DigitalBattle.com

While Nintendo has had great success putting out an endless stream of games featuring Mario doing everything from administering medication to traveling through the cosmos (yet never doing any actual plumbing oddly enough) some of their characters have had very few outings. One of the biggest cult sensations on any Nintendo console was Punch-Out of the eight bit era. Players guided underdog boxer Little Mac through his career, with the best players eventually topping powerhouse Mike Tyson. While he’s put in cameo appearances in a few games since then, a SNES Punch-Out title was his only other starring appearance for a long time.

Now Nintendo is putting him back into the ring for the Wii and they’re celebrating this with a special event in the Nintendo store located in Rockefeller Center in New York City two days before the release. Fans of the series will be able to compete against each other in a single round elimination Punch-Out tournament (yes, the Wii version). The winner walks away with a customized World Video Boxing Association trophy, a Little Mac training sweatshirt and some other swag, including of course a copy of the game.

If you’re not interested in making a public spectacle of yourself you can stop by to pick up a copy of the game two days before the official launch, test it out on a kiosk or stroll down memory lane by playing one of the previous games via the virtual console. The event takes place from 1-4 pm on Saturday May 16th at 10 Rockefeller Plaza.