Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble
Encyclopedia
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!, known is Japan as , is a video game developed by Clover Studio
and published by Capcom
for the Nintendo DS
. It was released in 2005 in Japan and North America. Capcom partnered with Nintendo
to distribute the game in Europe and Australia in early 2006. Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! is the fourth game released in the Viewtiful Joe
series. The game's story opens on the set of director
Captain Blue's new action movie in an amusement park
called Movieland. When a mysterious group of villains known as Madow steal the only copy of the film, the superhero
Viewtiful Joe and his younger sister Jasmine quickly give chase.
Gameplay in Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! is a mix of the platforming
and beat 'em up
video game genres. The DS touchscreen
is a key feature of the game's controls, enabling players to utilize Viewtiful Joe's unique VFX powers in order to battle enemies and solve puzzles. These include being able to split the level in half horizontally or to swap the top screen to the touchscreen and vice versa. The game was relatively well received by critics, but it sold poorly.
and Viewtiful Joe 2
. The game is presented with 3D graphics
set on a 2D
plane and has both platforming
and side-scrolling beat 'em up
elements. Both screens on the DS feature the same gameplay with the top screen showing a magnified view
of the player character Joe. The player controls Joe throughout a series of stages, or "episodes", which are divided into subsections with set goals such as defeating a group of enemies or reaching a checkpoint. Players combat enemies with punches and kicks and dodge enemy attacks by ducking and leaping upward. Successfully dodging an attack dazes the enemy, allowing the player to counterattack. Defeating enemies and destroying certain boxes grant players coins called "V-Medals", which contribute to the overall score
called "V-Points". Performing combo moves on enemies displays "V-Marks", which act as a bonus by converting to V-Points as well. Finally, V-Points are awarded at the end of each stage objective, with more points given depending on the player's performance, such as how skillfully and quickly it was completed and how much damage the player took. V-Points can be used at certain stage checkpoints to purchase new attacks and items.
Much of the gameplay is centered around Joe's "Viewtiful Effects (VFX) Power", which is used in combat and puzzle
solving. VFX Power is represented by a gauge located beneath the player's health. The gauge drains when in use but automatically replenishes itself. If it empties completely, Joe will temporarily lose his superpowers and will take more damage from enemies. The total length of the gauge can be extended by collecting "V-Tapes" scattered about each stage. There are five VFX Powers, and many of them are required to be combined for some puzzles. The first ability, "Slow", will decrease the speed of everything onscreen, increasing the player's reaction time and attack strength. "Scratch
" is performed by rapidly scratching the touchscreen and lets the player shake the screen around to make random pieces of debris fall on enemies and to dislodge larger objects. "Split" allows the player split the stage in half by drawing a horizontal line across the touchscreen." It is used to shift props in the background (such as flowing water), allows the player to traverse walls, and moves platforms and objects into or out of the player's perspective. The final two powers are used in conjunction with one another. "Slide" swaps the bottom screen with the top, both causing enemies to tremble in fear of Joe and giving the player access to more attacks. After using Slide, "Touch" allows the player to flip switches or turn gear
s in the background. The combination of these two powers is also used to remove small, normally indestructible enemies, such as bats, from gameplay by tapping them on the touchscreen.
-styled theme park
. The game opens on the set of a film starring movie hero and director Captain Blue and an aspiring actress named Jasmine. Just as Blue comes to the girl's rescue at a critical moment in the film, the game's protagonist Joe, dressed as his alter ego Viewtiful Joe, steals the scene
. Joe's girlfriend Silvia shows up, greeting Blue and Jasmine and inquiring why they are there. Jasmine explains her ambition to become like Junko, a legendary actress from the past. Suddenly, a group of villains crash the set and make off with a canister containing the reel of Blue's film. Wasting no time, Joe sets out after them. Joe quickly realizes he cannot use his "Movie Energy" to transform into Viewtiful Joe in the real world. To solve this, Blue has Silvia record Joe on a special movie camera
called a "V-Cam".
