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{{Infobox video game
<!-- begin WikiProject Computer and Video Games infobox-->{| cellpadding=2 cellspacing=2 align=right width=256px style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; padding: 6px; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; font-size: 10px; background-color: #f7f8ff; border:1px solid #8888aa;"
| title = Viewtiful Joe 2
|- style=background:#ccccff
| image = vj2box.jpg
| align=center colspan=2|<font size="2">'''''Viewtiful Joe 2'''''</font>
| caption = North American PS2 cover art
|-
| developer = [[Clover Studio]]
| align=center colspan=2|[[Image:vj2box.jpg|150px|center]]
| publisher = [[Capcom]]
|- style=background:#ccccff
| director = Masaaki Yamada
| style=width:80px|[[Video game developer|Developer]]:
| producer = [[Atsushi Inaba]]
|[[Clover Studio]]
| designer = Masato Kimura
|-
| programmer =
|[[Video game publisher|Publisher]]:
| artist =
|[[Capcom]]
| writer = [[Hideki Kamiya]]
|- style=background:#ccccff
| composer = Sayaka Morita<br>Masami Ueda
|Release date:
| series = ''[[Viewtiful Joe]]''
|[[November 23]], [[2004]]
| platforms = [[GameCube]], [[PlayStation 2]]
|-
| released = {{vgrelease|NA|November 18, 2004 (GC)<ref>{{cite web| author=GameSpot staff | date=November 18, 2004 | title=GameCube Viewtiful once again | url=http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/viewtifuljoe2/news.html?sid=6113550&mode=all | website=[[GameSpot]] | access-date=2009-03-11}}</ref>|NA|December 7, 2004 (PS2)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-03-05 |title=Press Releases |url=http://www.capcom.com/news/news.xpml?prid=500047 |access-date=2023-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050305091346/http://www.capcom.com/news/news.xpml?prid=500047 |archive-date=2005-03-05 }}</ref>|JP|December 16, 2004<ref>{{Cite web| script-title=ja:ビューティフル ジョー ２ ブラックフィルムの謎 | url=https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ngc/software/g2vj/index.html | publisher=[[Nintendo]] | language=ja | access-date=2009-11-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041215034408/http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ngc/software/g2vj/index.html |archive-date=2004-12-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| title=PlayStation.com(Japan)｜ソフトウェアカタログ｜ビューティフルジョー2 ブラックフィルムの謎 | url=http://www.jp.playstation.com/software/title/slpm65824.html | publisher=[[Sony Computer Entertainment]]| language=ja | access-date=2009-09-10}}</ref>|EU|April 1, 2005<ref>{{Cite web| title=Nintendo - Press Release: Nintendo Unveils Strong Q2 2005 Game Line-Up! | url=http://www.gamershell.com/companies/nintendo/216082.html | publisher=GamesHell | access-date=2009-10-05}}</ref>|AU|April 15, 2005}}
|[[Computer and video game genres|Genre]]:
| genre = [[Beat 'em up]], [[Platformer|platform]]
|[[Platform games|Platform]]
| modes = [[Single-player]]
|- style=background:#ccccff
}}
|Game modes:
'''''Viewtiful Joe 2''''', known in Japan as {{nihongo foot|'''''Viewtiful Joe 2: Secret of the Black Film''''',|ビューティフル ジョー2 ブラックフィルムの謎<ref>{{cite web| author=Niizumi, Hirohiko | date=September 3, 2004 | title=Viewtiful Joe 2 details emerge | url=http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/viewtifuljoe2/news.html?sid=6106591&mode=all | website=GameSpot| access-date=2009-03-11}}</ref>|Byūtifuru Jō Tsū Burakku Firumu no Nazo|lead=yes|group=lower-alpha}} is a 2004 [[beat 'em up|beat 'em up game]] developed by [[Clover Studio]] and published by [[Capcom]] for the [[GameCube]] and [[PlayStation 2]]. The game's story begins where the original ''[[Viewtiful Joe (video game)|Viewtiful Joe]]'' left off, with the beginning of an alien invasion of Movieland by a villainous organization called "Gedow". The group is led by an unseen being known as the "Black Emperor", whose proclaims his goal to collect the special Rainbow [[Academy Award|Oscars]], seven statuettes which contain the "power of the [[happy ending]]". Straight from their previous adventure, [[superhero]] Viewtiful Joe and his girlfriend Sexy Silvia quickly charge themselves with stopping Gedow's evil plans.
|[[Single player]]
|-
|[[ESRB]] rating:
|Teen (T)
|- style=background:#ccccff
|Platform:
|[[GameCube]], [[PlayStation 2]]
|}
'''''Viewtiful Joe 2''''' is a [[video game]] and [[sequel]] to ''[[Viewtiful Joe]]''. The game was developed by [[Clover Studio]] and published by [[Capcom]] and released on [[November 23]], [[2004]] for [[Nintendo GameCube]] and [[Sony PlayStation 2]].


Very similar to its predecessor, ''Viewtiful Joe 2'' is a combination of [[2D computer graphics|2D]] and [[3D computer graphics|3D]] [[Cel-shaded animation|cel-shaded]] graphics with [[Action game|action]], [[platform game|platforming]], and [[beat 'em up]] gameplay elements. Using either of the characters Viewtiful Joe or Sexy Silvia, the player must utilize "VFX Powers" in order to battle enemies and solve puzzles. An integral part of the gameplay, these special abilities include being able to slow down, speed up, zoom into, or [[Instant replay|replay]] the onscreen action. Also akin to the original game, ''Viewtiful Joe 2'' sold modestly but garnered considerable praise from critics due to its stylish graphics and gameplay.
''Viewtiful Joe 2'' is a [[2D]] side scrolling fighting adventure in which the player takes control of Joe in a fictious world called "Movieland". Within Movieland, Joe has "VFX Powers" such as Slow (similar to [[bullet-time]]), Mach Speed, and Zoom at his disposal to defeat the enemy. He is joined by girlfriend Silvia, who has also acquired VFX powers. However, Silvia has "Replay", which allows her to repeat an event three times in succession, instead of Joe's Mach Speed. During the game, the player can switch between Joe and Silvia at any time.


