The Punch Out!! series is one of Nintendo’s oldest franchises, reaching back to the company’s short-lived days as an arcade manufacturer. The series has been on a rather lengthy hiatus since the 1994 release of Super Punch Out!! for the SNES, but with positive reactions to Little Mac’s cameo appearances in other Nintendo products, we’re getting our long awaited sequel. Nintendo has turned to European developer Next Level Games (the guys responsible for Mario’s two forays into football) for the Wii incarnation of Punch Out!! It might play a little bit on one’s sense of nostalgia, but Punch Out!! for the Wii well and truly exceeds our expectations.

Punch Out!! straddles the line between remake and sequel. The look, feel, core gameplay mechanics and majority of the characters have been taken from or greatly inspired by the NES iteration of the game and polished up to modern standards. However, it doesn’t ignore the SNES incarnation, bringing in two characters and a number of gameplay refinements that were key to that game. There are also a few Wii specific features thrown in for good measure, including some new characters, and a variety of control schemes that integrate the Wii Remote, Nunchuck and Balance Board.


Players take control of Little Mac, now resembling his original form, rather than the fair-haired version featured in Super Punch Out!! Little Mac’s goal is to capture the World Video Boxing Association (WVBA) Championship. The WVBA rankings aren’t filled with your typical class of fighters, however. These fighters are caricatures of different cultures and the stereotypes associated with them, but they’re not quite as offensive as those featured in Facebreaker or Ready 2 Rumble Revolution. Examples include Glass Joe, the veteran French fighter who is easily defeated, King Hippo, the Pacific Island king with an enormous appetite, and Aran Ryan, the rough but nimble Irishman. Mac’s not alone in his journey; he has the veteran trainer Doc Louis in his corner, who dispenses valuable advice while consuming copious amounts of chocolate. It’s a little disappointing that Next Level Games didn’t flesh out the roster with many new characters – Disco Kid is the only original creation, while all but two characters from the rest of the roster featured in the NES version of the game. The characters are still great, but the game could have used a few more fresh faces in addition to what’s already there.

Next Level Games has done an amazing job of capturing the core Punch Out!! experience and bringing it to the Wii. If you’ve played any of the existing games in the series, you’ll have no trouble sliding into the new game. The game’s key elements of timing and attack patterns have been masterfully implemented – sometimes you get worried when Nintendo doesn’t handle projects like Punch Out!! internally, but Next Level Games really nailed the feel here. It’s classic arcade style boxing – there’s none of that Fight Night-style simulation stuff going on here. Punch Out!! is all about reading your opponent’s moves, looking for an opening, and unloading a flurry of jabs and body blows when the opportunity presents itself. Each of the game’s 13 fighters has his own unique pattern, and figuring them out is increasingly challenging but also very rewarding. As players improve their skills, they will also discover opportunities to earn stars, which give you the opportunity to perform a deadly uppercut. Every boxer also has an instant KO weakpoint, but figuring these out is difficult, and the timing window for each is miniscule.


Punch Out!! has multiple control methods, including using the more traditional Wii style of boxing control, with the Nunchuck in the left hand and the Wii Remote in the right, throwing punches that will translate into Little Mac’s actions on screen. You can even plug in the Wii Balance Board to handle Mac’s blocking and weaving. It’s a nice inclusion, but ultimately players are far better served by playing with the Wii Remote on its side, mimicking the classic NES style of player. Punch Out!! is a very demanding game when it comes to timing and accuracy, and the motion-based controls don’t fill these requirements as well as a more orthodox control scheme does.

In the past, arcade boxing games have struggled to provide significant amounts of content for the single player side of the game, instead hoping that players will rely on the multiplayer game for their kicks. Punch Out!! however is historically a single player focused game, and although it takes quite a while to capture the WVBA title, the action doesn’t stop there. After you beat each opponent, you can fight them again in an exhibition match where you need to satisfy certain challenges. Some challenges are general, like winning a fight without ducking or weaving, while others are character specific like defeating King Hippo after knocking his crown off. It’s a good way to flesh out the game and get players to go back and fight opponents in more creative ways.


Next Level Games has also introduced the new title defence mode, where Little Mac must defend his title against each of the 13 opponents he fought on the way to the top. However, these aren’t just simple rematches – each of the fighters has gained something that helps even the score and prevents players from simply exploiting the hole that they used to beat each character the first time around. For example, Glass Joe wears headgear in your title bout, which nullifies his infamous glass jaw, and makes him a whole lot harder to beat. Each of the title defence bouts are so much more difficult than the original encounters, but players will feel an even higher degree of accomplishment with each one they pass (along with a bout against a secret character for beating them all). Don’t be surprised if you get beaten by Glass Joe a whole lot, though.

For the first time in the series’ history, Punch Out!! has a multiplayer mode. It’s not exactly good, because it really goes against the way fights play out in the series – players have to initiate attacks, rather than dodging and reacting - but it’s a nice little diversion. The multiplayer mode introduces Giga Mac, sort of a cross between Little Mac and the Incredible Hulk, who players can transform into after filling out their mojo meter. Multiplayer is purely an offline affair, but the omission of an online component will barely register with most players.

One of the most amazing things about Punch Out!! is its graphical presentation. The character designs in the series have always been pretty good, but they’ve been restrained by technology. Next Level Games uses the power of the Wii to its fullest, providing highly polished 3D renditions of the game’s classic characters with such high quality animation that you would typically think is beyond the system’s capabilities. Character performances are pretty good too, but it’s the music that steals the show – there’s a new rendition of the classic theme with a rock twist and a hint of jazz which sounds simply awesome.

Punch Out!! for the Wii is simply fantastic, taking the key elements that made the NES and SNES iterations of the game into true classics, and applying them to a more modern form. It fleshes out the single player side of the game, offering new, more challenging modes for expert players, and bringing classic characters to life with an amazing level of detail. If Punch Out!! has a fault, it’s that it’s a little too close to the original games – that’s great for fans of the originals, but it limits the potential for drawing in new fans. Regardless of your level of gaming experience, Punch Out!! is one of the finest games to hit the Wii this year, and a vital addition to any collection.