Viewtiful Joe 2003

Is it still worth playing?

Team Viewtiful's 2003 beat 'em up platformer for the GameCube, directed by Hideki Kamiya. Joe is a movie fan whose girlfriend Silvia is kidnapped during a film, and he is pulled into Movieland to get her back. You move left, right, up and down on a fixed 2D path, with jumps, fighting several enemies at once that appear from every direction, including the foreground and background. Joe punches, kicks and dodges, and a good dodge briefly dazes the enemy. His VFX Power, designed to emulate camera tricks from films, is used in fights and puzzles, starting with Slow, which slows time. It runs on a VFX Gauge that empties while a power is in use, and when it runs out Joe turns back to normal. Even now, a gauge that limits how long you can bend the action makes each fight a decision about when to spend it.