Viewtiful Joe: Difference between revisions

[[File:V.Joe.jpg|frame| May the hero-ness be with you.]]

 

 

''Viewtiful Joe'' is a [[X Meets Y|combination]] of [[Platformer]] and Progressive [[Beat'Em Up|Beat-Em-Up]]. The games were originally released on the Nintendo GameCube, and also appeared in enhanced form on Sony PlayStation 2, with a third game on the [[Nintendo DS]].

 

 

In '''The Sequel''', Joe and Silvia must stop the alien Gedow from taking over Movie Land and the real world.

A '''Third Game''', subtitled ''Double Trouble'', was released on the Nintendo DS. It has similar gameplay, but new moves which take advantage of the double screen.

 

 

These games are [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/07/07/ quite hard], but also very good fun. Gameplay is reminiscent of old ''[[Streets of Rage]]'' or ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' games, and should appeal to young and old alike. Thankfully, none of the games take themselves very seriously.

As well as those, there has been an [[The Anime of the Game|anime adaptation]], which maintains much of the feel of the original, but [[Too Good to Last|only lasted one season in the U.S.]]

 

 

 

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* [[Absolute Cleavage]]: Sprocket.

* [[Airborne Mooks]]: Verdy enemies.

* [[Asskicking Pose]]: Viewtiful Forever, one of the most expensive upgrades, actually damages Joe's opponents when he uses it -- [[Power-Up Letdown|too bad]] it [[Awesome but Impractical|does crap for damage and gobbles up practically all of VFX]].

** On the other hand, Joe IS invincible during the animation, which can give you a little breather during combat, and with a VFX Turbo Charger, the invincibility lasts long enough to turn back into Viewtiful mode.

* [[Bare Your Midriff]]: Jasmine.

* [[Battle Couple]]: Joe and Silvia, natch.

** {{color|purple|'''Alaster'''}} - [[Lightning Bruiser]] (VFX bar has to be activated manually a la [[Devil May Cry|Devil Trigger]], has a longer jump, can fly briefly, stronger than other three characters, but not as fast as Silvia ).

** {{color|blue|'''Captain Blue'''}} - [[Mighty Glacier]] (Cannot see skull marks regardless of difficulty, has the ability to hover across the screen indefinitely, and is stronger than Joe and Silvia).

* [[Combat Stilettos]]: Just about every female character.

* [[Continuity Nod]]: Statues of Gran Bruce, a boss from the first game, appear in Alastor's boss stage in ''2''.

* [[Degraded Boss]]: Fire Leo in ''Viewtiful Joe'', Drill Sergeant Big John in ''Viewtiful Joe 2''.

* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|Did You Just Punch Out A God?]]: {{spoiler|King Blue. He gets better, though.}}

* [[Do Androids Dream?]]/[[What Measure Is a Non-Human?]]: Miss Bloody Rachel learns to feel emotions after experiencing the Viewtiful nature of life at Joe and Silvia's hands. This doesn't fly with Dr. Cranken, who promptly [[Kick the Dog|electrocutes her]]. {{spoiler|She gets better.}}

* [[Dumb Muscle]]: Gran Bruce needs a second to think before he does... uhh... dehh... ANYTHING!

* [[Everything's Better with Dinosaurs]]: Averted. Drill Sergeant Big John makes ''several'' appearances throughout ''2'', to the point that he's little more than a nuisance.

* [[Everything's Better with Spinning]]: Several moves invoke this trope.

* [[Fake Difficulty]]: See "[[Laser Hallway]]" below.

* [[Fallen Hero]]: {{spoiler|Captain Blue.}}

* [[Foreshadowing]]: In the very first part of ''Viewtiful Joe'', Silvia notes that there's something familiar about Captain Blue; at the end of the game, {{spoiler|you find out that Captain Blue is Silvia's father}}. In Alastor's script, he also mentions the master's DNA, another possible hint.