== Cast ==
==Gameplay==
[[File:Viewtiful-joe-2-gameplay.jpg|left|thumb|The Replay VFX Power allows Sexy Silvia to attack three times in succession for triple the normal damage.]]
''Viewtiful Joe 2'' is a 2D beat 'em up which combines side-scrolling and platforming. The player takes control of either of the characters Joe or Silvia to complete tasks within each stage, such as defeating enemies and bosses, and solving puzzles. Within Movieworld, Joe has "VFX Powers" such as Slow (similar to [[bullet-time]]), Mach Speed, and Zoom at his disposal to defeat the enemy. He is joined by girlfriend Silvia, who has also acquired VFX powers. However, Silvia has "[[instant replay|Replay]]", which allows her to [[Digital recording|record]] and repeat an event three times in succession, instead of Joe's Mach Speed. The Replay power must be used wisely, as although it allow the player to do three times the amount of damage on an enemy, being hit while using it will incur three times the amount of damage to the player.<ref name="e32004">{{cite web| author=IGN staff | date=May 14, 2004 | title=E3 2004: Interview: Atsushi Inaba | url=http://cube.ign.com/articles/515/515440p1.html | website=IGN | access-date=2009-10-25}}</ref>


During the game, the player utilize a gameplay mechanic called "Viewtiful Switch" in order to swap between Joe and Silvia at any time. The two characters share both their amount of health and the VFX meter. Holding the switch button down for a certain amount of time enables the two player characters to use a special attack involving the transformable robot Six Machine. At intervals between stages, V-Points can be spent to purchase new moves for either Joe or Silvia, or to improve their existing powers, which includes making Joe's Mach Speed more effective or upgrading Silvia's Desperados. V-Points can additionally be spent to give the player more maximum health, add extra lives, or be used to buy power-ups such as the VFX Turbo Charger, which slows the drainage of the VFX Gauge.
'''Joe:''' The hero, a superhero fanboy who must safe his idol Captai Blue from the evil Gedow.


Aside from the main game, ''Viewtiful Joe 2'' also contains an optional gameplay extra called the "36 Chambers of Viewtiful", a series of stages which test the player's skills. The objectives include defeating a set number of enemies or scoring a number of V-Points within a time limit, and dodging an onslaught of swords without dying.
'''Silvia:''' The heroine,Captain Blue gave her a V-Brace so she can teams up with Joe.


==Plot==
'''Captain Blue:''' Joe's idol and guru. He was kidnapped by the Gedow.
The plot of ''Viewtiful Joe 2'' continues immediately from the ending of [[Viewtiful Joe (video game)|the previous game]]. Having just saved Movieland, Viewtiful Joe and his girlfriend (and new partner) Sexy Silvia learn from Captain Blue that the world will be threatened twice more. Joe and Silvia leave Captain Blue's space station to attend to an alien invasion from the forces of Gedow. The leader of Gedow, the Black Emperor, suddenly attacks Captain Blue and turns him into a statue called a "Rainbow Oscar", one of seven in a set that represents Movieland's power of the happy ending. With their power, the Black Emperor intends to conquer Movieland.


Cast off to "the fringes" of Movieland by Gedow, Joe and Silvia fight their way through a prehistoric film and defeat the [[Tyrannosaurus rex]] soldier, Big John. Joe and Silvia obtain a Rainbow Oscar from Big John just as Joe's father Jet arrives in the theater and demands that they come back to the real world and clean up the mess they made. Silvia manages to convince Jet to help them rescue Captain Blue, and Jet agrees by setting up new films for her and Joe to journey through in search of the Rainbow Oscars.
'''Black Emperor:''' The leader of the Gedow.


Joe and Silvia continue their battle against Gedow through an adventure film in an ancient temple, where a narcoleptic golem named Flinty Stone guards the second Rainbow Oscar, and then journey into a futuristic film where Gedow's top scientist Dr. Cranken and his creation Cameo Leon reveal the Black Emperor's plan to combine the Oscars with an evil reel of celluloid called the Black Film. Later, Joe's rival Alastor interferes during a samurai movie and tries to steal the spotlight. Jet changes films after Alastor is defeated, but unwittingly puts on the Black Film and sends its evil into Movieland, which also transforms Alastor into a murderous beast. After Joe defeats Alastor a second time, Jet destroys the Black Film.
'''Dr. Kranken''': The Gedow's mad scientist.
'''Drill Sergeant Big John:''' A T-Rex agent of the Gedow.
'''Anicent Guardian Flinty Stone:''' A rock agent of the Gedow.
'''Cyber Phantom Camo Leon:''' A Chemeleon monster created by Dr. Cranken.
'''Ice Tiger''': A tiger-like agent of Gedow.


With four Rainbow Oscars, Joe and Silvia are sent to a movie that takes place in the frozen mountains, where Frost Tiger (brother of Fire Leo, a boss from the previous game) protects the fifth Oscar and demands that Joe prove his inner strength in order to be worthy of it. Though successful, Joe's victory is short-lived when he is fooled by an impostor Silvia into giving Gedow the Oscars. Faced with his disastrous mistake, Joe and Silvia return to the original ''Captain Blue'' movie where they encounter Dr. Cranken again. The mad scientist reveals the impostor Silvia as Miss Bloody Rachel, a shapeshifting android programmed to destroy the heroes. As Rachel transforms into the previous bosses to fight back, Joe and Silvia attempt to reason with her by introducing the concept of a heart to her programming. Slowly, Rachel begins to understand and eventually chooses to side with the heroes. After Joe and Silvia finish off Dr. Cranken for good, Rachel gives them the sixth Rainbow Oscar.


