Now, here’s a game that will bring any Nintendo fan back to his roots. After a 15-year hiatus, the classic Punch-Out!! franchise is back with Next Level Games’ release for the Nintendo Wii.

As in the previous two Punch-Out!! games, you assume the role of Little Mac as he boxes a series of increasingly difficult and outlandish fighters from around the world. Fans of the series will be happy to see that most of the boxers in the game are from the originals, such as the wobbly Frenchman Glass Joe or the German smasher Von Kaiser. Even your personal trainer Doc Louis returns, though his real interest always seems to be getting you to join Club Nintendo!

Though Punch-Out!! gets a lot of its game play and style from its predecessors, its adaptation onto the Wii offers some cool features. The Wii controllers allow players to jab and punch like a boxer, and the revitalized graphics create a fun cartoon experience.

Another new feature of this Punch-Out!! is a multi-player option where players can now take on each other head-to-head in a split-screen setting. If one player starts doing really well in the round, then his character will become much larger and the setting will change to an intimidating single-player screen view.

The best part about Punch-Out!! is the nostalgic experience it brings. There are very few owners of the original Nintendo who did not play the first version of this game, and seeing all of their favorite characters in a new cartoon 3D mode is really neat.

That isn’t to say that newcomers won’t enjoy the game. The same learn-as-you-go style and downright funny characters that made the original popular return in the new Punch-Out!! So whether you’re getting back into a game that you haven’t seen in a while or just trying something new, Punch-Out!! is definitely worth a shot.

By Joe Legato