Viewtiful Joe

Viewtiful Joe (Japanese: ビューティフル ジョー, Hepburn: Byūtifuru Jō) is a side scrolling beat 'em up video game franchise created by Japanese game designer Hideki Kamiya. It is primarily developed and published by Capcom and its subsidiary Clover Studio.

This article is about the video game series. For the video game, see Viewtiful Joe (video game). For the anime series, see Viewtiful Joe (TV series).
Not to be confused with Beautiful Joe.

Viewtiful Joe
Genre(s)Beat 'em up
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)Capcom
Creator(s)Hideki Kamiya
Platform(s)
First releaseViewtiful Joe
June 26, 2003
Latest releaseViewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!
November 2, 2005

Games
Release timeline
2003Viewtiful Joe
2004Viewtiful Joe 2
2005Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!

Viewtiful Joe (2003)
Main article: Viewtiful Joe (video game)

The first game in the series was directed by Hideki Kamiya, who had previously directed Resident Evil 2 and Devil May Cry. It was the second title to be released under the Capcom Five, developed by a team of developers within Capcom Production Studio 4 known as Team Viewtiful. The game was released for the GameCube on June 26, 2003, in Japan, and in October 2003 in North America and Europe. Viewtiful Joe centers around the avid movie-goer Joe, who is thrust into Movie Land, transforms into the superhero "Viewtiful Joe" and sets out to rescue his girlfriend Silvia. The gameplay features traditional 2D platform side-scrolling intermixed with 3D cel-shaded graphics. A PlayStation 2 version was developed in 2004 by Clover Studio featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series as a playable character.[1]

Viewtiful Joe 2 (2004)
Main article: Viewtiful Joe 2

The second game in the series was directed by Masaaki Yamada, with Hideki Kamiya writing the story. The game was released for both the GameCube and PlayStation 2 in 2004 in North America and Japan, and in 2005 in Europe and Australia. The game would be the first title to be fully developed by Clover Studio, a new studio within Capcom that was founded in 2004. Viewtiful Joe 2 features both Viewtiful Joe and Sexy Silvia as playable characters with similar gameplay elements to the first game.

Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble (2005)
Main article: Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble

Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! (2005)
Main article: Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!

Development and history

Hideki Kamiya has expressed wanting to return to the series since leaving Capcom. In 2017, in an interview with Dengeki PlayStation, he addressed his former employer that he would want to work on a remake of the first Viewtiful Joe.[2] During PAX East 2020, Kamiya told attendees to "email Capcom" to get sequels to dormant franchises, including Viewtiful Joe. He later said he would like to finish the series with a third entry, as well as seeing a Nintendo Switch version of the first game.[3]

Other media

An anime TV series based on the video game series, simply titled Viewtiful Joe, was produced by Group TAC and aired from 2004 to 2005.[4] A manga series was published concurrently in V Jump magazine.[5]

Viewtiful Joe appears as a playable character in the Wii version of the 2008 fighting game Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars.[6] He also appears as a playable character in the 2011 fighting game Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.[7]

Reception
Aggregate review scores
As of April 15, 2020.
Game Year Metacritic
Viewtiful Joe 2003 93/100 (NGC)[8]
90/100 (PS2)[9]
Viewtiful Joe 2 2004 86/100 (NGC)[10]
85/100 (PS2)[11]
Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble 2005 62/100 (NGC)[12]
63/100 (PSP)[13]
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! 2005 73/100 (DS)[14]

The first two Viewtiful Joe games received critical acclaim. However, the games that came after received a mixed-to-positive response and did not sell well.

Sales

In Japan, the GameCube version of Viewtiful Joe sold through its initial shipment of less than 100,000 copies during the week of its release.[15] Preorders of the GameCube version sold out on Capcom's North American website prior to its ship date, and Viewtiful Joe debuted as the tenth best-selling game in the region.[16][17] The PlayStation 2 version sold a poor 9,912 units in its first week of release in Japan.[18] Worldwide, sales of the game reached 275,000 copies on the GameCube and 46,000 on the PlayStation 2.[19] Sales of the game in both North America and Europe were lower than what Capcom had predicted, but due to its small budget, the game was considered by Inaba to be relatively successful commercially.[20][21]

References
  1. Dunham, Jeremy (20 July 2004). "A New Hope for Viewtiful Joe?". IGN. Archived from the original on 25 January 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2009.
  2. Sato (November 20, 2017). "Hideki Kamiya Wants To Do A Viewtiful Joe Or DMC Remake, And A Dante x Bayonetta Crossover". Siliconera. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  3. Doolan, Liam (March 3, 2020). "Hideki Kamiya Would Love To Release Viewtiful Joe 3 And "Finish That Trilogy"". Nintendo Life. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  4. Cole, Michael (September 1, 2004). "Television is Viewtiful". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  5. "株式会社カプコン：Capcom World Japan". Archived from the original on August 14, 2015.
  6. Gifford, Kevin (November 5, 2008). "Viewtiful Joe Joins Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  7. Hamza CTZ Aziz (August 18, 2010). "GC 10: Viewtiful Joe and Dormammu join Marvel vs Capcom 3". destructoid. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  8. "Viewtiful Joe for GameCube". Metacritic. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  9. "Viewtiful Joe for PlayStation 2". Metacritic. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  10. "Viewtiful Joe 2 for GameCube". Metacritic. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  11. "Viewtiful Joe 2 for PlayStation 2". Metacritic. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  12. "Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble for GameCube". Metacritic. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  13. "Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble for PSP". Metacritic. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  14. "Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! for Nintendo DS". Metacritic. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  15. IGN staff (3 July 2003). "Viewtiful Sales". IGN. Archived from the original on 19 December 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  16. Altersitz, Samuel (18 October 2003). "News – Capcom: Viewtiful Joe is a Sell Out!". GamesAreFun. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  17. Jenkins, David (24 November 2003). "Latest US Console Sales Charts – October". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 22 September 2008. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
  18. Mambrucchi, Steeve (17 September 2004). "Top Ventes Jap (Sem n°37/2004)" (in French). Gamekyo. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
  19. Drake, Shannon (8 May 2007). "Vision Doesn't Sell Copies". The Escapist. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  20. Sheffield, Brandon (11 March 2005). "Postcard from GDC 2005: Lessons from Viewtiful Joe: Making a Creatively and Financially Successful New Game". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 20 December 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2009.
  21. "Capcom Annual Report 2004" (PDF). Capcom. 31 March 2004. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 August 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
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