Punch-Out!! (Virtual Console) review

About the Virtual Console reviews: I'm not rating these games necessarily by today's standards, otherwise my evaluation of graphics and lasting value might not do too well. But I'm also not reviewing these games by their original system's standards. Think of it as a combination of the two, and overall just if it's worth a download or not.

Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream (Virtual Console)

Developer: Nintendo IRD
Publisher: Nintendo
Date Released: VC: April 16, 2007 (USA)
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

The latest Punch-Out!! for the Wii releases today into North American stores. To celebrate this we have my review of Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream on the Virtual Console. The original NES Punch-Out!! frequents Top 10 NES lists and generally is the most popular and remembered of the games in the series. And for good reason: the gameplay's excellent, the puzzles are difficult, and the stereotypical humor is hilarious.

Punch-Out!! may be all about boxing, but it varies considerably from other regular boxing games. It'd be more suitable to call it a puzzle-action game than a boxing title. You play as Little Mac and are rooted in the middle of the rink. You have a decent amount of punches and dodges in your arsenal. Where the challenge and strategy comes in is with the various boxers of different speeds and skills. Learning exactly when to dodge and then deliver uppercuts and jabs becomes crucial when the boxers begin to only give you split second warnings. It'll take a lot of pattern memorization and multiple playthroughs of each stage.

Little Mac vs. Great Tiger

Additional elements to the Punch-Out!! formula are hearts and stars. You'll have a set number of hearts at the beginning of each round. You'll lose one each time you're punched and if you lose all of these your fighter becomes exhausted and unable to fight back. To gain back hearts, you will have to dodge a certain number of punches. Stars on the other hand are obtained by delivering blows to your opponents at certain times, usually when they're about to attack you. When you have a star you can unleash a devastating Star Punch on your foes for some big damage with the Start button (+ on a Wii remote held sideways).

The rest of the controls in Punch-Out!! are intuitive and mapped wonderfully. Left, right, and down on the d-pad are for dodges and blocks while B (1 on the Wii remote) and A (2) combined with pressing up on the directional pad make up your offense. It all controls great, and you'll be surprised with all that you can pull off with just a d-pad and two face buttons.

Punch-Out!! is all about Little Mac and his rise to overcome the odds and become the champ. He'll face foes like the weakling Glass Joe, the humongous King Hippo, and the insanely difficult Mr. Dream (Mike Tyson in the original version) along the way. The story's nothing to get excited over, but at least the character each have distinct personalities that's brought to life via animations and in between round verbal taunts. A drink (is it soda or alcohol?) swigging Russian named Soda Popinski? A Japanese fighter named Piston Honda that'll deliver a "TKO from Tokyo"? Yep, someone's bound to get offended.

In between rounds you'll get Doc Louis's advice and opponent's taunts

The game's definitely a NES game as the graphics show. Even with the two frame animations and basic colors, the game has a whole lot of style. Each of the characters has a wide range of expressions when getting punched, winding up for a punch, or delivering a KO inducing uppercut. The various animations when fighting and getting knocked out are done really well, even with the limited capabilities of the NES hardware. As far as audio goes, the various sound effects are fitting and add to the experience, but the Punch-Out!! theme is where it's all at. There's a reason the song's known to Nintendo fans and revered as a classic: it's good.

Overall Thoughts

Punch-Out!! is a fantastic game and really holds up in this day and age. The pattern memorization and timing mechanics are just as entertaining and brutal as the were 20 years ago. A definite download for Nintendo fans and is a great buy for those interested in the Wii version.

9/10

What I'm Playing - Pre-Thanksgiving Edition

Episode 4: Pre-Thanksgiving Edition

Another month, another article about what I'm playing. I've changed the name of the articles from "Games I've Been Playing Lately" to "What I'm Playing". Though if anyone can think of a catchier name, give me a holler (via comment section or email).

Once again it's seems I'm struck with the four games that have been consuming my time (a curse or more likely a blessing?) This month, it's a lot more varied than last edition. This time around I've been playing a NES game, SNES game, Wii game, and Nintendo DS game.

