Punch-Out!!

In the relatively short lifespan of video games, Punch-Out!! is practically a dinosaur. It first appeared as an arcade game way back in 1984 and later was released for Nintendo with Mike Tyson branding. Now it’s available for the Wii (minus Mike Tyson.) Just like in the original, you play Lil’ Mac, a boxer working his way up the ranks. He’s scrappy but more built than he was in his arcade days. For a game whose title commands you to do bodily harm, Punch-Out!! is pretty tame. The fights are joyfully cartoonish—when you knock out the French adversary, baguettes and croissants rain down on the ring; King Hippo’s pants fall down when you land a good punch. There’s no blood, just some bruises and black eyes, as Looney Tunes-style birdies circle. Like many Wii games, Punch-Out!! doesn’t just let you sit there and zone out—you’re moving around and getting an arm workout instead of just tapping your thumbs. In fact, it’s downright tiring.

Kids will enjoy playing Lil’ Mac, whose size doesn’t keep him from dominating. The winsome touches take you only so far, though—at the end of the day, the kids will still be raining blows. Worse is the way the game celebrates the sore winner, with crowing and gloating galore. Still, if your child is begging for a game to work out some aggression, and you don’t want to Just Say No, you could do much worse than Punch-Out!!.