Viewtiful Joe (GCN)

I know I'm a little late to the mark, but I recently stumbled across this gem in the used bin at my local GameStop, and had to pick up the poor thing. For those of you not familiar with this great brawler on the Gamecube (and PS2 later on, but I played on the GCN), it's definitely something you need to look in to.

This game is full of cel-shaded goodness, which wonderfully compliments the beat-em up gameplay. Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw has dubbed this game a "Spectacle Fighter", and I have to say, that term perfectly describes this little diamond in the rough.

The writing is fantastic, but sometimes comes across as awkward with strange pauses in-between dialogue. Still, the story is full of corny-but-cool characters like "Captain Blue", Joe's idol and tutor, and "Gran Bruce", a big shark with a human body.

This game takes a tired old tactic, "bullet time", and puts a cool new twist on it. You accumulate VFX Power, and you use it to fast forward, go into slow motion, or "Zoom In", which gives Joe a cool new move set and paralyzes near-by enemies. All of these seem like "win" buttons, but the game stays fairly balanced even after unlocking these abilities.

Also, after every level you have the option of purchasing a number of items or moves using "V-Points", which you earn through combos. These items include the "Voomerang" which is a spikey boomerang, and "Shocking Pink Bombs", which are exactly that. Bombs.

If there is one problem with this game, it's the difficulty slope. You go from easy to cripplingly difficult in a matter of minutes. In fact, there were at least three parts where I had to put down the controller and take a breather, lest I hurl the controller through my TV. However, Viewtiful Joe's addictive gameplay and sleek, stylish universe all make up for it.



If you don't own this game yet, make sure Santa gets the memo.

And oh yeah: "Henshin a go-go, baby!"