[Wii] Punch-Out!! Review

[pseudopseudo]

Punch-Out!! Review

Title: Punch-Out!!
Platform: Wii
Developer: Next Level Games
Publisher: Nintendo
ESRB: E10+
MSRP: $49.99
Editor: Justin 'pseudopseudo' Heeren

What's Hot: Lots and lots of fan service; multiple game modes giving a ton of replayability; finally seeing Mac and the crew in 3D.

What's Not: The Wii motion-sensitive controls aren't what they could be; two-player mode feels a little tacked on; some modes are controller-crushingly difficult.

The Punch-Out!! series and I have has a pretty strenuous relationship throughout the years. Through both the NES and Super NES days I’d return time after time like an abused lover, always with the same outcome – yelling, swearing and many a broken controller. The sad truth is that I never beat either of the originals without some outside help – they were just so damned difficult! It’s been 15 years since Little Mac and crew have made an appearance, and now on the Wii the entire posse gets a refreshing update – this time in glorious 3D. Is this new iteration nothing more than fan service, or is there more to the game this time around?

The updates, there are many. The first and most obvious is the graphical overhaul this game has taken on: the entire game (minus the short cutscenes) is done in cel-shaded 3D. It’s a much needed change, and looks gorgeous – it also puts even more personality into a game series that’s had no shortage on personality in the past. A couple new visual flourishes make the game pop as well, Your opponents now glow red or yellow denoting the best time to dodge or get a star, and damage actually occurs real time – you can see bumps on the pugilists heads, black eyes, or glove marks appearing on their torsos from where you’ve punched them. It definitely adds a little comedy to see Little Mac win a hard-fought battle with a puffy eye and a fat lip.

Most of the cast of the NES game make an appearance in this version of Punch-Out!! – the lone outcasts being Mr. Dream and Mike Tyson, for obvious reasons. Two characters, Aran Ryan and Bear Hugger, appear via the SNES’ Super Punch-Out!!, and three characters are completely new to the franchise: Disco Kid, a dancing opponent in the Minor Circuit; Giga Mac, a hulked-out version of Little Mac that only appears in multiplayer mode; and the last I’ll keep nameless so as not to spoil the surprise. Doc Louis, your loyal trainer, is back and bigger than ever – thanks mostly to an addiction to chocolate candy bars.

The core of the single player game hasn’t changed a bit. Playing as Little Mac in Career Mode, you fight each boxer in an attempt to win the championship belt for each circuit and move up until you eventually become the world champion. There are three circuits: Minor, Major and World – each circuit containing four boxers and the World Champion (in this game, Mr. Sandman holds the title) waits for the player at the end of the World Circuit. The old system of “lose, rematch, lose, drop back one fight, lose, done completely” has been done away with, and in its place you can now re-fight any boxer you lose to; as many times as it takes to win. This takes away a lot of the difficulty the NES version threw our way by forcing us to replay the first few fighters if we lost too many times. The uppercut system has also changed slightly – instead of each star giving you one uppercut, the stars now represent how powerful your punch will be. One star gives you a punch slightly stronger than a normal blow, where three stars nets you a full on spinning dragon punch of an upper cut that feels super satisfying to pull off.

Of course, being on the Wii, there are a couple of different control schemes for this game. For the brave (and fit), you can play the game with the Wiimote and Nunchuk, punching as you would in real life. If you have the Wii Balance Board, you can actually stand on it as you play and use it to duck and dodge. Personally, I thought the motion sensitive controls weren’t that well done. They’re fun for a bit of extra challenge maybe, but overall they’re sluggish and not responsive enough for my tastes. The alternative was what I ended up using 99% of the time – turning the Wiimote on its side and playing through the old fashioned NES way. In my opinion, there simply isn’t a better control scheme for this game.

A key difference between this game and the games of old is the addition of new game modes that open up after you complete Career Mode. “Title Defense” mode pits Mac against all of his former competitors, who all want a shot at his title. In this mode, the opponents have learned from their past mistakes – they cover their weak points and change their fight patterns. It’s incredibly difficult – but true to the spirit of the first game, it only gets harder from there. After completing Title Defense ode, “Last Stand” mode is available, where you have one life bar and one set of hearts to get through ten boxers. Completing Last Stand gets you the truly sadistic “Champions Mode,” which is the same as Last Stand, but with the added twist of one-hit knockdowns – dodge perfectly, or you’ll be TKO’d before you even know what’s going on.

