Genre: Sports, Fighting
Year: 1994
Developed by: Nintendo R&D 3
Published by: Nintendo
Platforms: SNES
#141
Feeling Like: Uppercut
The Super Nintendo really was incredible. For as many landmark titles that landed on the NES, the SNES showed that those were merely prototypes. You thought Super Mario Bros. was something? Here’s Super Mario World, and that comes with the system. Metroid sure was neat, eh? Well here’s Super Metroid, the most atmospheric game to date. You liked the action and characters in Punch-Out!! ?
You know where this is going.
While I enjoyed Punch-Out!! , I never really got into it. Once we finally beat Mr. Sandman (never Tyson, still can’t beat Iron Mike) we moved onto other things. It might have been brought out once in a while, but more as a way to pass the time rather than a desirable obstacle to tackle.
Super-Punch Out!! was much more than that. I was transfixed.
Everything is better when compared to its predecessor. I can’t even entertain a notion that the original is superior in anything other than novelty. The camera angle is more dynamically placed, almost directly behind Little Mac to make the action feel that much more intense. The graphics are vastly improved, colors are more vibrant and eye-catching. Characters have more detail and animations are far smoother. Punches feel fluid and dodges look less janky. The crowd is animated…ok sure, it’s a few of them cloned over and over, but with camera flashes and cheers, you’ve got a front row seat of the best boxing game the system has to offer.
It’s all about watching the telegraphed attacks from your opponents and learning when to dodge and when to punch. Button mashing may work against Gabby Jay (yay!) but as soon as you square up against Bear Hugger, you’ll need to start being far more strategic. Memorizing attacks and perfecting your timing may seem impossible at first, but even against the toughest opponents you’ll soon master your pugnacity and they’ll be seeing stars. There may not be stats or leveling up, but the progress in your brain will be almost immediately tangible. I’ve rarely played a game where failure made me want to get right back into the fight immediately.
Watching speed runners tackle Super Punch-Out!! is akin to seeing Neo in the Matrix. Many of the most impressive runs are blindfolded, or not taking a single point of damage. They know exactly where to hit Dragon Chan and when. Seeing super punches land at the absolute precise moment to knock your opponent out fully is immensely satisfying. Not that I can do it, but I sure do like watching others do it.
Every boss is a character, brimming with personality and wildly different from the last person you fought. Sensitivities today mean they probably would have less stereotypes or offensive cultural cliches in a modern Punch-Out, but I think it’s still an improvement over Punch-Out!! in this regard. Still, the series was never about subtlety. We’re looking for bombastic, pro-wrestling style personas, not in-depth character studies.
My favorite was old man Hoy Quarlow, a wise Chinese boxer who was allowed to use his walking stick. You know, for a seemingly brittle old man, he sure did kick my ass a dozen times before I learned to duck his backhand slap. It makes no sense why a 78 year old would be the third hardest fight in the game, but it’s the Super Nintendo and it’s awesome so it makes complete sense.
Part of the reason that Super Punch-Out!! is this high on the 500 is the fact that is was one of the few games that could run on the GNS Computers. It was commonplace for eager nerds to get there obscenely early (like, when the janitor opened the door for us) and work on their Computer Science Projects play emulated Super Nintendo games. Final Fantasy 5 was one of the more popular choices, along with Marathon and Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness, but something about Super Punch-Out!! really gathered the crowds. I think it’s because you can beat the entire game in about half an hour if you know what you’re doing. With wavering teacher eyes and the hustle bustle of school starting, we needed something quick and flashy. This game served both needs.
It’s also fascinating to see two secrets emerge, 28 years after the game was launched. The first cheat meant you could just play a 1 on 1 fight against any fighter, without going through the usual pomp and circumstance.
The second, shockingly, allowed you to PLAY AS SOMEBODY OTHER THAN LITTLE MAC.
There’s even multiplayer??
If only we knew about this in the Bigelow basement, with Matthew W. and Fuzzy trash talking each other’s time trial scores. I have to go try this out.
Super Punch-Out!! is a gem, it’s infinitely replayable, controls perfectly, is the right amount of goofy and fully advertises how much better the Super Nintendo was compared to the NES. Bigger and better in every way. What a knockout!
The 500 