The final movie, a science-fiction film set in deep space, is where the Black Emperor and the last Rainbow Oscar reside. When confronted by the heroes, the Black Emperor throws a fully restored Black Film onto the projector and uses its added power to summon his giant robot Dark Kaiser. Joe and Silvia summon their own "Six x Six Majin" to destroy Dark Kaiser and recover the last Oscar, but Jet suddenly appears in the movie and steals all seven. Revealing a Black V-Watch on his wrist, Jet transforms into the Dark Emperor and thanks Joe for giving him the Oscars, then infuses their power into himself to become Jet Black, the Dark Hero.
*******************
Reel 7: Dark Kaiser
*******************


Now able to use his Movieland powers in the real world, Jet Black crashes the Viewtiful Awards Ceremony, leaving Joe and Silvia powerless to stop him. As they put up a futile effort to fight back, the crowd starts cheering for Joe and Silvia, which gives them the power to transform and ultimately defeat Jet Black. Captain Blue is restored to normal and reveals that Jet was his best friend and cinematographer, but had found the Black Film one day and became entranced by its power and that of the Rainbow Oscars. In the end, it is revealed that all Jet really wanted was to prove himself as a hero to his own son Joe.
Black Kaiser is basically analogous to King Blue and the Six x Six
Machine (besides referencing Getter Robo and Voltes V) is just the same
old Joe in robot form. Kaiser is a much quicker battle than King Blue,
you shouldn't have much trouble putting him down in about three patterns
worth of time.


As Joe and Jet reconcile, a dark castle appears in the distance, heralding the arrival of Captain Blue's last foreseen threat. Jet explains that the secret of the Black Film and his Black V-Watch lies within the castle, as well as an enemy unlike any other. Undeterred by Jet's ominous warning, Viewtiful Joe and Sexy Silvia strike a pose as they set out to save the world once more.
----------
Heat Waves
----------


==Development==
Kaiser will send out waves in low and high positions. Slow and then
''Viewtiful Joe 2'' was developed by "[[Team Viewtiful]]", a part of Capcom's subsidiary [[Clover Studio]]. The game was produced by [[Atsushi Inaba]] and directed by Masaaki Yamada. [[Hideki Kamiya]], the director of the original ''Viewtiful Joe'', contributed to the storyline scenario of the sequel. At the time, Kamiya was signed on as director of ''[[Ōkami]]'', but he wanted to write the story of ''Viewtiful Joe 2'' to ensure continuity.<ref name="kato">{{cite magazine |last=Kato |first=Matthew |title=Action Hero: An Interview With Platinum Games' Hideki Kamiya |magazine=[[Game Informer]]|publisher=GameStop|date=January 2010 | issue=201 | page=11}}</ref> Kumiko Suekane once again supervised the character designs, and {{Ill|Masami Ueda|jp|上田雅美}} and Sayaka Morita co-composed the game's soundtrack. [[Suleputer]] released the soundtrack on a double album titled ''Viewtiful Joe + Viewtiful Joe 2 Original Soundtrack'' in Japan on December 22, 2004, which includes the musical scores from both games.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Chudah's Corner - Viewtiful Joe + Viewtiful Joe 2 Original Soundtrack | url=http://www.chudahs-corner.com/soundtracks/index.php?catalog=CPCA-10102~03 | publisher=Chudahs-Corner.com | access-date=2009-02-18 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131090257/http://chudahs-corner.com/soundtracks/index.php?catalog=CPCA-10102%7E03 | archive-date=2011-01-31 | url-status=usurped }}</ref>
dodge up or down accordingly, or just jump and avoid them all together.


Development on ''Viewtiful Joe 2'' began in the August 2003, shortly after the release of the first ''Viewtiful Joe'' on the GameCube.<ref name="e32004"/><ref name="Dev1">{{cite web| author=GameSpot staff | date=April 21, 2004 | title=Viewtiful Joe 2 Q&A | url=http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/viewtifuljoe2/news.html?sid=6094063&mode=all | website=GameSpot | access-date=2009-03-11}}</ref> The game was officially announced by Capcom on April 21, 2004.<ref>{{cite web| author=IGN Staff | date=April 21, 2004 | title=Viewtiful Joe 2 Announced | url=http://cube.ign.com/articles/508/508133p1.html | website=IGN | access-date=2009-10-10}}</ref> Despite Inaba's statement that he does not like to create sequels, he said that he did want to create another ''Viewtiful Joe'' game to include several elements that they could not fit into the original game.<ref name="Bunker">{{Cite web| author=McPhill | date=May 6, 2006 | title=Capcom's Atsushi Inaba on Viewtiful Joe | url=http://www.gamebunker.com/install/pages.php?id=80 | publisher=Game Bunker| access-date=2009-10-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903125433/http://www.gamebunker.com/install/pages.php?id=80 |archive-date=2006-09-03}}</ref> Inaba also noted that the team took into account the difficulty of the first game and attempted to make ''Viewtiful Joe 2'' accessible to both casual and [[hardcore gamers]].<ref name="Dev1"/> The GameCube and PS2 versions were developed simultaneously and feature the same content.<ref>{{Cite web| author=Kemps, Heidi | date=September 27, 2004 | title=Atsushi Inaba on Viewtiful Joe 2 (PS2) | url=http://ps2.gamespy.com/playstation-2/viewtiful-joe-2/551724p1.html | publisher=[[GameSpy]] | access-date=2009-03-14}}</ref> In early previews of the game, Silvia and Joe were shown onscreen fighting at the same time, hinting at [[Cooperative video game|cooperative gameplay]].<ref name="Dev1"/> This feature was later dropped.<ref>{{cite web| author=Bramwell, Tim | date=October 20, 2004 | title=Viewtiful Joe 2 stripped of co-op mode News | url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/news201004vj2 | website=[[Eurogamer]] | access-date=2009-02-24}}</ref> When the Replay VFX Power was announced, Inaba was asked if any other VFX Powers would be included in the final game. He answered, "In terms of adding more -- there simply aren't enough buttons on the controller".<ref name="e32004"/>
-------------
Flame Dragons
-------------


