Punch Out (Wii)

We all have a favourite something that can instantly take us back to childhood. Maybe it is a smell, or a movie, or a favourite food that reminder you of when you were ten. For me it is the thought of Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out. Punch-Out was one of the first games I had for the Nintendo Entertainment System (the other being the Mario/Duck-Hunt combo) and it still is one of my favourites. The character design was great, the controls perfect, and the challenge could go from pathetically easy (Glass Joe) to impossibly difficult (Tyson himself).

So it was with great enthusiasm that I purchased the new Punch-Out for the Nintendo Wii. Being a huge fan of the series, I was cautiously optimistic when approaching this “remake”. The game features 14 different fighters: 12 from Punch-Out and Super Punch-Out, 1 new character (Disco Kid), and one unlockable character. I was surprised at the inclusion of only 1 new character. If you are going to bother with new blood in a game series why would you only create 1 new face? It may have been better to use all known faces or add 2 or 3 more new ones.

The control scheme is either motion controlled (nunchuck and remote) or the normal way of playing video game (remote held sideways. The motion control method is good for a laugh; it is clunky, tiring, and apparently a prerequisite for any first-party Wii game, but you can’t actually play the game properly using these controls. Try it out once or twice and then switch to the way that most people play videogames.

The normal controls are great with a tight scheme and quick response, drawing from both Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out and Super Punch-Out and taking the best of both games. Stars are much harder to come by and require a trick to acquire them. They can be saved up so you can do a 1, 2, or 3 star punch with incremental levels of strength. This adds some variation on speed knockdowns and trick TKOs which fans of the series will appreciate.

There are 3 game modes: career, title defence, and last stand. In career mode you face 13 other fighters to gain all the belts. In defence mode you must defend your championships against the 13 fighters again. This is a great addition as every fighter is much harder than their championship mode counter-part (even Glass Joe is tricky at first). The final mode is a sudden death type mode where after 3 losses you quick. It is only notable for helping you unlock the hidden character.

If you are a veteran of the series you will have no problem with career mode (I actually finished it in within the first day of playing), but you will find they real game begins in title defence mode. Those who have never played a Punch-Out game before and have no sense of the timing required to stop the Bull Charge will find the career mode enough of a challenge.

At a $60 CAN price-tag they aren’t giving the game away, but Punch-Out fans will get $60 worth of fun out of this one. For those of you who have never played a Punch-Out game before I would suggest renting or waiting until it hits the $30 mark.

Nintendo Power Turns 20!

As Nintendo Power is turning 20 this year, thought that I would purchase an issue and see if it still holds up after all this time. It has been at least 5 years since I have bought an issue, so I am approaching this review with a fresh set of eyes.

First, I should explain that 20 years ago Nintendo Power was THE magazine. Every kid at school read it, wanting to know how to get the secret warp zone, or Contra code, or whatever. The magazine frequently would have whole level walkthroughs of games, and often had incredibly helpful cheats and game maps (you have to remember this was before the internet). The main problem with the magazine back then was a complete lack of objectiveness; everything reviewed or in the magazine was great. I understand that Nintendo is trying to sell a product, but saying that every game is great fools legions of fans into purchasing sub-standard fare, and it creates a backlash against the House of Mario.

I am glad to say that the reviews are somewhat more objective, but not by much. While many of the games are rated lower than a 7.0 (this may also be due to the utter dumpster-level quality of most Wii and DS games), you still never shake the feeling that Nintendo Power magazine cannot be a truly objective reviewer. I know that many magazines had been accused of accepting a paycheck for good reviews, but I do feel that other magazines on the market offer the reader a more trustworthy and unbiased opinon of Nintendo's wares.

Walkthroughs are no longer part of the magazine (games are too long now, and we simply can't take away from player's guide sales), so much of the content are articles on upcoming games. In the latest issue we get an indepth look at Chrono Trigger, Animal Crossing Wii, and a bunch of other DS RPGs that I have never heard of. The articles are only on key games and are of course designed to create excitment and salivation for these titles. While there is nothing wrong with promoting an upcoming release, Nintendo Power does not have the autonomy to do it in such a way that isn't unseemly.

There is also a lot of content for Nintendo Fanboys (and Fangirls): retro reviews, articles about Nintendo History, and game developer bios all help fill up the remaining pages in the mag. Some of it is quite interesting, but if you don't have a sense (or simply don't care) about Nintendo history much of these articles will be over your head.

Is Nintendo Power a must buy? Definitely not. No. At $4.99 US and $6.99 Canadian per month you will not get value out of this magazine. It should be noted that magazines are in general too expensive unless you get a subscription, which most of the time is at least 50% off cover price. If you see that Nintendo Power has an article in it that interests you enough to shell out your hard earned cash go for it, but there is a magical new invention called the internet that will let you get most of the content for free and with a more objective opinion.

MEGA MAN 9

I remember getting my Nintendo Entertainment system back in 1987. Times were simpler then: you only needed a few minutes to actually finish a game, but that was after hours and hours of practice. Indeed, video games were much shorter when we were younger, but also much harder.

There is no real challenge to the games of today, if you simply sit in front of your PS3 with enough time and a hint guide you will finish whatever cookie-cutter sandbox GTA clone is newest, hottest thing. I am not saying that games today aren't good (many are destined to become classics), but our ability to accept a challenge from video games has been greatly diminished.

This bring me to today's review: a first look at Mega Man 9 for the virtual consoles on the Wii, XBOX360, and the PS3. With this game Capcom ushers in what will surely be a new genre in gaming: the Nouveau-Retro. That's right folks, Capcom has created a brand new 8-bit game for you all to enjoy and attempt to conquer.

The story is standard Mega Man fare; Dr. Light has been framed by Dr. Wily and Mega Man must clear his name by battling 8 stages of robots and gaining new and interesting weaponry.

I was reminded right away at just how difficult a Mega Man game can be as in the Concrete Man stage I was hit by an enemy and fell to my death. 5 seconds into playing the game. Undaunted I tried again and made it past the first jump, only to die due to extensive damage about 1 minute later. I finished off my third life (another horrible robotic death), and then decided to change levels. I tried each and every level and was met with a grisly end time and time again.

Here I should mention something for those new to the Mega Man series: there is actually a "correct" order to complete the levels. Certain weapons will help you defeat bosses with greater ease. It is an extended paper, rock, scissors type set up. Further to this you should never keep trying all the different levels as I did. You really should stick with one level and attempt to master it (I would suggest starting with the Galaxy Man stage as I actually made it to the boss on that one).

The problem is that in today's era of hint-books and online cheats we as gamers really don't have the patience to die continuously in the same spot over and over again. When you are 7 and have nothing better to do it seems like a good idea to contest a level ad nauseam until we eke out a victory, but now we are older and fear death and, as such, do not want to use up too many of our remaining hours being impaled by spikes in the Splash Woman level.

You might think that I dislike the game, but you would be wrong. The game is fantastic, and a great throwback to the golden age of Nintendo. But should you buy it? Well, at $10 Mega Man 9 is pretty cheap, but they aren't giving it away either. This will be a must have for any Mega Man fan, and you will get a great per hour return on it, but if you haven't ever played a Mega Man game before I would suggest you do a little research first. Find some older Mega Man games and see if you can handle the continual parade of death; if not, I am sure that Rockstar Games is working on something nice and easy just for you.