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[GotchaForce]

After a sequel that didn't really add much, some sub-Smash Bros brawlers, an ok DS offering and a saturday morning kids show do you think Clover has just given up on this series? I know it's supposed to be a trilogy, but I can't think of what they'd add other than the kid from the cartoon (shudder). Will the final game show up this gen, will they try to bring it to next gen (there could be some interesting things done) or will Clover just forget about Joe?

 

[SantaC]

the 2nd one sold really poorly.

 

[DECK'ARD]

They released the second one far too quickly.

And then ****ed up badly with Battle Carnival.

Hopefully Joe will make an appearance in Smash Bros. though

 

[Gio_CoD]

the 2nd one sold really poorly.

Is the second one any good? I own it, but I haven't actually played it yet.

 

[beelzebozo]

i really dug the sequel, but the original is clearly better after finishing both.

this still pops into my head every now and then:
"daaaaaaaaaaaavidson is in the how-ouse, hulk davidson was born to be wiiii-ild"

i think we'll see another viewtiful joe. it just needs some time to naturally develop some new ideas.

 

[Matix]

Hopefully in the next 2-3 years, when it actually might be able to make another worthy impact (the series doesn't need to become Capcoms next MegaMan whore).

 

[DECK'ARD]

Is the second one any good? I own it, but I haven't actually played it yet.

It's good, but for some reason it just didn't grab me like the first. It could have been because it came out too soon, but I think Joe was also a victim of it's own success.

The first one seemed so fresh and original when it came out, that you'd never recreate that feeling a second time round. It was essentially a one-off game really.

 

[Jefklak]

Is the second one any good? I own it, but I haven't actually played it yet.

I wanna know too, I love the first one but i'm stuck somewhere in the sewers after a tank & helicopter battle, it got frustratingly difficult or I don't have any patience. So, is the second one any good? ²
Edit: guess i'll leave it then. Is the sequel easier?

 

[Brobzoid]

the 2nd one sold really poorly.

you know why? it was poorly made. I bought it used thankfully, and sold it off again before I'd finished half the levels. Sylvia was so ****ing annoying. She ruined all the humour. there was a DMC reference though quoting alastor and his impaling needs...

 

[123rl]

The second game is pretty good. I preferred the original but I still really enjoyed VJ2.

 

[jarrod]

They should bundle 1+2 in a release for PS2/PSP/Wii next year. Hell, they could even rerelease the games on Live Arcade.

 

[Solid]

no dante = no buy

 

[MMaRsu]

I doubt this is coming out..ever

 

[Brobzoid]

over exposed sylvia = no buy

fix'd for personal preference.

 

[so1337]

It's good, but for some reason it just didn't grab me like the first. It could have been because it came out too soon, but I think Joe was also a victim of it's own success.

The first one seemed so fresh and original when it came out, that you'd never recreate that feeling a second time round. It was essentially a one-off game really.

Listen to this man. I felt pretty much the same about the sequel.

 

[jarrod]

no co-op = no buy

Fixed for correctness

 

[big_z]

How much did each viewtiful joe game sell on each platform?

 

[jarrod]

How much did each viewtiful joe game sell on each platform?

Rough guesses...

VJ1 GC 500k+
VJ2 GC 200k+
VJRHR GC 50k+

VJ1 PS2 150k+
VJ2 PS2 50k+

VJDT DS 75k+

VJRHR PSP 25k+

 

[LOCK]

I'd buy a 3rd. Cause the games were awesome.

 

[Jefklak]

viewtiful joe co-op would be golden /me wants
Is red hot rumble any good? Guess not?

 

[TreIII]

viewtiful joe co-op would be golden /me wants
Is red hot rumble any good? Guess not?

Red Hot Rumble/Battle Carnival has its own merits, I believe. It's different enough in style from the likes of Smash, Power Stone, and etc. that it's possibly worth picking up, but if you were expecting "Viewtiful Smash Melee", you probably will be disappointed a bit. Still, I do like how the game made the likes of Hulk Davidson, Jet Black, Ms. Bloody Rachel, and even Sprocket from the toon playable. And I still think it's a vastly superior game to the likes of DreamTV and the Digimon Rumble Arena games. :lol

As for VJ3? Well, according to an old interview from Atsushi Inaba from like back in like February or March, he did say that they "already had some ideas" for a VJ3 (which were slated for both PS3 and "Revolution"), and were working on it as they can, though Ookami and God Hand both probably had much more focus at the time.