During the game's release in North America, Capcom and [[IGN]] held the "Be More Viewtiful! Sweepstakes", a contest in which entrants could win merchandise including either version of the game, a [[t-shirt]] with an "HMD" design, a [[skateboard]], and a ''Viewtiful Joe 2'' [[strategy guide]] by [[BradyGames]].<ref>{{cite web| year=2004 | title=BE MORE VIEWTIFUL! SWEEPSTAKES | url=http://microsites.igngamespy.com/capcom/viewtifuljoe2/index.html | website=IGN | access-date=2009-11-10 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050418050520/http://microsites.igngamespy.com/capcom/viewtifuljoe2/index.html |archive-date = April 18, 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| year=2004 | title=BE MORE VIEWTIFUL! SWEEPSTAKES | url=http://microsites.igngamespy.com/capcom/viewtifuljoe2/rules.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710190116/http://microsites.igngamespy.com/capcom/viewtifuljoe2/rules.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=2012-07-10 | website=IGN | access-date=2009-11-10}}</ref> A desktop LCD clock was also released by Capcom during the game's North American debut.<ref>{{Cite web| title=Viewtiful Joe Jo-Jo Clock
A couple of planets will fall onto the ring of asteroids. Use mach
| url=http://www.shopncsx.com/viewtifuljoejo-joclock.aspx | publisher=NCSX | access-date=2009-11-10}}</ref> A [[game demo|demo]] of ''Viewtiful Joe 2'' featured on North American PS2 preview discs made news when it was reported that playing the demo would cause a bug to completely erase all data on any inserted [[memory card]]s.<ref>{{cite news| author=Krotoski, Aleks | date=November 30, 2004 | title=Viewtiful Joe 2 demo deletes memory cards | url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2004/nov/30/viewtifuljoe2 | newspaper=[[The Guardian]] | access-date=2009-11-10}}</ref> Sony Computer Entertainment of America issued an apology and gave those affected a choice between several lesser-rated, previously released titles.<ref>{{cite web| author=Bramwell, Tom | date=December 7, 2004 | title=Sony to replace defective demo discs with games | url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/news071204sonydemodisc | website=[[Eurogamer]] | access-date=2009-11-10}}</ref>
speed to beat on these until you're fired up and the flame dragons that
Kaiser shoots out of the sun will fly right through you.


==Reception==
--------------
{{Video game reviews
Jupiter Bounce
| GR = 86% (GCN)<ref>{{Cite web| title=Viewtiful Joe 2 for GameCube | url=http://www.gamerankings.com/gamecube/920421-viewtiful-joe-2/index.html | publisher=[[GameRankings]] | access-date=2009-03-14}}</ref><br />85% (PS2)<ref>{{Cite web| title=Viewtiful Joe 2 for PlayStation 2 | url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/viewtiful-joe-2/critic-reviews/?platform=playstation-2| publisher=GameRankings| access-date=2009-03-14}}</ref>
--------------
| MC = 85/100 (GCN)<ref>{{cite web| title=Viewtiful Joe 2 (cube: 2004): Reviews | url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/viewtiful-joe-2/ | website=[[Metacritic]] | access-date=2024-05-14}}</ref><br />84/100 (PS2)<ref>{{cite web| title=Viewtiful Joe 2 (ps2: 2004): Reviews | url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/viewtiful-joe-2/critic-reviews/?platform=playstation-2 | website=Metacritic | access-date=2024-05-14}}</ref>
| rev1 = ''[[Paragon Publishing|Cube]]''
| rev1Score = 8.6/10 (GCN)<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Tim|date=April 2005|url=https://archive.org/details/cube-43/page/n53/mode/2up?q=%22super+mario+64%22|title=Viewtiful Joe 2|magazine=[[Paragon Publishing|Cube]]|issue=43|pages=54–55|accessdate=July 19, 2021}}</ref>
}}
{{Expand section|date=January 2009}}
Reviews for ''Viewtiful Joe 2'' were generally positive. The GameCube and PS2 versions hold [[GameRankings]] scores of 85% and 84% respectively. [[Metacritic]] currently lists the respective versions at 86 and 85 out of 100. IGN ranked it as the 89th best PlayStation 2 game. The staff felt that it was an example of a quality sequel.<ref>{{cite web |title=Viewtiful Joe 2 - #89 |url=http://www.ign.com/top/ps2-games/89 |work=[[IGN]] |access-date=2013-12-06}}</ref>


''[[Famitsu]]'' magazine gave the GameCube version of ''Viewtiful Joe 2'' a 28 out of 40 and gave the PS2 version a 27 out of 40.<ref>{{Cite web| author=Potier, Laurent | date=December 8, 2004 | title=Notes du magazine japonais Famitsu | url=http://www.gamekyo.com/news7183.html | publisher=Gamekyo | language=fr | access-date=2009-03-13}}</ref> [[IGN]] gave a rating of 9.0, citing the game's deep and satisfying gameplay, and that "all sequels should be this good".<ref>{{cite web|last=Castro |first=Juan |date=November 11, 2004 |title=Viewtiful Joe 2 Review |website=[[IGN]] |url=http://ps2.ign.com/articles/565/565735p3.html |access-date=2007-01-01}}</ref>
Kaiser grabs Jupiter with a laser beam and uses it to shoot out
small spheres that look like red blood cells. Some are very slow and
bounce up and down and some move about three times as fast and roll upon
the ground. They are slow dodgable, so don't worry too much. The
only real danger comes if two of them are approaching at the same time.