Joe travels through several park attractions, always one step behind the henchmen that possess Blue's film. His sister Jasmine also pursues Blue's film, finding it important because it contains her acting debut. Each time the duo catches up to the film, he is forced to fight an action cinema character whose "hero-ness
" has been stolen by an organization called Madow. They include the robotic policeman Gadget-Cop, the android Killer Hands, the size-changing Alter Woman, and the fly
-like Meta Rangers Digi and Log. Each one that Joe defeats seemingly comes to his or her senses. Joe and Jasmine eventually face a cloud-like entity calling itself Queen Heinderella, the leader of Madow. After easily overpowering Joe, Heinderella reveals to the siblings that she desires the film because it contains the very essence of Captain Blue himself, the "Super Hero-ness". The two eventually reach an attraction titled "Viewtiful Joe - The Ride", which terminates in battle with Blade Master Alastor, Joe's rival from past entries in the Viewtiful Joe series. Heinderella appears again at the end of the duel and takes Blue's film. With Alastor's advice, Joe and Jasmine travel to a large castle
in the center of the park in the game's last episode.
Joe and Jasmine reach Heinderella in the throneroom of the castle, where she transforms the top of the structure into a giant, mechanized monstrocity, which Joe fights and destroys it. He is then confronted by a humanoid Heinderella, who proceeds to steal Joe's hero-ness from him, leaving him devoid of his superpowers. All the action film heroes Joe has met during his mission suddenly arrive and give up their own hero-ness to Heinderella. The queen admits that everything had been planned out from the beginning and explains her intent Joe's power for world domination. A powerless Viewtiful Joe is quickly disabled by her and falls helpless to the ground. With encouragement from Jasmine and Captain Blue, Joe regains his hero-ness and defeats Heinderella in a final battle. Heinderella reveals herself to be the late actress Junko, Joe and Jasmine's mother. Prior to the game's events, Junko had once been rich and successful with her acting career. However, Junko's dreams were dashed as her career plummeted shortly thereafter, and she conincidently died from injuries suffered from a car crash while on her way to an audition. She explains that she was allowed one day to visit her children from heaven
and that she used it to teach her kids to follow their dreams and to test their value of fighting for justice
. Junko says farewell to them, and as the reunion ends, a new threat arises somewhere in the distance. Using the sense of justice instilled in her by her mother, Jasmine transforms
herself into a super heroine, and she and her brother Viewtiful Joe set off to face it together.
, a subsidiary of Capcom
. The game was first announced under the working title Viewtiful Joe DS at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2004 as an early third-party Nintendo DS release. Development of Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! took one year to complete using a team of twenty people helmed by director Junichi Ota and producer Atsushi Inaba
. Hideki Kamiya
, who was responsible for some previous Viewtiful Joe titles, acted as an advisor and a scenario writer for the game. Takeshi Miura composed the soundtrack.
As Double Trouble! features 3D graphics like previous installments in the series, Inaba explained that the most difficult aspect of the game's development was bringing the world of Viewtiful Joe to the DS with regard to the handheld's limitations, specifically the number of polygons
possible for display on the screen. The game requires use of the D-pad
, facebuttons, and the DS touchscreen throughout the course of gameplay. Inaba stressed that the touchscreen functionality was designed for the player's finger instead of the DS stylus
, as it creates a much more fluid experience during gameplay.
. IGN
rated it 8.5 out of 10, netting it an "Editor's Choice" award. The website stated "The game does have its quirks, mostly boiling down to the technical limitations: it's not as fast or energetic as past Viewtiful Joe games, and the touch screen sensitivity can get a little wonky in the heat of the battle. But even with these minor oddities, this game is one of the most fun and creative ways to move a 'traditional' console game onto the Nintendo DS." The game received a number of honors from the website during its coverage of E3 in 2005 including "Best DS Game", "Best Action Game" on the DS, "Best Graphics" on the DS, and "Most Innovative Design" on the DS. It additionally won "Most Innovative Design" for the DS in IGN's reflection on the year 2005. GameSpot
had a similar opinion, rating it 7.6 out of 10. remarking that it "is a good place for the beloved superhero to break into handheld games" but that "[t]he action and puzzle-solving do feel a bit repetitive at times, and the touch screen VFX powers take a bit of getting used to." Others thought it was excellent, such as 1UP.com
, who rated it a B+. They stated that "Double Trouble! delivers a refreshingly solid, worthwhile action romp. Joe runs, jumps, punches, and defies the laws of physics just like in the console VJ titles, and a handful of new touch-panel VFX powers provide clever twists."
Famitsu
reported that Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! sold approximately 5,661 units in Japan between November 2 and November 27, 2005.