* [[Friendly Enemy]]: Alastor to Joe in the anime. This is even lampshaded at one point.

* [[Genre Savvy]]: Joe, Alastor, and quite a few others. Justified to the extreme in that they are all characters in an action movie and are entirely aware of that fact. Oddly, the first game's main villain, {{spoiler|King/Captain Blue}}, ''averts'' this Trope; he's supposed {{spoiler|to be the guy who makes these films, and knows their cliches and ideas in and out}}, so [[Fridge Logic|how is he not a more dangerous threat if he's got those traits]]?

* [[Genre Shift]]: In the very last level of the first game, when you find out the main villain is none other than {{spoiler|Captain Blue}}, Joe makes very few jokes, and the end of the game is a little more serious than the others.

* [[The Good Captain]]: Captain Blue, of course!

* [[Guide Dang It]]: Most of the bosses.

* [[Hearts Are Health]]

* [[Henshin Hero|Henshin A Go-Go Hero]]: Not just the heroes, but the villains, too.

* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Only in the anime adaption, {{spoiler|when Joe finds out that Captain Blue is the Big Bad. It takes Blue Jr., Silvia, and people Joe met through Movie Land to get him out of it.}}

* [[Homage]]: The entire final level of the first game is a homage to ''[[Star Wars]]''.

** Joe's father, Jet, shares near-exactly the same hairstyle, outfit, and color scheme as the father of a little girl in an episode of the Ruby-Spears [[Mega Man (animation)|Mega Man]] cartoon. That character's name? Jet. The characters are otherwise unrelated, as the Jet from the cartoon lives in the future with his daughter under evil totalitarian rule. Joe's father, however...

* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: Hulk Davidson brags about how he gave Captain Blue his scar, then screams "[[Not in the Face]]" when attacked.

* [[Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels]]:

** Kids (easy)<ref> You cannot do a [[New Game+]] to Adults or harder modes, if you did your first play-through on either of these easy modes</ref>

** Adults (Normal)

* [[Jumped At the Call]]: Joe.

* [[Justified Tutorial]]: In the first game, Joe is unsure how to use his V-Watch and has to be told how to use his powers by Captain Blue.

* [[Killer Yoyo]]: Captain Blue Junior uses one in the anime, before he stars duel-wielding them in Henshin mode.

* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: Too many to count!

** Sprocket from the anime.

* [[Mega Manning]]: Joker, a recurring [[King Mook]] [[Mini Boss]] from the first game. In your first encounter with him, his combat skills are limited to the standard Bianky punches and kicks, but in subsequent encounters, he adds additional abilities used by other Mooks to his repertoire, up until your last encounter with him, where he has [[Final Exam Boss|learned most of them]].

* [[Mirror Boss]]: Another Joe, complete with a [[Boss Remix]] of Joe's theme from the first stage.

* [[Money Spider]]: You knock the V points out of enemies, which become coins. Larger enemies and bosses give you bigger coins, and sometimes points are hidden in boxes.

* [[Nintendo Hard]]: Fire Leo. Also, the Rainbow V challenge to unlock "super" versions of each character with unlimited VFX is quite possibly one of the most masochistic things one could do for a video game.

** Ultra V-Rated Mode is ''sadistic''; even if you know how to predict their blows without the indicators, it's still kinda hard.

'''Joe''': Heyheyhey, wait up there. That's the ''old'' script! }}

* [[No Inner Fourth Wall]]: One of the best examples, and the source of a lot of the humor. Joe is fully aware of every old movie trope he encounters, though he remains oblivious to any ''video game'' tropes he runs into unless the two overlap.

* [[Painting the Fourth Wall]]: How many video game series are ''based'' around this?

* [[Playing with Fire]]: Fire Leo. Also, when Joe uses his mach speed power, it can send him into Red Hot mode, where he does added fire damage and is immune to fire.

* [[Pragmatic Adaptation]]: While the anime is largely faithful to the games, they do change a few things up. The second season changes ''a lot'' of the story from the second game... And yet, somehow, it works.

