A peculiar view

As well as making sure it was one of the most visually striking games, the Japanese creators of Viewtiful Joe didn’t stop taking the funny mushrooms when it came to designing their characters either. There’s Joe - our hero who shouts "Henshin-is-on-the-go-go" as he transforms into a masked figure dressed in a tight, body-hugging red jumpsuit when he’s being filmed by one of the special V-Cameras.

Then there’s Blue, the film director with the V-Cams. He’s currently shooting his latest flick in the Captain Blue series, set in a theme park. His daughter, Silvia, is Joe’s squeeze, and she’ll help out as a V-Cam operator. And keeping it in the family, Joe’s sister Jasmine is playing the damsel in distress in Blue’s film. Got it?

Well, no, actually you haven’t, because during filming, Joe’s enemies Killer Hands, Vanilla/Alter Woman, Meta Rangers and their leader Queen Heinderella (Joe and Jasmine’s dead mother - please do try to keep up!), who are collatively known as Madow nick the unfinished film. And then Joe’s nemesis Alastor turns up and this time he’s got his giant robot, Rex Majin in tow.

As Harry Hill would say, there’s only one way to settle this... FIGGGHHHHTTTTT!

And being a beat ‘em up, that, of course, is exactly what Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble is all about.

The first Viewtiful Joe for DS, Double Trouble features plenty of cool touchscreen tricks. One of Joe’s moves - slide - switches the top screen to the bottom so you can directly use the touchscreen to activate switches in the environment or defeat otherwise indestructible enemies.

More generally, Joe’s trademark powers include the ability to slow down the speed of the fight so you can lock onto enemies and cause more damage. He can also split the screen horizontally to jump through walls and drop objects onto enemies. Similarly shaking the screen, knocks any debris onto his dazed foes.

Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble will be Pow, Zap and Crashing its way in shops for a 24th February release.