The game was also re-released under Nintendo's GameCube Player's Choice label in 2004 in North America and Europe. It is said that Director Kamiya based Joe's run animation on how he got to work, and the bosses of the game are based on Capcom executives. In a 2017 interview with Dengeki PlayStation, Kamiya expressed interest in remaking the game. Reception Reviews and sales Viewtiful Joe received critical acclaim upon its release. Metacritic lists the GameCube and PlayStation 2 versions of the game at 93 out of 100 and 90 out of 100, respectively. The game's graphics, gameplay, and challenge were all common areas of praise among many reviewers. IGN gave Viewtiful Joe an "Outstanding" rating, noting that the beautiful cel-shaded graphics and high-intensity action make it one of the best action games on the GameCube and PlayStation 2. Likewise, Eurogamer called it "imaginative, beautiful, engaging and above all else entertaining". Game Informer praised it as "a completely original and highly entertaining work of art". Criticisms about Viewtiful Joe have been few, but consistent among reviews. IGN complained of the game's lack of boss variety. GameSpy has concurred, noting that the bosses were too easy due to a powerful attack that the player can perform. Reviewers have also criticized the lack of progressive scan in the game's PlayStation 2 port. IGN and Eurogamer have additionally pointed out that the PlayStation 2 port suffers slowdown in later stages of the game. In Japan, the GameCube version of Viewtiful Joe sold through its initial shipment of less than 100,000 copies during the week of its release. Preorders of the GameCube version sold out on Capcom's North American website prior to its ship date, and Viewtiful Joe debuted as the tenth best-selling game in the region. The PlayStation 2 version sold a poor 9,912 units in its first week of release in Japan. Worldwide, sales of the game reached 275,000 copies on the GameCube and 46,000 on the PlayStation 2. Sales of the game in both North America and Europe were lower than what Capcom had predicted, but due to its small budget, the game was considered by Inaba to be relatively successful commercially. Legacy Viewtiful Joe garnered a number of awards and nominations from various magazines, popular gaming websites, and video game award programs. IGN named Viewtiful Joe "GameCube Game of the Year" and "Best Action Game of 2003". At GameSpot's Best of