Arcade Archives Super Punch-Out!!

Genre: Sports (Boxing)

Players: 1

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Review:

Super Punch-Out!! Is a Boxing game released in arcades in 1984, a direct sequel to the original Punch-Out!! released earlier that same year. When Nintendo released the home version of the original Punch-Out!! on Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987, three of this game’s five fighters were incorporated into that game’s roster of opponents, though Super Punch-Out!! never really received its own port to home platforms. In 1994, Nintendo released a game titled Super Punch-Out!! on the Super Nintendo, which included a roster of fighters that once again encompassed both games, along with improved visuals… though once again it wouldn’t really be accurate to call that release a port of this game. Still to this day, the arcade release of Super Punch-Out!! remains its own thing.

Well… to be fair, it may be more accurate to say that the arcade version of Super Punch-Out!! is really just a re-release of the arcade version of Punch-Out!! but with a different roster of fighters. This release retains the same two-monitor setup, the same visual style, the same controls and gameplay, and the same green wire frame representation of your character.

Once again, despite the game’s age, the pixel art here is surprisingly expressive and detailed, with the game’s large, colorful characters animating in various ways as they fight. This is joined by some decent digitized voice work, and simple chiptune sounds and music. While this game is not up to modern standards, it’s still well beyond what the Nintendo Entertainment System was capable of handling at the time.

As noted a moment ago, the original arcade game featured two screens, which are shown here by default side-by-side, split-screen, with one showing the action and the other showing your health, time, and stats. This release does allow players to change around how these screens are displayed, including a sideways “Tate mode” for those playing the game in portable mode who can set the Nintendo Switch down sideways on a table… perhaps the most ideal way to play the game if you’re really looking to replicate the original experience. However, all of these feel like imperfect solutions, though I’m not sure there’s going to be a better way to do this on a single-screen platform.

In terms of gameplay, the arcade version of Super Punch-Out!! Has a lot of the same positive and negative qualities as the arcade version of the original Punch-Out!! – Compared to the then-contemporary Nintendo Entertainment System, this game was visually-impressive for its time, but it lacked the improved controls and much more reasonable difficulty curve that the series received in home releases. As a result, the home releases are both more accessible, and quite simply more fun.

However, Super Punch-Out!! has multiple issues that its predecessor didn’t. Firstly, the original game’s already-slim roster being reduced from six to five here makes this game’s content feel even more anemic. Secondly, being the second game makes this release far less impactful than the first, and the re-used visuals and gameplay make this feel even more of an insignificant release. And thirdly, when comparing this game to its namesake on a home platform (admittedly an unfair comparison in this case), the arcade version of Super Punch-Out!! comes up short in every way – the Super Nintendo release bearing the same title not only has more well-crafted gameplay and a great deal more content, but it also features much better graphics and sound.

This release of the game includes a new “Hi-Score Mode” that challenges players to make as many points as they can in one run. There is also a new “Caravan Mode” that does much the same, but with the limit being five minutes. In addition, this release of the game gives players a decent array of options, including various display options (some of which I’ve already mentioned), sound options, challenge modifiers, button mapping, and online leaderboards.

So there are only two remaining elephants in the room to discuss. First: Is this game worth its $8 price tag? And second, is it worth buying if you already subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online, which includes multiple games that can arguably be said to be home versions of this game on its Nintendo Entertainment System app and Super Nintendo Entertainment System app? For me, I feel like the answer to both questions is “not really, no”. This game simultaneously feels like a retread of the prior arcade game, graphically inferior to the Super Nintendo game bearing the same title, and features worse gameplay and less content than pretty much every other game in the series.

The arcade version of Super Punch-Out!! is a good Boxing game, and fans of this franchise may still find this release worth getting as a curiosity, but most players will find it difficult to see the appeal of this game – it’s a retread of its predecessor with less content, the gameplay isn’t as good as the home console releases in the series, and this game has the least amount of content of any game in the franchise. In short, this version of this game is quite possibly the worst game in the Punch-Out!! franchise, and while it’s still quite good in its own right, it feels like players on the Nintendo Switch have multiple better options.

tl;dr – This version of Super Punch-Out!!, not to be confused with the very different Super Nintendo game bearing the same title, is a decent Boxing game, but its value is undercut by the fact that it’s a retread of the previous arcade game, its gameplay isn’t as refined as later entries in the franchise, and it has the least amount of content of any game in the series. While series fans may enjoy this as a curiosity, pretty much every other game in the Punch-Out!! franchise is superior to this one.

Grade: C

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