Punch-Out!! | The Completionist

throughout the years numerous video games have left their mark on history but as time goes on different series rise and fall which resulted some franchises fading into obscurity fortunately it's become quite common for a company to reboot or continue an older series that many may have forgotten about in 2009 that was the case with punch-out this critically acclaimed title demonstrated that the toughest challenges are worth accomplishing and as a game buried within the Nintendo Wii as vast library it proved that a revived game doesn't need to conform to modern conventions in order to be deemed as one of the consoles all-time greatest hits it's time to enter the ring and complete punch-out [Music] [Music] welcome back to a brand new episode of the completionist we don't just beat the games we complete them today my goal is to complete punch-out for the week this remake or rather this reimagining or sequel or whatever you really want to call it is a game known both for its simplicity and difficulty let's get on in there prior to the Wii versions release I was only vaguely familiar with the punch-out series but that's just it I was familiar with it and that's actually quite an accomplishment Nintendo has had a ton of characters and franchises and sometimes it can be hard to keep track of all of them back in the day many would claim to the big three Nintendo franchises were Mario Zelda and punch out punch out is a Nintendo property that is much larger and much more important to Nintendo's history than it may appear to be the gameplay ultimately boiled down to two main concepts dodging and punching and thus Nintendo had a simple to play tough to master boxing game and for years people had been begging for a sequel but for a long time the franchise just disappeared after a while punch-out fans were lucky if Nintendo even acknowledged the game in their other franchises little Max's protagonists of the punch-out series later appeared in Super Smash Brothers Brawl as an assist trophy and in a weekend called captain rainbow as well a mockery of himself really and then out of nowhere there was a new punch-out that retains the charm and spirit of the original game while also making a game fit more in line with the current console generation Little Mac is still taking on the world match after match circuit after circuit and while this game is said to be tough how hard could it possibly be I can only do two things I can dodge or I can punch and I just have to do those things better than my opponents before they kick my ass all right I guess it would be punch my ass but either way while punch-out is simplistic in nature it doesn't take long for this game to become incredibly difficult and while there are a lot of tough challenges in this game I've realized that the game's toughest challenges are the ones that feel the most rewarding the more I played this game the more I realize that this game isn't your typical boxing game punch-out is actually less like a boxing game and more like a reaction based puzzle game but since this game is supposed to stay true to its roots it's fascinating to see how this game didn't skip a beat with how closely it resembles its NES predecessor there aren't any complex controls or loose movements here the game utilizes its simplistic gameplay mechanics and three-button gameplay formula to its advantage and the game shines as a result but the gameplay is more than just simple it's rewarding dodging and counter punching maybe the game's too big mechanics and taking down a boxer feels good on its own but if you really want to feel a sense of satisfaction you can try and jab a boxer in just the right spot for one of the game's almighty star punches star punches are mainly stronger variations of regular punches but getting a star is no joke they take precise timing to obtain if you get one of these bad boys then you earned it and even more so if you use a star punch at just the right moment you can score a TKO right on the spot but the thing is if you get hit even once while you have a star you will immediately lose it so if you're able to TKO one of your opponents because of a star punch then you truly feel rewarded you saw the opponent's weakness you took the risk you landed the hit and you are the best the game rewards you for the experimentation and riskiness and that's what makes this game all the more enjoyable although each boxer has a pattern instead of attacks to avoid the idea that there is not just one way to defeat each opponent is what makes the game truly fun to play even if one of the challengers is truly giving me a tough time it's fun to know that I can say you know I wonder what happens if I try to punch him there and actually get a reward for doing so and that's not even getting into the personality of each fighter because my god every single one of the characters in this game is both memorable and hilarious each fight starts off with a hand-drawn series of images that function as a backstory for each character they showcase the origin and background of the box that you're about to fight and they sometimes even provide hints as to how you're supposed to defeat them but for the most part they're just funny each one is bursting with personality last Joe bear hugger don flamenco all of their opening cutscenes