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The
NintendoDS has been described as many things; revolutionary,
intuitive, clever but ugly as sin. Although the NintendoDS
incorporates several brand new gaming features, some of which
allowing totally original gaming experiences, it’s hardly a fine
looking piece of kit. What it really needs is a game so slick, so
graceful that it gives Nintendo’s ugly duckling a little style. 
Another outing for the trademark plumber? Nah. What about the blue
hedgehog? Maybe. What about a superhero movie fan with some smooth
moves and tiny feet? Sure, why the hell not. Ladies and Gentleman,
here on his first NintendoDS outing, we give you Viewtiful Joe!
When
Viewtiful Joe first appeared on the GameCube as an exclusive
title back in 2003 it caused quite a stir. With its fun Fighting
System, great Cel-Shaded graphics and inherent style, it quickly
became a fan favourite. Following its success on the GameCube, the
highly stylised beat ‘em up travelled to the PlayStation2, much
to the dismay of Nintendo. To further develop this outrageous
franchise, Capcom set up Clover Studios. A sequel followed for
PlayStation2 and GameCube and ever since fans have waited for the
next instalment of this much loved franchise. However it seems
Nintendo have pulled one over on Sony this time as Viewtiful
Joe: Double Trouble is a NintendoDS exclusive, and being a
NintendoDS game, there’s no way to port it to any other system!
Viewtiful
Joe: Double Trouble is Side-Scrolling Platformer/Beat-‘Em-Up
in which the gamer plays as mainly Joe, a devout movie fan who, in
the blink of an eye, can transform into Viewtiful Joe, the
super-slick superhero and Jasmine, Joe‘s sister. The game
revolves around Joe’s quest to recapture a film made by his idol
and consequently stolen by the evil Madow army. Apparently this
happens a lot in Hollywood. Joe can jump - giving him one over on Joanna
Dark at least! - punch and kick in a number of ways determined
by the direction pressed on the D-Pad. Fighting is quick and
responsive as you might expect when considering Capcom’s
heritage. Capcom have also been quick to adapt to the
NintendoDS’s unique features as Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble
utilises both screens, with the bottom being your main view and the
top being a zoomed-version of the action that occasionally gives
hints.
The
VFX Meter, a staple feature of the Viewtiful Joe series,
allows many different abilities - VFX Slow reappears from the
previous incarnations and is joined now by NintendoDS only
abilities; VFX Scratch, VFX Split, VFX Slide and VFX Touch, which,
needless to say, add a great deal of variety to gameplay. VFX Slow
allows the player to slow time and increase the power of his
attacks. VFX Scratch gives the player the ability to scratch the
screen with their finger which, in turn, drops various items from
the sky, stunning enemies and damaging weak points in the scenery.
VFX
Split
- activated by a swift brush of the screen sideways -  is probably
the craziest power available as it splits the screen in two
horizontally allowing you to dismember water pipes, dislodge boxes
and more. VFX Slide causes the two screens to swap places giving
greater damage potential and allowing the use of VFX Touch. VFX
Touch, as the name suggests, allows you to directly affect the
action by tapping enemies to vanquish them, pressing buttons,
turning gears etc. This meter decreases as each power is used, but
recharges naturally and can be increased in size by collecting
V-Tapes, although completely depleting the power causes Joe to
revert back to his original form, minus Viewtiful Joe’s
unique abilities. This varied collection of powers is firstly a
credit to Capcom and Clover Studios as it is an integral part of
the game, as opposed to the pointless, unnecessary novelties that
most third-party developers incorporate into their NintendoDS
games. Secondly it opens up a wealth of possible puzzles that can
at times stump you, but when you eventually figure them out, are
very rewarding and greatly enhance gameplay. It’s nice to have a
third-party game that takes a traditional style of gaming and
really mixes the formula up to include the innovative features of
the NintendoDS. However on occasion, swapping between the modes can
be a little difficult as the VFX Slide/Split powers are both
initiated by on-screen motions and in the heat of combat it can
become a little difficult to execute the correct motion.
Each
Episode is comprised of several Stages which, in turn, are made up
of several short Levels. Each Level takes only a small amount of
time to complete as they are usually one or two puzzles or a boss,
but an Episode can easily have over twenty Levels. The Levels
usually involve some fighting, then maybe a puzzle, then a little
more fighting and are consistently fresh as the game uses the
unique VFX puzzles extensively.
Fighting
in a skilful way - dodging attacks and striking with impressive
combos - rewards the player with V-Marks which, at the end of each
Level, reward Joe with V-Points that can be used to by upgrades and
moves at the end of Stages. There are quite a few to purchase and
upgrade and you will need to fight very well to collect them all.
Although
the NintendoDS lacks some of the horsepower of the home consoles, Viewtiful
Joe: Double Trouble features great Cel-Shaded graphics and
superb animation that, when viewe d on the zoomed top-screen in VFX
Slow, is simply amazing. Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble runs
incredibly smoothly and oozes refinement as should be expected from
a top publisher such as Capcom. The only small glitch in the
graphics is the occasional obvious 2D sprite which can appear a
little out of place. Although the cut-scenes do not have
voice-overs, probably due to the memory confinements of the Game
Card medium, there is occasional in-game speech which can sound a
little low-quality at times, however not enough to distract you
from the action. The fighting sound effects are reminiscent of the
old TV Batman fight-scenes, except minus the KAPOW!, and help to
keep this game on the right side of eccentric. Viewtiful Joe:
Double Trouble also features energetic, but ultimately
forgettable music.
Viewtiful
Joe is already a well loved franchise on the home consoles and
perhaps a lot of NintendoDS owners expected Viewtiful Joe:
Double Trouble to be a half-arsed port of these. But it’s
unique utilisation of the NintendoDS’s features, rock-solid
gameplay and intrinsic sense of cool make Viewtiful Joe: Double
Trouble a worthy entrant into the rapidly expanding collection
of top-notch games for the NintendoDS.
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