The game was later ported to the PlayStation 2 by the same design team under the name Clover Studio, subtitled in Japan Aratanaru Kibō (Japanese: 新たなる希望, lit.

Abilities known as "VFX Powers" grant the player special actions for combat and puzzle-solving, such as slowing down or speeding up time.

Viewtiful Joe was critically acclaimed for its unique visual style and gameplay, earning itself a number of awards from various media publications.

A minor commercial success, the game spawned several sequels, with releases seen on other consoles such as the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and Nintendo DS.

[7] The player has certain number of hit points in the form of "Life Marks" located above the VFX Gauge, which decrease whenever Joe takes damage.

V-Points can be used between stages to purchase new abilities, expendable weapons (which include the "Voomerang" and "Shocking Pink Bombs"), more health, and health-restorative items.

Viewtiful Joe is divided into seven stages, or "episodes", interspersed with storyline cutscenes, and bookended by an opening and ending cinematic.

The plot begins in a movie theatre on Earth, in which the game's central character Joe and his girlfriend Silvia are watching a tokusatsu drama, starring the aged superhero Captain Blue.

The movie's antagonist, having seemingly defeated Captain Blue, suddenly reaches out of the screen and abducts Silvia, taking her into Movieland.

With the guidance of Captain Blue, Joe fights his way through a number of Movieland's locations such as cities, caves, an underwater base, and a submarine, often travelling via his trusty, robot aircraft "Six Machine".

These include Dark Fiend Charles the 3rd, Iron Ogre Hulk Davidson, Aquatic Terror Gran Bruce, a doppelgänger of Viewtiful Joe, and Blade Master Alastor.

Before fighting Alastor, he reveals that in order for the Jadow to break out of Movieland and into the land of humans, they need the "DNA of the Creator", namely Silvia.

[17] Joe makes his way to her, trumping the Jadow's leader Inferno Lord Fire Leo in combat, only to witness Silvia being kidnapped once again afterwards.

Finding Silvia atop the control room of a space station, Joe discovers that Captain Blue has been behind the plot the entire time.

[18] Transforming into the colossal robot King Blue, the villain proclaims that he will take Sylvia's energy by force in order to break into the real world.

When the fight ends, Captain Blue and Viewtiful Joe abandon their respective vehicles, and face off in a final battle within the space station.

He snaps his fingers, and the space station's onboard computer warns of a large number of UFOs heading towards Earth.

As a lifelong fan of superheroes, Inaba's aim was to combine traditional Japanese tokusatsu with American comic books.

[27][28] The character designs created by Kumiko Suekane were inspired specifically by 1960s and 1970s Japanese-costumed tokusatsu television shows such as Kamen Rider and Ultraman.

[24] Despite many games in the then-modern industry shying away from 2D graphical formats, Inaba said, "We have been able to breathe new life into the genre because we are using a new stylistic way that hasn't been seen before.

[30] A music video is played within the game featuring a rap vocal song titled "Viewtiful World" composed by D.A.I.

[31][32] Both the North American and Japanese releases of Viewtiful Joe feature English voice acting in order to keep a "western comic book feel to [the game].

Voice actors for the game include Dee Bradley Baker, Christina Puccelli, Gregg Berger, Mikey Kelley, Roger Rose, and Kevin Michael Richardson.

[6][11] In Japan, the GameCube version of Viewtiful Joe sold through its initial shipment of less than 100,000 copies during the week of its release.

[53] Preorders of the GameCube version sold out on Capcom's North American website prior to its ship date, and Viewtiful Joe debuted as the tenth best-selling game in the region.

[65][66] Viewtiful Joe won "Most Innovative Game Design" in Nintendo Power magazine's 2003 Player's Choice Awards.

[75][76] Both GameSpy and the G4 television program X-Play named Viewtiful Joe the ninth best game of all time for the GameCube.

[77][78] In 2007, Viewtiful Joe was named the 17th best GameCube game of all time in IGN's feature reflecting on the system's long lifespan.

[81][82] An anime adaption of the game was produced by Group TAC, airing on the Japanese television station TV Tokyo beginning in 2004 and being licensed for US distribution by Geneon Entertainment in 2005.

Furthermore, The Wonderful 101 uses the same tokusatsu thematics of the Viewtiful Joe series, and the two share a similar art style albeit different gameplay.