I see two big arguments against online showing up here. One is that online multiplayer shouldn't be done because it adds nothing to the game, and the other is that it cannot be done due to technical limitations in networking.
The first argument doesn't make any sense to me. Nintendo obviously feels that multiplayer does add something to the game, since they've decided to include a local multiplayer option. Unlike some games, I don't see how a fighting game loses all of its appeal if the players are sitting in different rooms, so if Punch Out!! really is worth playing multiplayer, it should be worth playing online. If online multiplayer is no fun than local shouldn't be either, and Nintendo shouldn't have included it in the game (*cough* Metroid Prime 2).
The second argument is flat out false. Punch Out!! is a fighting game. Yes, lag does terrible things to fighting games, but that hasn't stopped several fighting games this generation from building viable online modes, including Nintendo's own Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Online fighting games have limitations, but those limitations should be manageable.
"The worst part about these reviews is they are [subjective]--and their scores often depend on how drunk you got the media at a Street Fighter event." — Mona Hamilton, Capcom Senior VP of Marketing
*Image indefinitely borrowed from BrainBoxLtd without his consent.
