It's a huge risk to revive a series, let alone a classic, after 15 years. Next Level Games has done so here, with style.
It is my pleasure to say that Next Level has done it, and they've done the series justice. In fact, this game is one of the best games on any console this year, and it has something for almost everybody. The sheer amount of TLC placed in this game is absolutely incredible, and it's obvious that Next Level had no intentions of resting on its laurels. This game is, by far, the best in the series.
The game follows the story of Little Mac, a lightweight boxer from the Bronx, as he climbs the ranks of the World Video Boxing Association (WVBA). Unfortunately for him, he's got a long road ahead of him-- in order to become the WVBA Champion, he's going to have to go through thirteen of the world's most outlandish boxers.
The story wastes no time with over-fancy cutscenes and dialogue. In fact, after a short little cutscene, you'll find yourself in the ring with your first opponent, and things rarely slow down after that.
Longtime Punch-Out!! fans will appreciate that almost every boxer in the game has appeared in the series before. The roster includes old favourites like Glass Joe, King Hippo, and Bald Bull from the original Punch-Out!!, as well as Aran Ryan and Bear Hugger who first appeared in Super Punch-Out!! in 1994. There are only two newcomers to the series in this game: Disco Kid, and a top-secret boxer who appears near the very end of the game.
On the gameplay front, nothing much has changed in this series. Your moveset is still limited to left and right jabs or hooks on the offensive front, ducking, left and right dodging, and blocking on the defensive front, and, if you obtain Stars (obtained from hitting your foe in the right place at the right time), you can throw a super-powerful Star Punch, which varies in strength depending on how many Stars you hold (you can hold up to three). Your moveset doesn't increase as the game goes on, but things never feel boring as a result.
That's because your foes are wonderfully varied. Very few moves feel recycled through the opponents. Each of the thirteen (er, fourteen) enemy boxers has a wonderfully varied moveset (which often evolves as the fight progresses), and this makes for a long of fun as you try to figure out how to avoid each of your opponent's moves.
The basic mechanics are elegantly simple, and appeal to casual and hardcore gamers alike. Both you and your opponent have health bars, and as successful attacks are landed, these health bars will go down. Once one of the health bars are completely empty, that player is knocked down, and the ref will begin the countdown. If the player fails to rise to the count, he is considered knocked out, and the other player wins.
Granted, this is rarely how the match will end. In order to prevent endless cycles of recovery, after a certain number of times either player is knocked down, they will be instantly KO'd. As well, if one player is knocked down three times in one round, they will lose by TKO (technical knock out, for those who don't follow Boxing). If both players are still standing after the third round (each round lasts three minutes game time, which is a little bit shorter than an average round will actually last), the ref will make a decision on who wins (based on how much total health either side has left-- this includes how many more times they would have needed to be knocked down in order to lose).
If you lose, you'll be given the option to retry the fight from the beginning. Victory results in moving on to the next boxer, as well as unlocking him in Exhibition Mode (more on that later).
In a stroke of absolute genius, Punch-Out!! allows several routes of defeating the enemy. While simply dodging the foe and counter-attacking appropriately will give players a good chance of winning, there are many opportunities for Punch-Out!! veterans to seperate themselves from the herd. Most foes have (for the most part) well hidden one-hit knockdowns opportunities (often involving the use of a Star Punch), as well as even a couple one-hit knockouts on certain opponents (these always involve a Three-Star Punch) if you hit them at just the right time. Most attacks can also be stopped dead if you hit the opponent at just the right time at the right spot. This allows for some rather varied strategies, and before long you'll be looking for the fastest and safest ways to leave your opponent on the mat.
It gets even better. After defeating the WVBA Champion, the game is far from over. For the first time in Punch-Out!! history, there is a full fledged Title Defense mode, which requires you defeat all thirteen opponents on the circuit again. While this seems redundant, it is far from it. Every single boxer will change their strategy, meaning the fights are wildly varied from the first time you defeated the opponent-- it's almost as good, if not better, than having a second roster of new enemies. Glass Joe puts on a faceguard, giving him invulnerability from punches to the face. Bear Hugger puts on a tuque with a squirrel underneath who changes the timing of his attacks. Aran Ryan swings around a boxing glove on a rope as one of his attacks. (Yes, the WVBA seems to have some rather lax rules)
All of these fights are rather difficult, too. While you might blow through the first story mode rather easily, Title Defense will strike down even some of the most salty Punch-Out!! veterans. Even Glass Joe, who was one considered one of the weakest opponents in video game history, may make even hardcore Punch-Out!! fans cry for mercy. Many of the later fights are even harder. (Bald Bull, in particular, will leave many people frustrated) However, the fights never seem impossible, and even casual gamers will return to the game time and time again trying to win. Eventually, you'll finally defeat the opponent, and it all seems worth it. The sense of accomplishment found in defeating an opponent who once pushed you aside like you were nothing makes all the frustration worthwhile.
