Customer Reviews

Punch-Out!!

5 star:		(83)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As a fan of the original Punch-Out!! titles on NES and SNES, I knew that this game was a must have for me. Having finally played the title yesterday, I am glad to report that it certainly does not disappoint! This is hardcore Punch-Out gameplay at it's best!

The thing that I love about Punch-Out!! is that, like the original games, it really isn't a brawler. You can't button-mash your way through the game. Rather, it really is more of a puzzler, in that each opponent has a "tell", and a specific fighting style. Once you have him figured out, it is just a matter of countering him. Don't be mistaken, however: this game's difficulty get's hardcore really quickly (much like the original games!). For instance, last night, I was able to breeze right through the Minor Circuit (using the motion controls), but in the second circuit (Major Circuit I believe), the fighter "Great Tiger" (a welcome import from the original NES game!) gave me a really hard time! I found myself REALLY challenged, much to my delight! Also, much like the original games, once you defeat several of the players in the game, you get to fight them again later in the game.... however, their fighting style (the puzzle element of the game) has completely changed, and the difficulty is ramped up drastically. I am confident that this game will provide hours and hours of gameplay. Anyway, here are some of my observations about the game:

LOVED-
*Art style - everything is hand drawn, colorful, and animated. This game looks great, and doesn't take itself too seriously. Also, several humerous head-nods to the original games were included (lik Doc urging you to join Club Nintendo ringside!). Also, some of the knockout animations (like the original games) are REALLY satisfying and funny. When I knocked out Disco Kid, he spun around like a top and hit all four corners of the ring while making pinball machine noises. Now THAT'S classic Punch-Out!! if I've ever seen it!

*Difficulty - one thing that games are missing these days is hardcore difficulty. The original Punch-Out!!, as well as titles like the Contra series or the Mega Man series tended to be so difficult at times that you were tempted to throw your controller at the wall! There is nothing worse to me than just breezing through a game. I was pleasantly surprised that, even though I knew how to beat most of the fighters that I have faced so far (since they were in the original games), they still were no push-overs this time around. The characters are FASTER than they were in the old games, and the motion controls ad a new dimension of difficulty.

*Achievements - this game has a simple achievement system where you are challenged, for instance, to beat a character in one round, or with only right jabs, etc. Achievements are something special for any Wii game, since so very select few developers are including them in Wii titles. This ads loads of replay value in my opinion (I am STILL trying to get all the trophies unlocked in Smash Bros Brawl! What can I say... I'm a perfectionist!)

*Multiplayer - the game includes a simple multiplayer mode where you play head to head with a friend as Little Mac. It is really simple, but it is fun. I only wish that you could have played as other boxers and that some kind of online play was included... but this was still a welcome feature!

*Controls - Wii Sports Boxing was fun, but really left me wanting a great boxing title where the motion controls really work well. Punch-Out!!, while not really a "Boxing" game (it's no Knockout Kings for sure!), has implemented some really smooth motion controls. Rather than relying solely on motion controls, you simply swing right and left. You hold a button while swinging to do an upwards swing, and press a button while swinging to do a star punch. The motion controls are simple, and they work. Later in the game, as the difficulty ramps up even higher, I have a feeling that I will switch to the classic NES controls rather than the motion controls (Wii remote on it's side), as this will allow for more speed and responsiveness (since a button press is always faster than a swing of the wiimote), so I'm glad this was included.

Disliked:
*Could have included a few more original/new boxers
*No online play

All in all, this game is really wonderful. Certainly a must-have for any hardcore gamer who owns (or is thinking about buying) a Wii.

