Punch-Out!! Review

After spending more than 15 years out of the ring, Nintendo’s beloved Punch-Out series is finally making a comeback with a new iteration of the game for Nintendo Wii. Is it a knock-out smash or does Punch-Out!! for Wii pull one too many punches? Well, to be brief, Punch-Out!! delivers on everything that a gamer could want in a remake and much, much more.

Thumbs Up: Old-School Gameplay Perfected, The Stereotypes, Motion Controls That Work, Replayability

Thumbs Down: Only 12 of the Classic Characters Return, No Online

Eh…: Wii Classic Controller Support Would Have Been Nice

First and foremost, I would like to clear up the misconception flying around the Internet that Punch-Out!! is a short game; I can whole-heartedly guarantee that this is not the case. First, the player delves into Career mode which follows underdog boxer Little Mac and his trainer Doc Louis (who, by the way, is one of the funniest characters to come out of Nintendo in a long time) on their journey through the W.V.B.A. Minor, Major and and World  boxing circuits. This essentially acts as a remake of the old Punch-Out for NES with a new character thrown in and some character move-set changes in order to introduce the player to the world of the game. Immediately following the defeat of the World Champion in Career mode, Little Mac then has to defend his title in an all new mode called Title Defense where every boxer that you defeated in your fight to the top is now back for revenge and each of your previous knock-out now have brand new ways of fighting that the player must overcome. Honestly, Title Defense is the best mode in the game and will last the average player upwards for four hours compiled on top of the two or three that make up Little Mac’s Career.

In addition to these single player modes, Punch-Out!! also introduces something brand-new to the series: Head-to-Head Multiplayer. At first, I was pretty skeptical as to how this would work due to the fact that Punch-Out is really more of a puzzle game where the player has to try and find the right spot and time to hit their opponent than it is a real, pure, head-to-head fighting game. Luckily though, my fears were put to rest and the multiplayer acts as a great side-dish to the already meaty  single player game. Basically, each player plays as Little Mac (renamed Little [insert your Mii name here]) and has to knockout the other fighter. Simple, right? Well, the really interesting thing about this mode is that Little Mac can transform into an enormous, hulking version of himself called Giga Mac after he gains enough power. This then shifts the game form a split-screen fight into a full-on Punch-Out fight where the Giga Mac character acts as the “boss fighter” and the Little Mac character must dodge his attacks and throw punches. My only real gripe with the multiplayer is that it seems like a waste to not have included online capabilities since the Wii has proven with games like Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Kart Wii, and the newly released Excitebots, that online play can be done right on the system. I’ve included the developer’s head-to-head tournament video using this multiplayer mode below for those who are interested.

I also really think I should mention just how beautiful this game is. Punch-Out!! has some of the best and most fluid character animation of any video game I have ever played, HD system or not. Naturally, this was to be expected since the NES original was one of the only games on the system to express distinct characters so well through 8-bit sprites but really this iteration stands head and shoulders above the rest of the current video game scene today. The boxers are all well-detailed and really look like 3-D cartoon caricatures of the stereotypes they represent. It’s also worth mentioning that Next Level Games, the developer of this new Punch-Out, has done a fantastic job in clearly defining these characters for a new generation of gamers. Von Kaiser, Bald Bull, Glass Joe, Soda Popinski, Don Flamenco, and the rest of the characters you love from the NES classic are all here and now talk and taunt in their native languages really giving the boxers backgrounds and personalities that they somewhat lacked previously. My favorite boxer re-do in the game though has to be Aran Ryan. In his debut in Super Punch-Out for the Super NES, Ryan was one of the least memorable characters; he had no real personality, lacked any sort of flair and even looked weird. In Punch-Out!! however, Ryan is now a lunatic Irishman who jumps around the stage, begs to be punched and incessantly  taunts Little Mac’s American background by asking him if there are “cheeseburgers in his gloves”. His new incarnation is sure to be come a fan-favorite and he’s, naturally, a blast to play against.

Another major point I’d like to make before wrapping up is how well the motion controls work with the game. Punching works as you’d expect, dodging is done via the analog stick and holding up on the Nunchuk’s analog stick while punching allows Mac to do an uppercut. When I first popped in the game, I expected that I would be using the classic “NES style” Wiimote-on-its-side controls since I was so used to them while playing the original NES game on the Wii’s Virtual Console but after I got used to the motion controls, I didn’t want to go back to the old NES controls. Apparently the player can even use the Wii Fit Balance Board to duck and dodge punches but I never had the opportunity to mess around with that feature. It’s nice that you have that option to change the controls at any time though I wonder why they didn’t include the Classic Controller support that many other Wii game have. Still, it’s a minor complaint of mine and hardly anything that should steer you away from the game.

To sum up, I’m going to use the conclusion I wrote for the Official Punch-Out thread on NeoGAF as I feel it perfectly sums up everything I feel about this masterpiece: Every once and a while, a game comes along that defines a generation and rarely, if ever, can a game transcend time and become a classic for people of all ages. Some will play this Punch-Out!! because they remember the old arcade game; some because they remember beating up Mike Tyson on the NES. And, for some, this will be the first time they ever play a Punch-Out!! game and Next Level Games has taken that into consideration when making this iteration. However, no matter the age, the name of the game is fun and whether or not you get a kick out of the controls, the outstanding art style, the music, or the overtly racist and all too lovable cast, there is something for you in Punch-Out!! for Wii. So, put on your boxing gloves, throw a couple practice punches, and prepare for the greatest puzzle-boxing game of this generation. It’s here and it’s only on Wii.

Vice Verdict: MUST BUY

Popularity: 5% [?]

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