Clover Studio
Clover Studio was an independent Japanese development studio, funded by Capcom Japan. Clover Studio developed the PlayStation 2 port of Viewtiful Joe, both versions of Viewtiful Joe 2 for the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2, and the PlayStation 2 titles Ōkami and God Hand...
and published by Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
. It was released in 2005 in Japan and North America. Capcom partnered with Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
to distribute the game in Europe and Australia in early 2006. Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! is the fourth game released in the Viewtiful Joe
Viewtiful Joe
is a video game developed by Capcom's Production Studio 4 for the Nintendo GameCube. It was originally released in 2003 as a part of the Capcom Five under director Hideki Kamiya and producer Atsushi Inaba. Viewtiful Joe was later ported to the Sony PlayStation 2 by the same design team under the...
series. The game's story opens on the set of director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Captain Blue's new action movie in an amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
called Movieland. When a mysterious group of villains known as Madow steal the only copy of the film, the superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
Viewtiful Joe and his younger sister Jasmine quickly give chase.
Gameplay in Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! is a mix of the platforming
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
and beat 'em up
Beat 'em up
Beat 'em up is a video game genre featuring melee combat between the protagonist and a large number of underpowered antagonists. These games typically take place in urban settings and feature crime-fighting and revenge-based plots, though some games may employ historical or fantasy themes...
video game genres. The DS touchscreen
Touchscreen
A touchscreen is an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand. Touchscreens can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus...
is a key feature of the game's controls, enabling players to utilize Viewtiful Joe's unique VFX powers in order to battle enemies and solve puzzles. These include being able to split the level in half horizontally or to swap the top screen to the touchscreen and vice versa. The game was relatively well received by critics, but it sold poorly.
Gameplay
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! looks and plays similarly to its console counterparts Viewtiful JoeViewtiful Joe
is a video game developed by Capcom's Production Studio 4 for the Nintendo GameCube. It was originally released in 2003 as a part of the Capcom Five under director Hideki Kamiya and producer Atsushi Inaba. Viewtiful Joe was later ported to the Sony PlayStation 2 by the same design team under the...
and Viewtiful Joe 2
Viewtiful Joe 2
Viewtiful Joe 2, known in Japan as , is a video game and sequel to Viewtiful Joe. The game was developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom in 2004 for GameCube and PlayStation 2 . The game's story begins precisely where the original Viewtiful Joe left off, with the beginning of an alien...
. The game is presented with 3D graphics
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
set on a 2D
2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
plane and has both platforming
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
and side-scrolling beat 'em up
Beat 'em up
Beat 'em up is a video game genre featuring melee combat between the protagonist and a large number of underpowered antagonists. These games typically take place in urban settings and feature crime-fighting and revenge-based plots, though some games may employ historical or fantasy themes...
elements. Both screens on the DS feature the same gameplay with the top screen showing a magnified view
Magnification
Magnification is the process of enlarging something only in appearance, not in physical size. This enlargement is quantified by a calculated number also called "magnification"...
of the player character Joe. The player controls Joe throughout a series of stages, or "episodes", which are divided into subsections with set goals such as defeating a group of enemies or reaching a checkpoint. Players combat enemies with punches and kicks and dodge enemy attacks by ducking and leaping upward. Successfully dodging an attack dazes the enemy, allowing the player to counterattack. Defeating enemies and destroying certain boxes grant players coins called "V-Medals", which contribute to the overall score
Score (game)
In games, score refers to an abstract quantity associated with a player or team. Score is usually measured in the abstract unit of points, and events in the game can raise or lower the score of different parties...
called "V-Points". Performing combo moves on enemies displays "V-Marks", which act as a bonus by converting to V-Points as well. Finally, V-Points are awarded at the end of each stage objective, with more points given depending on the player's performance, such as how skillfully and quickly it was completed and how much damage the player took. V-Points can be used at certain stage checkpoints to purchase new attacks and items.
Much of the gameplay is centered around Joe's "Viewtiful Effects (VFX) Power", which is used in combat and puzzle
Puzzle
A puzzle is a problem or enigma that tests the ingenuity of the solver. In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution...
solving. VFX Power is represented by a gauge located beneath the player's health. The gauge drains when in use but automatically replenishes itself. If it empties completely, Joe will temporarily lose his superpowers and will take more damage from enemies. The total length of the gauge can be extended by collecting "V-Tapes" scattered about each stage. There are five VFX Powers, and many of them are required to be combined for some puzzles. The first ability, "Slow", will decrease the speed of everything onscreen, increasing the player's reaction time and attack strength. "Scratch
Scratch reflex
The scratch reflex is a response to activation of sensory neurons whose peripheral terminals are located on the surface of the body. Some sensory neurons can be activated by stimulation with an external object such as a parasite on the body surface. Alternately, some sensory neurons can respond to...