During Capcom's fiscal year 2004, ''Viewtiful Joe 2'' sold 270,000 copies in North America and 80,000 copies in Japan.<ref>{{Cite web| title=Capcom Annual Report 2005 | date=March 31, 2005 | url=http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/data/pdf/2005annual/Annual2005e.pdf | publisher=[[Capcom]] | access-date=2016-11-23}}</ref> The game sold poorly in United Kingdom, failing to enter the 40 top-selling games during its week of release in the region.<ref>{{cite web| author=Jenkins, David | date=April 5, 2005 | title=UK Sales Chart, Week Ending April 2nd | url=http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=5241 | website=[[Gamasutra]] | access-date=2009-07-24}}</ref> Although the ending for ''Viewtiful Joe 2'' suggests an immediate continuation to the plot of the series, a ''Viewtiful Joe 3'' has not been produced. Two spin-off games (''[[Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble]]'' and ''[[Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!]]'') were released in 2005.<ref>{{Cite web| author=Bloodworth, Daniel | date=November 8, 2005 | title=Two Viewtiful Joe Titles Ship | url=http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=10929 | publisher=Nintendo World Report | access-date=2009-02-21}}</ref> Clover Studio was dissolved in 2007 and all its intellectual properties defaulted to Capcom. Many of Clover's key members including Inaba and Kamiya formed the third-party developer [[PlatinumGames]] that same year.<ref>{{cite web |author=Jenkins |first=David |date=October 12, 2006 |title=Capcom To Dissolve Clover Studio |url=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=11229 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061019203944/http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=11229 |archive-date=2006-10-19 |access-date=2009-02-21 |website=Gamasutra}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Boyer |first=Brandon |date=September 27, 2007 |title=Seeds To Become Platinum Games |url=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15657 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006001311/http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15657 |archive-date=2007-10-06 |access-date=2009-02-21 |website=Gamasutra}}</ref> Capcom has stated that they have no plans to continue with the ''Viewtiful Joe'' series.<ref>{{cite web| author=Hatfield, Daemon | date=July 23, 2009 | title=SDCC 09: Viewtiful Joe 3 Not in View | url=http://ds.ign.com/articles/100/1006951p1.html | website=IGN | access-date=2009-07-23}}</ref> Kamiya has expressed interest in finishing the story of the series, however unlikely that may be.<ref name="kato"/>
-------
Missles
-------


==Notes==
This is your big chance. After Jupiter Bounce or Flame Dragons Dark
{{Notelist}}
Kaiser will come out onto the ring. IMMEDIATELY mach speed to him and
get ready to double jump. He'll often try to encircle you in a ring of
lasers that halts lateral movement. Not a big deal if you know what
you're doing, but if you're not close enough to him you'll lose out on
the chance to do any damage.


==References==
Double jump and slow, you'll see something like the Matrix
{{Reflist|30em}}
from Transformers come out of his chest, this is your target. RHOH as
much as you can. Just about when it disappears you want to unslow and
fall down, just in time for the missles to soar over your head (they
were aiming for you while you were in the air). You'll have another
chance to hurt him in the same way before he runs back to the sun.


==External links==
If you're not close enough to damage him (shouldn't ever happen) and
{{Portal|Japan|Video games}}
end up getting caught in the rings then be sure to double jump and slow
* [http://www.capcom.com/vj2/ Official ''Viewtiful Joe 2'' website]
anyway otherwise the undodgable missles will take a pretty big chunk out
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090321104638/http://www.capcom.co.jp/vj/vj_2/index.html Official ''Viewtiful Joe 2'' website] {{in lang|ja}}
of your life meter.
* {{moby game|id=/viewtiful-joe-2|name=''Viewtiful Joe 2''}}


{{Viewtiful Joe}}
------
{{Clover Studio}}
Lasers
{{Authority control}}
------


[[Category:2004 video games]]
After retreating to the sun Kaiser will send down lasers much like
[[Category:3D beat 'em ups]]
King Blue did. Generally you'll want to stand still just like you did
[[Category:Action games]]
on King Blue, but I can't confirm if this is how it always happens (I'm
[[Category:Capcom beat 'em ups]]
a twitchy gamer) so my advice is to slow and watch for the lasers to
[[Category:Capcom games]]
appear. Move accordingly.
[[Category:Clover Studio games]]

[[Category:Video games about dinosaurs]]
*****************
[[Category:GameCube games]]
Reel 7: Jet Black
[[Category:Platformers]]
*****************

The beginning of the fight (Non-henshin) you absolutely POSITIVELY want
to use Silvia (for the second time in your entire life). Why? She's
the faster runner and she attacks faster. If you run to Jet ASAP
you'll be able to re-henshin without any loss of life. Simply rush-
punchpunchpunch and repeat. Those little whirly things won't cause you no
bother.

Now switch to Joe and realize, even if you like her, that Silvia
still totally sucks. I can't believe she doesn't have mach speed.
Way to be worthless.

Jet will swoop in and do a sword swipe, dodge and hit him two or
three times with the RHOH, he'll repeat but you may want to switch to
Silvia after the dodge. After this swing Jet will put an aura on and it
seems to me that (at least the first time) he prefers putting on the
aura of the opposite character.

Jet Black is not, repeat, NOT invincible when he has the aura around
him. You need to hit him with approximately 2 dragon kicks to remove the
aura, lighting or fire respectively. Pray for fire because Silvia, as
always, sucks the big one. After you've knocked off his aura you have a
very brief window of opportunity where you can do ridiculous damage.
With Joe if you aim just right you can dragon kick twice in a row
immediately into the RHOH and take off a full bar of life. If he does
the lightning aura then, well, I always go for the taking off but rarely
manage to do any damage. Silvia's "Sexy Lightning Butt Slam" or
whatever it's called is so absolutely slow it's worthless. And
if you don't get Jet almost immediately after he loses the aura
you've basically lost your shot. You can attempt a slow, zoomed, replayed
red hot kick, which will generally work, but your VFX may suffer in the
process.

