Capcom, It’s Time to Bring ‘Viewtiful Joe’ Back 

Long ago, when the gaming industry cared about something other than big budget first party games, Capcom released a classic of a game called Viewtiful Joe on the GameCube. I remember getting it for Christmas in 2003 and ignoring every other game I got. 

Viewtiful Joe to me is peak Capcom creativity. The art style is still incredible even if the overall graphical fidelity hasn’t aged great. The cel-shaded characters and animation made me feel like I was playing out something I would have been watching on Toonami. 

The gameplay was classic side-scrolling beat-em-up with just the right amount of innovation the VFX Powers. The game was fast paced and tested your ability to read and react as well as puzzle solve. 

CAPCOM, HENSHIN-A-BRING IT BACK!

The game was difficult too. Not in an overly oppressive way, but it was definitely challenging. And that was part of the fun once you got a hang of the powers and how the game worked. One thing I remember doing with this game was replaying levels to try not to take damage. The power ups and gameplay style just lent itself well to taking those kinds of shots at mastering it.

The first two games are classics and worthy of being recognized as such. A remaster would almost certainly reignite interest in the franchise to where the trilogy can be completed. Hideki Kamiya himself has expressed interest in finishing the story as recently as 2020. He deserves an opportunity to see his vision through, and I’m sure that more than enough people have bombarded Capcom at every possible turn to say they want this game back as well.

We’ve been in the middle of a Capcom renaissance over the last few years, and it’s been long enough. I’ve watched them throw 700 Monster Hunter trailers at me and basically elect to redo the entire Resident Evil franchise. Yes, I’m glad to be getting Power Stone back in some capacity, it’s another game I’ve been begging to get back. But enough is enough and The Wonderful 101 isn’t going to distract me from this. Bring back The Viewtiful One.