Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble

[Heatwaveman]

Quite possibly the BEST and final great fighting game on the Gamecube, unless they decide to hurry up with SSBB. Well, truth be told, its not exactly a fighting game. Though there is enough violence and meyhem to appeal to those with small attention spans like me, so, keep you pants on. Well first, I'd suggest playing the first 2 Viewtiful Joe games and watched some of the show on WB I think... but if not, you may not know the characters, but its still a great game.

The plot is an old movie hero star (Captain Blue) is going into retirement. But he's coming back as a director. In this next game, he's looking back on all of the stongly liked characters of the VJ series and holding a contest for the lead role in his blockbuster.

The gameplay is a bit fast paced and CRAZY! It may drive you insane in story mode, but is best when played in 4 player mode. If you've ever played Wario Ware, you'll feel right at home with this game. Every level begins with the characters going in postion and the director shouting out orders. You have to complete tasks like defeating enemies, collecting gems, capture the flag, or battling a huge boss. Now while you are free to work together to accomplish the goal, keep in mind you are fighting for a lead role, so its really a free-for-all. At the end of each take, your overall task score is added together and your reward is V-points. You can also KO your rivals so they drop THEIR V-points, which can change the tide of the match in an instant. In additon to some special items, you sometimes find VFX powers. These powers can be everything but you moving in Slo-mo, you dashing across the screen in Mach Speed, or you utilizing Sound Effects.

The characters are a bit the same, but their fighting styles differ ALOT. The first availible characters are Viewtiful Joe (himself), Captain Blue Jr. (hero wannabe and Joe's sidekick), Blademaster Alastor (Joe's rival in both games), Sexy Silvia (Joe's girlfriend and occasional partner), Captain Blue (the director. what? havent you ever heard of movies with acting directors?), and Emperor Jet Black (Joe's father). Not to mention other suprise unlockables from the series and games. If you know them, a couple of the unlockable characters are Sprocket (coordinator for the movie) and the Miss Bloody Rachel (hot android girl XD).

Graphics are really good in this game. Still cell-shaded like the other two, though with a bit of a difference. Although its frustrating when the camera moves out and you can't find yourself ><.

The sounds are still sweet as well. Though they could've done a bit more with voice acting, the music isn't too bad.

Overall I am ADDICTED to this game. I'm gonna invite a few people over and duke it out now. But first, I need more characters ><.

Ratings:

Plot - 8/10

Gameplay - 10/10

Characters - 10/10

Graphics - 10/10

Sounds - 8/10

Overall - 20,000,000/10 wait, no...... 10/10

[Heatwaveman]

The opening movie. Watch it, tis awesome.

[torcher999]

I thought it was ok.