When Jet has the purple aura play it smart. I learned quickly that if
you rush Jet he just keeps running. Let him get a little distance and
he'll stop, then it's a simple matter to jump over him and RHOH him
until he runs away. Rinse and repeat. Jet only really has two
attacks, the one where he floats in the air, swipes and then fires off
two fireballs (this is your key time to dragon kick and remove his
aura if he has one) or he'll stand on the ground, sword swipe and send
out dragons of electricity or fire (if he has an aura) at angles of
1 o'clock, 2 o'clock and 3 o'clock. Pretty easy to double jump over
but unable to slow dodge. He's got some goofy sword dive move too but
you can slow dodge/run away from this easily, get behind him and get
free hits in.

After Jet applies his first aura he'll putter around for awhile and then
ma ch speed himself, slowing you down big time. Here he's got a multi-stab
mov e that you can't slow dodge and a rising sword that you may've sene
before. Both of these provide ample opportunity to dodge, mach speed to
fall behind him and get in quite a few slowed RHOHs. The mach speed to
fall is crucial for dropping down quicker and getting in those few hits.
Eventually he will apply another aura and you'll have to start it all
over. If it's lightning I've found it best to just cut my losses, get rid
of the aura with Silvia and not try to get any extra hits in. Replay is so
awful, doesn't do a lot of damage and takes so much VFX. This can un-
Viewtiful you and in higher difficulties you do NOT Want this.

After this he'll pretty much repeat. Eventually he may bring out one of
those spinning crescent deals, but that's not all that much of a concern
as you can slow dodge it it necessary.

After a strung out battle (if you're mosting hitting his purple aura
it's a LONG battle) you'll emerge the victor and, if your game doesn't
freeze like mine did, you'll get to go all teary eyed at the ending. Oh
Jet, you silly fool!




{{cvg-stub}}
[[Category:2004 computer and video games]]
[[Category:PlayStation 2 games]]
[[Category:PlayStation 2 games]]
[[Category:GameCube games]]
[[Category:Side-scrolling beat 'em ups]]
[[Category:Single-player video games]]
[[Category:Superhero video games]]
[[Category:Video game sequels]]
[[Category:Video games developed in Japan]]
[[Category:Video games featuring female protagonists]]
[[Category:Video games with 2.5D graphics]]
[[Category:Video games with cel-shaded animation]]
[[Category:Video games with time manipulation]]
[[Category:Viewtiful Joe]]

Latest revision as of 13:45, 19 December 2024

Viewtiful Joe 2
North American PS2 cover art
Developer(s)Clover Studio
Publisher(s)Capcom
Director(s)Masaaki Yamada
Producer(s)Atsushi Inaba
Designer(s)Masato Kimura
Writer(s)Hideki Kamiya
Composer(s)Sayaka Morita
Masami Ueda
SeriesViewtiful Joe
Platform(s)GameCube, PlayStation 2
Release
Genre(s)Beat 'em up, platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Viewtiful Joe 2, known in Japan as Viewtiful Joe 2: Secret of the Black Film,[a] is a 2004 beat 'em up game developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom for the GameCube and PlayStation 2. The game's story begins where the original Viewtiful Joe left off, with the beginning of an alien invasion of Movieland by a villainous organization called "Gedow". The group is led by an unseen being known as the "Black Emperor", whose proclaims his goal to collect the special Rainbow Oscars, seven statuettes which contain the "power of the happy ending". Straight from their previous adventure, superhero Viewtiful Joe and his girlfriend Sexy Silvia quickly charge themselves with stopping Gedow's evil plans.

Very similar to its predecessor, Viewtiful Joe 2 is a combination of 2D and 3D cel-shaded graphics with action, platforming, and beat 'em up gameplay elements. Using either of the characters Viewtiful Joe or Sexy Silvia, the player must utilize "VFX Powers" in order to battle enemies and solve puzzles. An integral part of the gameplay, these special abilities include being able to slow down, speed up, zoom into, or replay the onscreen action. Also akin to the original game, Viewtiful Joe 2 sold modestly but garnered considerable praise from critics due to its stylish graphics and gameplay.

Gameplay

[edit]
The Replay VFX Power allows Sexy Silvia to attack three times in succession for triple the normal damage.

Viewtiful Joe 2 is a 2D beat 'em up which combines side-scrolling and platforming. The player takes control of either of the characters Joe or Silvia to complete tasks within each stage, such as defeating enemies and bosses, and solving puzzles. Within Movieworld, Joe has "VFX Powers" such as Slow (similar to bullet-time), Mach Speed, and Zoom at his disposal to defeat the enemy. He is joined by girlfriend Silvia, who has also acquired VFX powers. However, Silvia has "Replay", which allows her to record and repeat an event three times in succession, instead of Joe's Mach Speed. The Replay power must be used wisely, as although it allow the player to do three times the amount of damage on an enemy, being hit while using it will incur three times the amount of damage to the player.[7]

During the game, the player utilize a gameplay mechanic called "Viewtiful Switch" in order to swap between Joe and Silvia at any time. The two characters share both their amount of health and the VFX meter. Holding the switch button down for a certain amount of time enables the two player characters to use a special attack involving the transformable robot Six Machine. At intervals between stages, V-Points can be spent to purchase new moves for either Joe or Silvia, or to improve their existing powers, which includes making Joe's Mach Speed more effective or upgrading Silvia's Desperados. V-Points can additionally be spent to give the player more maximum health, add extra lives, or be used to buy power-ups such as the VFX Turbo Charger, which slows the drainage of the VFX Gauge.

Aside from the main game, Viewtiful Joe 2 also contains an optional gameplay extra called the "36 Chambers of Viewtiful", a series of stages which test the player's skills. The objectives include defeating a set number of enemies or scoring a number of V-Points within a time limit, and dodging an onslaught of swords without dying.

