The Gloves are Off..or On, I Guess: Punch Out!! Hits Wii

Once upon a time, Nintendo used to make really difficult games. In fact, these games were so difficult that there was a 900 number for children to call and run up their parents’ phone bill. It was all for the sake of overcoming an obstacle and totally worth a beating.

There was an insanely difficult game that featured a myriad of stereotypical boxers from all parts of the world, and it was up to a small boy named Mac to pummel them. Foes had weaknesses that only those of blessed reflexes could exploit. Hence the crutch of the Nintendo Hotline. Unfortunately, the franchise has been dormant since 1994. But what’s that on the horizon? Punch-Out!! for the Wii! I hope you have a surplus of exclamation points laying around, because you’re going to need them!

In Nintendo’s recent Japanese press conference, they announced a plethora of items, one of which was a no brainer for the Wii: Punch-Out!! Since Super Punch-Out!! for the Super Nintendo, there has not been a worthy boxing follow-up on a Nintendo console. Hopes were lifted when Wii Sports featured a competent boxing game. In fact, it was logical that Nintendo would bring it eventually since the Wii Remote and Nunchuk combination seems like it was made solely for the punching motion. But tight-lipped Nintendo never mentioned anything about the relentlessly difficult boxing franchise.

There is not much that we know of the game right now except that so far it just seems like a remake of the NES game. The screenshots released show that the stereotype-riddled characters are going to make an appearance, and Little Mac is trying his darnedest to knock them out. The only difference seems to be that the graphics are slightly cel-shaded, and when you knock out Glass Joe, all of the croissants he was holding spill from his pockets. Silly French! Croissants are for Little Mac!

The question still remains of the controls and how close to beating the hell out of someone they will actually be. This game seems like a great candidate for motion plus, otherwise it seems as though this will only be a prettied-up Wii Boxing. Will this have more characters and content than the original? Or will we be doomed to beat up characters from the previous Punch Out!! games? Knowing Nintendo and, as of late, their refusal to really please the hardcore, there is a possibility that this will only be a compilation of the previous games. Unfortunately, everyone would still eat that up. I only hope that they kept the training montage of Little Mac running past the Statue of Liberty.

Nintendo is finally tapping their reservoir of classic games and bringing them back to the land of relevance. But how far are they going to go with this and what else could they have up their sleeve? Maybe my Clu Clu Land prayers will finally be answered!