Okami

System: Wii
If there was one game to show the world why games are art, it'd be Okami. The Japanese art style is so very and beautiful. And the epic, Zelda style adventure that comes with it is just as stellar. As of writing, I'm not very far, but far enough to tell it's a damn good game.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

System: Nintendo DS
This was my second time starting a save on Phantom Hourglass. I made it roughly halfway through it the first time, then my brother let a friend borrow it, who erased my save (since there's only two save slots, which kinda sucks). I started a new game a week or so ago and have been playing the hell out of it whenever I have free time. I love both the art style and unique controls, though it is a bit easier than most Zelda games. Once I'm finished writing this, I'm going to plop down on either my bed or couch and finish the game. I'm on the last run of the Temple of the Ocean King and about to face Bellum!

EDIT: OK, that was a bit disappointing (the fight with Bellum). I'm currently on stage two of the three levels of the fight. I'm on the one where you face off against him on the ship, which is hard, but so far the fight hasn't been all that epic...

EDIT 2: Finished the game... w00t! The final, final boss fight is pretty fun, but not nearly as awesome as some of the various temple boss fights, at least in my opinion. It was an awesome game and had a good ending.

Super Metroid

System: SNES (via Virtual Console via Wii)
I've had a surplus of Virtual Console games that I download, play for a little while, and then move on. I've decided to go back and beat all of my VC games. The first I picked was Super Metroid. There's a definite reason this is considered one of the greatest of all time: it's good. I've never fully completed it, but I pretty far into the game.

Super Mario Bros. 3

System: NES (via Virtual Console via Wii)
Another of my VC games I'm playing. This, alongside Galaxy, are my favorite of the Super Mario series (of which I love every single one). I'm currently on World 3 of the game, so I've still got a ways to go.

There you have it, the four games I've been playing lately.

Maybe you've noticed the rapid stream of editorials and articles I've been posting; this is because I'm going to be gone from Saturday, the 22nd, until the next Saturday, the 29th. I'll be visiting grandparents across the country for Thanksgiving. If I can get on a computer somehow there, I'll post something, but if not, have a great Turkey Day! -Kyle

Comments or questions? Drop an email to kylehogg@gmail.com or leave a comment below...

Games I've Been Playing Lately - Episode 2

To kick off my new schedule of posting will be an article much like you saw back on July 4th. As of late, four games have been controlling my playtime. I just got started playing three of them in the last few days, so think of this as my first impressions of those.

Order Up!

System: Wii
Recently I purchased Order Up! and am surprised at actually how fun it is. So far I've only unlocked the first restaurant, the Gravy Chug, and American restaurant with hamburgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, and macaroni and cheese. Almost all the motion controls work well. I've only had gripes with one, which was peeling lettuce. But other than that the game has me hooked. I haven't played too much, but I can already tell I'll be putting in many hours into this one.

Expect a review up sometime in the coming weeks.

Elite Beat Agents

System: Nintendo DS
My second game that I just started playing. Elite Beat Agents is one of the uniquest experiences I ever had on the DS. To add to that, it's also one of the funniest and overall greatest times I've had on the DS. The developers really nailed the concept on this one. I espeicially love the stories of each song. If you haven't, you really need to check out this game.

As with Order Up!, I'll probably review this game sometime soon.

Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure

System: Wii
I finally picked up Zack & Wiki again, and damn it's still fun. I'm in the later puzzles and it's super challenging. I stuck on one particularly hard level in the haunted house stages. The game really is one of my favorites on the Wii, even if I don't particulary like the art styel.

Mega Man

System: NES (via Virtual Console via Wii)
The original Mega Man was recently released on the Virtual Console a week ago. Capcom decided to put out Mega Man, and later Mega Man 2, to lead up to the release of their 8-bit Mega Man 9. It's still fun as heck and really old-school challenging. I like it and am definitely going to get Mega Man 2 and 9 when they come out on the VC.

And that wraps up my four favorite games of the moment. Like my picks? What games have you been obsessed with lately? Tell me in the comments...