Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
Nintendo Entertainment System
Nostalgia Factor:
Ahh, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! I wanted to do something special for my 500th video game review. Why not pick the game that may have singlehandedly gotten me hooked on video games when I was a kid? When the family first got our Nintendo Entertainment System, it came with the usual Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt combo cartridge. But we also got Punch-Out on the side. This was the game that I put the most time and effort into. I had already played through Super Mario Bros before, while Duck Hunt never really excited me that much. This game was new territory.
I poured so much time into this game. They had to pry me away from the NES to go play outside or do something else. It was the first time I remember being hooked on a game and giving it my complete attention. I became really good at the game. It was just so fun, with its big and colorful cast of characters and all the different tactics you needed in order to defeat them in battle. I loved it so much.
Believe it or not, I did end up eventually beating the game. I did it a couple of times, too. But it was always very difficult to pull off. Mike Tyson's difficulty is legendary among retro video game fans. But I did it, darn it. As a young kid, too!
I haven't played the game in a very, very long time. It's the year 2024. I'd say I last played it on my NES in the early 90s. I did end up emulating the game in 2006 or so, but I never was able to complete it. I remember still loving it, though. That was the last time I had played the game. So that means about 18 years have passed since my last attempt to beat this game. The life span of a whole grown up individual. Geez! I'm feeling older and more decrepit every day.
Anyway, as I said, I always love to pick a game that means something to me whenever I have a milestone review. And this is my 500th review. I couldn't think of a better game to play than something I've loved for so many years, and something that really cemented me as a gamer for life when I was a young kid huddled in front of the big boxy television set in the 1980s.
Let's dive into Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! and see if it holds up as well as I think it will.
Story:
There isn't much of a story here, which is to be expected. You play as Little Mac, a 17 year old boxer who is new to the boxing circuit. You must fight your way through the various ranks of boxers until you face off against the greatest of them all at the end of the game: Mike Tyson. Beat him, and you become the new champ.
It's a very basic storyline, but the colorful cast of characters and the workout scenes with your personal trainer give the game a ton of personality.
Gameplay:
This was the part of the game I was worried about the most when I came back to revisit it. Would the gameplay still hold up? Turns out I had nothing to worry about, as it most definitely holds up.
Playing as Little Mac, you have to make your way through 13 different boxing matchups. Beat Mike Tyson at the end and you beat the game. Things start out very easily with Glass Joe. This is to help teach you the mechanics of the game. As the game progresses, things get harder and harder to the point where its difficulty has become a thing of legend.
Action takes place from a behind the back perspective. This is one of the first games I can remember playing that wasn't isometric or a side scroller. The A and B buttons throw right and left punches. Press them while holding up to aim for your opponent's head. Left and right on the d-pad makes your character perform a side-step move. This is essential for avoiding enemy attacks. The down button blocks. You can tap down twice to do a backwards evasive maneuver as well. If you hit an enemy and it makes a star appear above his head, this earns you a special uppercut move, good for one use. Activate it by pressing the start button. It delivers extra damage if you can get the punch to land. Be aware, however, that it is very slow and can be easily dodged by the enemy. It's best to use it when the enemy is stunned after getting punched in the face.
The entire game revolves around memorizing your enemies' attack patterns and strategizing around them. You can't just go after an enemy with a constant barrage of punches and expect to win the fight. It might work with Glass Joe, but not with anyone else. You have to learn to dodge enemy attacks and counter them accordingly.
I've heard this game described as sort of a rhythm game, and I can kinda see that. Some enemies, especially later in the game, don't have strong "tells" when they are going to attack, and a lot of my dodging and blocking was a result of guesswork or getting into a rhythm with my dodges. Wait a second, dodge, wait a second, dodge, wait a second, dodge, okay now you can hit him! If you're off by even a fraction of a second, the enemy could strike you and throw everything off.
All 13 fighters have different attack patterns that you must exploit if you want to have any chance of beating this game. Some of the later fights are absolutely brutal in their difficulty. Everyone knows about Mike Tyson, but Sandman was always someone who gave me fits as a kid. I remember I always struggled with the Great Tiger as well. He has this move where you have to block successfully five times in a row, and it ALWAYS tripped me up when I was a kid. I could just never get that timing right.
I played this game for two straight nights before I finally was able to beat it. Not gonna lie, I may or may not have resorted to "save scumming" during some of those last few fights. I have no doubt that I could have beaten the game without cheating if I had dedicated another night or two to it. After beating the game, I came back and started from the beginning without save scumming and made it a good portion of the way through the game before I had to turn it off for bed time. If I could do it as a kid, with no internet and no save states, I could do it as an adult.
I can easily see myself continuing to play this game, even though I'm officially "done" with it now after writing this review. If I need something to play for ten minutes, why not throw on Punch-Out? If I am between games and I can't think of a new one to start, how about running through Punch-Out one more time? I can guarantee you it will not fall out of my gaming rotation for another 18 years.
Graphics:
Maybe I am just biased but I still think the game looks really good. It may not look like much from the screenshots. I'll admit it is a very basic looking game. But the detail put into the characters is always something I've found impressive. The cast of fighters is big, and they all have their fun and unique looks and personalities.
The short cutscenes with Little Mac training are something I've always found impressive, too. It is one of the first NES games I've played with cutscenes and I just remember thinking they were so fun when I was a kid. Honestly, they do add a lot of charm to this game. Punch-Out wouldn't be the same without 'em!
Sound:
I absolutely love this game's soundtrack. As soon as I turned it on and heard that sweet introduction music, it brought back a flood of warm memories to my brain. The fight music is great. The intro music before each fight is great. I love how some of the fighters have their own personal intro music. One of the guys even has this super awesome, villainous laugh.
Shout out to the music during the training segments as well. They didn't have to go that hard, but they did anyway. This has to be one of the best and most iconic NES soundtracks out there.
Overall:
I had such a fun time with this game. I don't know why I was so resistant to coming back and playing through it again. I think maybe it had to do with the game's legendary difficulty level. It's tough, yeah, but it really isn't that bad. A lot of memorization and pattern recognition. If you put a lot of time and effort into the game, you'll be able to figure it out though.
Aside from being fun to play, the game just oozes classic retro charm. The music, the graphics, the sound effects, the cutscenes, just the overall presentation of the game is absolutely wonderful. This is peak NES gaming right here.
I came into this review thinking I'd give it just an A. But after seeing in words how much I enjoyed this game and how much it meant to me growing up, I think it would be a disservice to give it anything but an A+. It is a truly fantastic game, and one of the absolute best NES titles out there. If you love NES gaming and you have never played Punch-Out, you are doing yourself a massive, massive disservice. It's an all-time classic and I couldn't have dreamed of a single game I'd rather review for #500 than this.
THE GRADE:
A+
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