Punch-Out!! Review

Ever since Punch-Out for the Nintendo Wii was announced I always had my doubts that it would be a good game. A classic Nintendo game remade for the Wii, I just didn’t think anyone could pull it off but turns out I was wrong. Punch-Out is a very fun game that passed all my expectations. The game includes most of the classic fighters from the original game such as Glass Joe, King Hippo, Great Tiger and many more and if you think that that game would be easy because you know how to beat them from the original version, think again. They got smarter, better and tougher. First time I went up against Great Tiger, I said to myself, no problem, when the jewel on his head flashes that means he is about to punch, well that still is the case in the new game, but he has a lot of new moves and is a lot quicker.

The animations of the characters look great. Every time I saw screen shots I thought the characters looked too much like cartoons and childish, but after seeing them in motion I think they look great. Each character talks in their native language, such as Glass Joe is from France, so he speaks French, and there are no subtitles so you have no idea what he is saying. I am not a fan of this. It gets annoying and I would like to know what they are saying.

The controls are great. You can use a single Wii Remote, turn it sideways and play it just like the classic Nintendo version of Punch-Out. They also included motion controls, so if you hook up a Nunchuck you can use that and the Wii Remote and swing away. I tried using that control setting for one match, but my arms got tired from all the punching motions that I found the first mentioned was easier and was more responsive and worked better on later characters. You can also use the Wii Balance Board but I do not have mine at my house at this time so I wasn’t able to try using it.

I do highly recommend this game, but don’t expect it to be a quick walk in the park. The boxers you fight do put up a good fight and it will take some time to learn their patterns and moves for you to get an understanding of how they fight to take them out quick and easily.