One of Nintendo’s most famous games is being brought back for the 21st century. In Punch-Out!! for the Wii, Little Mac is back to fight all the goofy stereotyped fighters you remember as well as some new ones. The classic music and scenery (yes, the you-know-what is still stealing his bike) is back in a cel-shaded format combined with Wii motion controls.
Nintendo has released two amusing promos starring Paul “Magic Man” Malignaggi and Isiah “Clay Davis” Whitlock:
It does, kind of. I didn’t mean it to- that’s just how I write, I guess. If you think about it, any post about something you can buy that isn’t criticizing it is in effect an advertisement for that product, even if you aren’t being paid for it.
It hasn’t been Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out since Mike got sent away for rape. It was rereleased as Punch-Out featuring Mr. Dream. This is the version that can be downloaded for the Wii today.
Great promos - very sly and humorous. The gent playing Doc Louis is a *Law & Order *repeat offender. I’m definitely going to pick this game up - nostalgia here we come!
Believe it or not, the transition from Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! to Punch-Out!! featuring Mr. Dream was a contract one and had nothing to do with the rape case. Nintendo’s likeness contract with Tyson ran out after he lost to Buster Douglas and Nintendo never re-upped because he wasn’t the champ anymore.
As for Punch-Out!! for the Wii, I’ve got it pre-ordered, is anyone surprised? I loved Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! back in the day and I have been salivating for this since it was announced.
My bad- now that you mention it, that sounds familiar. As for the new game, I’m pre-ordering it, too! I love the original.
I hope, though, that either the wii-mote punching controls are a little more refined than those of the boxing pack-in, or that you can switch to using the wii-mote as a classic controller. The idea of balance board support is interesting, too, and I could certainly see that helping with the overall control responsiveness.
1up.com did a very in-depth 45-minute video on the game that showed off a lot of the features and pretty much sold me even more on the game. (I’m at work right now so I can’t give a link, but searching on the site for “punch-out game night” should bring it up.)
Some of the revelations (I don’t know if these could be considered spoilers, but better safe than sorry):
-Most, if not all, of the returning boxers have new tactics than they did in the NES Punch-Out!!
-Two-player mode is rather interesting- both players have a bar that fills up with each hit they get on the other player. When one of the players fills the bar, they transform Incredible Hulk-style into the gigantic “Giga Mac,” who is as large as one of the CPU boxers. It’s up to Giga Mac to keep his power and deal his deadly blows as long as possible while the other player hopes to dodge his punches until the power runs out and Giga Mac turns back to normal.
-Finishing the one-player normal game unlocks a new “Title Defense” mode which creates new strategies- for example, King Hippo has covered his famous weakness and you must find another way to defeat him.
-Doc Lewis is addicted to chocolate, possibly on drugs, and acts like a mental case. In a good way. Nothing to do with gameplay, just thought you might want to know. (“What’s your favorite flower? Mine’s chocolate!”)
I don’t understand this. Is this in reference to the scene where Little Mac is running behind his coach, who is riding a bicycle with the NYC skyline in the background? I don’t remember anyone or thing stealing a bike, though, unless it was some Easter egg sort of thing that I never found.
