The series so far: The Definitive 50 GameCube Games.

In this game, you play as the anything-but-average Joe. The simply Viewtiful hero is a real-world dude who finds himself sucked into the ultra-violent, ultra-awesome Movieland, where he must rescue his girlfriend, Silvia. Joe’s helped along by aging superhero Captain Blue, who provides the young Joe with a transformational V-Watch. It’s henshin-a-go-go, then superhero time for the Joe. It’s super cheesy, and that’s the point.

The beat ’em up action, a throwback to old 2D brawlers, is both wickedly fast and furiously slow. You see, Joe can speed up and slow down time to take advantage of openings in his oponent’s defenses. This serves to further nuance the already incredible action available in the game.

It should be noted that if Viewtiful Joe has one drawback, it’s the difficulty. Even on its easier “Kid’s Mode,” the great VJ is one tough beast to master.

Viewtiful Joe‘s presentation ranks as some of the best on GameCube. The crisp comic book inspired cel-shaded graphics and hilarious, well voiced, story, are not to be missed.

Viewtiful Joe went on to spawn a short lived franchise, including the direct sequel Viewtiful Joe 2, another GameCube classic worth picking up. Two spin-offs followed, including the questionable Red Hot Rumble, also available on Joe’s favourite purple cube.