RR: Punch-Out!! (NES)
By Becky. Wednesday, 6. June 2007, 01:39:50
Every Monday Nintendo adds a few more games to their U.S. list of Virtual Console games. These games are downloadable from the Wii Shop Channel. The games come from a list consisting of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, the Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Turbo Graphix, and the Nintendo 64. Every Tuesday N+ provides you with one "Retro Review" of one game off of the list. The Retro Review is designed to introduce young or new players to some of the "classics" that made gaming what it is today, while also providing a reminder to those who have already played these games, how much fun they really had. This way, whenever you want to download a new VC title, you can have at least one place to turn to see if it was good before you spend those Wii-Points. "Read More" for the review...
This weeks' game: Punch-Out!!
Game Price: 500 Wii points
Punch-Out!! started out as a smash-hit arcade game in the 80s, which then made its way to the NES in 1987 as Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!. But, after some contract disputes between Mike Tyson and Nintendo (and after he lost his coveted boxing title), the game was re-released as just Punch-Out!!--sans Mike Tyson, of course!--and it is what we see in the Virtual Console today.
Game Premise
It's a true Cinderella story at its best, with our main character, Little Mac, as a boxer less than half the size of most of his contenders. Though each opponent towers above him, he doesn't despair though, as he has his trusty trainer Doc Louis (the jumpsuited, bicycling guy in the opening sequence!) with him!Little Mac's task isn't simple--he needs to climb his way through the minor, major, and world circuits and pummel his way through scads of crafty boxers before the final Dream Fight with Mr. Dream!
So, with whom does Little Mac have to contend? Let's check out the competition!
Our Opponents
Each boxer has his own fighting style--it takes a keen sense of observation and a lot of patience to decipher the pattern of each opponent!
Minor Circuit- Glass Joe (Paris, France) - The easiest boxer in the game. He has lost 99 matches and has only won once. A similar character, Gabby Jay, is in the SNES game Super Punch-Out!!.
- Von Kaiser (Berlin, Germany) - A former boxing instructor... in the military!
- Piston Honda (Tokyo, Japan) - Japan's national boxing hero fighting for his village. Somewhat of a camera lover.
Major Circuit
- Don Flamenco (Madrid, Spain) - A vain Spaniard who enters the ring with a rose in his teeth.
- King Hippo (Hippo Island) - The largest of the WVBA contenders, Hippo's only weakness is his enormous stomach. Once knocked down, he is never able to get up. He also appears in the Captain N cartoon series.
- Great Tiger (Bombay, India) - A great magician who wears a turban; he has mystical punches.
- Bald Bull (Istanbul, Turkey) - Along with his signature technique, the Bull Charge, one of the series' most popular characters.
World Circuit
- Piston Honda - Former Minor Circuit champion. Trained vigorously since losing his title.
- Soda Popinski (Moscow, USSR) - Champion of USSR. A volatile pink-skinned boxer who constantly drinks soda. This character was the alcohol-drinking Vodka Drunkenski in the arcade game, but Nintendo was also known to censor its games during this time period, hence the replacement of the alcohol with soda.
- Bald Bull - Former Major Circuit champion, sporting a significantly improved constitution.
- Don Flamenco - Champion of Spain. Utilizes a completely different fighting style.
- Mr. Sandman (Philadelphia, PA) - Former World Champion. Excellent all-around boxer.
- Super Macho Man (Los Angeles, CA) - WVBA World Champion. A self-absorbed muscleman.
The Dream Fight
- Mr. Dream
If you're good enough to make it through the entire game and beat Mr. Dream, you can play Another World Circuit with rematches against the Great Tiger, Piston Honda, Super Macho Man, and others!
Source: Wikipedia
Fun Factoids!- If you've got the Gamecube version of Animal Crossing, you can snag a copy of this rare game! The easiest way is to find a code on the internet and give it to Tom Nook.
-
YouTube has a real-life Punch-Out!! video for everyone to enjoy!
- During the release of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! in the United States, Nintendo released it in a gold-colored Famicom cartridge simply titled Punch-Out!! in Japan, without Mike Tyson nor Mr. Dream in it, as a prize for the Golf US Course Famicom Tournament. This version's final boxer is Super Macho Man. Source: Wikipedia
- Soda Popinski's laugh was later used for Ganon's laugh at the game over screen of the American version of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. A similar laugh was also used in the NES version of Kung-Fu Master. Source: Wikipedia
- Punch-Out!! was the subject of a number of art pieces in the i am 8-bit gallery! (pictured)
It's no wonder why Punch-Out!! made its way to the Wii's Virtual Console. The cast of eccentric boxing opponents is fun in itself, but the real enjoyment comes from spending time carefully decoding each fighter's attack pattern and conquering it. I remember spending hours with my cousins trying to figure out when exactly the Great Tiger did his little spinny-tornado punch! It's a challenging game to plow through, but it's rewarding and worth it, and it just makes you want to play it again! Beware if you have an HD-TV, though--I hear there's some serious lag issues! Otherwise, go ahead and pick this up for yourself--it's only 500 Wii points!
N+ 9/10
Cost: 500 Wii Points
Full North American Virtual Console list
(0%)
WIDGETIZE
tanooki # 6. June 2007, 02:19
CaptainSeagull # 7. June 2007, 13:42
agent b # 8. June 2007, 15:46
Anonymous # 24. August 2007, 21:51
Winning that game without beating Mike Tyson is like going down on the prom queen and finding out she's a guy.
That's why people thought the arcade version was clown shoes and no one ever played it until it came out on NES. 3/10