Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!

The Good
I'll start this review by stating that I am simply not a sports game fan. That aside, this still remains one of my favorite NES games of all time. This holds to Nintendo's ability to make an entertaining game back in their glory days.

Mike Tyson's career behavior not withstanding, the game offers a colorful selection of characters with personality, instead of two palette-swapped fighters blandly pounding away at each other. Each character was different, fully animated and entertaining. Same went for all of the little nods to the company, from the amusing Mario cameo, to Doc's advising Little Mac to join the Nintendo Fun Club (Pre-Nintendo Power). Even Little Mac himself had a bit of spirit to him, which kept him from being the generic boxer found in the arcade.

The music was simple, and as unforgettable as it might have been, it stays with you, same as the majority of classic themes from those old 8-bit games. The sounds are basic, with bleeps for laughter and grunts, but again, it works.

Gameplay is where it excels. The game is simply FUN. Never before or since has there been a boxing game as entertaining to me as Punch-Out!! The gameplay is rock solid, and even when you learn all the strategies and secrets, it's still fun to blow through over and over again. It's one of those classics that simply remains at its heart a great game, and never loses what made it special in the first place.

The Bad
Every boxer is different. And while the early ones are easy, the later ones can get cheap. Especially when they unrelentingly pound on you, or take you down in one hit (Mike Tyson).

And while battery save games were still finding their way from novel to mainstream, I have never been a password fan. The passwords in Punch-Out!! are not as bad as some games that came out, but it was still a tedious process to put in codes when you were ready to go.

Regardless of its issues, there's not enough to really bring this game down.

The Bottom Line
Punch-Out!!, like Kid Icarus, is a franchise that screams for an update. It got a SNES sequel, and Little Mac has recently made an appearance in Electronic Arts' Fight Night Round 2, but the series either needs a Game Boy Advance, conversion, a fighter appearance in the next Smash Bros. game, or an all new title on the next system.

Regular Punch-Out!! is just fine. But Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! - For all the hype and controversy it got back in the day, it remains a true classic.

The Good
Now, mind you, I was six. This was years before I discovered the internet, and the internal workings of a video game, and how to rate control schemes, and, most importantly, replayability. Before I even knew what the notion of playing games over meant, I completely personified it by wearing the copper out on my M.T.P.O. cartridge. I played this title like Mike locked himself in a room with my mom and demanded for me to finish the game before he opened it. I was focused, I was passionate, and I would not quit. Unfortunately for my mother, she's still Kid Dynamite's proverbial captive, but I'm going to beat it, I promise. It's just that pleasurably difficult. It's simple, you start by kicking the snot outta glass joe, and you end by watching Super Macho Man wipe the floor with you. If you're some of the chosen few who can win the Major World Circuit title, and face Tyson, then you belong to a select fraternity of gentlemen. Have you ever seen two jeeps pass each other on the road? Ever see them wave at each other? That's the jeep fraternity. Every jeep owner waves at every other jeep owner, I don't know why, but it happens. Now watch for people who aren't in jeeps waving at each other. I guarantee you that's people who've beaten Mike Tyson's Punch Out. They just know; there's a mutual acknowlegement of how they carry themselves. It's like climbing Everest. Tyson took you down in one punch, even if you blocked it. It didn't matter. If you beat him; you were god. No, seriously, a tiny angel greeted you, and informed you that the land was overrun by monsters, and it was your job to slay them. But alas, Actraiser is another review for another time.

The Bad
Great Tiger. Forget how easy he is, once you learn how to beat him. Forget how much harder Bald Bull, Sandman, Super Macho Man, and Tyson are. When you first fought Great Tiger, when you first got spanked by Great Tiger, when the guy disappeared and started kicking your ass in blurs, y'all stood up and said, "Badass."

Oh, yeah, and bringing back Piston Honda, Don Flamenco, and Bald Bull in the last circuit was pretty cop-outish, I thought. Still great fights, but logically, if you beat them, how do they show up later fighting a champion they've already lost to?

The Bottom Line
If you own an NES, there are a few, key must-own games that define the system. This is inarguably on that list.

