Boxing Day And A Boxing Match

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Between a promise and a pun.

Some of you may recall that back in the Nintendo Direct in August, it was announced that Super Mario Bros. 3 would be coming on the Wii U Virtual Console by the end of 2013. We didn't really care much about it in our live reactions log, but it's the end of 2013 now and there is no Super Mario Bros. 3. Instead... we get a boxing game for Boxing Day: Super Punch-Out!!.

It's three against one here, apparently.

It's no secret that I'm a fan of the Punch-Out!! series. After all, there was this whole Punch-Out!! week thing that we also did in August. Funny how the announcement of Super Mario Bros. 3 was in August and Punch-Out!! week was also in August. Anyway, it's pretty clear that Nintendo has a sense of humour here. While Boxing Day has nothing to do with fighting people (well, it could, I guess, since it's a non-American version of Black Friday), it's still a pun to work with. So Super Punch-Out!! for all!

But wait... Nintendo promised Super Mario Bros. 3! How could they break their promise for the sake of humour?! It's also no secret that I'm not a fan of Super Mario Bros. 3, but...

Whoever designed my sprites up until AlphaDream really hated me.

Here at KoopaTV, we value two things above almost all else: The truth/honesty; and levity/a sense of humour. We try to incorporate both into our articles: We talk about the truth and the facts in facetious ways. So what do we side with in times like this when the two cannot work together and are at odds with one another?

That's a hard decision, so let's turn the situation on its head: Which benefits KoopaTV's agenda more: Super Mario Bros. 3 released as promised, or Super Punch-Out!! for the situational pun? And it so happens that the answer is clearly Super Punch-Out!!, because we at KoopaTV are promoting a game that we sponsored the creation of: Trayvon Tyson's Punch-Out!!.

But... couldn't the answer also be Super Mario Bros. 3? That's the game that made a lot of people Koopa fans as the Koopalings made our debut in that. If people are fans of Koopas, they're more likely to be sympathetic to our views and then become KoopaTV readers to satisfy their confirmation bias. It's obvious that more readers is more important to KoopaTV than more people playing our free game.

So in the end, it's the last round. Which is the better game? I've played through both thoroughly. The answer? I don't know, actually. Super Punch-Out!! is my least favourite game in the Punch-Out!! series (including Trayvon Tyson's Punch-Out!!, of course) while Super Mario Bros. 3 isn't... that horrible to play through. So is this a tie as well...?

I feel horrible for being unable to take a definitive stance on this. Perhaps it's up to you to decide. Be the referee! ...Or Judge Nelson, if you're playing Trayvon Tyson's Punch-Out!!.

If you have a stance to take on this, take to the comments!


Speaking of promoting games, click here for just that!
Super Mario Bros. 3 finally has a release date!
Ludwig compares his sprites across his first few sprite-based appearances.
Ludwig personally thanks AlphaDream for his one good sprite since Super Mario Bros. 3 did a poor job.