Punch-Out!!

Last updated
Punch-Out!!
Punch-Out!! series logo.png
Logo since 2009
Genre(s)
Developer(s)
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Creator(s) Genyo Takeda
Platform(s)
First release Punch-Out!!
February 17, 1984
Latest release Doc Louis's Punch-Out!!
October 27, 2009

Punch-Out!! [a] is a boxing video game series created by Genyo Takeda, and published by Nintendo. The player controls a boxer named Little Mac, who aims to become the World Video Boxing Association (W.V.B.A.) champion.

Contents

The original Punch-Out!! arcade game was first released in 1984, [1] and was quickly followed by a sequel, titled Super Punch-Out!! . The series received its first home console entry in 1987, with Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! for the Nintendo Entertainment System. In 1994, Super Punch-Out!! was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. While not a direct port, it features gameplay more similar to the arcade games, rather than its NES predecessor.

Following a period of dormancy, the series was rebooted with Punch-Out!! , first released in 2009 for the Wii, along with a Club Nintendo-exclusive prequel, Doc Louis's Punch-Out!! . The series has received critical and commercial acclaim, with the NES game selling three million copies alone. [2]

Spin-offs were also released, namely Punch-Out!! / Boxing (Game & Watch) in 1984, and Arm Wrestling in 1985.

Gameplay

Playing as Little Mac, a 17-year old boxer from the Bronx, the player must climb the ranks of the World Video Boxing Association (W.V.B.A.), and fight their way against other boxers from around the world, going from the Minor Circuit then the Major Circuit and then the World Circuit, while fighting challengers including Glass Joe, King Hippo, Piston Hondo, Don Flamenco, Bald Bull, Mr. Sandman, or in the original NES version, the former heavyweight boxing champion himself, Mike Tyson. Gameplay differs slightly between each game, but generally, Mac can attack using his left and right fists, performing either a hook, a dodge, or an uppercut. He can also dodge and block to avoid the opponent's attacks, the block dealing less damage. Many games in the series give the player a powerful uppercut ability; its use is limited, must be earned during matches, and is earned from well-timed punches or rapid combos, depending on the game.

The key to defeating each opponent is to learn their fighting patterns, avoid their attacks and respond with a counterattack. Opponents will always give a visual or audible cue to signal their next attack, though as the game progresses, the time given to the player to successfully react significantly decreases. If the player successfully dodges an attack, the opponent will be left vulnerable for a while, allowing the player to strike back. Little Mac can block some of his opponent's punches by holding up his gloves, but he will eventually tire out if he blocks too much.

Characters

List of games

Release timeline
Main entries in bold
1984 Punch-Out!! (Arcade)
Punch-Out!! / Boxing
Super Punch-Out!! (Arcade)
1985 Arm Wrestling
1986
1987 Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
1988–1993
1994 Super Punch-Out!! (SNES)
1995–2008
2009 Punch-Out!! (Wii)
Doc Louis's Punch-Out!!

Main series

Punch-Out!! (1984)

Punch-Out!! was first released on February 17, 1984 in Japan. [3] The concept originated as Nintendo had acquired an excessive number of video monitors following the success of Donkey Kong (1981). Tasked with creating a game that used two monitors per cabinet, Genyo Takeda of Nintendo R&D3 suggested they make a boxing game. [4] [5]

The game was re-released by Hamster as part of their Arcade Archives series in 2018 for Nintendo Switch. [6]

Super Punch-Out!! (1984)

Super Punch-Out!! was first released in September 1984 in Japan. Gameplay is mostly the same as its predecessor, though it introduced ducking as a defensive maneuver, and several new enemy characters.

The game was re-released by Hamster as part of their Arcade Archives series in 2020 for Nintendo Switch. [7]

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! was first released in September 1987 in Japan for the Nintendo Entertainment System, as a prize for winners of the Family Computer Golf: U.S. Course tournament. [8] [9] The game received its first retail release the following month in North America. It formally introduced Little Mac (who was unnamed in the previous games) and his trainer Doc Louis.