If Story Mode ever frustrates you to the point where you want to take a break, you'll find Exhibition Mode to be a breath of fresh air. This is where you can refight opponents who you've defeated before (in both Contender and Title Defense modes), as well as fight a hologram of the foe that you are stuck on if you've lost against him once before. This hologram cannot hurt you, but it retains all of its weaknesses and most of its moves-- this is the ultimate in practice, and I applaud the inclusion of this practice mode.
Rematching a foe also brings up a list of optional challenges. These can range from defeating a boxer with a certain number of punches (Defeat Von Kaiser with only 5 punches!), to finding a certain number of different ways to collect Stars (Find 4 different ways to get Stars on Aran Ryan!), to defeating a foe only with, or without, a certain type of move (Defeat King Hippo with zero landed jabs!), as well as a few other types of objectives. Unfortunately, the difficulty of these missions seems a bit erratic. Some are way too easy (such as defeating Disco Kid in Round 1), others are clever (such as finding Piston Hondo's two one hit knockdown spots), and others seem far too difficult (such as defeating Mr. Sandman while not dodging, ducking, or blocking any of his moves). Completion of all three challenges against an opponent (which do not have to be done simultaneously) unlocks all the audio files (including voice clips, fight theme, and Doc Louis's "tips") of that character.
This wouldn't mean much if it wasn't for the fact that the audio for this game is amazing. Every character has their own taunts and grunts, and they match the characters perfectly. Whether its Bald Bull taunting you in Turkish, Glass Joe whining in French, or Soda Popinskii rambling in Russian, each character speaks realistically in their tongue, and appropiately for their actions. This goes a long way towards making the fights insanely hilarious, and it brings out alot more of everyone's character than any prior entry in the series. My one complaint on the audio quality comes from Doc Louis. While his voice acting is done perfectly, and many of his lines are hilarious and many reference the days of Nintendo gone past ("Join the Nintendo Fun-- I mean, Club Nintendo today, Mac!"), it can be frustrating when you're suffering in the ring and you're looking towards Doc for help, only to have him spurt out comedic gold (often about chocolate). Yes, Doc can have some rather helpful lines, but sometimes they come too late.
The music quality is also very well done, and fits each character perfectly. King Hippo has more of a tropical theme, Glass Joe has a nice French theme, and Aran Ryan has an amazing theme that fits his Irish personality perfectly. This is one of few games nowadays that I would go to the audio menu and just sit and listen to the theme music. This is topped off with modern day reditions of classic Punch-Out!! themes. (When talking to Doc Louis after winning a match, you'll hear a version of the old Game Over theme from the original Punch-Out!! in the style appropriate of who you were just fighting-- a very nice touch)
Graphically, the cartoony feel of the original Punch-Out!! games returns. The over-exaggerated size and muscles of the foe compared to the puny 5'7" Little Mac give an accurate spirituality to the whole "David vs. Goliath" theme this game gives off. The game takes a page from Super Punch-Out!! with it's behind the back camera perspective, which was definitely a good choice. There are some minor camera changes from time to time, usually when dodging, ducking, blocking, or when the foe performs one of their special moves. None of these negatively impact gameplay, and add a nice touch of realism to the game. The crowd in the background is also nicely animated, and as the fight goes on, bruises, bandages, and black eyes will form on the opponent, depending on where the opponent is hit. Perhaps the game does not have sky-high polygon counts, but this is a case of a superb art style working much better than a more powerful CPU.
The game also has a rather enjoyable multiplayer mode, too, although it doesn't come close to the entertainment of the single player mode. Two players, both Little Macs' (2P plays at the Little Mac from Super Punch-Out!!), fight each other with the same rules as the one player mode, with a couple new punches to break certain strategies some players would use to win. As both players land punches, they collect power to activate their "Giga Mac" transformation. Once they've collected enough, they grow into Giga Mac, a hulking monstracity with exceptional power, the ability to taunt to replenish some of their Giga Mac energy, and the abilty to taunt to gain a Star instantly. This adds a whole new layer of strategy to both sides, as taunting leaves Giga Mac open for some heavy pain of his own.
Ultimately, Next Level Games deserves some major props for delivering a highly worthy revival of the Punch-Out!! series. While the game still has a couple rough spots, it is a game that everybody should play.