Music:
From what i understand Masami Ueda was the main composer.
First of all i HAVE to link these two tracks from his previous game because 1) they're very good 2) just like VJ OST, they also use similar combination of harsh "industrial" samples (sirens, honks) with electronic music:
Let's add organ to the mix -- fitting for a game set in Antonio Gaudi-inspired castle:
Transitioning into Viewtiful Joe Ueda changes the pace, drops gothic atmosphere, but there are still
some sirens in "Joe the Hero":
and car honks in "Some Like it Red Hot"
Great remix of main theme with background siren once more in "Another Joe":
"Joe & Silvia" 80s spacey sound track from near the end of a game:
Controls:
How can one present "coolness" with control scheme? Look at how Viewtiful Joe did it.
There is something very cool about pushing gamecube's unique trigger and slowing down and speeding up the time. Activating zoom mode by "flicking" c-stick up is a satisfying motion even by itself but it also activates the best moves in the game.
Even secret shortcut to reset the game might probably be the coolest shortcut in any videogame and it is possible only on gamecube controller.
When you press
Start+Y+B, game resets. Unlike Sakurai's finger tangling shortcut to exit the match in Smash -- this one is actually very simple to do and fingers naturally do this:
Bam, you just did a "cool" secret gesture. Kamiya just made you a member of his his secret gang.
For better or worse game is very tailored and designed around Gamecube controller. I tried to play the game with 360 controller (on both Gamecube and PS2 emulators) and i kept confusing punch and kick buttons because i didn't have tactile feedback of gamecube's bean buttons.
Using up and down directions on a stick for dodging is quite ingenious, because "up" is usually made redundant by dedicated jump button, but here it integrated into combat.
Ranking system:
Kamiya's Devil May Cry ranking system was deeply flawed. Even if it was balanced on all difficulties, it was still too primitive and inhibited exploration because if you took your time sightseeing on a level you would lose your rank on time.
Viewtiful Joe features redone ranking/style system. Levels are divided into isolated encounters ("missions") that automatically end after last enemy dies. That way only time that was spent in actual combat counts for rank. And now you can go back and forth and enjoy view and atmosphere, read all street signs and ads all you like -- it won't affect your rank.
And as any good solution it not only fixes a problem but also creates new features: VJ was the first game with "secret missions" -- hidden encounters that appear when you backtrack or do specific thing on a level. This system also allowed more robust way to measure your style -- it only counts points that you got since combat encounter started.
When you finish a level, all ranks you got for completed missions are then tallied up and you get average, with Viewtiful rank being good and Rainbow Viewtiful standing for the absolute perfection.
This system is so robust and versatile and majority of Platinum games are still using it.