Touch Ruminations: Punch drunk
In Touch Ruminations, former DS and Wii Fanboy Lead David Hinkle talks about whatever he feels like. He's a jerk like that. This week, he talks about Nintendo of Europe's one-two punch of Punch-Out!! news and what it means to him. The opinions expressed here belong to the author and don't necessarily reflect those of Joystiq, Weblogs Inc. or its affiliates.
I actually had to change this week's column at the last second. I had this whole other column planned, then Nintendo of Europe had to go and drop a big old bomb on us earlier today. So now, I'm going to talk about Punch-Out!! and all of the confirmed info and what I think about it. Sorry.
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Before today, not much was known about Punch-Out!!, other than some characters and control options. As we near the game's release on May 18, however, info was bound to get out, and today NoE dropped some fresh details on us. Some blew my mind (multiplayer!), some did not (only 13 opponents?).
Today's press release plays up the return of Von Kaiser, King Hippo, Don Flaminco (nice!) and Glass Joe, but what about other favorites? No Bald Bull? No Soda Popinski? No Piston Hurricane? What gives? And 13 fighters is kind of light nowadays. I know we have 3 brackets to fight in, but that means there's only 5-6 opponents in each bracket. Seems like it's slim pickings to me, and with the game being a direct sequel to Super Punch-Out!!, I'm worried about length.
I don't know about you guys, but I can probably plow through Super Punch-Out!! in 2 hours or so. Okay, maybe not now, seeing as how I haven't played the game since it released back in '94, but back in the day I could run through that game like nobody's business. Don't get me wrong, though, I have nothing but love for Super Punch-Out!!, short length or not, so if the Wii game is as short as that game was, but plays just as well, then fine, I'll take it. I just want Nintendo to up the ante this time around and build on the fabulous experience of previous games in the franchise.
The most interesting tidbit from the press release (for me, anyway) is the confirmation of multiplayer. That's a first for the series on home consoles, and I can't be the only person excited to see how it plays out in real-time. Now we can finally settle that dispute we've had since 1987 about who is actually better at the game. I have a feeling that the classic control scheme is going to be the way to go here, because Wii Sports: Boxing multiplayer is just too crazy for me (see: accidental violence).
Who else is pumped to take Little Mac back to the top?
