▲
1
▼
Although Joe's shirt is a small reference to Nobuyuki Matsushima; creator Hideki Kamiya revealed via Twitter that in-universe, the letters HMD on Joe's shirt stand for "His Master's Dance" in respect to Captain Blue.
▲
1
▼
In an interview, Hideki Kamiya discussed the origins of how Dante from the Devil May Cry series became a playable character in the PlayStation 2 version of the game:
"As for Dante, we had a talk about adding him, and two days later someone went and made a model of him on their own. It was someone from the Ōkami team, who wasn’t even related to this project. (laughs) After that we to create his big gun, and of course it wouldn’t be Dante without his sword. Creating the very specific animations for him was really difficult. But thanks to those efforts, players can now experience the game in a whole new way."
▲
1
▼
The game's final level, "Joe & Silvia", appears to be a reference to the Star Wars film series. The enemy "Die Fighters", an obvious reference to the TIE Fighters from Star Wars, make their one and only appearance in this stage. The level takes place on a moon sized space station, not unlike the Death Star, and the level ends with Captain Blue Spoiler:revealing to Silvia that he is her father, with her denying and saying her father is dead, with Blue then telling her that deep down she knows it to be true. This mirrors the scene in the Empire Strikes Back, in which Darth Vader reveals he is Luke's father, and the same conclusion occurring.
▲
1
▼
In the level "Joe & Silvia", R.O.B. the Robot can be seen in the background. Oddly, R.O.B. was not removed in the PlayStation 2 port.
▲
1
▼
In the GameCube version, taking out a bomb but not kicking it away will result in Joe whistling the beginning of the Super Mario Bros. theme. Jumping and performing the same action results in Joe whistling another part of the song. For copyright reasons, this does not happen in any other version of the game.
▲
1
▼
During the game's credits, fake movie posters can be seen for the game's levels. Almost all of them are parodies of famous movie posters, with the exception being Midnight Thunderboy, which is a parody of the Japanese Devil May Cry box art. These include King Kong, Jaws 2, Star Wars: Episode 4, and Hunt for Red October.
▲
1
▼
The normal "henshin" hand sign in the series is simply all the fingers slightly bent. Joe's is slightly modified to have the thumb, middle finger, and pinky fingers sticking out. This hand sign spells out his initials, "VJ".
▲
1
▼
Joe's t-shirt reads "HMD". This is a reference to Nobuyuki Matsushima, the programmer of the first two Mega Man games, who often used the alias "H.M.D."
▲
1
▼
When you first meet Hulk Davidson, he will point out Joe's V-Watch and ask him, "You think you some kinda Mega man or somethin'." This is a reference to the mascot of Capcom.
▲
1
▼
The game once had the working title of "Red Hot Man," until it was changed due to copyright conflicts with the rock band, Red Hot Chili Peppers.
▲
1
▼
The PS2 remake of the game in Japan is titled "Viewtiful Joe: A New Hope". This is an obvious reference to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
▲
1
▼
Blade Master Alastor is really the personification of the Alastor sword from Devil May Cry. Many of his moves are taken from the game, and the sword and lightning he uses look very similar. When fighting Dante in the PS2 version, Alastor will berate Dante about mistreating and forgetting him.
Related Games
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!
Viewtiful Joe 2
Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars
God of War
Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers
Resident Evil: Revelations 2
One
Mega Man ZX Advent
Street Fighter EX
Mega Man X3
Mega Man Star Force 2: Zerker x Saurian
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice
The King of Dragons
Mega Man X: Command Mission
Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000
Dino Crisis 2
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All
Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight
Devil May Cry 5
Lost Planet 2
Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters
Mega Man Star Force: Pegasus
Resident Evil: Revelations
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
Darkstalkers 3
Mega Man Battle Network 3 Blue
Mega Man 6
Mega Man Soccer
Mega Man V
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth
Mega Man 3
Mickey Mousecapade
Biohazard i Survivor
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Disney's Goof Troop
Capcom Fighting Collection
Mega Man Battle Network 4: Blue Moon
Mega Man Star Force: Dragon
Ring of Destruction: Slam Masters II
SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium
Dead Rising 3
JoJo's Venture
Mega Man X5
Shadow of Rome
Monster Hunter Generations
Magic Sword: Heroic Fantasy
Mega Man 11