''Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble'', known in Japan as is a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

for the

GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...

and the

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

. It is a slightly mission-based platform fighter/

beat 'em up The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, ...

somewhat similar in style to ''

Super Smash Bros. Melee ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' is a 2001 Fictional crossover, crossover fighting game, fighting video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the second installment in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series. I ...

'' and '' Power Stone'', though it uses a modified engine from the previous games, featuring characters and powers from the '' Viewtiful Joe'' games and anime.

Plot

In this game, based on the

anime series is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening ...

, Captain Blue is working on his latest film, and in order to determine who will get the lead role, he holds a battle tournament between those who are auditioning. However, as the player progresses through the films, it seems that some strange things are afoot, as unauthorized equipment keep showing up and things seem a bit too dangerous. Suddenly, Rachel is possessed by the equipment, transforming into Tsukumo. He silently arranges to sabotage the picture by stealing and replacing props and putting the crew in increasingly dangerous situations. He is enraged that all the mechanical cameras, microphones, and other movie-making devices are never given an actual role in the very movies they help to make. After Tsukumo is defeated, Joe explains that the equipment plays an integral part in the process, so he leaves happily. Blue, meanwhile, decides to make Tsukumo the star of his picture, much to everyone's surprise.

Development

The game was originally announced under the title ''Viewtiful Joe: VFX Battle'', and early reports stated that it was to be released for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

. Producer Atsushi Inaba noted that the game was inspired heavily by Nintendo's ''

''. ''Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble'' was originally developed as a two-player game rather than a four-player game. The PlayStation Portable version of the game features

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

from the ''

Devil May Cry is a series of action-adventure games created by Hideki Kamiya. It is primarily developed and published by Capcom. The series centers on the demon hunter Dante and his efforts to thwart various demon invasions of Earth. Its gameplay consists o ...

'' series as a playable character, along with several additional costumes based on characters from ''Devil May Cry'' and '' Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble''. In Japan, the game featured a bonus stage set in the offices of '' V Jump'' magazine, which published the concurrently-produced ''Viewtiful Joe'' manga. In North America, the GameCube version featured in-game advertising promoting the

Johnny Rockets } The Johnny Rockets Group Inc. is an American restaurant franchise whose themed decor is based upon 1950s diner-style restaurants. Décor includes Coca-Cola advertising, featuring nearly life-size cardboard illustrations of women in World War II ...

restaurant chain.

Reception

''Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble'' has received mostly mixed to average reviews from critics. The GameCube version of the game currently has a

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

score of 62 out of 100 and a

GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...

score of 63%. The PSP version of the game boasts slightly higher scores of 63 out of 100 and 66% on the two websites respectively.

Notes

References

External links

Official website
(

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

copy)
''Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble'' at MobyGames
* {{Portal, Japan, Video games 2005 video games 3D beat 'em ups Capcom beat 'em ups Capcom games Clover Studio games Fighting games GameCube games Platform fighters PlayStation Portable games Multiplayer and single-player video games Side-scrolling beat 'em ups Superhero video games Video games based on television series Video games developed in Japan Video games with cel-shaded animation Video games with time manipulation Viewtiful Joe