Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble [GC]

This unfortunate truth is all the more disappointing because Red Hot Rumble does actually have all the makings of a solid fighter. First and foremost, a strong cast of likeable characters. The title features such recognizable franchise stars as Joe himself, Blade Master Alastor, Capture Blue and Captain Blue Jr., Sexy Sylvia, Sprocket and Emperor Jet Black. A host of visually varied and occasionally interactive levels complements the cast. Some of the stages even take place on moving objects, such as a flying biplane, which is a nice touch.

But more importantly, the fight mechanics themselves have a lot of potential. Moving a character about the screen is a breeze and developer Clover Studio has even thought of some of the Smash Bros. basics. For instance, pressing down on the control stick and the action button will cause one's fighter to drop between platforms, where they can continue brawling below. Performing punches, kicks and combos is as easy as tapping the attack or special attack buttons and pressing into different directions. In a tip of the hat to previous Joe games, the fighters can even battle in mid-air, dishing out powerful and stylistic moves that ravish their opponents. And executing these moves is usually an entertaining and satisfying undertaking. On top of everything else, Joe and friends can use their collective VFX powers for dazzling results, such as slowing time, speeding up time, performing showboating zooms and even spitting out damaging sound effects. All of these play into battles seamlessly.

And true enough, there are times, particularly when playing alone or even with a second gamer, that Red Hot Rumble shows a hint of its full potential. The action is not so intense and out of control that it's impossible to gauge what is happening on-screen and therefore gamers can slow it down a little bit, dish out their moves, throw down some special attacks, dabble with the VFX powers, and generally try to have a good time. It's during these moments that the game is at its best and it's primarily because of these situations that we can at least bother to halfheartedly recommend the fighter to some really, truly, unbreakably diehard VJ fans.

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