The old interview was some-what quoted from the-magicbox.com here:

- Clover Studio's Atsushi Inaba said that the company is working on a new version of Viewtiful Joe for next generation consoles, instead of adopting the 2D side scrolling gameplay, the game will have completely new gameplay and concepts, they already have many new ideas.

- http://the-magicbox.com/game20060310.shtml

Though the only thing that Inaba-san said that possibly is worth being concerned over is that VJ3 may or may not be like its prequels. It may ditch the classic-style 2D platformer/brawler aspect entirely (in favor of something else), or it may modify the game aspects to make it even more awesome. Who knows? I personally believe it would be for the better if they just took out the rather lame puzzles, and stuck with combat any way. And if they adopted any sort of game enginge that allowed for co-op of any where between 2-4 players (Guardian Heroes-type?), so much the better...

 

[beelzebozo]

Though the only thing that Inaba-san said that possibly is worth being concerned over is that VJ3 may or may not be like its prequels. It may ditch the classic-style 2D platformer/brawler aspect entirely (in favor of something else), or it may modify the game aspects to make it even more awesome. Who knows? I personally believe it would be for the better if they just took out the rather lame puzzles, and stuck with combat any way. And if they adopted any sort of game enginge that allowed for co-op of any where between 2-4 players (Guardian Heroes-type?), so much the better...

oh, good christ almighty. that's 90% of what makes it good.

 

[Jefklak]

what about viewtiful joe DS? never heard much about that one

 

[GDJustin]

It's good, but for some reason it just didn't grab me like the first. It could have been because it came out too soon, but I think Joe was also a victim of it's own success.

The first one seemed so fresh and original when it came out, that you'd never recreate that feeling a second time round. It was essentially a one-off game really.

That's exactly how I feel. I played the hell out of the first one, and gave it a very-rare 10/10. The second one I just could get in to at all.

 

[Soul4ger]

what about viewtiful joe DS? never heard much about that one

It's a really solid game, but some of the stylus stuff can be a little unwieldy. If you like the series, you definitely have to get Double Trouble. It's a damn fine achievement on DS, even still.

 

[Saoh]

i really like VJ1, it was something new and fresh. VJ2 was pretty much VJ1.5. it became somewhat repetitve after a while and i finished it just for the sake´s of it.

but i would buy a VJ3 if its done good.

 

[Notorious_Roy]

They should let VJ rest, VJ was great, 2nd was was okay and RHR sucked. So Joe should retire imho.

 

[beelzebozo]

if we killed every series that had a "me-too" sequel and a shitty spin-off, i shudder to think of the games we may have missed out on.

i think saying VJ is ready to be put down is a bit much--especially with capcom milking the mega man cow long after the milk has gone sour--and i think there are more places to take the series than it has gone (though i'm not the creative mind to think such things up).

and i mean, do we really want to put down one of the best 2d brawling game series in quite some time already?

 

[Luckett_X]

Thankfully Clover made Okami instead, and will go on to make other new and original IP's for next gen I hope!

 

[SantaC]

Rough guesses...

VJ1 GC 500k+
VJ2 GC 200k+
VJRHR GC 50k+

VJ1 PS2 150k+
VJ2 PS2 50k+

VJDT DS 75k+

VJRHR PSP 25k+

ps2 killed VJ

 

[Speevy]

I think they exhausted the potential in the first one.

 

[Kiriku]

ps2 killed VJ

Well, it was still released for GC, it's not like it became a PS2 exclusive.
Maybe GC fanboys felt betrayed and decided to have their revenge by not buying the sequel?
Seriously though, it could be because a lot of people bought the first game purely on hype and was disappointed in it, resulting in lower sales for the 2nd one. I remember there being some kind of movement on the internet with people telling everyone to support Viewtiful Joe for GC because it was so great and didn't get the attention it deserved etc etc. Perhaps it became a phenomenon of sorts, that Viewtiful Joe became the new in-thing. All speculation though.

Which reminds me, I need to play the sequel sometime, only gone through a couple of stages.

