Punch-Out!! ''Trilogy'', Ranked
Maybe it's a bit of a strech to call these a trilogy, since they are more like different takes of the same story, but I'll refer to them as such since it kinda makes sense and they are the only ones in the series I've played so far. If I ever play the rest of the games, be it the Arcade ones or Doc Louis WiiWare game, I'll change the name of the list to be a Punch-Out series ranking, but righ now I'll be only focusing on the main console releases.
3 Games
You can read my thoughts of this one in my review right here, but TL;DR: it's a fantastic game with otherworldly game feel, animations and charm, an incredibly fun and technical experience that's some of the best of the Wii's entire catalogue.
It obviously shows its age in many regards and its difficulty can reach absurd levels in later fights (Mike Tyson's/Mr. Dream's fight specially is infamous for it) but as it stands, it's a fantastic conversion of the Arcade games to a home console environment, and an impressive one in every sense.
Learning the history of how it was made, the design choices at play that made each fight feel extremely unique and memorable, and the sheer power-move that was having Mike Tyson in the cover make a game that is both fun to play as it is to learn its background.
Again, it's not perfect, and Punch-out!!(2009) would expand on its shortcomings and be the definitive version of it by far, but it's still a title worth looking back upon; a game of legend in more ways than one.
Learning the history of how it was made, the design choices at play that made each fight feel extremely unique and memorable, and the sheer power-move that was having Mike Tyson in the cover make a game that is both fun to play as it is to learn its background.
Again, it's not perfect, and Punch-out!!(2009) would expand on its shortcomings and be the definitive version of it by far, but it's still a title worth looking back upon; a game of legend in more ways than one.
Similarly how Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!'' succeeded at being an adaptation of the arcade originals, Super Punch-Out!! succeeds at bringing that exact experience to homes without major changes, and looking at it through that lenses, it REALLY succeeds.
However, as a game and compared to the other entries, I cannot scratch the feeling off that this arcadie design process might not be the best for the series.
Extremely RNG dependent, not as memorable fights that depends much more on trial and error, which is saying a lot, and the satisfaction only comes in filling that enemy's dizzy meter and KO'ing them in one hit, which yeah, it is satisfying, but the general gameplay just feels clunky and punches don't have that same oomph* of even the NES game.
Don't get me wrong, it is still a good game, it holds up in various regards, but I vastly prefer both what came before and after.
However, as a game and compared to the other entries, I cannot scratch the feeling off that this arcadie design process might not be the best for the series.
Extremely RNG dependent, not as memorable fights that depends much more on trial and error, which is saying a lot, and the satisfaction only comes in filling that enemy's dizzy meter and KO'ing them in one hit, which yeah, it is satisfying, but the general gameplay just feels clunky and punches don't have that same oomph* of even the NES game.
Don't get me wrong, it is still a good game, it holds up in various regards, but I vastly prefer both what came before and after.