When I finished the original VJ I wrote that it was a crime that this series hasn't seen a sequel in 18 years.
While I still think that's true, I can see why. This game is almost a copy paste of the original, with the additional playable character of Sylvia. Unfortunately Sylvia feels extremely weak compared to Joe and I can't say I really used her for anything other than when necessary.
Obviously the game is solid, and there are many good things to be said but I've said them all in my original review - which for me is the main issue, nothing new.

Man. They kind of dropped the ball with this one. The game looks and plays identically to the first game, which honestly isn't a problem so long as theres new stuff to go through, fun levels, and interesting bosses. This game doesn't really deliver on most of that. Levels are very strangely designed, with most levels having long difficult first acts followed by shorter, easier later acts. It makes a lot of the levels feel unbalanced as you struggle initially to breeze through the rest of each level. The bosses are pretty standard fare, though they do basically almost reuse an entire boss from the previous game, which wasn't that exciting. You can play as Silvia and tag out between the two characters at any time, but Silvia's moveset isn't as expansive or versatile as Joes so its best to stick with Joe IMO. The only way I could really recommend this is if you are a HUGE fan of the first game and need SOMETHING fresh to play, in which case go for it I guess. Otherwise, just stick with the first one.

This game doesn't shine like its predecessor, but it's still awesome!

Everything about the first one is here but, while it may feel too similar, it's still fun, charming and challenging as ever. If you are a fan of the first one, you owe it to yourself to continue the adventure. But the game has its share of bad things. Sylvia, for example, is useless. The unlockables aren't as good as the in the first game. Repetition of bosses sucks and there are TOO MANY annoying puzzles.

Like I said, those things prevent it from shining like its predecessor, but if you're a fan of the first one, you'll definitely enjoy this one too.

VJ1, but a little bit worse. The big new addition is a second playable character you can swap into by tagging, which is a cool idea, but she’s really not that fun (and the original VJ actually has a lot of secret characters you can replay the game with, which this one lacks completely). Level design’s a little frustrating but the puzzles are even more bafflingly illogical, and for the rest the game is literally just the same. So, VJ1 but a little bit worse. Shame we never got that third game, though.