Video game review
Viewtiful Joe captures Gamecube videophiles
by Brian Wainstein, Editor

  It’s really “viewtiful” what they can do with games these days.
  Before the first major cell-shaded game, The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker, was brought to the market, most gamers ridiculed the technology, arguing that it was too childish and cartoon-looking.
   All of the arguments were blown away by the actual game though.
  Capcom, creator of the Street Fighter and Devil May Cry, has now capitalized on the technology’s market appeal with the release of Viewtiful Joe, an old-school platformer like no other, for the Nintendo Gamecube.
   The storyline centers on Joe, a Japanese-movie buff, who takes his girlfriend Sylvia to a special screening of his favorite hero’s,   Captain Blue’s, cinematic demise.
   At first disappointed at missing the “most important part” thanks to his girlfriend, Joe is shocked when the characters come alive, steal Sylvia and transport him into the movie world.
   There, Captain Blue appears to him and furnishes him with a VFX watch that grants him the power to turn into Viewtiful Joe.
   At first glace, the game is highly reminiscent of the original platform greats: action is 2-d, destroying boxes gives power-ups and the gameplay is pretty much linear. The backgrounds, however, are three-dimensional and although you can move only back and forward, the levels rotate.
   Viewtiful Joe’s special powers make the game great fun, though, and are inspired by the game’s themes.
   True to Hollywood, Joe can use slow-motion to slow time; he can fast forward, speeding up time, and he can zoom into the action to do more damage.
   These abilities all come into play to solve the puzzles that let you continue with the game: the slow effect is used on slot machines and helicopters, forcing them to fall from the sky when their rotors don’t turn fast enough; speed is used to set items alight as Joe moves so quickly he bursts into flame.
   Capcom and Nintendo have released a game that players will reminisce about for years to come.
   Coupled with the price drop of the Gamecube, this and other Nintendo-only games such as the upcoming Star Wars: Rogue   Squadron III - Rebel Strike, will turn the lagging system back into the best-seller it should be.