In 1990, the game was re-released as simply Punch-Out!!, with Mike Tyson replaced with fictional boxer Mr. Dream, due to the license for his likeness expiring. His loss of the heavyweight title to Buster Douglas made Nintendo choose to not renew the contract. [10] The game has since been re-released on Virtual Console for the Wii, Wii U, and Nintendo 3DS, as well as Nintendo Switch Online.

Super Punch-Out!! (1994)

Super Punch-Out!! was first released on October 24, 1994 in North America for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Although it shares the same name as the 1984 arcade game, it is not a direct port. However, it does feature mechanics that were absent in the NES game, such as the power meter. [11]

The game has since been re-released on Virtual Console for the Wii, Wii U, and New Nintendo 3DS, as well as Nintendo Switch Online.

Punch-Out!! (2009)

Punch-Out!! was first released on May 18, 2009 [12] in North America for the Wii. It is a reboot of the series, and the first to be developed by an outside studio, Next Level Games. [13]

The game was re-released on Virtual Console for the Wii U in 2015. [14]

Spin-offs

Punch-Out!! / Boxing

Boxing, known as Punch-Out!! in North America, was first released in July 1984 in Japan. It is the first game in the Micro Vs. Game & Watch line.

Arm Wrestling

Arm Wrestling was first released in 1985 in North America. The game was developed by Nintendo R&D3, the same team that developed the Punch-Out!! arcade games.

Doc Louis's Punch-Out!!

Doc Louis's Punch-Out!! was first released on October 27, 2009 in North America, for WiiWare as a Platinum reward for Club Nintendo members. The game is a prequel to Punch-Out!! (Wii), and features Little Mac sparring with his trainer Doc Louis. [15]

The game was briefly made available once more to Club Nintendo members in 2015, prior to the service's shutdown. [16]

In other games

Fight Night Round 2

Super Punch-Out!! (SNES) is included in the GameCube version of EA Sports's Fight Night Round 2 . Additionally, Little Mac, based on his appearance from the SNES game, can be unlocked as a playable character in the main game. [17]

Captain Rainbow

Little Mac made a cameo appearance in skip Ltd.'s Captain Rainbow , where the title character must help Little Mac get in shape to regain his championship title. [18]

Super Smash Bros. series

Little Mac first appeared as an assist trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl , before becoming a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U [19] and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate .

Appearances in other media

Punch-Out!! would get referenced in Family Guy on multiple occasions. In "Tales of a Former Sport Glory", during Peter's boxing fight for the title they use the sound effects from the Arcade ("Nintendo") Punch-Out!!, since they were "out of budget to take it (music) from the movie." In "A Fistful of Meg", when Meg goes to Quagmire to help get training, they re-enact the famous bicycle scene from Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!. And in "Not All Dogs go to Heaven", when Meg gets the family together to say grace and let's Peter lead, Peter prays to God for the cheat codes to Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, stating that he was stuck on Bald Bull for years.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie , co-produced by Nintendo and based on the company's Mario franchise, features a pizzeria in Brooklyn, New York City named after the Punch-Out!! series as a prominent location. Photos of characters from the games can also be seen inside the pizzeria. [20]

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: パンチアウト!!, Hepburn: Panchi-Auto!!

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Punch-Out!!, originally titled Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, is a 1987 boxing video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Part of the Punch-Out!! series, it is an adaptation of the arcade video games Punch-Out!! (1984) and Super Punch-Out!! (1984). Differences from the arcades include the addition of former undisputed world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson as the final boss. It received critical acclaim, and is retrospectively considered one of the greatest video games of all time.

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<i>Super Punch-Out!!</i> (1984 video game) 1984 video game

Super Punch-Out!! is a 1984 arcade boxing game by Nintendo. The sequel to Punch-Out!!, it follows the same format while adding several new features and characters. Along with punching, blocking and dodging, players also have the ability to duck. The game also saves and displays the three fastest knockout times, while the game's difficulty is increased.

