I don't know why, but I identify so much with this franchise, its urban feel. And it isn't particularly noteworthy in that regard, there are plenty of other games that are known for their urban themes, but I don't care about those games. I care about Punch-Out!!
Let me muse, here...
There's Super Mario. I am fascinated by his innocence, but also his sense of royalty and wonder. Super Mario Galaxy, the first game in the series I had really played from start to finish, disarmed me with its portrayal of the character, the first few images in the game are of him gliding down a path with his arms outstretched, backdropped against a star-lit sky. I never understood the appeal of the character until
that moment when the screen faded into the scene and the flute began its flutter. Super Mario Galaxy is more serious than many gamers realize.
I remember such crystalizing moments for a lot of my favorite video-game characters. For Little-Mac, it's the scene in which Mac, in a pink sweatsuit, jogs along a boardwalk, following Doc Louis on his bike. The camera follows the action by slowly panning to the left, and we see on the horizon generic scenes of urban New York, buildings and skyscrapers. Eventually, we see the Statue of Liberty. All of it is crudely rendered with 8-bit graphics, but, I don't know, it is all still very evocative. And it isn't nostalgia; I played this game for the first time on the Virtual Console. The scene is, well, in its own small way, inspiring to me. Here is this character, who, on some broad level, I identify with, and who is training for fights against opponents all much larger than him. And yet, it doesn't take itself too seriously, with Mac in a pink sweatsuit, which adds just a touch of humor, but also character, to the scene. And I'm not being melodramatic, either. Ask any other Punch-Out!! fan, and they'll tell you those scenes are worth playing for, not just because of the music, but also because its, well, badass.
I'm so familiar with playing in the Mushroom Kingdom, in Hyrule, in Zebes, and in Dream Land, that playing urban New York, even if a bit generically portrayed, was revelatory. Again, other games explore these themes in much greater depth, but none with Nintendo's style, which I happen to like very much.
So Little-Mac ought to be more of a Nintendo icon than he currently is, and more characters like him ought to be created. In many ways, actually, in pretty much all ways, he is the typical Nintendo hero. Like Link, all odds are against him, he must complete his journey largely on his own, and he must face his challenges with courage and nerve. But Little-Mac is a lot more like me, living in a world a lot more like mine. And he's cool. And he's...
FUCKING MEXICAN, NOW. HELL TO THE FUCKING YEAH!
...I would've killed for new fighters, but I'm sure Nintendo wants to milk this franchise for all it's worth, by reinventing the wheel and bringing back Mike Tyson's Punch-out with HD style graphics. I'll still buy it, but I hope we'll see more Punch-out clones in the future.