The Good
Mike Tyson was one the best Boxers of all time through 1986-1990. He was a dominant power house in the boxing ring and the greatest, until Buster Douglas knocked him out in Tokyo in 1990. Though he still boxes now, he's a mere shadow of his former self. Ear bitings, facial tattoos and racial abuse outbursts, oh and major bankruptcy... that's all he is known for now. But his most substantial contribution from his former legacy may not be his boxing in an actual ring, but a digitized one, and that is Mike Tyson's Punch out, without a doubt one of the greatest games of all time. If not the most fun, truly a game that gets better with age.

The first thing I liked was the main character Little Mac, a scrawny little man stepping in the ring with the professionals of pain and punishment. He has a long road to face the champ, but with the help of his trainer and a little blood and sweat, he might actually make it. Mac's attacks are standard fare at first, left and right jabs of sorts. As you damage your opponent, your power meter raises. When it's full (if you time it right) you can land one hell of a devastating Knock Out Punch, which, if your opponent is knocked down three times, delivers victory.

Another cool thing are your opponents, such as The Sandman, Soda Pop Pinski, Don Flamingo and my favorite: Bob Bull. Each character has its own special abilities and tactics in fighting styles. Don Flamingo, for instance, is an uppercut guy. He'll try to land a couple on you to weaken your health, then step back. He does a little cha cha, then lands a devastating uppercut. Bob Bull, on the other hand, will land some obvious jabs to weaken you, then step back, charge and uppercut you to unconsciousness.

All Opponents have two distinct attacks: a light and heavy one (both of which can knock you out). The light one, if connected, can consist of a combination flurry. The heavy is the bad one, which if connected, well...you're in dream world. There are however ways to avoid these attack and use them to counter attack your opponent and knock them out.

The cutscenes between matches are classic moments in video game history, especially when you're running with your trainer passing by the statue of liberty. Mario is another highlight in the game as the referee. The music and sound were also nicely handled, especially Mario's talking in the ring.

When you finally reach Mike, it's both an accomplishment and an ordeal. It'll take practice, skill and luck to defeat him, but if you succeed you'll pass one of the toughest bosses in video game history. You won't do it in one shot, however, that's why you need to practice, which is why the best thing of the game is the ability to use password codes to return to your original fight. And that'll come in handy when you face Mike. Very Handy indeed.

The Bad
The password codes are extremely long and are difficult to to input, due to the up and down letter selector. You can also save a game manually and reload it, but sometimes loading can take a half a minute and there is no guarantees the saved game will still be there the next time you play.

The Bottom Line
A boxing game starring Mike Tyson and the main character, Little Mac, trying to move up through the ranks of boxing to face the Mike Tyson himself to become the champ.

The Good
It is so hard to write about a game I'm so fond of. I guess usually it is easier to speak about things we like, but I don't know, it is as if the game has so much good things that I don't know how to start... or maybe I'm just blind by the love I have for it, heh.

Well, about the graphics. This game is just beautiful! Remember the lack of color that most NES titles used to have? Remember when you compared the same game on NES and on other similar platforms and thought: well, the NES version is a bit colorless, a bit "tasteless"? Well, this game came out just for the NES, but you need no comparison to see how beautiful it is. Maybe because there's not much else to show besides a ring, two fighters, a referee and a crowd. Nonetheless, the game looks so colorful, the characters are so well designed, that I'm not exaggerating when I say this game is among the most beautiful games that came out for the NES. Even Mike Tyson looks really like Mike Tyson (and they didn't use a digitized image)!

The characters are also unforgettable. I mean, if you played it enough to go a bit far in the game, you'll surely remember them: Glass Joe (the French guy who teaches you how to fight), Von Kaiser (the German guy with a mustache and really tight pants), Piston Honda (the scary Japanese guy), King Hippo (with his ever falling pants), Don Flamenco (the dancing narcissistic guy), Great Tiger (the Indian magician), Bald Bull (and his bull charge), Soda Popinski (the drunk Russian), Mr. Sandman (that guy really gives you nightmares) and Super Macho Man (the freak with dancing breast muscles). Ok, maybe you didn't go that far, 'cause this isn't an easy game (we'll talk about that latter), but you surely will remember the characters you fought. Every one of them has his single punches and special moves, every one has his tips and flaws. They sometimes share features, but they're truly unique. Not to mention your coach, Doc Louis (the perfect retired boxer), the referee (none other than Mario) and Little Mac, your own character.