Scores:
Presentation: A
Gameplay: A+
Replay Value: A
Multiplayer: B
Overall: A

I was skeptical at first that Nintendo would be able to recreate the fun of the original game without radically altering the basic elements of what made the game so great. The original Punch-Out!! had somewhat repetitive game play but there was a ton of enjoyment to be had in figuring out how to KO the fighters that the overall experience was very memorable. I was concerned that a direct translation of the original game play elements to the Wii with no modifications would result in a repetitive and shallow experience. I'm glad to see I was wrong. There is more depth and strategy to this remake than meets the eye, and the 2-player, exhibition matches and challenges add multiple levels of replay value. The basic high-level strategy remains the same as the original - you are Little Mac, a scrappy boxer fighting his way across the minor, major and world circuit. Eventually you can take the title and fight to defend it. As you beat various characters, you get to see the cut-scene for the next opponent. Cut-scenes and other unlockable content then become viewable in the gallery. The Wii expands on the original Punch-Out!! by including various "challenges" that you can undertake during the exhibition matches. Example challenges include K.O'ing an opponent with 6 punches in a single match, finding an opponents "weak-spot" and knocking him out with one hit, winning a match without dodging/ducking/blocking, etc. I won't spoil anything by saying what happens when you complete a challenge but these add plenty of replay value after you've jabbed and uppercutted your way through the world circuit. The exhibition matches are also great for practicing against an opponent without affecting your ranking, as career mode will track your win/loss record.
The characters from the original are more charming than you remember and the "celluloid" style (not sure if that's the exact term) of animation is interesting and takes advantage of the somewhat limited graphical capabilities of the Wii ("limited" when compared to the 360/PS3). You won't even notice that the Wii isn't rendering zillions of polygons and textures a minute because the cut scenes and character mannerisms are just fun to watch. Parents should note that even though this is a boxing game, the "violence" is quite comical and there is no blood or maliciousness. Overall, this is a must-have for fans of the original and Wii fans looking for a solid gaming experience.

Games on the Wii have a hard time standing out. With so many systems out there, developers try and cater to as many tastes as there are gamers. With Punch Out, Nintendo had a difficult choice. Make a game for everyone or try and develope something for those hungry hardcore gamers. Who says you can't have it both ways?

Punch Out is a puzzle game that demands some memorization and quick reflexes. As you fight against the 13 regular fighters, they will telegraph their attacks and give little tell signs of how the will go about hitting you. Learn those attacks (easier than ever by going to the exhibition mode and practicing) and jab your way to the top for a title bout.

After the initial bout of fights, you become the champ and all former boxers return with new and improved techniques. This is when the game turns reaaally hard. But the good news is that nothing beats winning a close fight where you almost lost, having your buddies cheer you on and passing the controller around, of which there are various options. Old NES controls are great, even if I liked the motion controls better.

As someone who has been playing for over 22 years, I remember having a blast with the original Punch Out. The best part about this one is how it reminds me of all the fun I had with that game and at the same time feels like a whole new experience.

Ironically I have never beaten the NES or SNES version of the game and even after 20 years of not playing the original, I still have Mike Tyson's code etched into my brain from trying. I beat this game in under two hours. I feel like so much more could have went into this game. The very first thing I couldn't get over is the fact that the opponents blink red when you're supposed to dodge them. I feel like THAT feature could have been incorporated into a "training mode" if the developers thought the game was too hard. It takes away from the whole point of the game which is to recognize when to dodge and counter. I had trouble with Aaron Ryan but my coach told me what to do so THAT was easily remedied. Also another downer in the gameplay is that your uppercuts almost always connect. In the old games, harder characters would easily block them unless you discovered a "sweet spot". Next, there wasn't enough variety in opponent attacks and a lot of the attacks were identical to the originals so I knew exactly how to avoid and counter them. Maybe I'm oldschool but I hate infinite continues. I actually liked working my way back up the ladder if I failed. Now you can continue right to the last guy you fought. I have no need or desire to go back and fight a previous fighter. I hated the cut scenes too. If you're going to kill the gameplay, at LEAST spend some time fluffing it up. The intros/outros/end-of-the-round scenes offered very little variety... but then again I missed a lot by not needing more than one round most of the time. The only excitement I got was the anticipation that the game would get harder. I'm sorry that I can't give this game more stars... I really want to.

