Time to teach this turkey how to jive!

Remember that time that I boasted about how I would beat Matt at the new Punch Out for the Wii? I didn't realize what I was getting myself into with that claim. I forgot that my husband was once a video game-obsessed adolescent.

I forgot that during that time he spent hours upon hours playing this game, memorizing every secret and trick, perfecting his form and rhythm.

I must've been playing with Barbies or fighting with my friends or talking on the phone. My brother and I did spend many hours playing the original Mike Tyson's Punch Out, but I didn't sear every part of the game into my memory, and I'm not sure that I ever cared as much as Matt did. I think it's a gender thing. Plus, my memory's getting kind of crappy these days.

Matt kicked my ass. He owns me in this game, and I don't know that I'll ever have the coordination, drive, or tolerance to get to the point where I'll beat him. But I'm up for the challenge.

Here to provide a quick review of the game is Matt, boxing extraordinaire:

This game is way more fun than it should be. I think the reason is that it may be the perfect juxtaposition of technology and nostalgia. I honestly believe that if some time traveler had walked into my house and given me this game when I was 9 and playing the original Punch Out I would have passed out. It is a lot harder than the original Punch Out, both because of the changes they have made in the competition and because pushing a and b is simpler than punching with two hands while pressing like six different buttons. I would never actually recommend anyone buy this game because I think its appeal is probably limited to me and a handful of people like me. Anyone can have some amount of fun with it, but for me and those of my specific age and gender group, it actually evokes powerful memories that cause me to stay up way too late fake punching people on my TV.