Plot

[edit]

The plot of Viewtiful Joe 2 continues immediately from the ending of the previous game. Having just saved Movieland, Viewtiful Joe and his girlfriend (and new partner) Sexy Silvia learn from Captain Blue that the world will be threatened twice more. Joe and Silvia leave Captain Blue's space station to attend to an alien invasion from the forces of Gedow. The leader of Gedow, the Black Emperor, suddenly attacks Captain Blue and turns him into a statue called a "Rainbow Oscar", one of seven in a set that represents Movieland's power of the happy ending. With their power, the Black Emperor intends to conquer Movieland.

Cast off to "the fringes" of Movieland by Gedow, Joe and Silvia fight their way through a prehistoric film and defeat the Tyrannosaurus rex soldier, Big John. Joe and Silvia obtain a Rainbow Oscar from Big John just as Joe's father Jet arrives in the theater and demands that they come back to the real world and clean up the mess they made. Silvia manages to convince Jet to help them rescue Captain Blue, and Jet agrees by setting up new films for her and Joe to journey through in search of the Rainbow Oscars.

Joe and Silvia continue their battle against Gedow through an adventure film in an ancient temple, where a narcoleptic golem named Flinty Stone guards the second Rainbow Oscar, and then journey into a futuristic film where Gedow's top scientist Dr. Cranken and his creation Cameo Leon reveal the Black Emperor's plan to combine the Oscars with an evil reel of celluloid called the Black Film. Later, Joe's rival Alastor interferes during a samurai movie and tries to steal the spotlight. Jet changes films after Alastor is defeated, but unwittingly puts on the Black Film and sends its evil into Movieland, which also transforms Alastor into a murderous beast. After Joe defeats Alastor a second time, Jet destroys the Black Film.

With four Rainbow Oscars, Joe and Silvia are sent to a movie that takes place in the frozen mountains, where Frost Tiger (brother of Fire Leo, a boss from the previous game) protects the fifth Oscar and demands that Joe prove his inner strength in order to be worthy of it. Though successful, Joe's victory is short-lived when he is fooled by an impostor Silvia into giving Gedow the Oscars. Faced with his disastrous mistake, Joe and Silvia return to the original Captain Blue movie where they encounter Dr. Cranken again. The mad scientist reveals the impostor Silvia as Miss Bloody Rachel, a shapeshifting android programmed to destroy the heroes. As Rachel transforms into the previous bosses to fight back, Joe and Silvia attempt to reason with her by introducing the concept of a heart to her programming. Slowly, Rachel begins to understand and eventually chooses to side with the heroes. After Joe and Silvia finish off Dr. Cranken for good, Rachel gives them the sixth Rainbow Oscar.

The final movie, a science-fiction film set in deep space, is where the Black Emperor and the last Rainbow Oscar reside. When confronted by the heroes, the Black Emperor throws a fully restored Black Film onto the projector and uses its added power to summon his giant robot Dark Kaiser. Joe and Silvia summon their own "Six x Six Majin" to destroy Dark Kaiser and recover the last Oscar, but Jet suddenly appears in the movie and steals all seven. Revealing a Black V-Watch on his wrist, Jet transforms into the Dark Emperor and thanks Joe for giving him the Oscars, then infuses their power into himself to become Jet Black, the Dark Hero.

Now able to use his Movieland powers in the real world, Jet Black crashes the Viewtiful Awards Ceremony, leaving Joe and Silvia powerless to stop him. As they put up a futile effort to fight back, the crowd starts cheering for Joe and Silvia, which gives them the power to transform and ultimately defeat Jet Black. Captain Blue is restored to normal and reveals that Jet was his best friend and cinematographer, but had found the Black Film one day and became entranced by its power and that of the Rainbow Oscars. In the end, it is revealed that all Jet really wanted was to prove himself as a hero to his own son Joe.

As Joe and Jet reconcile, a dark castle appears in the distance, heralding the arrival of Captain Blue's last foreseen threat. Jet explains that the secret of the Black Film and his Black V-Watch lies within the castle, as well as an enemy unlike any other. Undeterred by Jet's ominous warning, Viewtiful Joe and Sexy Silvia strike a pose as they set out to save the world once more.

Development

[edit]

Viewtiful Joe 2 was developed by "Team Viewtiful", a part of Capcom's subsidiary Clover Studio. The game was produced by Atsushi Inaba and directed by Masaaki Yamada. Hideki Kamiya, the director of the original Viewtiful Joe, contributed to the storyline scenario of the sequel. At the time, Kamiya was signed on as director of Ōkami, but he wanted to write the story of Viewtiful Joe 2 to ensure continuity.[8] Kumiko Suekane once again supervised the character designs, and Masami Ueda [jp] and Sayaka Morita co-composed the game's soundtrack. Suleputer released the soundtrack on a double album titled Viewtiful Joe + Viewtiful Joe 2 Original Soundtrack in Japan on December 22, 2004, which includes the musical scores from both games.[9]

Development on Viewtiful Joe 2 began in the August 2003, shortly after the release of the first Viewtiful Joe on the GameCube.[7][10] The game was officially announced by Capcom on April 21, 2004.[11] Despite Inaba's statement that he does not like to create sequels, he said that he did want to create another Viewtiful Joe game to include several elements that they could not fit into the original game.[12] Inaba also noted that the team took into account the difficulty of the first game and attempted to make Viewtiful Joe 2 accessible to both casual and hardcore gamers.[10] The GameCube and PS2 versions were developed simultaneously and feature the same content.[13] In early previews of the game, Silvia and Joe were shown onscreen fighting at the same time, hinting at cooperative gameplay.[10] This feature was later dropped.[14] When the Replay VFX Power was announced, Inaba was asked if any other VFX Powers would be included in the final game. He answered, "In terms of adding more -- there simply aren't enough buttons on the controller".[7]

During the game's release in North America, Capcom and IGN held the "Be More Viewtiful! Sweepstakes", a contest in which entrants could win merchandise including either version of the game, a t-shirt with an "HMD" design, a skateboard, and a Viewtiful Joe 2 strategy guide by BradyGames.[15][16] A desktop LCD clock was also released by Capcom during the game's North American debut.[17] A demo of Viewtiful Joe 2 featured on North American PS2 preview discs made news when it was reported that playing the demo would cause a bug to completely erase all data on any inserted memory cards.[18] Sony Computer Entertainment of America issued an apology and gave those affected a choice between several lesser-rated, previously released titles.[19]