" is performed by rapidly scratching the touchscreen and lets the player shake the screen around to make random pieces of debris fall on enemies and to dislodge larger objects. "Split" allows the player split the stage in half by drawing a horizontal line across the touchscreen." It is used to shift props in the background (such as flowing water), allows the player to traverse walls, and moves platforms and objects into or out of the player's perspective. The final two powers are used in conjunction with one another. "Slide" swaps the bottom screen with the top, both causing enemies to tremble in fear of Joe and giving the player access to more attacks. After using Slide, "Touch" allows the player to flip switches or turn gear
Gear
A gear is a rotating machine part having cut teeth, or cogs, which mesh with another toothed part in order to transmit torque. Two or more gears working in tandem are called a transmission and can produce a mechanical advantage through a gear ratio and thus may be considered a simple machine....
s in the background. The combination of these two powers is also used to remove small, normally indestructible enemies, such as bats, from gameplay by tapping them on the touchscreen.
Plot
Unlike other games in the series, Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! takes place primarily in the game's depiction of the real world instead of its fictional world of movies. The story is set in Movieland, an action filmAction film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
-styled theme park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
. The game opens on the set of a film starring movie hero and director Captain Blue and an aspiring actress named Jasmine. Just as Blue comes to the girl's rescue at a critical moment in the film, the game's protagonist Joe, dressed as his alter ego Viewtiful Joe, steals the scene
Scene stealer
A scene stealer is a character in a film or dramatic performance that dominates the audience's attention, often through charisma, humour or powerful acting, thus "stealing the scene" or "stealing the show". The term usually applies to a supporting character, such a sidekick, best friend,...
. Joe's girlfriend Silvia shows up, greeting Blue and Jasmine and inquiring why they are there. Jasmine explains her ambition to become like Junko, a legendary actress from the past. Suddenly, a group of villains crash the set and make off with a canister containing the reel of Blue's film. Wasting no time, Joe sets out after them. Joe quickly realizes he cannot use his "Movie Energy" to transform into Viewtiful Joe in the real world. To solve this, Blue has Silvia record Joe on a special movie camera
Movie camera
The movie camera is a type of photographic camera which takes a rapid sequence of photographs on strips of film which was very popular for private use in the last century until its successor, the video camera, replaced it...
called a "V-Cam".
Joe travels through several park attractions, always one step behind the henchmen that possess Blue's film. His sister Jasmine also pursues Blue's film, finding it important because it contains her acting debut. Each time the duo catches up to the film, he is forced to fight an action cinema character whose "hero-ness
Hero
A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...
" has been stolen by an organization called Madow. They include the robotic policeman Gadget-Cop, the android Killer Hands, the size-changing Alter Woman, and the fly
Fly
True flies are insects of the order Diptera . They possess a pair of wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax...
-like Meta Rangers Digi and Log. Each one that Joe defeats seemingly comes to his or her senses. Joe and Jasmine eventually face a cloud-like entity calling itself Queen Heinderella, the leader of Madow. After easily overpowering Joe, Heinderella reveals to the siblings that she desires the film because it contains the very essence of Captain Blue himself, the "Super Hero-ness". The two eventually reach an attraction titled "Viewtiful Joe - The Ride", which terminates in battle with Blade Master Alastor, Joe's rival from past entries in the Viewtiful Joe series. Heinderella appears again at the end of the duel and takes Blue's film. With Alastor's advice, Joe and Jasmine travel to a large castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
in the center of the park in the game's last episode.
Joe and Jasmine reach Heinderella in the throneroom of the castle, where she transforms the top of the structure into a giant, mechanized monstrocity, which Joe fights and destroys it. He is then confronted by a humanoid Heinderella, who proceeds to steal Joe's hero-ness from him, leaving him devoid of his superpowers. All the action film heroes Joe has met during his mission suddenly arrive and give up their own hero-ness to Heinderella. The queen admits that everything had been planned out from the beginning and explains her intent Joe's power for world domination. A powerless Viewtiful Joe is quickly disabled by her and falls helpless to the ground. With encouragement from Jasmine and Captain Blue, Joe regains his hero-ness and defeats Heinderella in a final battle. Heinderella reveals herself to be the late actress Junko, Joe and Jasmine's mother. Prior to the game's events, Junko had once been rich and successful with her acting career. However, Junko's dreams were dashed as her career plummeted shortly thereafter, and she conincidently died from injuries suffered from a car crash while on her way to an audition. She explains that she was allowed one day to visit her children from heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
and that she used it to teach her kids to follow their dreams and to test their value of fighting for justice
Justice
Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
. Junko says farewell to them, and as the reunion ends, a new threat arises somewhere in the distance. Using the sense of justice instilled in her by her mother, Jasmine transforms
Henshin
is the Japanese word for "transformation," literally meaning, "to change or transform the body." This word is primarily used in manga, anime, and tokusatsu dramas for when a character transforms into a superhero. usually have a "henshin call", a catchphrase which they recite when they transform...