* [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]]: Present in the anime, made up of the weaker bosses from the first game.

* [[Recurring Boss]]: Big John shows up in every level of the second game.

** Originates in the first with Joker and his slot machine.

* [[Red Herring]]: At the end of ''2'', a new villain shows up in the real world to wreak havoc. Jet Black says that the newest adventure will reveal {{spoiler|how he found the Black V-Watch and Black Film}}. Yet in ''Double Trouble'' the story picks up with Joe, Blue, Silvia, and Jasmine filming a movie. The two plots are almost completely unrelated, {{spoiler|besides some possible insight on Jet's [[Start of Darkness]]}}.

** Perhaps not. ''Double Trouble'' is more of a spin-off. Also, the first game ''did'' mention the Earth would have to be saved {{spoiler|three}} times.

* '''[[Rule of Cool]]'''

* [[Running Gag]]: Whenever Alastor is defeated, he appears to "die" honorably. The narrator gets very sentimental over this. However, Alastor usually appears ''immediately'' afterwards to lament his lack of screen-time; in the first game [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|he appeals directly to the players]], and in ''2'' he speaks with Jet.

* [[Second-Hour Superpower]]: Joe's titular V-Watch.

* [[Sequel Hook]]: [[Invoked Trope]] at the end of the first game and the second game.

** And ''Double Trouble''.

** To ''[[Devil May Cry]]'', which is made by the same studio.

*** To go in-depth, Alastor himself. Not only does he possess the attacks (Stinger, Air Raid, Round Trip, Vortex, etc.) and [[Shock and Awe|purple lightning powers]] of his sword namesake, but when fought in Dante's story, Alastor reveals that he's [[Anthropomorphic Personification|the spirit of the sword]] and fumes that Dante didn't take him along during ''Devil May Cry 2''. Alastor also possesses a version of Joe's Red Hot Kick called Ultraviolet Kick; this is a nod to the [[Leitmotif]] of Nelo Angelo in ''DMC1''. In ''2'', his [[Super-Powered Evil Side]] (Underworld Emperor Alastor) physically resembles Dante's Alastor [[Super Mode|Devil Trigger]] and speaks the same line to Joe ("I am Alastor. The weak shall give their heart and swear their eternal loyalty to me.") that he said to Dante before [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice|impaling him]] (Joe is much luckier, due to his VFX powers).

*** The reference goes further: in the ''Viewtiful Escape'' level, Joe makes a bet with Another Joe that whoever loses the fight has to wear a yellow scarf. This is a reference to the original [[Kamen Rider]]: Kamen Rider 2's most obvious difference from his predecessor's appearance was his yellow scarf (as opposed to 1's red scarf).

** Six Machine being similar in sound to the famous [[James Brown]] song "Sex Machine", anyone? Also, if Joe's [[Only One Name|last name]] is indeed the same as Jet's, it might be a reference to the movie ''[[Meet Joe Black]]''.

*** Speaking of the Red Hot Kick, it's yet another way that Joe homages ''[[Kamen Rider]]'': It's basically a Rider Kick. In ''Double Trouble'', the Meta Rangers, who are basically Kamen Riders in all but name, have the same move as name "Meta Kick".

*** Heck, the Meta Rangers' boss theme is a [[Kamen Rider]] shout out: It sounds remarkably similar to "Let's Go Rider Kick", the theme of the first two Kamen Riders.

** For the second game, we get: [[Jurassic Park|Ten-Million Years B.C.]], [[Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom|Viewtiful Heroes and the Statue of Doom]], Memoir of an Invincible Monster, [[James Bond|Thunder Boy Lives Twice]], [[Ice Age|Ice Edge]], [[Blade Runner|Do Androids Dream of Romantic Scene?]], and [[Starship Troopers|Starship Viewties]].

