BLAST ACTION HERO.Byline: Redmond Carolipio Staff Writer `VIEWTIFUL JOE'' shows us that 2D games are far from dead. This title is more than an innovative piece of work - it's what happens when you have a perfect marriage of retro gaming principles and new-school glitz glitz Informal n. Ostentatious showiness; flashiness: "a garish barrage of show-biz glitz" Peter G. Davis. tr.v. . Back in the eight-bit days, 2D games ruled the gaming landscape. They were simple, and they were fun. You moved left and right, beat up your enemies and advanced through a black-and-white story. ``Viewtiful Joe'' brings all of that back, starting with the basic plot. You play Joe, an average guy who loves the ``Captain Blue'' superhero su·per·he·ro n. pl. su·per·he·roes A figure, especially in a comic strip or cartoon, endowed with superhuman powers and usually portrayed as fighting evil or crime. movies. Well, after one of the villains reaches out from the screen and swipes Joe's girl, it's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a for him dive into the movie world and rescue his woman. Your method? Beat the living daylights out of anything that stands in your way. The on-screen on·screen or on-screen adj. & adv. 1. As shown on a movie, television, or display screen. 2. Within public view; in public. displays in the game might give some gamers flashbacks. Your life gauge is a set of little hearts. You have a bevy bevy a flock of birds. of on-screen icons resembling your extra lives and other knickknacks. You have a score - when's the last time you saw one of those in an action game? You can even regain health by picking up a little hamburger icon. What is this, 1988? The game's cel-shaded visuals also convey more retro sensibilities. ``Joe'' looks and acts like an old Japanese Old Japanese (上代日本語 Jōdai nihongo cartoon show. It has speed lines, ``bam'' and ``pow'' sound effects sound effects Noun, pl sounds artificially produced to make a play, esp. a radio play, more realistic sound effects npl → efectos mpl sonoros and cheesy cheesy (che´ze) caseous. dialogue. You'd think you were watching something on ``Toonami.'' But the gameplay is where the game becomes something special. Joe is blessed with a multitude of super powers called ``VFX'' abilities. They allow him to slow down time ``Matrix'' style, speed it up and strike fear into his opponents just by striking a pose. All of these abilities are designed to accentuate how stylish you look when you fight, but the game also blends in cool ways to make the attributes essential to advancement. For instance, Joe can slow down bullets and actually punch them back at his opponents - whereas in real time, you can't even see the bullets flying at you. Joe can also slow down time to stop the rotor blades of a chopper, or increase the size of water droplets so they're large enough to push down a button in the floor. Going to hyper speed allows Joe to attack several enemies at once and outrun out·run tr.v. out·ran , out·run, out·run·ning, out·runs 1. a. To run faster than. b. To escape from: outrun one's creditors. 2. everything from boulders to runaway buses. The ``zoom in'' feature allows Joe to unleash a bevy of pretty combos that can earn you points. There's really nothing Joe's powers can't accomplish, which guarantees that no two playing experiences are ever the same. That adds a ton of replay value, which makes ``Joe'' a keeper. VIEWTIFUL JOE - Four stars Platform: GameCube. Price: $49.99. Rated: T for Teen. In a nutshell: Old-school gameplay plus next-generation style make this a must-have. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: no caption (video game Viewtiful Joe) Box: TOP 10 |
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