Also, I don't really care much for the loss of Viewtiful Joe, since Clover made Okami instead which, so far, seems to be a much better game.

 

[kenta]

Can someone please explain what was so great about these games? I bought the first one in anticipation of Okami but it was so freaking repetitive and shallow I just couldn't take it. I remember making it to a level in a city before I'd had enough, even the special powers you're given are largely useless and don't add any variety or depth to the game.

Was I missing something major? Is there more to the system than just punching and kicking as fast as you can? I honestly want to know since everyone says how good it was and Okami is great, I feel like there's something about the game I just didn't "get"

 

[ZeoVGM]

Can someone please explain what was so great about these games? I bought the first one in anticipation of Okami but it was so freaking repetitive and shallow I just couldn't take it. I remember making it to a level in a city before I'd had enough, even the special powers you're given are largely useless and don't add any variety or depth to the game.

Uh, if you think the powers were useless, you probably didn't play it much at all.

 

[Angelcurio]

The main problem with the game was that the second game came out too soon and didnt bring up anything new to the table. I remember that when i got the first one on ps2 (and loved it), the second one came just a couple of months later. To me it looked like the second game and the ps2 port of the first one were developed together. Personally, i still enjoy the original a lot, but the second game was just more of the same.

I think that they should make part 3 to finish the trilogy and then put the series to rest.

 

[Soul4ger]

Was I missing something major?

Yeah, a brain.

 

[kenta]

Uh, if you think the powers were useless, you probably didn't play it much at all.

Yeah, a brain.

No reason to be elitist about it, I'm asking a sincere question because I'd like to be able to enjoy the game.

 

[Xiaoki]

Capcom just needs to learn to not go immediately into sequel/milk mode when they have a hit on thier hands.

The Viewtiful Joe series slid further downhill with each installment.

I just hope Capcom has finally learned it's lesson and leave certain titles alone(namely Okami).

 

[Soul4ger]

No reason to be elitist about it, I'm asking a sincere question because I'd like to be able to enjoy the game.

Tips for kenta:

Read the instructions
Follow the mini-tutorials the game shows you every time you learn ANYTHING new

 

[Varjet]

even the special powers you're given are largely useless and don't add any variety or depth to the game.

you are kidding, right?

at VJ2: the most annoying thing of this sequel is certainly Silvia. She is just useless.
And I thougth that the first two bosses were quite uninspired.
But the great final battle alone justifies its existence.

at Topic: yeah Capcom, bring on VJ3! But don't **** it, just leave it at 2D.

 

[DECK'ARD]

No reason to be elitist about it, I'm asking a sincere question because I'd like to be able to enjoy the game.

The reason people are being so dismissive is it's probably the least shallow scrolling beat-em-up you could find. There is loads of things to master in it, the special moves, the combo system. This is why people spent so much time with the original.

If you found it shallow, that suggests you really didn't spend much time with it or tried to find out what it was all about.

 

[dbish]

My thoughts on the second game:
- Bosses aren't nearly as creative. You fight different iterations of the same dinosaur guy 3-4 times.
- You get your powers later in the game (I believe) which makes fighting early bosses a chore. They also seemed to have less exploitable weaknesses, which dragged the fights out longer.
- Framerate drops and slowdown that weren't present in the 1st game. I'm guessing this had something to do with being developed for PS2 and GCN at the same time instead of for GCN and then ported to PS2.
- Switching characters was tedious and didn't add much to the game other than lame puzzles that killed the pacing.
- TOO EASY! This one's a huge problem. Joe 1 was pretty hardcore, even on Adult. I felt like I had accomplished something when I beat it. Not so much with 2. Early on in the game, in the level where the room would flip around, you had a HUGE opportunity for money which allowed me to nearly max out my health. Also, while the game had a boss gauntlet you could save between every one rendering the entire thing useless.
-No bonuses for beating it on higher levels. The first game gave you different playable characters for beating it on every level. Now that's replay incentive.

Wow. It may sound like I hated VJ 2, but I didn't. And for $20, I think I got my money's worth. I just don't consider it to be nearly as good as 1, for the aforementioned reasons.

I don't consider it a "one-off" game though, and I would be excited for a VJ 3.

