Join us as we look back at 1990’s NES classic Punch-Out!! as our unlikely hero Little Mac makes his console debut.

Mac arrived on consoles in Europe in 1990 as a short and unlikely boxing hero, as his full name Little Mac might suggest. Facing up against hulking great foes from across the globe, it’s up to you to use some close observations, quick movements and top-notch defence to get the top spot despite being the weaker under-dog.

Gameplay

Punch-Out!! pits you against a vast array of expressive and hilarious characters from countries around the world, each with a unique play-style and rhythm that you must observe with a keen eye to figure out their weakness and to discover the best way to land a punch.

Little Mac is stationary in the middle of the screen, with the ability to dodge attacks by moving left or right with the D-pad and punching left or right with the A and B buttons assigned to each arm. You won’t get very far simply punching mindlessly to victory though as this game makes you play with a great emphasis on counter-attacks.

The characters in this game are all masters of defence, so punching without thought will simply lead to them blocking your attack whilst leaving you open for a counter-punch. No, to get far in Punch-Out!! you must figure out the ticks of each character. For example, a character may wink, or shake their head slightly before landing a punch, it’s when you see that character tic that you must react in a split second, swerving right or left to dodge the imminent attack before landing a few punches when their guard is down and they’re open for a pummelling.

Pressing just the A or B button will result in a normal jab to the gut but pressing up on the D-pad along with a punch will extend your reach for a jab to the face. You’ll have to keep an eye on your foes ticks, their weaknesses and any openings to get ahead using a mix of dodging and attacking in different areas. For example, Glass Joe won’t take kindly to a punch in the face, whereas the great Hippo requires some precise moves. As you observe Hippo you’ll notice he opens his mouth just before he punches you, so if you manage to punch his mouth whilst it’s open, he’ll be shocked and taken off-guard, leaving his pants to drop down and reveal his big belly, or indeed his weak spot, for you to give a royal pounding before he pulls them back up and is back on the offensive once more.

The split-second reactions needed for this game are so precise that you’ll often have to play a fair few times against certain foes, learning the exact movements and characteristics of them before you can dodge and jab your way to victory.

Arcade Life

In the 80’s Nintendo ended up with too many TV’s in their warehouse as arcade sales were slowing down so to combat this, the idea of a dual-screen arcade cabinet was born and with it, the original version of Punch-Out!!

With our boxing hero and foe on the bottom screen and the top screen for scores and time, it provided a big view of the boxing match and plenty of screen space for the series famously expressive and comic-book like characters.

With the extra power and screen space provided by the arcade version, it was hard work porting it to the humble NES but by making Mac a very small sprite at the bottom of the screen they were able to retain the expressive foes of the original arcade title. Making the lead character such a small sprite due to technical limitations also gave birth to the title of Little Mac that we know today, and resulted in his most famous attribute of being a short hero.

Graphics and Sound

Punch-Out!! has a catchy theme that plays throughout most of the matches so you’ll be humming it all night but it’s not as memorable as other soundtracks in this era such as Mario and Kirby and there’s not much variety throughout. That said, the graphics are fantastic for an 8-bit era game, and characters with this much expression and personality were pretty much unheard of on machines of this calibre.

Obscurity

The NES and SNES Punch-Out!! Games are both fantastic but faded into obscurity over time with no N64 or GameCube releases. In fact, Mac wasn’t really referenced in anything, from the Mario Sports games to Smash Bros. and it seemed that Little Mac was destined to stay a relic of 90’s gaming... until he reared his head in 2008 in one of the most unlikely places.

Japanese exclusive Wii title Captain Rainbow takes place on an island full of forgotten Nintendo characters and has you playing as lead character, Birdo. In one of the missions, you have to go over to Little Mac and discover that he’s now a fat and washed up loser longing for his glory days. As it happens though, those glory days were set to re-emerge in a very short space of time.

Punch Out Wii

Mac made his way back into the eyes of Nintendo gamers in 2009 with Wii title Punch-Out!! Retaining the same great controls and gameplay as this NES title, it boasted great graphics with beautifully animated characters and a surprise cameo or two, as well as new optional Wii Remote controls to coax in players uninitiated with the series. After 15 years since the series last entry, it was amazing seeing these classic characters bought to life in 3D with voice acting and references to the classic NES and SNES titles.

Mac’s new lease of life didn’t end there though, with Virtual Console re-releases of the NES and SNES titles on Wii, 3DS and Wii U before his unveiling as a playable character in Smash 4, fighting back with the best of them such as Donkey Kong and Mario, whilst being introduced to characters that didn’t exist back in his day such as Pikachu and Rosalina.

Modern day

Does this NES title still hold up well? Yes, very much so. NES games are always dodgy ground, they came out at a time when graphics were restrained to a very strict limit of colours and pixels and gameplay was limited by the technology resulting in simple games holding up well but having little depth, and ambitious games of the time seeming far too complicated or dated for modern day. Thankfully, Punch-Out!! falls into the Kirby and Super Mario Bros. category of being simple enough to still enjoy, with timeless controls and stylised visuals, but with enough depth to be interesting even now.

The defence-heavy and tactical gameplay has aged fantastically and makes it more than a simple button basher, something that was so prevalent in that era. It’s a testament to the gameplay that 2009’s Punch-Out!! on Wii retained pretty much the exact same controls yet still felt fresh and exciting. In the world of Nintendo characters, Mac often gets overlooked but he’s someone that deserves a lot more credit. You owe it to yourself to check out this classic series and acquaint yourself with the flamboyant and quirky characters involved. C.mon Mac baby, give it your best!