Things that I actually DID like: The animations and the nastalgic feeling that I got staring at the box.

Things to keep in mind: I used the classic method of playing... not the balance board or the nunchuck. Also I played the the original religiously (but obviously not religiously enough to beat it). Either way my view is going to be harder which is proved by all the other great reviews which I have not read. If you're new to the game, maybe you'll have a different experience. Rent it first.

all ten of the original punch-out circuit fighters are back from the original punch-out plus two from super punch-out and one new fighter.

would have liked to see more than 13 overall opponents, but the ones that have returned have the same familiar moves and strategies from the original game with alot more personality.

exhibition mode allows you to match up against opponent holograms to learn their moves without taking damage so you can go into the fight prepared.

while you may beat the game in a day or two the replay value is what is important here. in title defense mode you have to defend your belt against each fighter in succession, but they are much, much harder. let me just say that i had just defeated this game with little difficulty and i got waxed by glass joe, who now wears a helmet and cannot be damaged by facial punches. then von kaiser waxed me three times before i tko'd him. these are not the easy fights you have to get out of the way before the real challengers. exhibition mode is available for the title defense contenders as well so you can get practiced up before you go in for the actual fight.

also, once you have defeated the game the exhibition mode turns into a challenge mode with three unique challenges per fighter. these are the original circuit fighters and NOT the title defense versions, mind you. for glass joe you have to knock him down three times and lose by decision, find his one-punch knock-down and beat him without dodging, ducking or blocking any punches. on disco kid you have to find 5 ways to get a star punch, TKO him with six punches and win the fight with a 3 star punch, etc. challenges are also available for the title defense contenders after you have defeated them in title defense mode.

so even if you end up beating the game fairly quickly, if you like a challenge you will definitely spend plenty of hours in title defense mode and finding ways to complete the challenges in exhibition mode.

as for the controls, the nunchuck/wiimote combo can be a little awkward toward the end, but both are fun and very accurate.

Talk about a homage to a favorite game from years past. The only thing missing from this game is Mike Tyson! Punch out is just flat-out fun. Not only fun, but good for you, because you will break a sweat playing this game. The motion-controls add an entirely new dimension to the gameplay. I haven't tried the balance board yet. The nunchuck is too much fun to abandon just yet. The cut-scenes are similar to the previous versions of the game and the opponents are hilarious. A few favorites return (Bald Bull, Glass Joe, Flamenco Kid...) as well as a few new opponents (Disco Kid). If you've never played Punch Out! before (or even if you have), get ready for some hilarious opponents and combos. The animations for knockouts, combos, intros, special moves, and post-fight are too funny at times. There are several game modes. My favorites is the circuit, although the CPU opponent has a tendency to fight cheap sometimes (unblockable devastating punches or knockouts just before the bell). Occasional cheap shots aside, it's a ton of fun to work your way up the circuit. This is a good family-style game. This is the best boxing game available, not only on Wii, but ANY platform. The only thing that would have made it perfect is if it had online head-to-head mode.

I liked this game a little bit, but not a lot. The game is obviously similar to the original NES version, with a few added characters. What I didn't expect was the game play to be so similar. The Wii controls really don't do much different from the regular controls. While the new opponents and the new moves by the old opponents were somewhat fun, it still had the same very repetitive timing of the NES game and many other NES games. I would have enjoyed it more if blocking and covering would be more fluid and useful, but instead you get a very specific pattern you must use on every opponent without deviation. It comes down to having to slip in a specific direction or punch with a specific punch to get a specific reaction or counter a specific reaction from your opponent, as opposed to being fluid and being allowed to improvise. Punch Out is better than average, but I did not find more than a few hours of entertainment out of it and did not want to go back and keep on playing it for fun, as in other games like Mario Kart.