are so great why isn't there a punch-out comic in this art style these short story cinematics are amazing and the cutscenes aren't the only things that make the characters fun each of the characters is unique not only in the way they fight but in the way they act look at these guys Aaron Ryan and super macho man might just be two of the funniest characters I've seen in a long time if super macho man wins a fight he will climb a ladder and fly away in a helicopter before a match even begins Aaron Ryan will actually run over to your side of the stat screen and jump around in little Mac's face these characters are such huge athletes the one they knocked me down I couldn't help but laugh yes most of the fighters are at a laugh at you when you get knocked down they taught you in between rounds and they mock you and you lose punch out is a game that doesn't necessarily make you feel bad for losing but it does make you feel like a champion when you win man after all these bitter remarks and insult these guys throw at you it feels so good just to uppercut him right in the face each opponent was so fun and memorable that I was excited to see who I'd fight next and what's more interesting is that with the exception of disco kid all of these characters came from previous punch-out games and these characters were all given new life here in the Wii version and at the same time they all retain their NES animations and quirks as well for example when you knock down class Joe his chest and waist do a wiggle animation before he falls down this is a direct reference to the NES game where he performs that same animation and other characters such as piston Hondo and bald bull went from being relatively generic boxers to dedicated fierce fighters and meat I again remind you how well next level games recreated Aaron Ryan and super macho man even Doc Lewis went from being a pretty standard coach to a lovable icon whether you're winning or losing every character in this game is just so creative with their attacks and humorous with their dialogue this game actually makes me enjoy losing may not know every single reference this game is making but I know that there are a ton of them if I'm enjoying the game this much my limited punch-out knowledge and I can see why a longtime fans are absolutely in love with this game and honestly I think the modernization of these characters is also what makes this game so appealing yeah I'm next level games could have focused more on newer characters or even tried to make the characters more realistic at the time but they didn't the cartoonish nature of the game definitely lends itself well to creating a wonderful blend of nostalgia collages and modern humor but for as fun and silly as this game can be it also knows when to take itself more seriously and that is no more present in the case of the games champion mr. Sandman the guys opening cutscene showcases himself taking out every other fighter in the game and honestly it's amazing to watch he definitely feels like the final challenge of an arcade game every move he has is fast but after you get hit once or twice you already know what to do next time he has just the right amount of power and speed to challenge the player and the fact that he's conquered the champions belt without even losing a match makes him the ideal final boss but after just a few attempts I knocked him out Landing that final hit felt great and the dramatic TKO scene that played right after I hit him made the victory all the more sweet and honestly this would be a sufficient end to the game right here right now it was challenging it was funny and it was rewarding however the challenge is only halfway over title defense mode forces littlemack to face off against all 13 fighters that he bought previously but now he gets to see how their lives have been impacted since he defeated them and many of them are prepared to deal with Little Mac in another go-around at this point not only does the game become twice as difficult but it also becomes twice as charming as well all of the challenges really make you want to grit your teeth but the overall humor and presentation of the game ensures that you're also laughing in the mists of each match but in these rematch fights pretty much all the rules have been thrown out the window if your opponent wants to use a squirrel to help him win the fight and that's a-ok if your opponent wants to teleport around the boxing ring then that's okay too and if your opponent wants to swing around a boxing glove on a rope and smack you in the face with it then yeah sure that's fine as long as you're not kicking anything goes in this damn boxing circuit remember how rewarded and smart you felt when you got those star punches earlier now it's practically a requirement some opponents actually require you to knock them down with a star punch and sometimes an opponent can dodge your star punch completely when I initially played through the game I thought it was tough but I conquered everything pretty quickly now that I'm into the title defense mode I now know that this is the challenge that everyone was talking about and yet even when I got knocked down when I lost and even when opponents laughed in my face I never felt like I couldn't beat them I never felt the need to give up I knew I could do it and now I need