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Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble Mini Review
Chris Leyton
19/02/2006
Viewtiful Joe scratches and touches his way onto the Nintendo DS...
With the golden age of beat-em-ups all but a distant memory, one that appears to be impossible to rekindle despite numerous attempts, there has however been one modern series that appeases fans of the old brawler in the shape of Capcom's Viewtiful Joe. Blending a sophisticated yet subtle combat system with comic-book super powers and a visual style to match, Viewtiful Joe punched and kicked his way into hardcore gamers' eyes when the series made its debut on the GameCube back in 2003. Appearances on the Playstation2 along with a sequel have continued to endear Joe to a gaming audience, as he now prepares for his most creative outing yet on the Nintendo DS.
Viewtiful Joe Double Trouble finds our superhero taking some time off to enjoy the filming of the latest Captain Blue movie; however it's not long until trouble arrives on the set in the shape of the evil Madow who proceed to steal off with the film. In the real world Joe is defenceless without his powers, however Sylvia is soon recording Joe's actions with the V-Cam which reacquaints Joe with his superhero self. Clover Studios have taken this aspect onboard with the DS dual screens, showcasing the main action on the bottom screen and the zoomed in action seen by the camera on the top.
Double Trouble plays very closely to its two predecessors, with the emphasis placed on working out the correct strategies to defeat different opponents using Joe's many super powers and being as "Viewtiful" as possible - although of course it's a beat-em-up at heart so mindlessly punching and kicking your way through the stage works just as well at times. The key to building big scores often lies with Joe's trademark ability to Slow down time, which naturally makes a return within Double Trouble, allowing him to detect the enemy's weak spot and attack with greater power. Slide switches the two screens over, swapping the zoomed up action onto the bottom and effectively playing out very similar to the Zoom VFX from Double Trouble predecessors. Used for a variety of puzzles, Slide also opens up an all-new DS VFX in the shape of Touch, which literally allows you to tap at small enemies such as bats to instantly kill them along with activating certain switches. Split is perhaps used the most within the game, particularly when it comes to solving the various puzzles within a stage; a simple drag on the top half of the screen allows you to manipulate the environment, an early example of which has you pulling water hydrants over fire to extinguish them. Unfortunately not all of the new powers share the same level of brilliance, with the technique behind Scratch requiring the right shoulder button and then the screen to be scratched, making it largely redundant unless you specifically have to use it. Generally however Clover Studios have done an excellent job of embracing the touch and double-screen capabilities of the DS and utilising these for creative new VFX powers. If you're a fan of Viewtiful Joe's previous adventures you'll absolutely lap this up, although it can take a little while to perfect the skill of stylus and d-pad control at the same time (not a bad thing), whilst occasionally Slide and Switch can be a little awkward.
The new powers have however allowed Clover to be far more cunning when it comes to the puzzles, and although Double Trouble initially guides you through these by the hand, latter challenges certainly begin to pick up the cerebral challenge. The balance appears to be more heavily skewed towards puzzles compared to its console predecessors, which some fans may have concerns about, but as a handheld title the blend seems to be spot on. One area that Double Trouble refuses to change from its predecessors is the refreshingly difficult challenge it presents, both in terms of the action and the correct solutions to Viewtifully destroying the Madow and the puzzles on offer - just remember it's not humiliating to start with the "Kids" mode!
From a visual point of view Viewtiful Joe seems ideally suited to the Nintendo DS, being able to look past such things as pixellated textures and the occasional glitch with its overall vivid style and luscious animation. Everything you've come to expect from the console versions has made the cross-over, from Joe athletically dodging between bullets and striking poses to the many exaggerated bosses he comes across. The occasional drop in the frame-rate is obviously an effect of displaying the same action on both screens, so it's hardly surprising and largely only occurs during the most frantic of scenes.
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble adds another worthy chapter to what has rightfully become popular a popular series within the hardcore demographic. Clover Studios should be applauded for designing a game around the DS strengths (much like many Japanese developers), although some aspects contain a few niggles, an original title is far more enjoyable than an uninspired console port.