 

[Soul4ger]

I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have gotten great reviews - GDJustin gave it a 10/10 for god's sakes, and he gave DJ MAX Portable a 5/5, if that's any indication (ProTip: It isn't.) - if the VFX powers, the entire BASIS for the ****ing game, were useless. And it was the shallowest beat 'em up ever. I'm thinking MAYBE you missed something.

 

[kenta]

Tips for kenta:

Read the instructions
Follow the mini-tutorials the game shows you every time you learn ANYTHING new

I did indeed follow all the tutorials but I can't remember if I read the instructions. I know I flipped through the book but I don't think I went through each page thoroughly.

Like I said, I played for something like 3 hours before getting bored of it and never really found a use for most of the special powers. Obviously some enemies had weaknesses geared towards the powers and there were some environmental puzzles dealing with them (much like Okami) but for some reason they just seemed like afterthoughts or something, the majority of enemies just required regular attacks and that was it. Every once in a while I'd use a special power on an enemy that required it and move on.

I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have gotten great reviews - GDJustin gave it a 10/10 for god's sakes, and he gave DJ MAX Portable a 5/5, if that's any indication (ProTip: It isn't.) - if the VFX powers, the entire BASIS for the ****ing game, were useless. And it was the shallowest beat 'em up ever. I'm thinking MAYBE you missed something.

Alright I'm done. Instead of explaining it you just want to talk down to me when I'm genuinely trying to understand, so thanks anyway

 

[jarrod]

I just hope Capcom has finally learned it's lesson and leave certain titles alone(namely Okami).

Only after they release the definitive version on Wii.

Ditto for God Hand!

 

[Varjet]

Like I said, I played for something like 3 hours before getting bored of it and never really found a use for most of the special powers. Obviously some enemies had weaknesses geared towards the powers and there were some environmental puzzles dealing with them (much like Okami) but for some reason they just seemed like afterthoughts or something, the majority of enemies just required regular attacks and that was it. Every once in a while I'd use a special power on an enemy that required it and move on.

Maybe you should have tried this:
Dodge the attack of an enemy, then use Slow.
Rock on.

 

[DECK'ARD]

I did indeed follow all the tutorials but I can't remember if I read the instructions. I know I flipped through the book but I don't think I went through each page thoroughly.

Like I said, I played for something like 3 hours before getting bored of it and never really found a use for most of the special powers. Obviously some enemies had weaknesses geared towards the powers and there were some environmental puzzles dealing with them (much like Okami) but for some reason they just seemed like afterthoughts or something, the majority of enemies just required regular attacks and that was it. Every once in a while I'd use a special power on an enemy that required it and move on.

It's all about the combo system, how you tie normal moves and VFX powers together, how you knock enemies into each other etc. And it's a truly great system.

As with something like Radiant Silvergun, you can just blindly mash your way through it or you can try to master it. Mastering VJ is one of the best times I've had with a game.

The more you put into it, the more you will get out of it. It sounds like you put very little in, so it's no surprise you got fairly little out.

 

[D-X]

I saw the PS2 version for £2.99 recently, I shed a small tear.

 

[Callo Merlose]

Hopefully in the next 2-3 years, when it actually might be able to make another worthy impact (the series doesn't need to become Capcoms next MegaMan whore).

I was thinking exactly this though and really wouldn't mind it, it'd mean we got more Joe, but you're right. I liked 2 a lot, don't understand the hate it got. I thought it was just as difficult as the first (well, the saving in between the gauntet is the only thing that made it easier). I'm really hoping that the 3rd game in the trilogy isn't that smash bros-type game that came out. And yeah, more Dante and Alastor. The series needs more reoccuring characters like megaman, so they better not kill alastor again Dante's story in VJ2 when he fights Alastor is Damned funny. They didn't forget about Mundus, either, so I'm hoping that he shows up in DMC4.

 

[kenta]

It's all about the combo system, how you tie normal moves and VFX powers together, how you knock enemies into each other etc. And it's a truly great system.

As with something like Radiant Silvergun, you can just blindly mash your way through it or you can try to master it. Mastering VJ is one of the best times I've had with a game.

The more you put into it, the more you will get out of it. It sounds like you put very little in, so it's no surprise you got fairly little out.

Well I felt like I gave it a fair shot and I actually loved playing the game for a while before putting it down. Are there any videos you could link me to? I'd like to see what I should have been playing like