Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble

Although losing track of your character in all of the commotion on screen is a serious problem and button mashing is a result, if you have a short attention span and love chaotic gameplay, Red Hot Rumble may be right for you.

An out-of-control fighter experience never before seen on the PSP, but problems in the game design may confuse and irritate gamers.

Its fast-paced style of play makes it easy to pick up and put down on a whim, and its original presentation makes those moments of gameplay surprisingly fun.

Despite my annoyances with the controls and hit detection, there's plenty to enjoy in Red Hot Rumble, particularly if you're a huge fan of the show or the game series. The deep roster of characters is impressive, as is each one's unique attacks and abilities.

This might not be Clover Studios' best effort, but as ports go this is far from terrible. [May 2006, p.110]

If you're looking for a top-notch brawler, Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble simply isn't for you.

While Viewtiful Joe did not turn out to be the best PSP game around we have to credit the developers for at least trying to make a portable style game out of something which really belongs more on the home consoles.

The game is good fun if a little frustrating. Fans of the original might be a little miffed by the drastic shift in dynamic, but as long as you recognize that this isn't just a side-scrolling beat 'em up, you should be pleasantly surprised.

Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble retains the same great style and attitude on the PSP, but the game is too fast and frantic for its own good.

The multiplayer modes and mini-game challenges help strengthen the package, but it still doesn't feel anywhere near as fun, funky and fantastic as the first two Viewtiful Joe titles.

For gamers who like things categorically insane, you're looking at a go-to, button-mashy party game.

Viewtiful Joe may have bitten off more than he can chew on his PSP debut. Even if you have the metabolism of a hummingbird, you're going to have a difficult time relating to the incredibly fast and confusing pace of this game.

The gameplay itself is nothing more than a fancied up button mashing tournament with a sense of claustrophobia so apparent, you'll be looking to open a window after the first ten minutes, just for some fresh air.

It becomes an exercise in just jabbing buttons and hoping. [June 2006, p.72]

As a fighting game Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble just isn't that enjoyable. In the transition to the PSP the game really hasn't changed from the GameCube version. It's an advantage being able to play the game on the run - the game can be a lot of fun in short bursts - but it's disappointing that the developers didn't really make any improvements to the gameplay with the extra development time enjoyed by the PSP version.

Pitching all the characters into a frantic, objective-based free-for-all, and dressing it up with the visual panache that developer Clover Studio does so well means Red Hot Rumble is a unique and superbly enjoyable button-mashfest.

The fast-paced scrolling fighter aims for a gentle introduction for PSP gamers, but ends up being too simplistic, despite its excellent visual quality.

The core gameplay is terminally flawed, though, and no amount of perks can make up for that. [May 2006, p.87]

A slightly improved port of the GameCube multiplayer party combat game, but it's still too chaotic and random for anyone born before the '90s. [May 2006, p.92]

Some high points aren’t enough to counteract the amount of confusion that reigns on the too-small screen, though, and we’re left with a somewhat average title.

Unfortunately the same problems that plagued it before are back again, and just because it’s now portable doesn’t necessarily make it enjoyable this time around.

A foray into the beat 'em up genre isn't exactly straying too far from Joe's roots, but the game hasn't been pulled off with the same high level of polish that the other Joe titles exude.