Ramza Reviews: Punch-Out!! for the Wii: Come on Mac, Feel the Burn! Let's Work it!

Hey guys! Ramza here! I seem to have found a huge obsession! In fact, I'm going to do a mini-review of a rather old but still fun Wii game; Punch-Out!! Wii!

Ramza Reviews: Punch-Out!!
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Punch-Out!! for the Wii console is a pure blast to play. It's a boxing game starring everyone's favourite underdog, Glass Jo--, er, I mean, Little Mac. Little Mac is fighting his way to the top, taking down extremely powerful opponents such as Super Macho Man (Release the Bogus!), Don Flamenco, and more. This is how the game works: you use the Wii Remote (And a Nunchuk if you have one!) to do a multiple variety of things; duck, block, dodge, jab, and hook. Both characters in the fight have a health meter. Using jabs and hooks, you do damage to your opponent's health meter. Interrupting an attack (Countering) or hitting an opponent when they're taunting gives you a Star. You can get up to Three stars, and when you want to, you can use these stars to RELEASE THE BOGUS-- Er, I mean... do a super-powerful punch, the Star Punch. Depending on how many stars you have, Mac will do a more powerful version of said Star Punch. Dodging an opponent's attack leaves them open for a jab combo, but some opponents protect some parts of their body. Alternate your punches to see what works!
Onto how to actually win the game. Depleting a health meter knocks an opponent (or yourself) down. The ref will begin to count. If he reaches 10, the game is over, and whoever is knocked down loses. But this rarely happens. You can be knocked down 3 times in a round (There are 3 rounds in a match, which means if you want to stay alive, you can only be knocked down 6 times total.) until the game automatically ends. There are certain cases in the game where you can instantly knock down and knock out an opponent (Knocking an opponent out means you win the match.) but I'll keep that a secret and let you find those out for yourself! Don't worry if you lose a match. You can always get back up and try again against the same opponent again. Let's go more into detail about the game's modes.

There are 3 modes to choose from: Contender/Title Defense (Story Mode.), Exhibition (Non-Story fun-matches), and Head-to-Head (1v1 fun with a friend!). Let's start with Story mode.

Little Mac is a kid from the Bronx. He goes to Doc Louis, a former heavyweight champion, for training and guidance. Their goal is to get to the World Circuit and take home the Title Belt. Like any boxer, they must start in the Minor Circuit first. You must defeat four opponents here, then you can progress to the Major Circuit, and then finally, defeating the four there gets you to the World Circuit, where you must defeat FIVE of the beefiest, toughest, and most unrelenting opponents available. We'll go more into detail into the characters you gotta fight soon. After you beat Mr. Sandman for the first time, you must defend your title from everyone that you just fought! Everyone is tougher and has some sort of trick up their sleeve to make it harder for you to win!

Exhibition Mode: Exhibition Mode may as well be Practice Mode. You can fight against any opponent here, from Glass Joe to Mr. Sandman. You'll need to do this mode to get their patterns down, I guarantee it, but 100% of the time, I assure you, it's a blast to play!


Head-to-Head: The game's 1-v-1 mode, and it really does deliver. You, Little Mac, will fight your friend/clone, Little Tim. Both of you have the same amount of health, but this comes with a twist: For every time you hit Mac/Tim when he is vulnerable, you gain points in what I like to call the 'rage meter'. This 'Rage meter', when it is filled, will turn you into GIGA MAC/TIM! Giga Mac/Tim has increased health, more damaging punches, and less room for vulnerability, but at one cost: With a level 3 Star Punch, he can be instantly KO'd! So watch out!

Now let's discuss the opponents before we move to the game's flaws.


The characters in this game speak the respective language of their country that they represent (Glass Joe speaks French and Don Flamenco speaks Spanish for example.) They are also overly stereotyped, which adds to the humour of the game!

Glass Joe: Ah, Glass Joe. Everyone's favourite punching bag. Glass Joe is the easiest of all the contenders, with a 1-99 W/L record. Glass Joe is French, but this is where things get interesting. He is the only anti-stereotype in the series! That's right. You should look a bit closer at his record. Glass Joe has 99 losses. However, he never lets this stop him! The French are commonly stereotyped as giving up and surrendering at any sign of a threat, but Glass Joe proves this wrong by never giving up without a fight!

Von Kaiser: Von Kaiser... I haven't much to say about him. He's stereotyped as an overmilitaristic German, and as such, you're going to be hearing a lot of 'Kuckuck!' with this guy. He is, however, funny to fight against! His 'Wo Bist du denn? Mommy!' Taunt is hilarious!

