What caused this mini rant? The fact that Wii Boxing, the game that came for free with the Wii and being out for almost three years, makes better use of the motion controls than Punch Out. Instead of using the Wiimote and nunchuck in motions similar to a hook, uppercut, blocking, or even dodging, instead it's all restricted to a forward motion if you want to do high punches. Yup that's it. No wide arcing punches for hooks or rising uppercut, just one simple motion. If you're one of the SUCKERS that bought the Wii Fit, you can use the board to dodge but that's even worse. I think Nintendo is realizing that their own controls are now gimmicky because the game actually gives you the choice of changing from motion controls or using the Wiimote sideways resembling the same button layout as the NES controller. So yeah, 25 years later, you get to play the latest Punch Out game just like you did on the NES. One button for left punches, one button for right, left and right on control pad for dodge, down for dodging back, up for blocking, and the "-" button for the star punch. Sad thing is that Super Punch Out on the SNES had more variety than this game because that had four special punches while this game only has one. Think about that. This game offers less variety than a game a decade ago. That's like a new Mario game going back to just having a mushroom and flower as power-ups. Yeah the more stars you can get can make your star punch more devastating but still less moves means less possibilities.

On a positive note, and this is positive, is the additional modes on the game. No I'm not talking about the crappy two player action you can do that not online meaning that there's no point to playing because unless your buddy is a Punch Out fan they'll probably want to play stupid Wii Bowling. Anyways, once you win the three belts, a new mode and incredibly obvious mode that's so obvious that makes you want to smack yourself for never thinking about it. That mode is the Title Defense mode. See, don't you feel stupid for not thinking of it? Now who will you be defending against? Well the same fighters of course but with some slight differences. For example, Glass Joe is your first title defense and he's wearing some boxing headgear, King Hippo has a sewer lid taped on his stomach, and Piston Honda has increased his speed dramatically. It is then up to you to figure out the new strategy against the opponent which will take several tries as that the amount of times you can be knocked down had been reduced making three knockdowns throughout a single fight, not just in one round, sufficient enough to knock you out. Now calling it Title Defense and having you fight all the fighters again is considered "new", it kind of isn't. In Mike Tyson's Punch Out, Little Mac fights Piston Honda, Bald Bull, and Flamenco a second time in the world circuit each being more difficult than the first time. Once again, Nintendo does something that's only a little better than their previous work and people want to give them credit for discovering the damn wheel.

Visually, the game is good for what it is: a cartoony sports game. All the fighters have a great design with much more detail than previously seen, but lets be real here, this is the kind of style that could have been easily done on the Dreamcast. Characters have a cel shaded look to them, there's are some great colorful still shots done before your fight to kind of give some background of the fighter, and some animated sequences are there at certain times. For the Wii, it's good, but again, it's not like there is anything more that was focused on aside from the character models.

Like everything else in the game, the audio takes from previous versions and upgrades it to next gen standards. Characters talk quite a bit more than they have in the passed, with many talking solely in their native language such as French for Glass Joe, German for Van Kaier, and Black for Mr. Sandman(JOKE, GET IT?!). The funniest is Aryn Rand who talks in a major Irish brogue making it hard to understand the bastard. Various melodies used for the Punch Out games are also there with a better produced sound to them.

Video Games | Punch-Out!! | Exclusive Multi-Player Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

As the case with all the Punch Out games, once you beat all the opponents(in this case beat them twice), there's not much reason to continue on this the game. There is a Last Stand mode which is a sort of do or die mode in that if you face off against random opponents and if you lose 3 times, Mac officially retires taking the profile used with them to be forever unavailable requiring a new profile to be created. It's what the MMO players call "perma death". Why would anyone risk the profile that they've worked on for so long? Because a secret character is unlocked whose name begins with a "D" and ends with a "Onkey Kong". I'm sure Nintendo fanboys have plenty to cream about with that possibility but for the rest of us, it's kind of a big deal like playing Darth Vader in Soul Caliber 3. Another mode that can be unlocked is Champions mode for those into video game S&M since all fighter knock you down in one hit. Two player mode has been already written off as a waste of time so that doesn't help out with the replay value. Even though the first time around will take seasoned gamers a few hours to win the belt, the Title Defense mode easily doubles that amount of time. However after that mode, there's practically nothing else to do aside from a few challenges in Exhibition mode and a replay for just the fun of it.

My disappointment with the game comes with the same disappointment that the Wii has continued to produce. I cannot stress enough just how lame the motion controls are getting and that there's become a less of a reason to use them. No one is taking the controls to a new level, and it's become painfully obvious that that both gamers and developers could give two shits about motion controls. It's for that reason that the game is taking a hit because the motion controls used in this game are horrible. They don't enhance the experience but instead remind you that this game, like many for the Wii, are games that could have been made a decade ago and have done nothing to help move gaming in a new direction. In comparison, Fight Night made a big change in controls and in the end, made a much better game while Punch Out hasn't changed much.

- O.G.

OG - Editor-in-Chief / Original Gamer og (@) original-gamer.com | all author's articles