Viewtiful Joe Critic Reviews

If you can overlook the annoying aspect of having to start over and only being able to save at the beginning of a new episode or when you quit the game, you will experience an amazingly hard but also wonderfully fun game.

A rare gem. It somehow manages to capture the essence of what made classic beat ‘em ups like Double Dragon and Streets of Rage so enjoyable, while still delivering a lengthy and varied enough experience for today’s gamer.

The most interesting feature in Vietiful Joe is the ability to control the speed of the action.

Brilliantly innovative and packed with action. VJ may seem bizarre at first glance, but if you give it a chance, you will be amazed and delighted. The graphics are wild, the action is varied and fun and the game even has a sense of humor.

Quite simply, VJ is a Tour de Force of style meets substance and succeeds on every level.

The game mechanics are solid and innovative, leaving you with many inventive ways in which to scrap with your foe. The graphics are simply phenomenal, creating a look and feel that teeters more towards art than simply backgrounds and characters.

There are no clumsy cameras or complex controls to encumber the gameplay here. No, Viewtiful Joe is a video game made manifest into a work of art, and it stands as a shining example of what games should aspire to be.

We're tempted to overpraise "Viewtiful Joe" because it looks so damn cool, and because it's not another cookie-cutter sequel or retread of a tired franchise. It looks like most game reviewers are falling over themselves to praise the game to the stratosphere, but here at "X-Play" we tell it to you straight. So here's the verdict: Viewtiful Joe is very good.

Viewtiful Joe is immediate, extremely challenging, and grows progressively deeper as you advance. It is frantic, exhilarating, and addictive. In short, it is a classic and everything a game should be.

A stunning example of how creativity can blend seamlessly with gameplay without sacrificing one or the other. The top-notch gameplay coupled with out of this world superhero stunts is the freshest take on a classic side-scrolling action seen in years.

Genius, pure genius... Everything needed to stir the soul of anesthetized gamers everywhere is in here. Just when you think you've seen it all, some designer somewhere in a corner of Japan hits the great-idea lotto and a genre is reborn.

As great as the visual package is, the audio package delivers just as well. The voice acting does wonders with the well-written and witty script and the sound effects all feel just perfect.

The graphical style is truly innovative, something I haven't been able to say about a game in a long time - it truly looks like a manga come to life.

The new VFX system is something every gamer has been dreaming of and Capcom delivers with amazing detail and astoundingly smooth control. After only a year of waiting, Viewtiful Joe is not only everything you’ve been hoping for, it’s everything you didn't even know you should.

Everything here is amazingly responsive and easy to use. A is jump, X is kick, Y is punch, L is slow, R is speed, and the C-stick or B is zoom. It's all right at your fingertips and nothing requires a second thought.

The game just takes you back in the days of the SNES and Sega Genesis. Viewtiful Joe features great graphics, kicking sounds, and just some of the greatest gameplay to come along in a very long time.

An instant classic. Joe has an awesome array of moves that are all great fun to pull off. The graphics are brilliant, and the controls are perfect.

It's caused everyone I've shown it to end up with a huge goofy smile on their face after only a few minutes play, has made them say "Wow! Did you see THAT!" on a number of occasions, made me genuinely laugh out loud more than once (try pressing Pause!) and has impressed me time and again with the level of ingenuity and style that Team Viewtiful have infused into the title.

If the intense challenge intimidates you, then good -- you could probably use a good ass kicking, anyway. I know I certainly did. Beating this game is a badge of honor to wear with pride, and you can bet that I'll be playing through Viewtiful Joe several more times to see if I'm still man enough to call myself a gamer.

Mixing classic gameplay with modern sensibilities and an inimitable art style, Viewtiful Joe is one of the hippest-looking, slickest-playing, and coolest-feeling games around.