** Also, the powers (except for replay) are shout outs to film techniques. Slow Mo is obvious, taken from slowing down parts for dramatic effect. Mach Speed is used in television mostly, used most of the time for clean-the-room montages in sitcoms. Zoom In is from the old school horror flicks, in which the camera would quickly zoom close to the face of some frightening person with a menacing gaze.

* [[Start of Darkness]]: {{spoiler|Jet Black uncovering the Black Film and Black V-Watch. ''Double Trouble'' implies that the untimely death of his wife Junko also pushed him over the edge. For Blue, it was his fade from popularity in the movies as well as his willingness to live in the movies.}}

* [[Staying Alive]]: Alastor. He's never dead, no matter how sad the [[Unreliable Narrator|narrator]] gets over his death; he's just somewhere not getting any more screen time for the rest of the game. And complaining bitterly about it.

* [[Stripperiffic]]: [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Sexy Silvia]]'s cheerleader-themed outfit (complete with a perpetual [[Panty Shot]]) is actually modest. For most boss fights in ''2'', however, the getup transforms into a [[Bare Your Midriff|midriff-baring]] combination of a bikini and hot pants. Also, there's Sprocket.

* [[Superhero]]

** That's why you protect yourself with [[Bullet Time|Slow]] and up your damage with [[Mundane Made Awesome|Zoom.]]

* [[Tsundere]]: Silvia from ''2''-onwards, although she shows brief flashes of it in the first game.

* [[Twincest]]: More than likely unintentional, but in the first game, all playable characters have the exact same actions in their cutscenes. Meaning that Silvia attempting to make out with Joe during the game's intro sequence carries through with Silvia and her sister Goldie.

** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlS8tjoKFCs&feature=related You can infer for yourself if this was unintentional or not.]

* [[Unreliable Narrator]]: The Narrator persistently attempts to make Joe's showboating look heroic.

** It's even more hilarious when you realize the narrator [[Hey, It's That Voice!|is]] ''[[Final Fantasy X|Jecht]]!''

* [[Warrior Poet]]: Frost Tiger in ''2''. He even utters some poetry in his death throes. It makes his death all the more epic.

'''Frost Tiger''' (on defeat): "Through countless battles/ I sought to attain/ the glorious path./ But true viewty comes/ in this late hour of defeat." }}

* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]]: Joe. In everything he does.

** Also: VFX Power Zoom. It consists of zooming in the shot on Joe, adding blur and motion lines everywhere to focus on the hero, and Joe striking an heroic pose. It also adds crazy effects to his attacks in the name of making everything awesome, like making his jumps into ''flying drills'', his falls into earth-shaking [[Ground Pound|Ground Pounds]], his kicks into ''windmill strikes of death'', turning his punch into a ''blindingly fast flurry of blows'', and the Redhot Kick into a ''burning dragon drill drop!'' Last, but not least, is the Viewtiful Forever, which has Zoom turn his [[Bullet Time]] dodge into a ''weaponized [[Asskicking Pose]]!''

** In the beginning of ''2'', Joe learns that the V-Watch can change the clothing of their users in accordance to their desires. Then comes ''this'' event:

* [[Worthy Opponent]]: Alastor, as well as Frost Tiger in ''2''.

* [[You Killed My Father|You Killed My Brother]]: Subverted with Frost Tiger. Joe and Silvia expect him to want [[Revenge]] for the death of Fire Leo in ''1'', but Frost Tiger is too concerned with having a good fight to care about such petty things. Still, the strategy guide implies that Tiger may be a mite ticked off about the death of his brother.

* [[Your Mind Makes It Real]]

* [[Zettai Ryouiki]]: Silvia's normal outfit in ''2'' and ''Double Trouble''. Her Sexy Silvia outfit ''would have'' counted had it not been for the tights.

 

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[[Category:Shinji Mikami]]

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[[Category:Kids WB]]

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[[Category:Nintendo DS]]

[[Category:Geneon]]

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[[Category:Beat'Em Up]]

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