-Punch-Out!!-

-Review-

Punch-Out!! for the Wii has been out now since May, but knowing that Nintendo rarely discounts its titles, I finally decided to purchase it a couple of weeks ago.  As a fan of the original Punch-Out!! on the NES, I was hoping that this revival would stay true to the boxing classic but still be different enough to prevent staleness.  Luckily, Punch-Out!! for the Wii manages just that.

-Story-

You play as Little Mac, a tiny (5′ 7″), tiny (107lbs.), boxer from the Bronx.  He’s always the underdog in matches, especially considering that most of the other opponents are twice his size (that doesn’t seem quite fair).  Mac’s trainer, Doc Louis, is an ex-heavyweight boxer who happens to love chocolate and the Nintendo Fun Cl… I mean… Club Nintendo.  The story is lacking, but no one plays Punch-Out!! for the story.

-Graphics-

The graphics aren’t too bad for the Wii.  The developers opted for a cel-shaded look, and it seems to suit the title just fine I think.  Overall, I find the graphics pleasing.

-Sound-

Sound effects are decent and the voice acting is suitable (different accents for each ethnically stereotyped boxer).  The music lacks a lot of variety, as most of it consists of remixes of the main battle theme.  I love that theme though, so I naturally love the music in this game.

-Gameplay-

The fundamentals of this game are quite simple.  You can dodge left or right, duck, or block.  You can throw low punches (left or right) or high punches (left or right).  If you see a special opportunity to attack an opponent when he is vulnerable, you’ll gain a star.  The more stars you gain (up to three) the more powerful your special punch will be.  It’s far from complicated and even casual players should be able to grasp the basics pretty quickly.

There are different controls schemes for this game too.  I played it with the Wii Remote sideways, the control scheme that best resembles how I played it on NES.  You can also play it with the Nunchuk and Wii Remote, using the analog stick to dodge and motion controls to punch.  Unlike Wii Boxing, in Wii Sports, the motion controls in Punch-Out!! are significantly more responsive I found.  For those with a Wii Balance Board, you can use that in conjunction with the Nunchuk and Wii Remote.  The balance board is used for dodging in this control scheme as opposed to the analog stick.

After you select your preferred control scheme, you’ll probably head to Career Mode, the main part of the game.  You’ll take on thirteen boxers in order to obtain the championship belt.  The gameplay is very twitched based.  Simply put, you must closely examine your opponent in order to process which punch will be thrown next and react accordingly.  During the first few fights, the window for reacting is lenient; however, reaction time for the later fights must be honed significantly if you want to succeed.  It can get very exhilarating!

Completing the first part of Career Mode (Contender) takes just a couple of hours.  After that, you’ll unlock Title Defense, in which you defend your title from the same slew of boxers.  The catch?  The boxers have different techniques and strategies now.  A more difficult, but more fun mode in my opinion.

Completing that will net you Mac’s Last Stand.  You’ll face opponents randomly (one of them being a brand new fighter) until you lose three times.  All in all, the gameplay is very addicting and the controls are simple enough to avoid any frustration.

-Replayability-

After completing Career Mode, you can always play against each opponent again in the Exhibition Mode.  During this mode, if you complete certain tasks while boxing, you’ll earn medals.  This is a nice way to prolong the life of the game.  In addition, there’s also a multiplayer mode, but I still consider Punch-Out!! a primarily single player game.

-The Verdict-

After twenty years, this game is still loads of fun.  It’s probably the biggest fan service that I know of.  While Nintendo seems hesitant to lower the prices of its Wii games, Punch-Out!! is still worth full retail.

86%