Page 1:Punch-Out!! for the Wii is a reboot of one of Nintendo’s most memorable games from the days of the 8-bit NES. Much like the original NES title and the Super NES sequel, this new edition for the Wii is not a boxing game that is meant to be taken seriously as an accurate representation of the sport. It is a boxing themed game in which timing and pattern recognition of your foe’s attacks plays a part in everything.
Whether you played the original game or not, the story is simple enough. You play as Little Mac, a small boxer looking to achieve fame in the fictional World Video Boxing Association as you are tutored and trained along the way by your mentor Doc Louis. As you pursue the title of each circuit in the game you will fight a colorful and crazy cast of boxers where each one becomes more difficult and outlandish than the last. A good chunk of the boxers are stereotypes of their country of origin, but if nobody complained about it back in 1987 then it shouldn’t be that big of a deal now as it’s nothing new.
The cast of opponents for you to fight against numbers at 13, initially. This caused a bit of complaints to come from fans before the games release. However, once you beat them, you enter into title defense mode where you fight all of them again where they employ new tactics and strategies essentially making it 26 characters to fight against. In addition to this, there is a secret hidden boxer you can unlock to fight against (everyone probably knows who it is by now, though). So, counting the title defense mode and the hidden boxer you get 27 fights in all, which is much more than even Super Punch-Out, which had 16 in all. And while it’s technically less actual characters in this new Punch-Out, their wild personalities more than make up for the drop in numbers as they are far more unique and have far more character. For instance, Aran Ryan returns as a foaming-at-the-mouth crazy Irish brawler instead of a bland sprite swap like he was in Super Punch-Out. Fans of the original Punch-Out should be satisfied with the roster as well, as the entire original cast returns minus Mike Tyson or Mr. Dream (depending on what version you had).
A word of warning must be sent out to the wary who are unsure of whether they want to play this new game or not, though: THIS GAME IS HARD. Even if you are a Punch-Out game veteran, you will get schooled in this game. While the boxers have familiar attacks and combos, all of them have new patterns and timing which makes old strategies almost useless. This is not to say that the game is unbeatable, it’s just that it is a real challenge and players will find themselves down for the ten count more than they would like before they figure out how to beat each challenger, save for the first few.
The initial 13 fights you can get through without too much frustration if you're skilled enough, but once you get to the title defense mode rematches, you will get angry many times. In fact I’m sure Nintendo will be getting calls from angry parents once little Timmy, in frustration, throws his Wiimote and breaks their nice TV. Consider this, in title defense mode; even Glass Joe becomes a legitimate threat. Let that sink in for a second. GLASS FREAKING JOE IS ABLE TO BEAT YOU! So you’d best be prepared for your blood pressure to go up. Casual players may want to stop after the first 13 fights.
Those who worry about low replay value should have less to worry about in this game as a challenge mode was also included which gives you more to do, and for each boxer’s challenges you complete you can unlock additional audio to listen to. These challenges range from beating boxers in a set amount of time to winning without getting knocked down, as well as finding special "sweet spots" that award Stars or instant KO's.
To play the actual game you have two control options. Classic mode reflects the same setup from the NES. The D-pad lets you dodge, and buttons 1 and 2 act as A and B from the NES with (–) or A being used to activate your uppercut. The alternative method uses the Wiimote and the nunchuck to activate you punches by waggling them. The control stick on the nunchuck is used to dodge and C button (or hold A while swinging) is used to activate uppercuts. This mode of control seems like a novelty and to a point it is. While there isn’t any lag to the controls in this mode, it is far too easy to get ahead of yourself and throw off your timing. It’s fun to mess around with but for serious play you should stick with the classic control. The Wii-Fit balance board can be used for dodging controls as well; unfortunately, I did not have one available at the time of the review, so I am unable to comment on its accuracy or fun in game play.
The actual graphics look far better in game than they did in screen shots and trailers released before the game came out. The characters are smoothly cell shaded and well animated. All of your opponents have detailed animations that serve as the cues for their attacks. The game’s graphics are not revolutionary by any means, but they work extremely well for the cartoonish set up in this fictional boxing league. Fans of the original
Punch-Out will be glad to hear that the between round taunts are back that were missing from
Super Punch-Out (as that version only had one round matches). This comes complete with Doc’s sometimes useful and sometimes useless advice ("Join the Nintendo Fun Club today" anyone?) and the ability to regain some health between rounds.
One questionable decision by the developers, though, was to have all of the foreign country boxers speak in their native tongues. While it adds a foreign flair and charm to the characters, there are no subtitles whatsoever. So unless you speak fluent Turkish, Russian, German, French, Japanese, Spanish, and more, you won’t know what the heck they are saying. If Nintendo was going for a nostalgia rush here, why not include subtitles so you could understand your foe’s taunts? Who can forget the awesomeness of “My barber didn’t know when to quit. Do you?!” or “I drink to prepare for a fight…tonight I am very prepared.”
Finally, there is a two player mode that lets you and a friend duke it out. You are able to use either control set up for this mode. Mac's punches act more like the opponents in the main game do so you can't go in using the same strategy. As an added bonus to this mode, once you score enough hits on your foe, you can transform into a behemoth version of Mac aptly called Giga Mac and add some extra hurt on your prey. Its a nice diversion and adds to the replay value, but being able to play as some of the other boxers would have been appreciated. Instead, both players must duke it out as color swapped versions of Little Mac.