The gameplay is also perfect. I really like when developers try to take everything that they can from a controller. You use all the directions in the d-pad in a very intuitive way, dodging, blocking, punching your opponents face' and abdomen. Also, you have to alternate right and left punches (A and B buttons) so you can "lock" your opponent on a series of punches. You will even forget that nor your character neither you opponent move around the ring. Learning your opponents moves is really fun, and if you get them right, you'll be mastering the game in no time.

The sound is pretty good also. There's only one tune for the battle, but it's a really nice tune. As said in other review, the training cutscene tune, played when you become champion of a league, is unforgettable.

And I'd like to point out the fact that Mike Tyson in this game is really a cool thing! Back then, Mike wasn't yet what he's now, he was just the greatest boxer in the world. Having him on a game was a really cool thing, at least for me, at my 11. It is just ironic that the title screen said "let's keep it clean" and you remember the whole bitten ear stuff.

The Bad
Humm, that's a tough one. Actually, maybe this game is a bit too hard close to the end. Mr. Sandman is a really tough guy, and I can count on my fingers how many times I've beat him. The same goes to Super Macho Man, who I recall being a bit easier, but not that I've beat him many times also. Of course, I never beat Mike Tyson, and just getting there was sort of finishing the game...

The Bottom Line
This is a classic. This game taught me to like boxing games (I loved to play a lot of them afterwards). How to describe it? Simply the best boxing game on the NES, even if it isn't close to the real thing (actually, maybe none sports game can be).

The Good
Any sense of realism is quickly abandoned the second you beat Glass Joe and you are set up against the most stereotypical German ever, followed by a guy from Japan who can only speak in words like "Honda" "Kamikaze" and a few car brands. I don't like realism, so it's funny to see a game throw it overboard like this and sailing away on the S.S. Sillyness (why isn't sillyness a word?!?). The stereotypes just keep flying at you and the game reaches it's top when you have to fight against an Arabian magician.

The controls are really fluent and fast with only the special ability been bound to the start button (why in the world would you choose start for this?), aside from that one stupid choice you will easily learn how to dodge and attack while fighting Glass Joe (no tutorial needed). It feels pretty awesome to successfully dodge somebody and then give them the uppercut and the best thing is that you don't need any weird combo moves to pull such a thing off.

The graphics absolutely blow my mind every time I see them, seriously just play Super Mario Bros. for a few minutes and then switch to this game, it looks like you just jumped eight bits forward. Characters look awesome, there is a crowd in the back and it has a cut-scene where Little Mac jogs through New York City and you can see the statue of liberty on the background. That is just amazing, I can't even begin to imagine how they managed to fit this on a NES-cartridge.

The Bad
Opponents never stay the down, they always climb back to their feet and the only way I ever beat them was through TKO (taking them down three times in just one round). It doesn't bother me too much since I still made it to the magician guy and almost beyond, but it just feels off that somebody still stands up within ten seconds after he got punched down eight times in just a few minutes. It gets a little problematic when fighting the characters who require a special tactic because you can't really take them down fast enough most of the time.

The Bottom Line
Punch-Out!! is a funny game with a lot of character to it, realism is keelhauled several seconds in, the graphics are breathtaking and the gameplay works perfect, so I don't know who wouldn't enjoy this game. The only people I can't recommend this game to are the ones who are looking for something casual and easy to play because this game tends to be very hard and requires multiple sessions in order to get past certain parts. If you can handle a little challenge, then this game is definitely worth checking out.

The Good
I played this game 15 years ago and I thought it was really hard. I was 10 or 12 at the time. I just recently started playing it again, and guess what? It's still hard! The game is incredibly simple, but it's still entertaining and fun even today.

The Bad
I still can't beat Mike Tyson! It's been over a decade, and he still punches me out and then winks at me.

The Bottom Line
This one is a collector's item. If you still have a functioning NES, you'll want to find yourself a copy. It's solid gold.