Over the years, Nintendo has released a myriad of great titles, from Mario and Zelda to Donkey Kong and Pokemon. All of these have multiple incarnations. We’ve seen Mario in a Kart and Donkey Kong playing Bongos, but, among all of this, one gem in the Nintendo library has gone untouched for quite some time. Punch Out!! has always been smiled upon as far as Nintendo games go, but we have not seen a new Punch Out!! since the Super Nintendo, and die-hard fans have been waiting eagerly for Nintendo to grant their wish. Wishes came true in May 2009 when Punch Out!! for the Wii was officially released. But can it stand toe-to-toe with its predecessors, or does Little Mac go down swinging?

Nintendo was smart when designing this game; the company took the formula used for the original Punch Out!! games and stuck with it. This game is the exact same game it has always been. You, as Little Mac, have decided to return to the ring in an attempt to reclaim your title. To do this, however, you will have to square off against some very familiar faces, including Glass Joe, Von Kaiser, King Hippo, Soda Popinski, and a mix of characters from both Punch Out!! and Super Punch Out!!, with one new addition: the aptly named Disco Kid. Each circuit has four people for you to fight — each getting increasingly harder and each with their own special way of being beaten. Fights are preceded by a cutscene that shows the boxer’s character style. Whether it’s Glass Joe and his French heritage or Bear Hugger’s ability to practice his boxing techniques with bears, you are given a bit of a backstory for each of the 13 characters.

Like the old Punch Out!!, you are given a view of Little Mac’s back, with the opponent in front of you. The moves are the same: right and left low punches, right and left high punches, dodging to either side, blocking, and ducking. You must use these techniques to defeat your opponent. Above your health bar is a heart containing a number inside. For every punch your opponent blocks or every time you are hit, that number goes down. Once it reaches zero, Little Mac turns purple and will be unable to perform offensive attacks until he successfully recovers by either dodging or blocking the opponent’s punch. In each fight, there is a “Star Opportunity,” which allows you to acquire stars to perform more powerful punches. You can get up to three at a time, but watch out; if you are hit once while in the possession of stars, you lose all of them.

The game features three different control schemes. First, there’s the Wii-mote and Nunchuck combination, in which you punch with either hand to throw a punch and control the punch direction (face or stomach) with the Nunchuck. Second, the game allows a Wii-mote/Nunchuck/Wii Balance Board combination. Having never played with this myself, I can’t say much about it, but I have heard that it is not a very good way to play this game. Finally, you can play with the Wii-mote only, turned sideways, using the D-Pad and buttons to fight. This, to me, seems to be the best way to play the game, but I did grow up with the old-school versions. While the Wii-mote/Nunchuck combination does allow you to be more immersed in the game, it can be a bit confusing trying to get your punches right and manage to dodge.

The game does have a couple different modes, providing more replay value. There is the standard career mode, in which you punch your way through all the fighters to win the title. After you claim the title after the final bout, you are forced to defend it ... against every fighter you have already beaten. The fighters, however, come prepared with new tricks. For example, Glass Joe comes prepared with head gear to protect his apparent glass jaw. This stops you from hitting him in the head, unless you use a Star Punch to knock it off for a few seconds, allowing you to smash his cranium the best you can. Each character has his own special upgrade, but I will let you find them out yourself. You can also choose to train for each fight with Doc Louis, who helps you to learn the fighting styles and patterns of each fighter.

There’s also a multiplayer mode, pitting Little Mac against ... Little Mac. Both players throw punches back and forth splitscreen, but whoever fills up their meter faster transforms into Giga Mac. This gets rid of splitscreen and forces whoever is Giga Mac to fight like one of the computer opponents, from the front. While it is fun, it isn’t quite as fun as you would want it to be.

Let me just say, if you have broken more than one controller in your lifetime from videogame frustration, this game might not be for you. Much like the old versions of Punch Out!!, this game is pretty hard and will most likely force you to fight each boxer multiple times (especially in the title defense mode). While you should (SHOULD!) knock out Glass Joe fairly easy, good luck trying to knock out the likes of Bald Bull, Soda Popinski or Mr. Sandman. This game forces you to recall decades-old information and know what to do when each character throws a certain punch. Dodge when Piston Hondo raises his eyebrow, punch when Soda Popinski is about to take a drink of his soda or duck when King Hippo goes in for his double-fist slam. This game really tests your reflexes and your memory.

I only have a few complaints in this otherwise perfect game. For one, it can be too difficult for its own good. Also, I was kind of upset to see that Mario had been replaced as the referee with some random guy — though we are treated to an appearance by another Nintendo character in a hidden fight. I would have liked to have seen more than just 13 opponents and more new ones as well. Giving us one new character was sort of cheap, and with the 30-plus original characters from previous Punch Out!! games, 13 is a bit low. Online play would have been GREAT, but it was sadly left out.

Nintendo revived an original title, knowing the fan base, and has made us (or me at least) more than happy. With appearances from original characters and a great fight system that has lasted since the original game in the series, Punch Out!! for the Wii takes the gold!