Punch Out!!

Punch Out!!

Wii gaming remains a fun, family experience and Nintendo’s latest hits this ideal square on the nose! We love it and we’ll bet our front teeth you will too.

Although not quite as long in the tooth as Super Mario, Nintendo’s Punch OutSeries has survived as a best-loved reminder of all that’s giddy and great about gaming since the 1980s. It debuted in the arcades in 1984, came to Nintendo’s 8-bit NES in 1987, made another superb comeback on the 16-bit Super NES in 1994 but has skipped two generations of Nintendo consoles before re-entering the ring.

15 years later everything has stayed pretty much the same, like great rock and roll, but the impact is considerable so take a seat. The basic premise of taking Little Mac through the ranks on the Minor, Major and World Circuits remains intact. Little Mac goes toe to toe with a succession of ragtag punching-bags whose title hopes range from hopeless to harder-than-you. Each new rival has an exaggerated range of moves that’ll make you laugh or cringe, depending on whose eyes are popping out.

One of the best new additions is Title Defence mode that continues just when you think you’ve beaten the game – endlessly extending the replay value as previously push-over opponents demand rematches to put you on the canvas. Just when you thought you had them licked, which takes a good long while, they’ve upped their game. Apart from guaranteeing more hours on the console, the depth of gameplay is really explored in Title Defence mode. No such thing as hit and hope here, only perfectly executed counter moves will see you through.

The genius of Punch Out is that at least half of the game involves predicting what your opponent will do next. Get it right and you’ll deal a satisfying wallop, sending the biggest guys wobbling uncontrollably or lifting the weedy ones clean off the floor. Get it wrong and you’ll soon be hearing your own heartbeat throbbing out of the TV. There’s nothing quite like picking yourself off the mat to land a flurry of match winning punches. Spectators will have plenty of advice to offer too! It’s clever because you can clearly identify the best tactics over time, but after that you still need the nerve to stand there and make it all happen.

Punch Out!! is a superb one-player game that’s as fun to watch as it is to play. You can enjoy knock-abouts with two Little Macs in Versus Mode but this is just icing on the cake. Yes it would’ve been better with an Online Versus Mode that involves more characters, but we know you’ll be more than happy proving your worth in the title fights and Exhibition Mode challenges.

For us this is a first round K.O. Grab it while it’s hot.

5 out of 5