<i>Super Punch-Out!!</i> 1994 video game

Super Punch-Out!! is a boxing video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was released on October 24, 1994 in North America and again in the same region in 1996. It was released in the United Kingdom on February 10, 1995 for the same console and in Japan in 1998 for the Super Famicom through the Nintendo Power flash RAM cartridge series. The game is also included in the GameCube version of Fight Night Round 2 as an extra game due to the inclusion of Little Mac in the game. The game was released for the Wii's Virtual Console in Europe on March 20, 2009, in North America on March 30, 2009, and in Japan on July 7, 2009. The game was also released on the New Nintendo 3DS eShop on May 5, 2016. Nintendo re-released Super Punch-Out!! in the United States in September 2017 as part of the company's Super NES Classic Edition. It is the fourth game in the Punch-Out!! series, taking place after the Punch-Out!! game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Mac</span> Main character of the Punch-Out video game series

Little Mac is a fictional boxer and the protagonist in Nintendo's Punch-Out!! series of video games. He first appeared as a nameless boxer in the Arcade game Punch-Out!!, then was given a name and redesigned in the NES game of the same name. He is the smallest and youngest of all the boxers in the games, being only 17 years old across all Punch-Out!! games. His signature attack is the "STAR Punch". His design was changed again for the SNES Super Punch-Out!!, but reverted to his NES appearance in the Wii title, which was then used in the Super Smash Bros. series. In the NES and Wii games, Little Mac is accompanied by Doc Louis, his trainer.

Punch-Out!! is a series of boxing video games created by Genyo Takeda and Makoto Wada, and published by Nintendo. The main protagonist and player character of the series is Little Mac, a short boxer from the Bronx who climbs the ranks of the fictional World Video Boxing Association (WVBA) by challenging various opponents. These opponents come from different countries and feature various ethnic stereotypes associated with their place of origin.

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References

  1. ↑ "The Evolution of Punch-Out!!". stoneagegamer.com. Archived from the original on 2024-04-05. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  2. ↑ "Nintendo has Singlehandedly has revived the video game industry". Albuquerque Journal . October 16, 1989. p. 13. Archived from the original on February 7, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ Akagi, Masumi (October 13, 2006). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) [Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005)] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. pp. 57, 128. ISBN   978-4990251215.
  4. ↑ Smallwood, Karl (2018-03-29). "This is Why Punch-Out!! Had Two Screens". Fact Fiend. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  5. ↑ "Iwata Asks: Punch Out - Part 1". Nintendo. Retrieved December 29, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ↑ Sal Romano (March 23, 2018). "Arcade Archives: Punch-Out!! announced for Switch". Gematsu.
  7. ↑ Mufsin Mahbub (August 16, 2020). "The Arcade Version Of Super Punch-Out Comes To Switch". TheGamer.
  8. ↑ "賞品版パンチアウト". Famicom Soft Collection (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 12, 2007. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Iwata Asks: Punch Out - Part 3". Nintendo. Retrieved December 29, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ↑ Baird, Scott (2020-05-13). "Mike Tyson Is Bringing Back Punch-Out (On His Terms)". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
  11. ↑ Thomas, Lucas M. (March 30, 2009). "Super Punch-Out!! Review". IGN . Archived from the original on April 2, 2009. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
  12. ↑ Ashcraft, Brian (February 26, 2009). "Nintendo's 120 Game Line-Up, Punch Out, Excitebots Dated". Kotaku. Archived from the original on March 1, 2009. Retrieved February 26, 2009.
  13. ↑ "Punch-Out!!". Next Level Games. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  14. ↑ Otero, Jose (January 14, 2015). "Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid Prime Trilogy Coming to Wii U". IGN . Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  15. ↑ Marcel van Duyn (July 14, 2009). "Take on Doc Louis in a Club Nintendo Exclusive Punch-Out!! Game". Nintendo life. Archived from the original on February 17, 2011.
  16. ↑ Seth G. Macy (February 2, 2015). "Here They Are: The Final Club Nintendo Rewards". IGN.
  17. ↑ Jeremy Dunham (February 24, 2005). "EA Sports Fight Night Round 2 (Review)". IGN.
  18. ↑ "IGN: Captain Rainbow". Wii.ign.com. Archived from the original on 2011-11-09. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
  19. ↑ Schreier, Jason (13 February 2014). "Smash Bros.' Newest Contestant: Punch-Out's Little Mac". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2014-02-14. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  20. ↑ Oddo, Marco Vito (2023-04-06). "Every 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' Easter Egg and Reference". Collider. Archived from the original on 2023-04-07. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
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