+ Pros:

+ Easy controls and compatible with the Wii Fit board.
+ Practice Mode for veteran and novice players.
+ 13 Punch Out!! opponents, both old and new.
+ Unlockable challenges for each opponent.
+ First game in the series to offer 2-player mode.

- Cons:
- Wii Fit board not available in two-player mode.
- Sore arms from playing too much!

Back in 1984, Nintendo claimed their Punch Out!! arcade game was so realistic; it was "As close as you can get to the ring without going through the ropes".

25 years later, this game has a new life on the Nintendo Wii and is one step closer to making good on that claim.

You play the role of Little Mac - a young up-and-coming boxer from the Bronx who's ready to take on anyone he steps in the ring with. The goal is pretty simple: KO or TKO your opponent and move up the ladder until you face Mr. Sandman. Each boxer you face has different strengths and weaknesses, and once you learn to counteract their attacks and use your Star Punches to bring them to the canvas, the sky's the limit.

The controls are fairly simple. One style of playing requires holding the Wiimote sideways and the directional pad is used for ducking and blocking while the buttons are used for punching.

But that's not nearly as fun as the other way to play, in my humble opinion.

If you have a Wii Balance Board from the Wii Fit, that can be used for your ducking and dodging. The Wiimote and Nunchuck serve as your right and left hand motions, so when you jab, dodge or uppercut in the game, you're doing it for real!

The exhibition mode of the game provides a sigh of relief for new players and veterans alike. You can practice against holographic versions of your opponent without fear of your record being tarnished, and once you learn how to defeat them, simply go back to career mode and take them on for real. This is a GREAT way to introduce new players into the Punch Out!! universe.

One of the main reasons Punch Out!! stands out is because of the hilarious characters. Nintendo has done a great job keeping the characters we love (Glass Joe, will you ever win more than once?) and eliminating the ones we didn't care for (what were they thinking with Hoy Quarlow???). I still miss Kid Quick - but that's just me.

Now you might think there's nothing left to do after beating each boxer and completing the World Circuit, right?

WRONG.

There are 3 challenges for each of your opponents - for example, Glass Joe's challenges are:

Knock Glass Joe down 3 times and let him win by decision.
Find the one-punch-knockdown weak spot.
Win the fight without dodging, ducking, or blocking a punch.

There's also other fight modes with tougher versions of your opponents!

Now in the past, watching Punch Out!! was the only way our friends could participate, but not anymore...our family & friends can pick up their Wiimote and play right along with us!

Overall, I absolutely LOVE to play this game, and I can't help but chuckle when I watch other people play it. I was a little sad that the Wii Fit board couldn't be used in dual-player mode, but that's a small negative that gets outweighed by a LOT of positives.

If you've got the Wii Fit board, there's no time to waste...get your pink jogging suit on and start training with Doc Louis!!!

The gameplay is fun, the sound effects are great, and the well designed basic layout from 25 years ago has wisely been left alone. I'm having a good time working through all the characters (I got up to Bear Hugger before losing) and some of the graphic and sonic quirks are really cool. That said, I would have liked to see some new characters thrown into the mix as 13 characters (12 returning) isn't really setting the world on fire, IMHO. The Super Punch-Out arcade release added some great new characters as did the Mike Tyson NES version. Why not add five or six more this time around as well? It seems to me that the game's developers took a pretty cautious approach in this regard, which doesn't really bother me terribly but it doesn't quite smack of five stars either. I absolutely worshiped the original arcade game when it came out in '84 (I would have signed away years of my life to have had that arcade console in my living room) and I loved the sequel and also Mike Tyson's Punch Out when it came out, though the limitations of the 8 bit NES were obviously apparent. I wasn't into the SNES so I never played that particular version of Super Punch Out until recently via the Wii's virtual console, and I have to say that it holds up remarkably well for its age. This brings me to my slight beef with this release. 15 years later, Nintendo should have been able to knock our socks off with a mind-blowing new version of Punch-Out and I don't quite feel that way about this one. Maybe I'm just getting too old for this sort of thing, I don't know.

