Punch-Out!!

I tried out ODST's firefight mode today with a friend. It was made for four players so we didn't do too terribly great but got a feel for it. I'll review it once I play through the campaign. I also bought some card sleeves for a new MTG deck, but they're too slim to put my cards in, cheap crap. No idea what I'll do with them. Also got a call from my dad and he wants me to go out this week to have dinner with him and my step mom for her birthday. Also taking my mom out to dinner tomorrow cause it's her birthday, and then I need to get Colin something for his birthday. So with that and buying ODST I'm gonna wait to buy things for a bit, the idea this year is to SAVE up money, not spend it.

Today I'm gonna be reviewing Punch-Out!! for the Wii, not the NES one, though I will probably eventually feature that on here as well. I didn't JUST beat this game but I'm not far enough into Secret of Mana or ODST to give a proper review of either of them yet so I went to a game I beat in the past.

Punch-Out

Overall:

The 3rd game in the Punch Out Series brought back after a long hiatus. You star as Little Mac, a small 17 year old kid from the Bronx who wants to become the boxing champion. Obviously a boxing game isn't going to have the deepest story but this is more about the fighting and the memorable characters. While lacking in size and power, Mac relies on speed, his trainer Doc Louis, and his special Star Punches to get him through. This is not a game that tries to be ultra realistic boxing game with in depth physical stats and training and reach. This is a fun brawler all about memorizing your opponent's patterns and having fast reflexes.

Pros:

The most important pro first: This game is fun. The concept is simple and easy to pick up. Mac doesn't have a huge variety of punches and dodges to learn and memorize, but he doesn't need them. It's all about timing and sometimes the combination of what you have. All the characters from the original Punch Out return with the exception of Mike Tyson/Mr.Dream. You also have two of the unique characters from Super Punch Out (Bear Hugger and Aran Ryan) so fans of the old games will definitely see some nods to old school opponents. They also struck a good balance between modeling their moves and patterns off the old games but giving them new moves and timing so it's still a challenge. Fans of the old games will know about Bald Bull's Charge and King Hippo's stomach, but the timing on the charge is different so you still have to fight hard. Once you beat the game they open a new mode (Title Defense) where all the boxers are faster and get new moves. This lets the casual people enjoy a fun first part and the hardcore gamers can still get a run for their money with the harder Title Defense Mode. If you have a really hard time of it, they'll give you a headgear item that reduces the damage taken (you have to lose 100 times) so even if you can't progress they'll help you out some. They also have a hologram mode where you can fight your next opponent as a hologram that can't do damage to you but it will let you practice against their moves without getting your ass kicked 10 times trying to find out how to get stars on them (you recoil from their punches but don't take damage). Another nice aspect of the game is the music which are all remixes of the character's themes. Some are better then others but this game feels like a sequel to Punch Out and is a blast to play. The graphics are colorful and each character feels unique for the most part.

Cons:

The hologram training thing is a good idea, but I wish you could still use it after you beat the boxer in the campaign mode especially against some of the boxers that are really tricky and feel cheap at times. If you don't fight a boxer for a while you can forget his patterns and I hate losing 5 times cause I was trying to relearn how to dodge his special punch. And most boxers have a secret punch combo weakness where hitting them with a star after so many stunned hits knocks them out instantly and being able to use the hologram trainer to learn that would be nice. I also wish they had a better secret character then Donkey Kong. I know a lot of people were hoping for Mike Tyson and I can understand not wanting to include him cause of the controversies surrounding him or because they couldn't get the rights but Donkey Kong just feels out of place. I'll take it over no secret character, but they could have done better. They give many control methods but anything that relies heavily on the Wii's motion sensor is far too inaccurate against Title Defense level enemies (though the one that doesn't rely on the Wii Fit board or motion controls works fine).

Overall Rating:8.5/10

Closing Remarks:

This is a fun game that I recommend to anyone with a Wii. The pros outweigh the few cons and if a few of the characters didn't feel cheap at times, this game would be in the 9's. It has an old school feel, before boxing games cared about RPG stat growth crap (usually I like RPGs but for some reason I've never been huge on have RPG characteristics in boxing games). It's not a long game, but when it all comes together and you get your opponent's moves down it's a real blast. Given the lack of what I consider good games on the Wii this one is definitely a keeper.