you to speed up the action, or Zoom in, which get close in on the action and increases Joes attack power and holds enemies still on occasion. These 3 abilities aren't just used to aid you when fighting though, they're also used to solve certain puzzles that are dotted throughout each stage, be it using "Slow" to slow down a choppers propellers to open it up and pummel it, or using "Mach Speed" to run under a quickly descending obstacle or get away from situation quick. It's all ingeniously done and yet again, brings some originality into a once stale genre.
Be warned that the game isn't easy, the game has a hardcore difficulty which only the patient can get around, and with additional difficulty levels it can get even harder if your daring enough to tackle it.
Mondo A Kimbo Baby!
Viewtiful Joe is simply a wonderful title that, based on it's merits, and intentions alone deserves as much attention as it can get, don't miss out on the game, it has a wonderful charm, an innovative structure, and a unique look and feeling to it that other games find hard to pull off. And at the bargain price it's at now, it's a great snatch and is a great addition to anyones collection...
Developer: Capcom Production Studios, Clover Studios
Publisher: Capcom
Players: 1
The Decline and Rebirth of Side Scrolling Beat em ups
Side scrolling beat em ups, when people hear this term a lot of people think of the Streets of Rages, River City Ransoms, and Golden Axes of this world. All great games but compare them and they don't really bring much new or original to the beat em up formula. Over the past few years the Side Scrolling beat em up has become an old and obselete genre, a thing of nostalgia. Not many developer have pursued the task of creating a side scroller that brings something new to the market.
Developers stray away from side scrollers due to the lack of interest in them these days which has led to decline of them in the home console market, instead focusing on the Arcade Market to release their beat em ups instead. But of course a company comes along and gives a few people what they want and have been waiting for, and Capcom came along and gave Beat em up purists a reason to dust off their consoles and play a rather unique and special old school brawler again...
Camera! Action!
Since the game doesn't take itself serious then neither does the story, it's all a bit simplistic, and it reeks of that "B Movie" atmosphere, which is quite suiting due to the fact that the game takes part inside an actual movie. The story goes that Fred durst look a like and antagonist Joe is spending a night out with his girlfriend Silvia to watch an old airing of the Well reknowned "Captain Blue" films, which Joe is a fan of, after Silvia breifly attempting to make out with Joe a huge hand comes out of the screen grabbing Silvia and pulling her into the movie, after that a robot called "6 Machine" pulls Joe into the movie too. From here on in the action heats up.
Straight from the off the unique style is apparent, the game has a distinct look about it that sets itself apart from other games of this current gen. Viewtiful Joe goes for a Psuedo Cel-Shaded look mixed with hints of 2D. Although cel shading has been done to death Viewtiful Joe manages to pull it off in such a great way. Instead of constant fully rendered 3D models the game sets itself sideways most of the time, many of the objects, scenery, and character models being rather distant from the screen, allowing for a very smooth looking game, instead of the rough edges you'd get from a fully 3D engine (XIII being one of the victims as models and objects looked rather rough when inspected close up). This doesn't mean the game is being deceptive though, the character models have been smoothened out, rough edges being kept to a minimum. But as per usual with unique styles, it's a style that only certain people will like. But there's no denying that it has a certain charm to it.
Henshin Around!
After the introduction ends your thrown straight into the action, a quick tutorial teaching you about the fighting basics such as kicking, punching, and avoiding/countering attacks. This system in itself feels a bit different from the limited block/attack system of most other standard fighters. Avoiding an attack stuns the enemy that tried to strike leaving them oepn for a combo, yet again, another distinct feature, instead of just saving your sorry ass it leaves your opponents sorry ass open for a kicking. With a bit of practive you can stun multiple enemies in one whole string of manuevering between attacks.
Apart from that the formula seems pretty basic to start with, a few minutes into the game though you'll be introduced to Joes super heroic Viewtiful form, this is when the game really opens itself up to the player. In this form you can slow down the gameplay leaving the enemies at a disadvantage, this allows you to get a string of combos in on enemies before they even get a chance to attack, it even effects some enemies attack patterns too. In this mode stunning leaves them open to be juggled around at super force into other enemies, kinda using them as make shift torpedos to manipulate at your own will. Recticles appear on the target you stunned, when hitting that target all the other opponents around you also get that recticle above them, hitting them all in succession brings up a multiplyer.
The higher the multiplayer the more "V-points" you are rewarded. These points can then be traded in for extra moves and ability enhancements at shops between saving points throughout the game. This leaves more focus to improve your fighting technique. It's a lovely addition that is extremely well put together, and translates well into a 2D game for a concept that originally was included in 3D beat em ups, and Hack and Slash games.
You'll encounter more of these abilities throughout the game including "Mach Speed" which allows you to speed up the action, or Zoom in, which get close in on the action and increases Joes attack power and holds enemies still on occasion. These 3 abilities aren't just used to aid you when fighting though, they're also used to solve certain puzzles that are dotted throughout each stage, be it using "Slow" to slow down a choppers propellers to open it up and pummel it, or using "Mach Speed" to run under a quickly descending obstacle or get away from situation quick. It's all ingeniously done and yet again, brings some originality into a once stale genre.
Be warned that the game isn't easy, the game has a hardcore difficulty which only the patient can get around, and with additional difficulty levels it can get even harder if your daring enough to tackle it.
Mondo A Kimbo Baby!
Viewtiful Joe is simply a wonderful title that, based on it's merits, and intentions alone deserves as much attention as it can get, don't miss out on the game, it has a wonderful charm, an innovative structure, and a unique look and feeling to it that other games find hard to pull off. And at the bargain price it's at now, it's a great snatch and is a great addition to anyones collection...
@ snatch!
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