viewtiful joe

A japanese 2d side scrolling platform beat-em-up from Capcom which makes use of cel shading and 3d backgrounds. It's a short game, taking 5-7 hours to finish, but is easily enough fun to warrant replaying the whole game... and with several difficulty levels to unlock, it's always a challenge. In fact 'challenge' is possibly an understatement... the game is rock hard, something that has become quite characteristic of capcom. Hwever it is never unfair, with success rewarded for making smart use of 'VFX'... basically special effects. You have a gauge that allows you to put the world into slow motion, fast motion, or zoom in. It's intended to be like fighting in an action movie and editing it at the same time; in fact, the storyline follows the main character being sucked into 'movieland' and striving to become a superhero and save his girlfriend.
It certainly isn't an everyday game concept; it's orginal, zany, and funny, and a far cry from most EA releases. Consequently it didn't sell very well. However, it was critically very successful, earning many 9/10 ratings. I would personally give it an 8 for myself and the target audience of 12 and above, due to the short lifespan of each playthrough. The game was fortunately successful enough for a sequel to be developed, which I would heartilly give 9/10 for myself and the audience; it addresses problems in the original by adding in a level select, making the difficulty a tad more forgiving, and aalso has an extra playable character.
In summary, Viewtiful Joe feels retro with its 2d gameplay yet fresh, and is a must-play.