Punch-Out!!, originally named Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, is a 1987 boxing video game created and released by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It is part of the Punch-Out!! series and was based on the arcade games Punch-Out!! (1984) and Super Punch-Out!! (1984). One difference from the arcade versions is the inclusion of Mike Tyson, a former undisputed world heavyweight champion, as the final opponent in the game. The game was highly praised by critics and is now regarded as one of the greatest video games ever made.
Gameplay
Punch-Out!! is a video game featuring Little Mac, a young boxer who competes in the World Video Boxing Association. He fights through three circuits—Minor, Major, and World—by defeating opponents and winning championships in each. After completing these circuits, Little Mac faces a final "Dream Fight" against a skilled boxer. In the Gold Version, the final opponent is Super Macho Man, who also appeared in Super Punch-Out!!. In Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, the real-life boxer Mike Tyson was the final opponent. After his likeness rights ended in 1990, he was replaced by Mr. Dream in later versions of the game.
Little Mac has fewer moves than most opponents. He can throw left and right jabs, left and right body blows, and a powerful uppercut. The uppercut can only be used after earning a star, which happens when the player hits the opponent right before or after specific attacks. Players can earn up to three stars, but lose them if Mac is hit or knocked down. To defend, Mac can dodge left or right, duck, or block punches by raising his arms.
Little Mac has a heart counter that decreases when he is hit, blocks a punch, or throws a punch that the opponent dodges or blocks. When the counter reaches zero, Mac turns pink and appears tired, temporarily unable to attack but still able to dodge, duck, or block. He can regain some hearts and return to his normal color by avoiding the opponent’s punches. If Mac is knocked down, he loses all his hearts but can regain some by standing up.
A fight can end by knockout (KO) if a fighter cannot stand within ten seconds of being knocked down; by technical knockout (TKO) if a fighter is knocked down three times in one round; or by decision if the fight lasts three rounds without a clear winner. To win by decision, the player must score enough points by hitting the opponent. Some fights cannot be won by decision and will result in a loss if the opponent is not knocked out. Mac can stand up three times during a fight; if he is knocked down a fourth time, he loses by knockout.
If Mac loses his first fight to a ranked opponent, he can fight again. However, losing a Title Bout lowers his ranking—by one place in Minor or Major Circuits, or two places in the World Circuit. Losing a rematch lowers his ranking by one place (unless he is already at the bottom of his circuit), requiring him to fight again to climb back up. A third loss or losing the Dream Fight ends the game.
Little Mac faces 14 opponents: three in the Minor Circuit, four in the Major Circuit, six in the World Circuit, and either Mike Tyson or Mr. Dream. Most character designs are reused for two characters each, with changes to colors, heads, or special moves. Mario appears briefly as the referee. Three opponents from the Minor and Major Circuits return in the World Circuit with new attacks that require new strategies.
Development
Punch-Out!! was created by Nintendo Research & Development No. 3. Genyo Takeda, who was the producer of the original Punch-Out!! arcade games, directed the NES version. Because the NES had less power than the arcade machines, the developers could not copy the arcade’s graphics exactly. Instead of making the player’s boxer outlined or see-through to show the opponent, they made the player’s boxer smaller and gave him the name Little Mac. Little Mac is a 17-year-old boxer who weighs about 107 pounds. Each opponent in the game follows a specific pattern that players must learn through practice and memorization to defeat them.
The music played at the beginning and end of Punch-Out!! is called "Look Sharp-Be Sharp." This song was originally written by Mahlon Merrick for the radio and television show Gillette Cavalcade of Sports between 1942 and 1960. Most opponents in the game have their own music when they enter the ring, except for Bald Bull, Great Tiger, Mr. Sandman, and Mike Tyson / Mr. Dream. The music for other opponents often includes classical or folk songs from their home countries. For example, Glass Joe uses the French national anthem, "La Marseillaise." Von Kaiser and Super Macho Man use a piece from Richard Wagner’s "Ride of the Valkyries," possibly because the music was reused from another part of the game. Piston Honda uses a Japanese folk song called "Sakura." Don Flamenco’s music includes a part of "March of the Toreadors" from the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet. Soda Popinski’s music is a Russian folk song called "The Song of the Volga Boatmen."
