Whether it's former boxers like Sugar Ray Robinson or Muhammad Ali, or even current boxers like Manny Pacquiao(nicknamed Pac-Man!), there have been many well known boxers in real life.
What about the video game world though, who is the best known video game boxer?
Well, I think Little Mac is the best known video game boxer, and the one with the longest track record in games.
Little Mac first debuted on home consoles in 1987 in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! for the NES, and then his career was revived in 1994 with the release of Super Punch-Out!! for the SNES.
Nearly 15 years had passed since Super Punch-Out!!, when Little Mac came out of retirement and starred in Punch-Out!! for the Nintendo Wii in May 2009.
While real life boxers spend many hours in the ring during their careers, how many hours has Little Mac spent in the boxing ring with 659 days of data reported, since he returned to it in Punch-Out!! in 2009? Let's take a look!
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| Hours are for the United States of America Wii owners, not world-wide. |
Approx. Number of Players Reporting Data:
Punch-Out!! has approximately 156,418 Wii owners reporting their game-play data through the Wii's Nintendo Channel.
Reporting Player Increase:
How many more players are reporting their play-time data for Punch-Out!!, since a December 2009 ,report?
Punch-Out!! has seen an increase of about 87,598 more players reporting game-play data, since that 2009 report.
Average & Total Game-Play Hours Reported:
Punch-Out!! has 1,662,448 Total Hours of game-play reported, an increase of 979,502 Total Hours in the last 463 days reported; and Punch-Out!!'s average play-time is 10 Hours 37 Minutes "Per person" reporting data.
The average boxing time(play-time) per session for Punch-Out!! is just over 1 Hour 25 Minutes.
Sale Rank & Advertised Price:
Punch-Out!!'s
Amazon.com sale rank is #714, and it's currently selling for $43.37 from a third party vendor.(Sale rank and advertised price recorded around 8:45PM on 3-13-11)
Review Score Averages:
Punch-Out!!'s "professional" review score average is 87.66%, based on 47 reviews on GameRankings.com.
Punch-Out!! has a 4.5 out of 5 Stars rating on Amazon.com, based on 123 customer reviews.
Punch-Out!!'s customer review score average is 86.34%, when converted to a 100% review scale.
(Review score averages recorded around 8:45PM on 3-13-11)
Odd Bean:
A boxing match typically consists of 12 rounds, with each round lasting 3 minutes. The boxers get a one minute break between each round, so total ring time could be 48 minutes if the match lasts the full 12 rounds with a judges' decision.
Based on 48 minutes for a full 12 rounds of boxing, Little Mac's average time in the ring "Per person" reporting data would be equivalent to a little over thirteen, twelve round, boxing matches.
Filtered Thoughts:
I really enjoyed Punch-Out!! on the NES when I played it as a child, and I have enjoyed my time with the Virtual Console version...even though I haven't beat Mr. Dream yet!
I was excited when they announced the new Punch-Out!! for the Wii, but after reading more about the game, it seemed to be more of a graphically updated NES Punch-Out!! for the Wii, than a fully re-imagined game for the series.
I still haven't played Punch-Out!! on the Wii, but I do know they added some features to the game such as Wii Balance Board support, and Wii Remote and Nunchuk controls, as well as adding new boxers to the game's roster. The game's "Title Defense Mode" also seems like a nice addition from what I know it, basically being a harder difficulty setting that is unlocked after completing the game, with the boxers you faced earlier in Little Mac's career now having new moves, and/or defenses, to learn.
While I understand the idea, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!", from what I know of Punch-Out!! on the Wii, it just seems like it was played safe by Nintendo, and developer Next Level Games. Perhaps I'm wrong, and Punch-Out!! on the Wii is easily worth the MSRP of $49.99?
If you haven't seen any footage of Punch-Out!! on the Wii, here's a trailer that shows off several of the boxers in the game Little Mac faces, as well as some of the boxers as they appear in the game's Title Defense Mode:
Questions:
Did any of you purchase Punch-Out!! on the Wii, and think the game is worth, or not worth, the asking price of $49.99? If so, leave a comment letting us know why you think it is, and about how many hours of game-play you have gotten out of the game. If you don't think Punch-Out!! is worth the $49.99, what price do you think the game is worth?
If anybody is interested in Punch-Out!! for the Wii, you can see prices for it on Amazon.com linked below:
