Punch-Out!!, everyone knows. When you were lucky enough to have an NES at home, embodying the little Little Mac was almost a national duty. However, Punch-Out!! first of the name did not display a thundering realization, but offered a solid, coherent and archi-addictive gameplay, which necessarily made the nights much shorter. An habituation which was mainly explained by the fact of having to find the weak points of the opponent to move on to the next match. It could only take a few minutes for the most angry, but many people have stumbled for hours on Soda Popinski, Super Macho Man or even Mr Dream to name a few. With hindsight, we still wonder how we could struggle on such rigid poles, but it is clear that the ferocity of their attacks was much more pronounced than on Super Nintendo where Super Punch-Out!! gave the impression of having lost a testicle. Apart from the Kruiser brothers able to break a jaw just by staring at their opponent, the game was much less demanding than its predecessor, with easily decipherable patterns. Taking down Gabby Jay in about twenty seconds wasn't surprising, but cracking Narcis Prince after one round without batting an eyelid while fighting in the Ultimate League was a bit of a mess. Anyway, progress in Punch-Out!! remains similar to that of the previous installments, and it will therefore be necessary to lend a hand again to Little Mac to become the greatest boxer of all time. To achieve this, it will be necessary to cross the different categories (Minor, Major, World) of the “Career” mode, each one housing four competitors to defeat, except the last which includes five. Among the guests, we are naturally entitled to old acquaintances such as Glass Joe, King Hippo, Great Tiger and Don Flamenco, the developers having above all endeavored to offer them a physique worthy of their reputation. However, a new kid in the person of Disco Kid enters the closed circle of villains of the Punch-Out!! series. To be honest, we expected better in terms of new fighters.
"It's like that at the Mac"
Still, Punch-Out!! undeniably gains in lifespan compared to its predecessors, since it is no longer only a question of knocking down its enemies in turn, but also of defending its title after having won the belt with the sweat of his brow and the strength of his fists. The festivities will not stop there, because we will finally have to randomly beat challengers in a particularly muscular "Ultimate Challenge" mode, to avoid forced retirement. The game also introduces a "Quick Battle" mode in which Little Mac must take up a number of challenges to work on his reflexes, or else meet in freeplay the opponents who give him a hard time on the circuit, in order to study all their fighting techniques. We will not forget either to point out the presence of a two-player split-screen mode, not really terrible, where you have to embody a Giga Mac in turn to try to win the game. Punch Out!! is really a little killer, especially for old school players who will experience the bad guys in a different light. Even if some of them have kept some techniques that made them famous in the middle of the "Noble Art", all have experienced an update of their special attacks, which has the merit of confusing those who thought to complete the game in one afternoon. The degree of difficulty is not nuclear, the first two circuits even wipe themselves out in a little over an hour if you open your eyes well, but you seriously start to tighten your buttocks in World Cup where Super Macho Man and Mr Sandman break them severe. Now, we have to recognize that Punch-Out!! does not always show himself to be smart in the classification of his brigands. Indeed, we are going to fight a little more against Great Tiger and run over Don Flamenco, while the latter is supposed to be bigger than the fakir with 10 illusions. Same thing when you have to defend your belt, and you realize that Von Kaiser is tougher than Disco Kid. It is true that these small inconsistencies allow you to scratch matches for free, but they are very frustrating, so much the game acts like a hard drug. Especially since between the conquest of the title and the defense of his belt, the challengers return to the charge with new intentions, and these are other patterns that will have to be deciphered. These are not trompe l'oeil whims, but real new moves with different priorities and timing. Punch Out!! thus succeeds in the feat of convincing both old-timers with well-honed reflexes and neophytes of the PlayStation generation.
The other strong point of Punch-Out!! is his realization that smacks the retina. Nintendo proves again that it is not essential to produce a machine compatible with high-definition, to display super-fluid animation and a striking style.
The other strong point of Punch-Out!! is his realization that smacks the retina. For those who experienced the binary graphics of the very first installment and the improved sprites of Super Punch-Out!!, the shock is likely to be violent, in the positive sense of the term of course. Nintendo proves again that it is not essential to produce a machine compatible with high-definition, to display super-fluid animation and a striking style. We do not spit at the figure of Fight Night Round 4 which evolves on another planet, but Punch-Out!! really has nothing to envy to Facebreaker, whether on Wii, Xbox 360 or PS3. The developers have put the small dishes in the big ones, with the addition of cut scenes which give a significant plus to the game. But it is above all these thousands of small details which make the difference in the ring: Great Tiger and his dignified illusions of Ikki, Soda Popinski who is getting his health back with a few sips of Vodka, King Hippo and his manhole cover from elsewhere, the public who make as much noise as the supporters of the Stade Vélodrome, the referee who hesitates moment to designate the winner of the match, the cameras which constantly change angle when the opponent is on the ground, it is difficult not to be seduced by this graphic overhaul of the saga. And then, how not to think of Mohammed Ali when facing Mr Sandman, who has clearly eaten steroids in recent years to land such dazzling rights. Add to that the lines of the opponents in the ring or during the break, the lame jokes of Doc Louis or the encouragement of the crowd, and we get a Punch-Out!! with a boosted atmosphere, when we did not expect as much from Nintendo's title; at least not to such a level.
Saved by the Bell
The gameplay of Punch-Out!! remains, again, faithful to the foundations laid by his ancestors, and offers an arcade approach to boxing that could suggest that he lowers his pants in front of the first comer. This is far from the case, the Nintendo title requiring rigor and titanium reflexes to hope to get out of it in the very last fights. Since we are on Wii, we can opt for a grip dedicated to the glory of the Wiimote and the Nunchuk. Apart from the fact that left-handers are once again left in the closet, we must recognize that the game is doing quite well, with the analog stick of the pear to dodge and block shots. To swing a few mandals, you have to wave one or the other appendage with a minimum of class so as not to look ridiculous in front of your girlfriend. Despite these good intentions, we still prefer to hold the remote control horizontally to quickly find our bearings. In this configuration, we end up with the cross to control his character, while buttons 1 and 2 are used to release his hooks. A and -, on the other hand, allow you to execute a more powerful attack called Star Strike. To collect a star precisely, we must take care to place an uppercut at the right time, or rigorously observe the opponent's tics during which we can also recharge our Star Blows. Unlike the opus released on Super Nintendo, it will not be possible to earn several stars in a row in order to chain several Star Hits. Indeed, when you end up with three stars in your pocket, Little Mac unleashes its most powerful attack, provided you haven't received a hit just before; in which case all stars are lost. Another change: all the Star Punches are obligatorily carried to the face of the boxer of opposite, whereas one could aim the odds in Super Punch-Out!!. Note also that we will also have to take care of the physical state of Little Mac, who can no longer give blows when his heart gauge is at a standstill, but has the possibility of inflating his energy bar while his opponent sleeps on the ground. Finally, while you're on the ropes, on the verge of a knockout, you can always try to get back on your feet by tapping 1 and 2, even if it doesn't always work. Basic, all these notions put end to end ultimately weave an ultra-efficient gameplay that is hard to get off the hook. Electronic Arts and Facebreaker can return to their studies.
