You ever just stop and think about how a game should exist, but doesn’t? That may sound silly, but I found myself recently wondering why on earth we haven’t gotten a new Punch-Out!! game on Switch. I’m quite fond of the series and enjoyed the little cameo it got in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, where portraits of the boxers adorned the wall of the local pizzeria, but I’ve been itching to play a new one and it’s nowhere to be found.
For the unfamiliar, Punch-Out!! is a Nintendo series that began life in the arcades in 1983. In 1987, the most famous version was made for the NES. It featured Mike Tyson as the final boss, and was titled Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! to capitalize on his star power at the time. You take on the role of Little Mac, a teenage boxer hoping to climb the ranks against a quirky cast of opponents from various nations. The gameplay always struck me as more of a rhythm game than boxing simulator, and the whole game eschews realism in favor of memorable flair like having one boxer use “magic punches” to confuse you or another being so large his only weakness is distracting him by making his shorts fall down.
The game was a big hit, and sold over 2 million copies. It was eventually rebranded to remove Tyson from the game and replace him with the fictional Mr. Dream, but the core gameplay remained the same. It spawned a sequel on the Super Nintendo and a reboot on the Wii. The latter was the last game we got in the series, all the way back in 2009, and I think it provided a perfect template for how a Switch version could work. Punch-Out!! on Wii utilized the console’s signature motion controls, which I think any veteran of Wii Sports can tell you is perfect for a boxing game. It also added fun new modes like Title Defense, where Mac must defend his title against his old foes with new gimmicks and techniques, and Mac’s Last Stand, where Mac decides to retire after he loses 3 times. You face off against random opponents until you lose those 3 matches, and Mac keeps his word, with the standard Career mode no longer being available on that save file.
I think you could honestly just port Punch-Out!! Wii to the Switch and it would still be great fun. An entirely new entry would be even better, though. Imagine online matches against real people around the world! That could breathe new life into the series. Sure, we have multiple Fitness Boxing games on the system (including the outrageously delightful Fist of the North Star variant) and Arms, but they aren’t quite the same as watching Little Mac’s rise to fame. For now, I suppose I’ll have to be content with getting to play as the pint-sized brawler in Super Smash Bros., but I’d love to step into the ring again.
Kay Talks Games 