Disco Kid: [YOUTUBE]R2p6dQFDaQU[/YOUTUBE] (Disco Kid is kind of beaten up here in the video; he's nowhere near that ugly I promise!) This should speak for itself. Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, Disco Kid is a Disco Fanatic who is obsessed with the art of Boxercising! A 70's fanatic, you're going to let him teach you how to move! Boxercise!

King Hippo: King Hippo... I don't know what to say about this guy really. He's a giant man who ate the whole of the food (And people) on his island in the South Pacific. You only need to knock him down once to win the fight.

Piston Honda/Piston Hondo: Piston Honda (Or Hondo) is a Japanese boxer who is honourable and respectful to his opponents. He bows down in respect to everyone (And that's why he was beaten by Mr. Sandman.) and is obsessed with Sushi. Yeah. Sushi. Since he's Japanese, he speaks Japanese as well. Go figure! A great challenge in the Title Defense mode.

Bear Hugger: Bear Hugger is a Canadian Boxer who drinks Maple Syrup, boxes with Bears to practice, and is a lumberjack. He's like that grandpa who you love to visit every chance you get. Even if he is a formidable fighter, he's a gentle giant outside of the ring. Just beware of his Bear Hug! It'll hurt pretty bad if you don't dodge/counter it!

Great Tiger: Great Tiger is from Mumbai, India. He speaks a language that I can't identify, but it is a language that is rather common in India. He can summon 'clones' of himself and teleport. Seems cheap right? Wrong. He's actually pretty easy to beat if you can read what he's about to do. Pay attention to his gem! SalaZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!

Don Flamenco: Ah, Don Flamenco... you smell like victory. Carmen, Mi Amore! Don is a Spanish bullfighter, who is also a great boxer. He has respect for Mac, but when Mac beats Don the first time in Contender mode, Carmen leaves Don. Don then hates Mac from then on... poor guy. Don speaks Spanish using the Spaniard dialect (Not Mexican Spanish.).

Aran Ryan: This guy is a cheat. And by cheat I -do- mean Cheat. He's Irish. He's violent. He stuffs horseshoes in his gloves. He headbutts. And worst of all? The ref lets him get away with it. The lucky number is 7 with this one...

Soda Popinski: Soda Popinski Comrade! Lend me your soda so I can become as strong as you one day! Soda Popinski has the best theme in the game, and he is a great opponent to challenge/practice against. He has a very predictable pattern, but his soda is is strength... and his weakness. He hails from the USSR and speaks Russian.

Bald Bull: The Turkish Bull... this guy is a beast. He hits hard, moves fast... and is the easiest to beat in the entire game sans the first Glass Joe fight. He has a very easy to figure out pattern, and countering his bull rush with a Star Punch will instantly KO him. He speaks a unique Turkish language dialect. Go figure!

Super Macho Man: RELEASE THE BOGUS! Super Macho Man hails from Hollywood California, is the stereotypical narcisistic movie star, and the crowd hates him. FLEX IT!

Mr. Sandman: Bring me a dream... bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum~ *AHEM*... Here he is, the best of the best. Hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mr. Sandman is the hardest fighter to fight in here, as he is the last man to fight to take your place as the World Champion!! He is also an avid fan of Kirby. Dreaaaaaamlaaaaaaaand... BOO!

SOUNDTRACK​

Punch-Out's soundtrack is really unique in the fact that the themes of the characters all center around a central beat; let's compare two themes.

[YOUTUBE]I80kXW6o3aY[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]T6IBoUU7KaI&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]

As you can most likely hear, the same central beat plays for the songs, however; the themes are based around their nationalities and their personalities! Pretty cool huh?

FLAWS​

The game's only flaw is that it is repetitive; a lot of the times you're going to be doing the same motions and the fighters won't offer much of a challenge. That's what Champion's Mode is for! By setting Champion's Mode on, any hit from an opponent will KNOCK YOU DOWN! Great for when you want Glass Joe to win a fight! He deserves it!
Other than that, the game only suffers from it's sheer difficulty curve, which is easily corrected! Practice!

CONCLUSION​

Punch-Out!! for the Wii is a great title for people of any age and gender. Remember. Boxercise and don't go to Dreamland everyone! My final verdict for this game is a 9/10. If it were a little less repetitive and wasn't so difficult at first, It'd be a flawless 10. Great work Nintendo! Now give us something to love in the Wii U, okay?
...Please?


[video=youtube;xkkrNJWT2sE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkkrNJWT2sE[/video]