Capcom's Viewtiful Joe is now 20 years old.
Released as part of the now infamous 'Capcom Five' series of exclusives for the GameCube on June 26th 2003, Viewtiful Joe was directed by Hideki Kamiya and produced by Atsushi Inaba – both of whom would later become founding members of PlatinumGames.
The game follows the titular Joe as he attempts to rescue his girlfriend Silvia from the evil Jadow. Joe transforms from movie-loving geek into the superhero Viewtiful Joe using the V-Watch, and gains special powers in the process – such as the ability to slow down or speed up time. These become integral to the gameplay.
Combining 2D action platforming with (then) fresh-looking cel-shaded visuals, Viewtiful Joe gained positive reviews and sold well enough to get a sequel, as well as spin-off titles. The GameCube game was also ported to the PlayStation 2 in 2004.
As for the other 'Capcom Five' titles, Resident Evil 4 and Killer7's exclusivity periods were also short-lived, and both were ported to the PS2 after the GameCube release. P.N.03 remained exclusive to Nintendo's console, and the fifth game, Dead Phoenix, never saw the light of day.