Punch-Out!: The Contender Mode

Contender Mode is where you'll begin your rise to the Punch-Out! championship. Little Mac has a humble beginning as a fallen former champion and then he must fight his way through three increasingly difficult circuits before facing the current champion, Mr. Sandman. If you get stuck on a certain opponent, you can exit to the main menu and select "Exhibition" to fight against a holographic verson of that character. You take no damage from holographic opponents, so you can get a feel for the opponent's timing and tells without worrying about being hit. Punch-Out! is a video game that could be considered for the list of the 5 best Wii games for hardcore fighters.

Little Mac's first set of fights won't give him too much trouble. Each fighter only has a handful of attacks and learning their patterns is easy. Think of these fighters as warm up fighters before things start to get really tough in the Major Circuit.

Glass Joe - Glass Joe is a Parisian with a record of 1 win and 99 loses, so he should be a good warm up for you. He's only 5' 10" and 110 pounds soaking wet and is a little old for a boxer at 38 years old. He's your first opponent in the Minor Circuit.

Consider Glass Joe to be your training dummy for learning how Punch-Out! works. His punches are slow, he lets you know when they're coming and he's not good at blocking. You should be able to easily knock Glass Joe out if you use all of Little Mac's skills. You need to practice all of Little Mac's skills to get better as you progress because you'll be facing tougher opponents with every victory. Punch-Out! is one of the 5 best Wii games for couples to spend a little quality time working out a few disagreements around the home.