Release
Before the public release of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, Nintendo released it in a gold-colored Famicom cartridge titled Punch-Out!! in Japan, without Mike Tyson, as a prize for participating in the Famicom Disk System's Family Computer Golf: U.S. Course tournament in September 1987. Ten thousand units were made—half were given to players who achieved the highest scores, and the other half were given as random prizes. The final opponent in this version is Super Macho Man, who also appears as the final opponent in the arcade game Super Punch-Out!!.
Nintendo of America’s founder and former president, Minoru Arakawa, attended a boxing match during the Heavyweight unification series that included Mike Tyson, who later became a champion. Arakawa was impressed by Tyson’s strength and skill, which inspired him to include Tyson’s likeness and the tournament in the game. Tyson was said to have received $50,000 over three years for allowing his image to be used. This decision was risky for Nintendo because it happened before Tyson won the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight championship from Trevor Berbick on November 22, 1986, which later increased the game’s popularity. Nintendo released the Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! version in Japan shortly after its release in North America.
In 1990 and 1991, the game was renamed Punch-Out!! and re-released in the United States and Europe, respectively. When Nintendo’s license to use Mike Tyson’s likeness expired, his image was replaced by a fictional character named Mr. Dream. This version of the game was used in all major re-releases, including the Virtual Console, Animal Crossing for GameCube, the NES Classic Edition, and the Nintendo Classics service. Mike Tyson humorously commented on the Nintendo Classics service.
Reception
By 1988, more than 2 million copies of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! were sold in North America. It was one of two Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) games to reach this sales milestone that year, along with The Legend of Zelda.
Critic reviews praised the game. In 1989, Computer and Video Games magazine described the NES version of "the great boxing arcade game" as having "big, beautifully drawn and animated characters, an excellent control method, and outstanding gameplay," calling it "definitely THE best boxing game available on any machine." ACE magazine in 1989 ranked it as the second highest-rated NES game, after Super Mario Bros.* The magazine said it "outperforms all other home boxing games on any console or computer" and noted that "even if Nintendo's hardware is not the most advanced, they can still create a great game on a cartridge."
A GameSpot reader poll ranked Punch-Out!! as the 6th greatest NES game. Nintendo Power magazine listed it as the 17th best game for a Nintendo system in its Top 200 Games list. In August 2008, Nintendo Power ranked it the sixth best NES game, praising its focus on arcade-style fun over realism. Historian Steve L. Kent called it the second major game of 1987. Author Nathan Lockard highlighted its graphics, violence, controls, and variety as reasons for its status as a "true classic" and one of the best NES games. In 2005, Punch-Out!! appeared on GameSpot's list of the greatest games of all time. Editor Shawn Laib of Den of Geek ranked it 7th among the 15 best NES games of all time, and Esquire writers Dom Nero and Cameron Sherrill ranked it fifth.
GamesRadar listed Punch-Out!! as the 11th best NES game ever made, calling it a "brilliant puzzle game [disguised] as a sports game." Game Informer ranked Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! as its 14th favorite game ever in 2001. The staff noted that no boxing game since has been as "beloved." IGN named it the 7th best NES game. Official Nintendo Magazine ranked the game 74th in a list of greatest Nintendo games.
In media
On October 29, 2014, during an episode of The Tonight Show, Mike Tyson was invited by host Jimmy Fallon to play a video game on live television. In the first round, the virtual version of Tyson defeated the real Tyson by TKO.
In Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 5, Episode "The Box," Detective Jake Peralta questions a murder suspect about the difficulty of defeating the Punch-Out!! character Great Tiger, who moves quickly around the ring. The suspect replies, "I beat him every time. You just punch him when he gets dizzy."
In Family Guy Season 7, Episode "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven," during a family grace, Peter asks God for "cheat codes for Mike Tyson's Punch-Out," explaining that he has "been stuck on Bald Bull for 4 years."