Viewtiful Joe

Viewtiful Joe is a side scrolling beat 'em up video game developed by Team Viewtiful for the GameCube. It was originally released in 2003 as a part of the Capcom Five under director Hideki Kamiya and producer Atsushi Inaba. The game was later ported to the PlayStation 2 by the same design team under the name Clover Studio, subtitled Aratanaru Kib? (??????, lit. "A New Hope") in Japan. The game's story concerns Joe, an avid movie-goer whose girlfriend Silvia is kidnapped during a film starring Joe's favorite superhero, Captain Blue. Joe is shortly thereafter thrust into Movieland, where Silvia is taken by the villainous group known as Jadow. After accepting a special V-Watch from Captain Blue, Joe transforms into the tokusatsu-style persona "Viewtiful Joe" and sets out to rescue her. The gameplay of Viewtiful Joe features traditional 2D platform side-scrolling intermixed with 3D cel-shaded graphics. Abilities known as "VFX Powers" grant the player special actions for combat and puzzle-solving, such as slowing down or speeding up time. Viewtiful Joe was critically acclaimed for its unique visual style and gameplay, earning itself a number of awards from various media publications. A minor commercial success, the game spawned a few sequels with releases seen on other consoles such as the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and Nintendo DS. An anime adaption of the game and a manga series were also produced.