Hardcore Nintendo fans have been grumbling this generation, and most would say rightfully so; the Wii updates to beloved franchises like Super Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, and Super Smash Bros. have been rehashes--and sometimes downgrades--of games seen last generation. Even The Legend of Zelda: Twlight Princess wasn't much more than a prettier Ocarina of Time. But Nintendo knows what bones to throw to the hardcore, and they throw them well. Take the upcoming Punch-Out, for example; old-school Nintendo fanboys have been heralding it as the Wii equivalent of The Second Coming, despite the fact that it's merely a pretty remake of a game they played 20 years ago. For Nintendo, this is a win-win situation--after all, they can keep the most vocal minority of their fanbase happy while appealing to the casuals who will no doubt buy this game en masse. But to the impartial observer, the freak-out over this long-awaited sequel calls into question just how much we're willing to forgive when something repeatedly jabs at our nostalgia Hooksexup.
Before the hate starts a-flowin' let me say that I'm super-psyched for Punch-Out, but I still have a healthy dose of skepticism. While the game looks (and reportedly plays) like it was developed internally, if the reports of it being no more complex than the original Punch-Out are true, I'm going to be a tad disappointed. With Super Punch Out, the better but less-iconic sequel, Nintendo realized that the puzzle-fighting of the original game could only be stretched so far, so they added only a degree of fisticuff complexity along with boxers which had a much larger variety of moves. All in all, a perfect game, and a logical conclusion to the Punch Out series. But this new game looks to provide a more accessible and familiar experience at the cost of everything that made the sequel so great.
For now, I'm hoping that the gameplay impressions I've been getting from podcasts and the like will be improved upon with some in-depth previews sometime this month. Until then, I'm going to be a big, stinky curmudgeon about Punch Out, mostly because I hate fun. Please forgive me.
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