Cel-shading that pops, hero poses, and time you slow down with a snap of the fingers.

No gut-feeling ranking here, so look at the detail criterion by criterion, and one trait towers over the rest. Art direction explodes ahead of 96% of titles, Clover Studio's style leaves a mark, on a few votes so to confirm but already clear. Attachment and soundtrack follow high, ahead of seven to eight games in ten, on few votes. The feel with a controller stays around the middle. Only fun slips a little, below the median line, and that is the one criterion with slightly more votes behind it. There is the portrait, a game you remember first for its look and its character, a bit less for the fever that glues you to the screen.

Against beat 'em ups and action platformers, Viewtiful Joe 2 bets everything on style and visual identity, where others bet on pure nerve. That choice pays off on the aesthetic side, it costs a little on the immediate thrill.

So who is it for? For you if you love a strong graphic signature, a fully committed comic-book world and a soundtrack that sticks. Much less if you want the action game that devours a whole night, here the early votes place it a notch below.