PixlBit

Punching a digital character in the face has never been so much fun!

Super Punch-Out!! was released for the SNES in 1994, and is the second game in the Punch-Out series. It was developed and published by Nintendo. I have to admit, I'm not into sports games much; but there are a few sports games that I love, and SPO is one of them. It's more like a puzzle game than a boxing game. 

Unlike most boxing games, the Punch-Out games play out behind your boxer, not to the side. This makes you feel like you're actually in the shoes of that boxer, facing your opponent head-on. You can't just swing at your opponent willy nilly, you have to use strategy. Each opponent you face will make a sudden movement before he swings. Your character (Little Mac) can duck and move to either side. Once you dodge the attack, you can quickly counter-attack and beat their face in! You'll have to knock your opponent down three times before you win. 

                            Little Mac facing Bear Hugger of Canada

SPO has three main circuits: Minor Circuit, Major Circuit, and World Circuit. Each circuit has you facing four different opponents. The characters are what really make the game shine. Each character has a fighting style and his own special moves. Before you fight, you get to read their statistics: what country they're from, their age, their weight, and their record. 

The fighters really have personality. Gabby Jay tells you to take it easy on him because he's old. Bob Charlie will swing his arms wildly at you in a rhythmic form. Don't expect all the fighters to play fair. Masked Muscle will spit in your face, which distorts your vision. If you lose to him, he will say, "Cheating? I do not know what you are talking about, amigo." Dragon Chan of China (who looks a lot like Jackie Chan) will jump onto the side of the ring and try to kick you! Hoy Quarlow fights you with a big staff! 

What's really great about SPO is that it's not a realistic fighting game. Most of your opponents are big goofy characters. This is a cartoony boxing game, and that's fine (realistic boxing games usually aren't great anyways). 

The controls are pretty simple: you punch and move. That's it. You also have a meter at the bottome of the screen which you can build up by punching your opponent. Once it has reached the "S" on the left, you can do super punches, attacking really fast with greater power. This is what makes SPO such a fun game. Some fighters will be impossible to defeat unless you use your super punch on them throughout the match. 

SPO can also be a very difficult game. The first two circuits are not that hard, but after that, look out! Get ready for some challenging fighters! But with practice and patience, you can beat any opponent. Once you beat the World Circuit, the Special Circuit is unlocked and you will face some insanely difficult opponents. The fact that the game is so challenging just makes victory more sweet. When I finally beat an opponent that I had been stuck on for some time, I wanted to jump up and shout for joy! Victory is so satisfying in SPO. 

SPO is a gorgeous game graphically speaking. The characters in the original PO were small; SPO enlarged the characters, filling up more of the screen. Little Mac is faded out so it's like you're looking right through him. The expression of the fighters is great as well. What's really awesome is when you knock down the opponent and you watch him fly back and hit the ground hard. SPO is bursting to the seams with charm and personality. 

Final Verdict--5 Stars: Awesome!

With tons of great fighters, four circuits, tight controls, simple gameplay, and a lot of charm, SPO is a flawless game. This game is tons of fun too. I'm one of those wierd people who prefers SPO over the original (I might even like it more than the Wii version, which is also a fantastic game). The game is satisfying, and when all is said and done, you really feel like a champion. 

Join me every Saturday as we take a look back at all kinds of retro games, good and bad.