Punchout Returns in Style

The Wii remake of the classic Nintendo game Punchout!! blends frantic, addictive gameplay with some of the funniest character animation ever to grace a game.

My favorite games usually involve the chance to interact with memorable, well-animated characters. Punchout delivers this experience at a level of polish, intensity and charm that can only be matched by Nintendo's own Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

Punchout's a different animal, though. While Brawl revels in chaos and on-the-fly strategy, Punchout works almost like a quick-reflex puzzle game. Each fighter has his own mannerisms and attacks: Some punches cannot be countered, and some leave the character wide open to a fist in the face or belly. Visual and audible clues in the character's taunts and windups give you a split-second reveal of the incoming attack. If you can react quickly enough, and keep your attention sharp as the fight increases in speed and complexity, you will win.

Most likely, winning will take a while, with later fights needing to be repeated over and over as you:

1) Figure out the fighter's patterns and clues
2) Practice until you can respond quickly enough

That second point is the kicker, as Punchout is brutally unforgiving: Badly-timed moves lead to merciless pummelings for your character, Little Mac. Persistence, alertness, and lots of trial and error lead to victory.

Fortunately, Punchout is incredibly fun to play. The Thirteen opponents (plus one hidden cameo) form the most entertaining gaggle of pompous, egotistical meatheads to ever grace a game. As they strut, preen, boast and taunt, you can't help but smile. You'll chuckle later as they panic and lose their composure once you've discovered their weaknesses. Along the way, you'll find yourself involuntarily laughing and shouting out loud: Punchout truly becomes an immersive, emotion-grabbing thrill ride.

At its best, Nintendo delivers games that "click" on a level of sheer entertainment rarely matched by other companies. Bravo to Next Level Games (whose talented crew brilliantly crafted this remake for the big "N"), and welcome back, Punchout!!

Excitebots: Weird, Wonderful Nintendo

Nintendo is the Wonka Chocolate Factory of the video game industry.

No other game company can top Nintendo's knack for suddenly unveiling wonderfully bizarre games--Perplexing titles no one expected, arriving out of nowhere and delivering some of the best gameplay ever conceived.

Excitebots has arrived. Nintendo, I love you.

Here's a game where you travel the globe to race large robotic animals at 200 m.p.h. across wild off-road courses. That's not the weird part.

The robotic animals morph during the race: They roll on wheels, run on mechanical legs, swing around posts with robotic arms, and glide through the air. And, with time, they can dress up like cowboys, punk rockers and ballerinas.

That's not the weird part, either.

While piloting the robots, you will also be bowling, throwing darts, punting footballs, shooting soccer goals, making sandwiches, hurling pies at evil clowns, fishing, shaking off giant denture attacks, rescuing butterflies, smacking home runs and playing poker.

Yes, that's the weird part.

Now, I could be wrong, but I don't think anyone has ever combined racing and poker into one game before. Amazingly, it works. In fact, it's a blast, and the controls are easy to learn. Excitebots is one of the most thrilling, addictive and insanely enjoyable games I've ever played. If you own a Wii, check this thing out.

Now, excuse me. I need to earn enough stars to dress up my awesome hummingbird bot in an airline pilot costume.

Animal Crossing

Animal Crossing's concept sounds dreadful, but--like so many Nintendo creations--once you actually sit down and play the thing, it unfolds as a charming, funny and incredibly entertaining experience.

With the Wii incarnation marking the franchise's third release in several years, Animal Crossing is a non-game in which you move to a small village and...well...collect seashells and pick fruit. You also spread rumors, start trends, save the local museum, get annoyed with your neighbors, and hit rocks with a shovel in hopes that money might fly out. Thanks to sharp style and gobs of good, weird humor, this is all a hundred times more fun than it sounds.

Imagine a cross between the TV classic The Prisoner and Richard Scary's Busy Town. You begin life in your one-of-a-kind randomly-generated village by working to pay off your mortgage to the notorious Mr. Tom Nook. He's a human-sized raccoon. The mayor's a tortoise, dogs are cops, an owl runs the museum, a huge mustachioed pigeon tends bar at the coffee house, and your random assortment of ever-changing neighbors run the gamut from horses to mice and kabuki-faced cats. Each and every one of these villagers has a distinct personality, and that's where the charm of Animal Crossing shines. This was the original "game that plays even when you're not there." Using the system's internal clock as a reference, the game changes and updates what's happening in the village each time you boot up, creating an effective illusion that life in the place continues in your absence. Stay away too long and you might return to find your house infested with cockroaches, which you'll have to stamp out. Neighbors come and go (you can influence this). Special events happen weekly, monthly and annually. A fan favorite takes place every Saturday night at Brewster's coffee bar: The whimsical and incredibly cool folk singing dog, K.K. Rider, performs a song of your choosing, after which you can take home a recording to listen to on a virtual tape player.

The game has minor goals--Earn money, upgrade your house, improve the village, collect stuff, catch rare fish, donate fossils to the museum--but Animal Crossing is best enjoyed for what it is: A relaxing, surreal, good-humored trip to a fantasy vacation spot, meant to be enjoyed in short bursts. It won't change anyone's life or challenge anyone's reflexes...but it certainly makes people smile.