The game features the boxer Little Mac who is coached by Doc Louis. The game took you through three circuits, the Minor Circuit, Major Circuit, and the World Circuit. Mac has to notice each fighter's patterns and hit them when possible. If Mac hits an opponent by surprise, he earns a star. A star can be used for a super uppercut that, when done properly, can cause a knockout. Mac also can become tired if he loses too many hearts by hitting an opponent while they guard.
The goal is to either knock out the opponent so many times that he can't get back up which earns a knockout, or KO, from the referee, Mario. If a boxer knocks down his opponent three times in one round, a technical knock-out, or TKO, is called. There are three rounds. If the timer runs out in all three rounds, a decision will be made based on how many knock-downs a boxer has made.
Each opponent is cartoonish and enjoyably flamboyant. Each hails from a different country and is based on common stereotypes of that country. However, like Mario's stereotypical Italian speech patterns, the stereotypes are not portrayed in a way to offend. There are three boxers in the Minor Circuit, starting with Glass Joe, which lives up to his name. The Major Circuit has four boxers beginning with the super-flamboyant Don Flamenco. The World Circuit has six boxers, including three that fight Mac for the first time and three rematches from the Major and Minor circuits. There are ten boxers total in the three circuits.
The original Famicom version is different from all of the other versions, It ends with the World Circuit boxer Super Macho Man (sadly not related to Randy Savage). A newspaper is displayed touting Little Mac's triumph. In the other two versions of the game, after the newspaper, there is an eleventh boxer Mac fights in The Dream Fight. This version was released for the Nintendo Switch Online Famicom emulator.
The first version released on the Nintendo Entertainment System was Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! This version had Little Mac fight the then-heavyweight champion of the world, Mike Tyson. This fight was harder than all of the others since you could not get a KO on him and if you went through all of the stages, the judges would usually declare Tyson the winner. You had to have a TKO, knocking him down three times in one round before the three-minute timer ran out.
The last version was Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream. This version still featured the Dream Fight, except this time the boxer matched the theme as he was named Mr. Dream. He was an edit of Mike Tyson, making the boxer a caucasian man with perfect teeth. This is the version that is usually released nowadays, such as on the NES Classic Edition and the Nintendo Switch Online Nintendo Entertainment System emulator.
Punch-Out!! is a classic that can still be enjoyed, especially with the rewind and save features of the modern Nintendo emulators on the NES Classic Edition and Nintendo Switch Online. The characters are humorous and the animations are silly and enjoyable. It does give you a sense of satisfaction once you figure out the patterns of the boxers, and it is a lot more fun in Nintendo's emulators because you can save and load instead of using passwords. If you don't mind NES-era graphics, it's worth playing.
Final Verdict:
4 out of 5
| Super Punch-Out!! Review Coming Soon | Doc Louis's Punch-Out!! Review |
| All Night Nippon Super Bros. Review | Super Mario Bros. 2 Review |
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