Reception

[edit]

Reviews for Viewtiful Joe 2 were generally positive. The GameCube and PS2 versions hold GameRankings scores of 85% and 84% respectively. Metacritic currently lists the respective versions at 86 and 85 out of 100. IGN ranked it as the 89th best PlayStation 2 game. The staff felt that it was an example of a quality sequel.[25]

Famitsu magazine gave the GameCube version of Viewtiful Joe 2 a 28 out of 40 and gave the PS2 version a 27 out of 40.[26] IGN gave a rating of 9.0, citing the game's deep and satisfying gameplay, and that "all sequels should be this good".[27]

During Capcom's fiscal year 2004, Viewtiful Joe 2 sold 270,000 copies in North America and 80,000 copies in Japan.[28] The game sold poorly in United Kingdom, failing to enter the 40 top-selling games during its week of release in the region.[29] Although the ending for Viewtiful Joe 2 suggests an immediate continuation to the plot of the series, a Viewtiful Joe 3 has not been produced. Two spin-off games (Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble and Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!) were released in 2005.[30] Clover Studio was dissolved in 2007 and all its intellectual properties defaulted to Capcom. Many of Clover's key members including Inaba and Kamiya formed the third-party developer PlatinumGames that same year.[31][32] Capcom has stated that they have no plans to continue with the Viewtiful Joe series.[33] Kamiya has expressed interest in finishing the story of the series, however unlikely that may be.[8]

Notes

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  1. ^ Japanese: ビューティフル ジョー2 ブラックフィルムの謎[6], Hepburn: Byūtifuru Jō Tsū Burakku Firumu no Nazo

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Press Releases". 2005-03-05. Archived from the original on 2005-03-05. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  2. ^ GameSpot staff (November 18, 2004). "GameCube Viewtiful once again". GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  3. ^ ビューティフル ジョー ２ ブラックフィルムの謎 (in Japanese). Nintendo. Archived from the original on 2004-12-15. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  4. ^ "PlayStation.com(Japan)｜ソフトウェアカタログ｜ビューティフルジョー2 ブラックフィルムの謎" (in Japanese). Sony Computer Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
  5. ^ "Nintendo - Press Release: Nintendo Unveils Strong Q2 2005 Game Line-Up!". GamesHell. Retrieved 2009-10-05.
  6. ^ Niizumi, Hirohiko (September 3, 2004). "Viewtiful Joe 2 details emerge". GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  7. ^ a b c IGN staff (May 14, 2004). "E3 2004: Interview: Atsushi Inaba". IGN. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  8. ^ a b Kato, Matthew (January 2010). "Action Hero: An Interview With Platinum Games' Hideki Kamiya". Game Informer. No. 201. GameStop. p. 11.
  9. ^ "Chudah's Corner - Viewtiful Joe + Viewtiful Joe 2 Original Soundtrack". Chudahs-Corner.com. Archived from the original on 2011-01-31. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
  10. ^ a b c GameSpot staff (April 21, 2004). "Viewtiful Joe 2 Q&A". GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  11. ^ IGN Staff (April 21, 2004). "Viewtiful Joe 2 Announced". IGN. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  12. ^ McPhill (May 6, 2006). "Capcom's Atsushi Inaba on Viewtiful Joe". Game Bunker. Archived from the original on 2006-09-03. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  13. ^ Kemps, Heidi (September 27, 2004). "Atsushi Inaba on Viewtiful Joe 2 (PS2)". GameSpy. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
  14. ^ Bramwell, Tim (October 20, 2004). "Viewtiful Joe 2 stripped of co-op mode News". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2009-02-24.
  15. ^ "BE MORE VIEWTIFUL! SWEEPSTAKES". IGN. 2004. Archived from the original on April 18, 2005. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  16. ^ "BE MORE VIEWTIFUL! SWEEPSTAKES". IGN. 2004. Archived from the original on 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  17. ^ "Viewtiful Joe Jo-Jo Clock". NCSX. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  18. ^ Krotoski, Aleks (November 30, 2004). "Viewtiful Joe 2 demo deletes memory cards". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  19. ^ Bramwell, Tom (December 7, 2004). "Sony to replace defective demo discs with games". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  20. ^ "Viewtiful Joe 2 for GameCube". GameRankings. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
  21. ^ "Viewtiful Joe 2 for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
  22. ^ "Viewtiful Joe 2 (cube: 2004): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
  23. ^ "Viewtiful Joe 2 (ps2: 2004): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
  24. ^ Tim (April 2005). "Viewtiful Joe 2". Cube. No. 43. pp. 54–55. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  25. ^ "Viewtiful Joe 2 - #89". IGN. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
  26. ^ Potier, Laurent (December 8, 2004). "Notes du magazine japonais Famitsu" (in French). Gamekyo. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  27. ^ Castro, Juan (November 11, 2004). "Viewtiful Joe 2 Review". IGN. Retrieved 2007-01-01.
  28. ^ "Capcom Annual Report 2005" (PDF). Capcom. March 31, 2005. Retrieved 2016-11-23.
  29. ^ Jenkins, David (April 5, 2005). "UK Sales Chart, Week Ending April 2nd". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
  30. ^ Bloodworth, Daniel (November 8, 2005). "Two Viewtiful Joe Titles Ship". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  31. ^ Jenkins, David (October 12, 2006). "Capcom To Dissolve Clover Studio". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 2006-10-19. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  32. ^ Boyer, Brandon (September 27, 2007). "Seeds To Become Platinum Games". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 2007-10-06. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  33. ^ Hatfield, Daemon (July 23, 2009). "SDCC 09: Viewtiful Joe 3 Not in View". IGN. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
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