Viewtiful Joe 2

Written by Kyle Williams  on June 08, 2004

First Impressions: You are so viewtiful... to meeeee.

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I have no hard data to back this up, but I'd venture a wager that Capcom has sold more two-dimensional action games than anyone else, period. Hell, they probably achieved that with the Mega Man franchise alone. Then you throw in their Ghosts n' Goblins games and the plethora of 2D fighting titles they've made and the title of "2D Gurus" would be a guarantee. Now, what does a master of two-dimensions do in a 3D world? They show everyone how it's done all over again with a quirky title that blows minds worldwide. Yes, that mind-blowing game is last year's breakout smash, Viewtiful Joe.

For those of you that never got a chance to play the original (shame on you), here's a quick recap: You played Joe (as the name implies), an everyday movie buff that, on a more unique trip to the cinema, has his girlfriend kidnapped by a movie itself. So what did he do? He takes a lesson from his favorite hero, Captain Blue, and unleashes some major butt-whooping as Viewtiful Joe.

As VJ, you basically stepped into an action movie that embodied all of the best aspects of classic side scrolling video games. Laying the smack down never got old thanks to a very innovative combat system that relied on visual effects (VFX) to stay ahead of your opponents. Consisting of Slow, Mach and Zoom, the VFX powers were what really set VJ apart from the action crowd and drew game players into the game.

In addition to all of the VFX goodness that was crammed into the original Viewtiful Joe, VJ2 is adding a few. Perhaps the most potent of these new visual effect powers will be Replay. No, this isn't going to be a tweak on Prince of Persia's time bending gameplay. Instead, it will allow you to grab a moment of gameplay and repeat it for superheroic results. I know that sounds a little bit convoluted so let me explain. If you land a fantastic hit, Replay it and you land the punch two more times, tripling the damage. Replay eating a hamburger and you will increase the health you recover threefold. Get the picture? Additionally, Viewtiful Joe 2 will allow you to play as Joe's girlfriend, Silvia. That's right, you will be able to shake her pom-poms and use her new projectile weapon to tag opponents from a distance.