i love just, so much about this game. i havent played any of the original punch-out games before this one, and i got into it late in 2014, but i remember just being immediately drawn in by its pure arcadey and cartoonish energy. like, this is is just through and through a perfect revival of the retro arcade boss battle experience, not especially long, but more than made up for by how much joy i feel going up against a colorful cast of bosses and committing all of their moves to muscle memory. the contender path took only about 45 minutes at most, but the difficulty spike at the second half of the game felt like a much needed difficulty spike, with the player having to change up their strategy to deal with faster, more versatile versions of characters theyve fought before. with how hard this game gets in its last couple fights, it makes sense for it to be this short since i feel like too much more would just burn the average player out. in terms of gameplay, its just a really sweet and succinct package.

that being said, ive started thinking about the future (or lack thereof) of this franchise. it's had 4 games total, 3 of which were on console, and no games in 13 years as of writing this review. you would think that it would be simple to pump out a title for each console, but i feel like maybe there really wasnt that much steam to the franchise past the snes era. the wii was a perfect little excuse for a new reimagining with motion controls, but im not sure if nintendo would allow a "true" punch-out game to happen on a new console. the closest we got was Arms, but im not sure if id count it since it focused a lot more on movement and being a competitive fighter. even putting aside the abundance of racial stereotypes that i doubt would fly today, im just not sure that an ip based around this particular type of arcadey gameplay focused mainly on just dodging and ducking would get another shot, at least from nintendo. i dont think this is epitomized more than in this game's ending, showing a very brief cutscene quickly stating that mac doesnt have the energy for more than just a few extra fights. this game just is exactly that, an excuse for little mac to get back into the ring only to retire again and fade into obscurity.

i do wonder if the indie scene will ever give the format another shot since pure boss battlers made a brief comeback with cuphead and furi, and the style is distinct enough from typical fighters to potentially get a bit of attention. it's not a lost cause for the punch-out spirit to come back in some way, and im willing to wait to see what happens next with the series' legacy.