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 Punch-Out!!
(Wii)
This reboot of Nintendo's long-dormant, but much-loved Punch-Out!!
franchise stays very true to its original form. Players will face an array
of classic boxers including the famous Glass Joe and King Hippo along with
a smattering of new characters. The game plays and feels very much as it
did in the classic years, and many of the strategies and moves you
remember work here as well. There are a few new twists, such as a cool
split-screen multiplayer mode, but this version of Punch-Out!! stays very
true to its inspiration. While younger players should enjoy the series, it
seems targeted mostly to gamers who loved the original, making it a truly
classic experience that shouldn't be missed by players who grew up on this
series. |
It's been quite awhile since we've seen a new Punch-Out!! title, and in
fact you have to go back more than a decade to the SNES era to play the
last game in the series, though most players are probably more familiar
with the legendary NES version, which itself came out of the classic 2-
screen arcade game back in the 80's. Both of these classic titles are now
conveniently available on the Wii's Virtual Console, and make good primers
for those who want to know what the fuss is all about. The basic gameplay
stays true to the original game with very few changes and tweaks made this
time around. On the surface, Punch-Out!! is just a boxing game, where you
face off against a single opponent in the ring. Each of the fighters you
face brings unique personalities and styles to bout - learning their
attack patterns, timing your punches and learning to duck and block their
punches is a key strategy to the game. When you're character is hit, you
lose heart strength, which declines until your character is in a weakened
state, at which point you have to dodge a few punches in order to regain
your composure. If you successfully attack an opponent at just the right
time, you can usually knock them off guard and throw several punches
quickly. If you time it just right and hit your opponent when they are
vulnerable, you'll earn a special Star punch that you can use to make a
huge blow to your opponent, which can reduce their life bar substantially,
or even knock them out. When the opposing player is knocked down to the
mat, the referee counts up to ten, and if the opponent hasn't gotten up,
the player automatically wins the round. When Little Mac is knocked down,
you can climb back up by pressing the Wii's buttons successively. This is
a fairly simple system that has its roots in the original game and its
straightforward nature makes it fairly easy to use and should make
Punch-Out!! accessible for players of all levels of experience.
 This
ease of use is only enhanced by Punch-Out's controls, which allow players
to use either the Wiimote alone, add in advanced controls by plugging in
the nunchuck and even shows support for the WiiFit Balance Board. Using
the standard controller positioned sideways as in the original NES game
allows players to box in the classic style, configured almost perfectly to
the wiimote controller. It's a very simple and straightforward method of
playing the game, and also highly effective if you want to jump right into
the ring. There's little learning curve here, but adding the nunchuck
makes things a bit more complicated, since you use the nunchuck itself to
dodge, block and swing punches in motion as you would in real life. It's a
fairly cool idea that's nicely implemented, but it kind of feels
unnecessary in many ways. Players who own one can also stand on the Wii
Fit Balance Board and use this to dodge and block, but this also feels a
like more than is needed. This is a classic game at heart, and keeping
things simple by using the old-fashioned controller allows for the best
gameplay experience, at least as far as we can tell. The game play is
fluid and fast moving, and its super-responsive controls make Punch-Out!!
a joy to play no matter how you decide to play.
While this excellent remake has several
new features, what's most remarkable about Punch-Out!! is how closely it
resembles the original game. Everything from the player's commands and the
movement of your opponent boxers remains true to the original game, at
least in the initial rounds. It's a cool idea, but does seem a tad
unimaginative. However, the developers have thrown a few curves in the
form of a new Title Defense mode, which you can unlock after you've
defeated all the opponents. This is a much more challenging mode where you
have to rematch every fighter you've seen before, but this time they've
got new tricks and defenses up their sleeves, which gives players an
entirely new challenge to master. This makes the game much more
interesting the second time around and its much harder, and should give
even the veteran Punch-Out veterans out there a run for their money. The
single player mode is thus fairly impressive in a number of key areas - it
controls smoothly, retains the fun feel of the original game and adds a
few twists to keep players on their toes. However, the developers have
added another cool new mode that brings multiplayer action to the game for
the first time. In this mode, you once again play as Little Mac, but this
time, you face off against another Little Mac who's controlled by a
friend. It plays similarly to the regular game but with a few key
differences. Standard and Star punches allow you to attack foes, but you
earn Giga points for each successful attack. When you've built up enough
of these points, your fighter transforms into the powerful Giga Mac who is
a much stronger character. When you've got the Giga Mac character, you can
inflict a lot of damage on your opponents, but you aren't invulnerable,
and your opponent can still dodge and block your attacks, so don't get too
arrogant. The Giga Mac form also only lasts for a short time, so you need
to use his attacks wisely. This makes the multiplayer matches much more
interesting and gives this mode a strategy that makes things even more
fun.
 While
the gameplay retains the original feel and mechanics, it has been upgraded
graphically to Wii standards. You still view the action from a
behind-the-boxer, first person perspective, but each character in the game
has been retooled, giving the game a fun, animated look that allows for
plenty of the series' light-hearted humor to shine through. Each boxer you
face has a unique personality and character that brings the game to life
in humorous tones and looks. Most of the classic characters look very much
as they have in past games, while the new ones fit in with the existing
cast very nicely. We'd be more specific about which characters return, but
we don't want to ruin the surprise. However, one of the coolest things
about the new game is the relationship between Little Mac and his trainer
Doc Louis, who as usual gives Mac advice and tips along the way while
providing some much-needed levity in the battles, it's lots of fun to see
these two characters back at it again after all these years. There are a
few nice cut-scenes that should thrill fans of the NES original, and the
original music score is back in nicely updated form, making this a cool
reboot that should jar the memories of anyone who loved the original game.
As you might have guessed by now, the best thing about Punch-Out!! is that
it stays true to its roots - you won't find anything pretentious or
needless in this installment, just the solid play mechanics, humorous
characters and challenging gameplay that made the original game so
enduring. It's not the most innovative or original tile on Wii, but it
offers a thoroughly enjoyable through a nostalgic series that should
thrill the many fans of the Punch Out!! series.
-
Michael Palisano
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