This One Takes Me Back

It was 1987, Mike Tyson was destroying people in the ring and ironically enough so were we. Many of us in our youth were after Tyson(or for some of us Mr. Dream) in the well known Dream Bout. Unfortunately some were stumped by Bald Bull and were stuck on him for 4 years(like Peter Griffin).

With the recent release of Punchout for the Wii console I feel like I am 7 again. Bald Bull is still difficult, he's no Great Tiger though believe me. Little Mac returns still 5'7" and barely tilting the scales over 100 lbs. Oddly enough he is still 17, some of us age better then others I suppose. Most of the characters you know and love to beat down are back(along with their intro music if you can believe it) such as Glass Joe, Von Kaiser, King Hippo, Piston Hondo (was Honda back in the day but I guess Nintendo didn't want to pay for the name), Great Tiger, Don Flamenco, Soda Popinski, Bald Bull, Super Macho Man and the vicious Mr. Sandman from the original NES version. Only two characters made it from the less popular Super Punchout from SNES and those are Bear Hugger and Aran Ryan. The game also introduces a new character in Disco Kid who is more infatuated with himself more then winning a fight. Every fight introduces the character with a short movie which are in most cases pretty comical. The game is definitely worth it to anyone who loved the original NES version of the game.

From the opening bout against Glass Joe(almost an exact replica of my buddy Joel but with red hair, he was dubbed Glass Joel by McIver) to the championship bout against Mr. Sandman I was hooked. The cool part is that before you take on a fighter you can practice against them to pick up the patterns of how they fight. Those of us who played the NES version will have no problem getting through the Minor Circuit unless we have forgotten Glass Joe, Von Kaiser and King Hippo's weaknesses. The throwback fighters seem to have most of the same weaknesses from the previous version however unlike before you can't just retire as the champ. You have to fight them all again. I hate to admit this but I lost to Glass Joe in the rematch the first time. It honestly made me feel like less of a man. That was until I crushed him in the next bout. I am currently working on getting through the title defense portion of the game and can't say I have tired of it. Definitely has replay ability which is awesome for a game nowadays.

What keeps you playing is attempting to complete the many challenges of each fighter that are unlocked once you defeat them in career mode. There are three challenges for each fighter that once completed unlock special audio in your gallery. Some challenges are easier then others (such as finding Glass Joe's one punch weak spot) while others pose high difficulty(attempting to find all of the spots to get a star for your super punch). They get even harder in the title defense portion of the game. If that doesn't encourage more game play then maybe another new feature to the Punchout series will, the new Head to Head mode.

Finally you can take out your aggression on your friends who beat you down in real boxing (yes this means you McIver). This mode doesn't differ too much in game play from the regular modes minus the fact that you are no longer Little Mac and you have the ability to mutate into GIGA MAC. Instead you become Little _your name here__ vs. Little _your opponent's name_. An example of how two player mode plays is below as I give my two year old a much deserved beat down. Caylie (my 2 year old) can beat Glass Joe and her mommy but not so much me. I in no way tolerate child abuse, except in this case.

I know its cold blooded what I did to her but eventually she will be able to destroy us all. If a 2 year old can play who can't? There are two different controller options which are classic (use your Wii remote exactly like you would the old NES controller) or use the remote with the nunchuk attached and throw punches. Another cool function is using the balance board. With this you can control dodging and ducking. I am a creature of habit so I will stick to classic that is familiar to my inner child.

Comparing Mike Tyson's Punchout to Super Punchout is like comparing apples to brussel sprouts. I played the original version of the game over and over again however the SNES version just wasn't the same. I guess I'm partial to my childhood favorite. However this new installment put me in a time machine and brought back rainy days in front of my Nintendo writing down the codes in case Super Macho Man or Mr. Sandman would beat me into a bloody mess. The truth is they STILL beat me down in this new version but I will keep coming back for more.

So I will keep some room in my Punchout time machine and I look forward to seeing some of you there. Unfortunately due to a lack in online capabilities in the game I can't challenge any of you. Oh well, at least I will always have King Hippo.