|
SO GOOD, I
OUGHTA SMACK YOU WITH A BAG OF NICKELS
VIEWTIFUL
JOE
Written By Shaun McCracken
Just when I was beginning to think that the current video game climate
was wallowing in rehashed game play and the lack of innovation, Capcom
comes busting through my wall like the Kool-Aid man to bitch slap me
different in the form of Viewtiful Joe. Finally, a company who has the
balls to bring back classic game play design with the power of today's
consoles. It's amazing how one game can be so easy to get into, have
such a great visual style, and have a surprising level of difficulty. Am
I gushing way too soon? It's hard not to. I have yet to see one bad
thing said about this game from critics, which means this has to be one
of the best games to come around in some time.
Funny how it seems like every time someone tries to write Nintendo off,
a game like this shows up. Last year, we had Metroid Prime, which like
VJ, had classic game play mechanics with a new twist on design. This
year, Capcom gives us the classic with a twist in VJ. Just by looking
at screenshots, you would think this is a basic platform game. At first
play, you may think it's a platform game with a lot of visual style,
but a rather simplified battle design. But once you get into all the
techniques used in the game, you start to do more with what you have,
and you realize that the design is ever so expanding, and that with
each new trick you learn has a use some point in the game. A long
winded sentence, I know, but really that's what the game is all about.
Well that, and saving your lady.
VJ's premise is fairly simple, and pretty much done before in the
simplest aspect. You must save your girlfriend from a monster who has
taken her away. Of course, this happens ala "Last Action Hero", where
not only she is taken through a movie screen, but you go inside the
movie to go after her. This movie they are in just happens to be about
Joe's favorite superhero, Captain Blue, who looks like an over-the-hill
Power Ranger with his gut hanging out of the costume (no doubt played
for satire). When Joe encounters Captain Blue early in the film (aka
Stage 1-1), and defeats him in a challenge, Joe acquires the powers his
hero has and becomes a superhero himself.
Each stage of the game takes place in a different location, be it the
city street, a sewer or even underwater. It's nice that Capcom gave us
a unique and different setting for each stage, so it never feels all
that repetitious. Within the stages, Joe (you) will encounter hordes
of enemies, puzzles and mini-bosses. Getting through the enemies may
seem a bit simple at first, but they get so much tougher and aggressive
later on, that you will need to know your VFX powers well enough to
defeat them. Your VFX powers consist of Slow Motions, Mach Speed and
Zoom-In, and are acquired one by one as you move along in the beginning
(I think you acquire all three in the first chapter). Each power has
effects of their own. When you use Slow Motion, everything obviously
slows down. But the power of your punches become more powerful, bullets
slow down, propellers slow down and bring platforms to the ground, and
that's to name a few things slow-mo can do. Mach Speed speeds
everything up, allowing you to raise platforms, let liquids rise (if
they are pouring), and with rapid punching and kicking, light on fire
to set the fuses off on bombs. Zoom-in allows for close-up attacks and
extra evasive maneuvers. All three have multiple purposes, and the more
you know about what each effect can do, the more help it is to you to
solve puzzles.
While some things in the game seem guided, there are some points where
I got stuck not knowing what to do next. Some puzzles are not as
obvious as others, and some objectives are never that clear (like the
submarine). But it's never to the point of impossible, it just takes a
watchful eye. The other thing about VJ is that you will die, a lot. I
did not think this game would have a high level of difficulty. It's not
a bad thing, hell, more games need it. We need games such as VJ and
Ikaruga that tells even the most dedicated gamer that they suck. Puts
us in our place. But it never really seems difficult. I lose most of
the time because of careless mistakes or not using VFX powers to their
full potential. So far, I'm on Chapter 5, and have continued at least
25 times. But to help you out, you can collect Viewtifuls (V-Marks) to
buy extra abilities, life, mid-game continue and special weapons.
Collecting V-Marks is easy. Punching the crap out of enemies is one
sure way of earning the points. But using the VFX to form combos gets
you more points, and the best way to do this is by doing a dodge
correctly, and then using the slow-mo effect to deal the damage (when
you see an enemy targeted, you know you're on your way to combos and
multipliers). Also, collecting coins left by enemies raise your point
level. In VJ, it's all about strategy. Bet you thought you wouldn't
need it in a platformed, did you?
The visual style of Viewtiful Joe is the best since Jet Grind Radio.
The difference here is that rather than making a 3-D world seem like a
cartoon, Capcom wanted this game to look like it took place on paper,
like in a comic book. And it works very well. The visuals are clean,
crisp and done well enough to provide a convincing world of a comic
book come to life. You really need to see this game in motion to
appreciate what Capcom has done. The VFX powers are also presented
well, and does not detract from the overall look of the game. The
frame rate is constant almost always. I only noticed a tad bit of
slowdown during the Chapter 4 boss, but there was so much going on, the
framerate had to give in a little. The character animation is also top
notch. You will not find a game with this much visual impact on any
other system.
The sound is good most of the time. The music is good and never really
gets to the point of irritating, but it's not highly memorable or
dressed to impress. Really, the focus should be on the sound effects. A
lot of crunching, punching, exploding and everything in between. Plus,
the effects react to the VFX powers. If you slow things down, you hear
things slowing down. The voices are pretty much intended to be comical,
so from that standpoint, you can't really criticize it for being poor
like Resident Evil. Some of the dialouge is kind of funny, and even
makes a few jaunts into satire country.
Final Thought
Let's face it, games such as this do not come around as often any more.
It's hard to find a game that stands out from a crowd of games that try
to emulate a popular series that has come before it, or just do not
toss out many original concepts. VJ brings us back to the 2-D era and
reminds us that gaming was at one time, fun and entertaining. Full of
quirkiness only a Japanese game can deliver, VJ is one of the best
games I have played this year, and it's visual impact will be one to
top for many a time to come. Don't be hesitant about this game. It's
challenging, yet intuitive. It's design is simple yet complex.
Everything balances out almost perfectly, and it's well enough reason
to add this to your collection.
.
.
.
|
Published
By :
CAPCOM
Developed
By:
CLOVER
STUDIO
Year Published :
2003
Players :
1
ESRB Rating:
TEEN
OVERALL
SCORE
9.5
VISUALS |
9.7 |
AUDIO |
9.1 |
GAMEPLAY |
9.6 |
REPLAY
VALUE |
9.0 |
INNOVATION |
9.1 |
Viewtiful Joe presents a great mix of old and new styles of game play in
a great looking package.
Viewtiful
Joe 2
Honestly,
there are not many 2-D style games on the market right now that go
against this one.
|