A welcome new addition that adds some depth is the Exhibition mode – unlocked via Career Mode - complete with three challenges to complete for each opponent. These challenges range from kind of easy (win the bout using only right-hand jabs) to fairly mindbending (TKO your opponent using only three punches). The challenges are definitely tough, but add a lot of replayability in the long run. Completing these challenges also unlocks the audio for each boxer. Normally, audio tracks aren’t anything to get super excited about; however, the revamped versions of all the old NES music are all incredibly well done and great listening material – definitely worth unlocking. There’s also a Practice Mode that comes in really handy; boxing against a hologram, you can learn each opponent’s patterns and technique without getting hurt or putting a blemish on your win streak.

Punch-Out!! on the Wii also allows a friend to jump into the action for the first time! In Two-Player mode, it’s split-screen Little Mac versus oddly colored Little Mac for nothing more than bragging rights. Controls are exactly the same as in Career Mode with the addition of a power bar for each player; when the power bar is full, that player turns into the brutish “Giga Mac” and the poor player stuck as Little Mac must fight for his life. While it’s nice that the multiplayer is included, at the end of the day it’s just too simplistic to get any long-term playtime.

Overall Next Level has made sure that the new Punch-Out!! maintains a near-perfect balance of fan service and innovation. Everything plays and feels just like the older games, with enough differences to keep the game feeling refreshing and new. Diehard fans of the series will recognize every little meticulously updated detail, and new fans will become enamored with the wide range of crazy personalities and game play that’s just plain fun. The multiple game modes are just what this game needed to give it the replayability that the first two games lacked. Not perfect, but for sure an excellent revamp of a series that was already pretty solid.

Score: 4 out of 5 CoGs


Justin says: "For fans of the originals, this is a no-brainer - it's a must-own. Even if you've never played before, it's fun enough that you can jump right in and have a blast. Pick this up for yourself, and get to knockin’ some fools out!"

[crazyD]

Never played much of the original, but this one looks great. I'm trying to convince a friend to buy it, so I can try it out.

[total]

Great read. I've played through the title defense mode already and don't really feel the need to keep going. It is a great game but I found that it doesn't have a ton of content. I think I spent maybe a total of 6 or 7 hours with the game and I don't really think I'll get anything more out of it. My buddy bought it, so it is his dime. I would not pick it up for the current $50 they are asking for it. There just isn't enough there for me.

[Aggort]

I have been loving every minute of it, though it could use a little more depth especially in training or even a more deep career mode, but the simplicity is what really makes it shine so it's all one big oxymoron.

[total]

Originally Posted by Aggort

I have been loving every minute of it, though it could use a little more depth especially in training or even a more deep career mode, but the simplicity is what really makes it shine so it's all one big oxymoron.

I loved the simplicity of it. It's just that I don't feel there is a ton of content to the game. There are 13 opponents. Then you fight those opponents again, but they are tougher (Glass Joe actually beat me when I was defending my title). And that is really the bulk of the game. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the title, I just wish there was a bit more to it.

[Ultima Thulian]

I'm not trying to take away from the game, as it certainly seems good, but I find it unfortunate that even with first-party titles, most Wii games either do, or could, operate better with a traditional control scheme. Mario Galaxy and Twilight Princess worked fine with the wiimote, but generally what motion sensing bullshit there was was tacked on. And some games, like Super Smash Bros, I wouldn't dare touch without a GCN or Classic controller. I just find it kinda sad that the best uses for the technology don't even come from the big N. Shit, the best uses IMO for the motion sensing come from games like Trauma Center: Second Opinion, Zak and Wiki, and Boom Blox. All third party titles...and neither of those become blockbusters.

Again, I'm not bashing the wii or Punch-Out!! here. I own a Wii and like it for the most part, and the new Punch-Out!! looks great. But I mean c'mon.

[Farsight]

I agree, except that I'll go ahead and bash the Wii. The whole concept of the system made thoughts immediately pop into my head of games like Punch-Out with... actual punching. If the motion sensing is a useless gimmick (which it is), then we're left with a smaller, whiter PS2 and a crappy gamepad.

[Banacek]

Thank god you can play with a controller. Now I want to check it out.

[Banacek]

Originally Posted by Ultima Thulian

I'm not trying to take away from the game, as it certainly seems good, but I find it unfortunate that even with first-party titles, most Wii games either do, or could, operate better with a traditional control scheme. Mario Galaxy and Twilight Princess worked fine with the wiimote, but generally what motion sensing bullshit there was was tacked on. And some games, like Super Smash Bros, I wouldn't dare touch without a GCN or Classic controller. I just find it kinda sad that the best uses for the technology don't even come from the big N. Shit, the best uses IMO for the motion sensing come from games like Trauma Center: Second Opinion, Zak and Wiki, and Boom Blox. All third party titles...and neither of those become blockbusters.

Again, I'm not bashing the wii or Punch-Out!! here. I own a Wii and like it for the most part, and the new Punch-Out!! looks great. But I mean c'mon.

The sad thing about this is Boom Blox. This game should be in the top 10 Wii games sold, no doubt. It's so much fun to play.

[Ultima Thulian]

Agreed. I rented it once and it's just plain goofy fun. I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel.

[Ravenlock]

Cribbed from a post I put in the most recent In Game Chat thread (which was in fact already cribbed from an email I sent them, but hey, whatever, it's on topic) :

Originally Posted by A Paraphrase of Myself

I think it needs to be noted that the motion sensing and the IR pointer interface are two totally separate revisions to console control that the Wii introduced, and I think at this point the IR pointer has been MUCH more successful. There are many game types where effectively having a mouse either makes the game possible in the first place where it wouldn't be otherwise (Trauma Center, World of Goo), or greatly improves the user experience (The bow and slingshot in Zelda, shooting in Metroid Prime, etc).

Motion sensing, we haven't seen too many examples of games where it really improves things - hopefully that'll come with Wii Motion Plus. But still, even if you take away motion sensing entirely, the Wii still does some very compelling things just with the IR pointer.

As for Punch-Out, someone out there is going to beat this game with the balance board and motion controls. I imagine playtesters already have. The motion / balance controls don't work poorly, they're just harder to use because of the physical control required to be precise with them. I made it through the 2nd fight of the Major Circuit on the balance board without any losses, and certainly intend to keep practicing at it until I feel like I hit a threshold I can't pass. (Sadly I left my balance board at my parents-in-law's last weekend and have to wait until later next month to get it back, so I won't be able to continue that pursuit until then.) In the time I spent with it I thought it was a fun new approach to a series I'm fond of. Delivering a star punch by actually punching feels pretty great, honestly.

That aside, very good review. I'm glad the game got the treatment it deserved, and I hope we get another iteration in the franchise soon with some more new material.

[TheFlyingOrc]

Originally Posted by Banacek

The sad thing about this is Boom Blox. This game should be in the top 10 Wii games sold, no doubt. It's so much fun to play.

Boom Blox looks like it's going to be a million seller in the long run. VGChartz has .93 million.

Wii titles aren't anywhere near as frontloaded as the other two systems.

[boratika]

Originally Posted by Ravenlock

Cribbed from a post I put in the most recent In Game Chat thread (which was in fact already cribbed from an email I sent them, but hey, whatever, it's on topic) :

Those are exactly my sentimonies.

[CappinCanuck]

Originally Posted by Ravenlock

Cribbed from a post I put in the most recent In Game Chat thread (which was in fact already cribbed from an email I sent them, but hey, whatever, it's on topic) :



As for Punch-Out, someone out there is going to beat this game with the balance board and motion controls. I imagine playtesters already have. The motion / balance controls don't work poorly, they're just harder to use because of the physical control required to be precise with them. I made it through the 2nd fight of the Major Circuit on the balance board without any losses, and certainly intend to keep practicing at it until I feel like I hit a threshold I can't pass. (Sadly I left my balance board at my parents-in-law's last weekend and have to wait until later next month to get it back, so I won't be able to continue that pursuit until then.) In the time I spent with it I thought it was a fun new approach to a series I'm fond of. Delivering a star punch by actually punching feels pretty great, honestly.

That aside, very good review. I'm glad the game got the treatment it deserved, and I hope we get another iteration in the franchise soon with some more new material.

I agree as well. I tried both modes. The motion-sensitive mode works well, it's just more difficult than pushing a button. It's a lot of fun, even if more difficult. I played a few hours at the start and still do play often, although I am not sure it has a lot of fresh content throughout to keep me interested for long.

[Banacek]

Originally Posted by TheFlyingOrc

Boom Blox looks like it's going to be a million seller in the long run. VGChartz has .93 million.

Wii titles aren't anywhere near as frontloaded as the other two systems.

I haven't looked at the numbers, but are people really just buying the Wii and just playing Wii Sports?

[TheFlyingOrc]

Originally Posted by Banacek

I haven't looked at the numbers, but are people really just buying the Wii and just playing Wii Sports?

No. It has a low attach rate, but not cripplingly low. They're all also buying Wii Fit and Mario Kart,

Looking at VGChartz, Nintendo has 48 Million-seller games (not counting Wii Play and Wii Sports, you may discount Wii Fit if you'd like). PS3 has 31. Xbox has 63.

The main reason there isn't more hardcore development on the Wii is the PS3 and the 360 combined nets you more copies sold than just the Wii, usually. In a funny way, Microsoft would be in a ton of trouble if it weren't for the existence of the PS3.