to do the same thing to mr. Sandman this belt is mine I earned it and I plan to keep it [Music] [Music] [Music] punch out threw me for a loop with challenge after challenge and fortunately each time you defeat a boxer you'll unlock certain goodies for the gallery once you defeat the boxes in the game's career mode you'll be able to rewatch all of their opening cinematic scenes in the gallery mode but defeating all the boxers in the exhibition mode will allow you to listen to their boxing themes these themes are renditions of punchouts main theme done in the style that represents a character's country of origin and/or fighting style after completing title defense max last stand is unlocked from here you just fight the game's opponents in a random order the catch is that once you lose three times the game officially ends with a bittersweet cutscene at all and in this mode there's a chance that a special 14th fighter can appear this fighter is the king of the jungle japes the powerhouse among Kong's and is the first member of the DK crew that's right it's Donkey Kong Donkey Kong will randomly appear in max last and it's weirdly exciting to be able to go hand in hand against another Nintendo character in a game that is not Super Smash Brothers and it is a pretty fun fight unfortunately he doesn't have any hand-drawn opening Clips like the other fighters do so he doesn't get the complete punch-out treatment but there is one last completion criteria every fighter in the game has three achievements that must be conquered in order to truly complete this game and when I see every fighter I mean every fighter in their base form and title defense forms and even Donkey Kong therefore that's 27 battles with three achievements in each and these achievements are no joke in fact they make the rest of the game feel like a joke you thought getting a star punch made you feel good imagine how good you feel when you have to knock down the tile defense version of mr. Sandman in 33 seconds yeah some of these achievements are absurd but I did them and what exactly did I accomplish through all that mental exhaustion well within the game's career mode I took down 13 challengers twice and after finding Donkey Kong that means I fought a total 27 unique fights while these fights definitely became more and more difficult as time went along the process of defeating each boxer wasn't that bad and I definitely enjoyed knocking each one down within the game there were 81 achievements that I conquered but actually pulling them off made me feel like I was the king of the world doing all of this I unlocked 14 different tracks in the games gallery mode some of these arrangements are actually quite catchy and some sort of unlockable is better than no unlockable at all which means that in the end I put in about 40 hours of total training time and lastly my overall win-loss record by the time I completed everything in the game was 95 wins and 68 losses although immediately I restarted the game in the middle of a match a few times so the results aren't a hundred percent there but hey if punch-out says I only lost 68 times but I only lost 68 times punch-out for the Nintendo Wii was one of the most difficult yet charming B games I've ever played I could definitely see why so many people say that it's among their all-time favorite Nintendo Wii games and I definitely think it's been one of the best revivals I've ever played but man this game gets tough really tough and yet the game's faithful controls and presentation kept me drawn to it the entire way and because of that I was able to remember why completing games can be so fun in the first place for that sense of self-satisfaction and pride so with that of my guys I give this game my completionist rating of [ __ ] pleat it [Music] that's all time of today guys so please as always let me know though today's episode somewhere on the Internet home women a favor hit that subscribe button I'm pressing the like button and leave a comment down below ladies hey a big thing to do our guys over at patreon who are awesome to help us out I'll see you guys next week for episode on to completion is 5 don't oppress those chocolate why the Goodbar that's the one I want

Channel: The Completionist

Views: 796,515

Rating: 4.9465547 out of 5

Keywords: punch-out wii, punch-out wii review, punch-out wii gameplay, punch-out, punch out, nintendo, wii, punch-out!!, little mac, wii punch-out, super punch-out, punchout, punch-out review punch-out gameplay, punch out arcade, completionist, jirard khalil, game review, game reviews

Id: HWgSmy81zJ8

Length: 15min 29sec (929 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 09 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/I_Wanna_Be_Numbuh_T]

So THAT'S why Brett grew the mustache. He should keep it. I always considered him a real life Doc Louis, anyway.

[u/HummusSpokesman]

Jirard looks tired. The work remains great, but the man deserves a vacation. Anyone in favor of letting him take a week off?

[u/Scukojake]

They should totally bring this game to Switch.

[u/MattLocke]

Bearded Mac echo fighter when?

[u/TheGamingTurret]

Doc Louis brett is best brett, but he is always Doc louis anyhow :D

[u/jmcvaljean]

That Doc bit was fantastic. On broadway! Off broadway! On Dasher! On Dancer!!!!

[u/mycatcharles]

Great video