8.5

Viewtiful Joe 2

Capcom has brought back our hero Joe, after the success of the first title by the same name. For those of you who have not played a Joe title before, it is a side scrolling affair with some neat twists and turns to keep you busy along the way. Once again we are back in the world of movies where Joe and Silvia will have to battle their way to freedom and safety against the minions of the Black Emperor and tons of freaky enemies that you have to smash!

Joe has not gained any special new skills since the last game however there are a bevy of new locations that he has to take on from Indy Jones movies to Jurassic Park flicks to name but a few.

The action is fast paced and a lot of fun with the backgrounds being vibrant and full of life which certainly adds to the overall experience. I think this title would have ended up being a bit gimpy if not for the effort that has been made to avoid just that. Animations are well executed and the overall pacing of the conflict is up to what you would expect of a fighter of this nature. Joe also has his VFX powers that will let him (for a short time) take on large groups of foes with a deal of finesse along with the puzzles that must be uncovered before you can progress to the next level.

Whilst in VFX mode you can switch to Silvia which is a new innovation in the title and get to cracking head as the fighting female who is armed with a pistol instead of a punch. She can also use a kind of time warp to do repeated attacks on the same enemy, which is great against bosses and the like. Also both possess an awesome uppercut that will keep players up in the air, sort of like Mortal Kombat back in the day where you could reward an enemy with an uppercut followed by another attack or Devil May Cry where Dante could keep them up there with his sword and shotgun.

Graphics and Audio on this game are so much fun that it made it a real pleasure to play with the over the top sounds and looks making everything so much larger than life and a real credit to those good people who put it all together. Take the hokiest action movie punch you could wish for and you get the idea. It’s big, bright and bold and rules the roost.

Possibly the only complaint that any could have with this game is that it is very samey with the first game in the series, in fact you could be forgiven for saying they are interchangeable. They look the same, play the same, feel the same but fortunately the quality is so high that you are going to have a blast playing the title anyway. So get cracking with a view at VJ2!