Viewtiful Joe is a super hero with all the confidence, punch and style of a million-dollar action-hero caught in the world of a Hollywood movie. It begins as Joe and his girlfriend, Silvia, are at the movies watching Joe's favorite superhero, Captain Blue. Somehow, Silvia is kidnapped by the films bad guys who literally reach out from the silver screen and pluck her from her seat. It is left to Joe to follow Silvia into the world of the movies to battle the on-screen assailants and rescue her.

At the start of the game Joe is not much of a match for the ‘pawn men' that stand in his path, but a meeting with Captain Blue shows Joe that he has what it takes to be a super hero himself. He gains new powers to perform special visual techniques that can be utilised to affect time and initiate a variety of devastating combos on foes. Joe 's special powers can also be used to solve various inventive puzzles.