Little Mac's golden years may be long gone, but Punch Out! is still worth a play.
As seventeen year-old boxing prodigy Little Mac, your goal is to become world champion. Before Mac can even dream of fighting for the world title, he'll have to box his way to the top from the lowest division. The control scheme is simple, and you can use the Wii Remote, classic Controller or GameCube controller to play. There are two punch buttons that control Mac's left and right jabs, and you can deliver an uppercut by holding up and punching. Pressing left or right allows you to dodge your opponent's blows, and holding down will block, reducing the damage you take from a punch.
The HUD consists of a health gauge and a count of hearts and stars. As you take hits, your health deteriorates. You'll hit the canvas if it empties, and celebrity guest referee Mario will begin the count. If you get knocked down, you can thrash away at the buttons to quicken your recovery. Getting knocked down three times in one round will result in a TKO and end the fight. Boxing is a tiring sport that requires a great deal of stamina, and that's where the heart count comes in. Each swing will reduce your heart count by one, and using them all up will fatigue Little Mac. This makes it a lot more difficult to dodge, and forces you to play strategically rather than go hell-for-leather on the punch buttons. Boxing well by dodging punches and landing with your own will add to your star count, allowing you to unleash a deadly uppercut. Floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee has its advantages, but use the stars wisely as they are difficult to come by.
Knowing when to strike is the key to success, and every opponent has a cue to let you know when. The earlier opponents have simple and obvious cues, such as a twitch of the eye brows, but as the game progresses, you'll have to be eagled-eyed to spot them. A lot of the fun in Punch Out! comes from deciphering your opponents patterns, but you only learn them once. After that, the game is down to sheer reaction time when punching and dodging.
Unfortunately, Punch Out! hasn't aged well. In an age where high definition graphics are standard, you can't expect a game from the 8-bit era to compete. You'll fight a variety of different boxers that range from the weedy Glass Joe to the beefy King Hippo, but the visuals will not attract anyone except nostalgic fans of the original. It's a similar story for the sound. The tense tunes that ring in the background sound very tinny, as does the sound of Little Mac landing a punch.
Punch Out! hasn't aged well, but can still provide cheap thrills for many a gamer. If you can stomach the outdated audiovisuals, you will find a fun and challenging boxing game. It's a very accessible Virtual Console game thanks to its support of three controllers, and at an affordable 500 Wii Points, it would not be money wasted for veterans or those new to the game.