56. Super Punch-Out!!

(SNES/Wii Virtual, Nintendo IRD, 1994)
This list so far has been lacking in Nintendo games, I don't hate the big N, I just have MASSIVE problems with the whole way they do business and market their products. Let's not go into that for the sake of fanboy raging. Let's instead focus on one of their fine games.

Super Punch-Out!! is so frickin hardcore it has TWO exclamation marks in it's title, it's like a boxing game designed by Homer Simpson. As Little Mac, the player must make their way through four circuits and defeat each circuit's champion. Essentially an update of the NES classic, SPO features no realism whatsoever, with the opposition being caricatures performing crazy, over-the-top combos.
The player must defeat the opponent in three minutes by knockout, don't be looking to be saved by the bell in this one. It's a question of studying your opponent and reading his tactics, then learning when best to strike to stun your living punching bag for a staggering flurry of hits. Patience, memory and timing are the keys required for this game, which plays unlike any other boxer but is a whole lotta fun to bash through.

SPO looks nice with large, colourful, cartoony graphics and it has a crisp and simple control system that must be mastered if you don't want to find yourself looking at the lights repeatedly. The opponents are a creative range of wacky stereotypes, amusing in both their animations and their fighting styles.
Easy to pick-up and hard to master, Super Punch-Out!! is an example of everything Nintendo used to concentrate their efforts on with each and every game: fun concepts, great characters, addictive gameplay, good balance, lastability and that all important "One more go" factor.

Nowadays, a true Nintendo fan is lucky if the same care and attention is paid to one game a year. I'm glad I'm not a fanboy of the big N, for these are dark times for gamers, with Nintendo seemingly leading the charge for shovelling crap onto your favourite console and calling it ice-cream.
But this isn't forever, the trend will peak (it may already have) the fog will lift and the developers will come crawling back to their faithful long term supporters. The glossy TV ad people will have deserted and the trendy posers will have all sold their DSi and copy of WiiFit. When this happens, Nintendo can go back to doing what they used to do best, releasing five-star games like there's no tomorrow.

Ant n' Dec can suck my dick.