In short, I believe that Punch-Out 2009 is certainly worth your time, but I can't help feeling just a bit underwhelmed. Is this simply a case of "It's not you, it's me"? Maybe. :) 7.5/10

From Bald Bull's signature charge to Little Mac's pink sweatsuit, everything from Nintendo's original Punch-Out!! is iconic. For many nostalgic gamers, the series - comprised of the NES game (originally endorsed by Mike Tyson) and its under-appreciated Super sequel - is just as revered as Nintendo's more prolific franchises. It remains a mystery, then, why everyone's favorite diminutive pugilist has been kept out of the ring for the past 14 years. But Little Mac and crew are finally back. And while the controls remain unchanged, this update still manages to eclipse its classic predecessors.

Nintendo has had success in the past farming out dormant characters to outside developers, most notably with Retro Studios' Metroid Prime trilogy. However, I was skeptical when it was announced that Next Level Games would be reviving Punch-Out!! for the Wii. The original game was great fun, so how would a modern sequel beef up the feature set without muddling the series' simple charm?

Well, my fears were unfounded, as Mac's timed dodges and counter punches proved surprisingly versatile. Rather than add a bunch of new attacks to the player's repertoire, the developers instead chose to build upon the returning opponents. For example, Soda Popinski was always a bruiser, but now he'll actually take out a soda bottle mid-fight to regain health. Don Flamenco still taunts you, but once you knock off his toupee, he becomes much more aggressive.

At the same time, the three circuits will still seem very familiar to series veterans. Among the game's 13 main boxers, only one of them, the flamboyant Kid Disco, is a new contender. However, once you claim the championship belt, the "Title Defense" mode opens up. It's at this halfway point that the game cements itself as one of the absolute best on the Wii. After Little Mac knocks out all of his rivals, they all head back to the gym and pick up even wilder fighting tactics.

For instance, King Hippo wises up a bit in his second bout. Rather than leave his bandaged navel open to attacks, he tapes a manhole cover to his stomach. This forces you to figure out how to remove the layers of tape before you can do any real damage to him. Almost all of the fighters receive similar gimmicks, such as a squirrel sidekick for Bear Hugger and headgear for Glass Joe. Title Defense mode captures the more outlandish spirit of Super-Punchout!!, making the Wii sequel the perfect synthesis of both games. It's truly remarkable how much mileage Next Level Games is able to squeeze out of such a basic engine.It certainly helps that the game looks as gorgeous as it does. The boxers are all cell shaded and frequently take up most of the screen. For fans of the original games it's a real treat to see that many of the fighters have retained their signature animations. Super Macho Man still has dancing pectorals, Bald Bull still does his chicken dance when he knocks Mac out, and Soda Popinski still cackles menacingly whenever he gets a chance.

Speaking of which, the voiceover cast also deserves praise for bringing each character to life. All of the international fighters speak in their native tongues - without subtitles. Though all of the rival boxers are blatant stereotypes, the introductory and between-round dialogue is so silly and over the top that they never manage to offend. (However, some critics, including Scott Sharkey of Retronauts fame, have justifiably expressed concern that Kid Disco's spandex costume and lisp feel out of place).

With this cartoony veneer and a throwaway two-player mode, more casual Wii owners may be under the impression that this is a Wii Sports boxing revamp. This could not be further from the truth, as Punch-Out!! is also unrelentingly difficult. The motion controls are ill-suited here, as absolute precision is required to stay competitive.

For many fans, this is exactly for what they have been hoping to see. If you simply want to pummel characters into submission, you should probably look toward a Smash Bros. title instead. However, if you have a slight masochistic streak and enjoy old-school pattern recognition, Punch-Out!! is your game.

--Reviewed by Justin Hemenway