K.O. Punch: The Review for Punch-Out!!

Honestly, I wasn't going to try this game. But the trailer made it look much more interesting.

A remake of the original 1984 classic, Punch-Out!! is a Wii adapted boxing game where you play Little Mac, the true underdog in this entire game. But, you play no one else. What I liked especially was the various controls, based on how you want to play it. What this game proved was that there is a fine line between discriminatory and just plain racist. Each opponent is a stereotype of the people from the country that they're from. For example, Glass Joe (a.k.a. the weakest opponent in the game), is french. If this doesn't say the french are weaklings, I don't know what does.

While the other boxers are obviously stronger than Little Mac, that's what makes it challenging, without being impossible. But there were some points where I was pulling my hair out wondering how Glass Joe got so much tougher just by wearing a helmet.

The developers of this game, Next Level Games, also made Mario Strikers Charged. I hope they keep making gems like these two games.

Limited selection of players, stereotypical characters and not much of a story. What does it make? One of the better fighting games for the Wii and a great remake of an old classic.

Final Rating: 87%