herself into a super heroine, and she and her brother Viewtiful Joe set off to face it together.
Development
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! was developed by Clover StudioClover Studio
Clover Studio was an independent Japanese development studio, funded by Capcom Japan. Clover Studio developed the PlayStation 2 port of Viewtiful Joe, both versions of Viewtiful Joe 2 for the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2, and the PlayStation 2 titles Ōkami and God Hand...
, a subsidiary of Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
. The game was first announced under the working title Viewtiful Joe DS at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2004 as an early third-party Nintendo DS release. Development of Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! took one year to complete using a team of twenty people helmed by director Junichi Ota and producer Atsushi Inaba
Atsushi Inaba
is a Japanese video game producer for Platinum Games. He is also the former CEO and producer of the Capcom subsidiary Clover Studio, best known as the creative force behind Viewtiful Joe, Ōkami and God Hand.-Career:...
. Hideki Kamiya
Hideki Kamiya
is a video game designer formerly employed by Capcom and Clover Studio. He is currently working with former Clover Studio members at Platinum Games.- Career :...
, who was responsible for some previous Viewtiful Joe titles, acted as an advisor and a scenario writer for the game. Takeshi Miura composed the soundtrack.
As Double Trouble! features 3D graphics like previous installments in the series, Inaba explained that the most difficult aspect of the game's development was bringing the world of Viewtiful Joe to the DS with regard to the handheld's limitations, specifically the number of polygons
Polygon (computer graphics)
Polygons are used in computer graphics to compose images that are three-dimensional in appearance. Usually triangular, polygons arise when an object's surface is modeled, vertices are selected, and the object is rendered in a wire frame model. This is quicker to display than a shaded model; thus...
possible for display on the screen. The game requires use of the D-pad
D-pad
A D-pad is a flat, usually thumb-operated directional control with one button on each point, found on nearly all modern video game console gamepads, game controllers, on the remote control units of some television and DVD players, and smart phones...
, facebuttons, and the DS touchscreen throughout the course of gameplay. Inaba stressed that the touchscreen functionality was designed for the player's finger instead of the DS stylus
Stylus (computing)
In computing, a stylus is a small pen-shaped instrument that is used to input commands to a computer screen, mobile device or graphics tablet...
, as it creates a much more fluid experience during gameplay.
Reception
General reception of Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! was above average. The game has a score of 76% on Game Rankings and a 73 out of 100 on MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
rated it 8.5 out of 10, netting it an "Editor's Choice" award. The website stated "The game does have its quirks, mostly boiling down to the technical limitations: it's not as fast or energetic as past Viewtiful Joe games, and the touch screen sensitivity can get a little wonky in the heat of the battle. But even with these minor oddities, this game is one of the most fun and creative ways to move a 'traditional' console game onto the Nintendo DS." The game received a number of honors from the website during its coverage of E3 in 2005 including "Best DS Game", "Best Action Game" on the DS, "Best Graphics" on the DS, and "Most Innovative Design" on the DS. It additionally won "Most Innovative Design" for the DS in IGN's reflection on the year 2005. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
had a similar opinion, rating it 7.6 out of 10. remarking that it "is a good place for the beloved superhero to break into handheld games" but that "[t]he action and puzzle-solving do feel a bit repetitive at times, and the touch screen VFX powers take a bit of getting used to." Others thought it was excellent, such as 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
, who rated it a B+. They stated that "Double Trouble! delivers a refreshingly solid, worthwhile action romp. Joe runs, jumps, punches, and defies the laws of physics just like in the console VJ titles, and a handful of new touch-panel VFX powers provide clever twists."
Famitsu
Famitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
reported that Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! sold approximately 5,661 units in Japan between November 2 and November 27, 2005.