Punch-Out!!

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This article is about the arcade game. For the NES version which later used the same title, see Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!.

Punch-Out!!
Developer(s)	Nintendo
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release date(s)	1984
Genre(s)	Sports
Mode(s)	One player
Platform(s)	Arcade, Nintendo Entertainment System, Virtual Console Game & Watch, TI-83
Input	joystick; 3 buttons
Arcade cabinet	Upright
Arcade system(s)	CPU: Z80 3.072 MHz and a Namco 3-channel PSG for sounds.
Arcade display	Two 19" Raster horizontal monitors: standard resolution 224×288

Punch-Out!! is a 1984 arcade game by Nintendo. It is a boxing game with innovative gameplay. This game's gameplay and memorable digitized speech made it popular throughout the rest of the '80s.

1 Overview
2 Description
3 Legacy
4 Trivia
5 Other version
6 External links

[edit] Overview

In the game, the player assumes the role of a boxer attempting to work his way through the ranks. As the player defeats other boxers, he gains fame and repute and goes on to fight harder opponents. The player can even go on to win the Heavyweight Belt if they defeat all of the opponents.

[edit] Description

The player assumes the role of a green-haired boxer, known by three initials the player chooses when the game begins. During matches, the player's boxer is viewed from behind as a wireframe (so the opponents can be seen). The player must time his punches, dodges and blocks in order to defeat the opposing boxer. Hints are given as to the opponents next move by subtle eye changes (the white of the eyes turn from white to yellow), but the player must ultimately predict what moves the opponent will make and react appropriately.

The figures in the game are very cartoonish, but are very appropriate for the game's genre. The player faces a total of six opponents, in the following order:

Glass Joe
Piston Hurricane
Bald Bull
Kid Quick
Pizza Pasta
Mr. Sandman

Once the player defeats Mr. Sandman, the opponents repeat, with the exception of "Kid Quick". "Pizza Pasta" does not return after his second defeat. On each successive round the opponents are harder and quicker.

The player only has one round to land a KO, there is no TKO for multiple knock downs (though no boxer gets up from his third knock down anyway) nor is a win by decision possible, hence an automatic loss if time runs out. In the event the player loses, the computer controlled victor will taunt the player and the corner man for the player will usually try to entice the player to play again ("Come on, stand up and fight!") via the game's distinctive digitized speech. Players are only allowed one continue per play through. The game apparently has no end and loops forever.

The game is a modified upright. This game was unusual in that it requires two monitors, one atop the other, for the game's display. The top monitor is used to display statistics while the bottom one is the main game display (similar to Nintendo's Multi-Screen Game & Watch titles and today's Nintendo DS). Apart from this, the game is more or a less a standard upright. The game has a joystick and three buttons. Two buttons control left and right punches, one for each arm. A large button on the console is pressed to deliver an uppercut or knockout blow, though the blow can be delivered only if a certain number of normal punches are landed on the opponent, such that the "KO" indicator on the display reads full. When the indicator reads full, it flashes and the corner man's digitized speech encourages the player to "Put him away!"

[edit] Legacy

This game inspired two sequels and one spin-off game:

Boxing/Punch-Out!! (Game & Watch)
Super Punch-Out!! (Arcade)
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!/Punch-Out!! featuring Mr. Dream
Super Punch-Out!! (SNES)
Arm Wrestling (spin-off)

Punch Out!! is also available in the popular Animal Crossing series as an unlockable NES game.

[edit] Trivia

The game's title music, also heard in the arcade version of Super Punch-Out!! and the NES versions of Punch-Out!!, is actually the "Gillette Look Sharp March". This jingle, originally heard in Gillette radio and television commercials, was later used as the theme song to the Gillette Cavalcade of Sports, which aired boxing matches. The music can also be heard in the 1980 boxing related film Raging Bull during the scene where Jake LaMotta (as played by Robert De Niro) unveils his new nightclub.
Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Junior all appear in the audience
In the KLOV Top 100 and the best game in 1984.
In Episode Six, Season One of The Simpsons ("Moaning Lisa"), Bart and Homer play a boxing game similar to Punch Out with characters, movements and sounds mimicking the original 'Punch-Out!!' game.
Punch-Out!! was featured in the Nintendo Comics System. There were a few story comics based around Little Mac and other boxers from the NES version, and Mac briefly appears in the comic that introduces the story of Captain N, but doesn't appear in the Captain N stories himself.

[edit] Other version

This game inspired the development and release of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! for the Nintendo Entertainment System console in 1987. Several elements, such as opponents and their names, were changed for this version. In particular, professional boxer Mike Tyson was added as the game's final boss. The home game's graphics and gameplay are also significantly different, to the point it cannot be considered a direct port of the arcade Punch-Out!!. When the contract licensing the use of Mike Tyson's name in the console version expired, Nintendo removed Mike Tyson from the game re-releasing it as Punch-Out!!, though it bore no further resemblance to the arcade version. Although the SNES port that followed it was far more faithful to the arcade standup gameplay, it was not a direct port, either.