Punch out feels like an impossible game if you think about it.

It's the NES port of an arcade title that had to be drastically changed to its bones, so much so that the cardridges at the time had to receive extra space,

It starred one of the most influencal boxers ever, while still be able to portray its playstyle and personality despite the limitations of the NES.

It was able to take what where basically kinda racist caricatures like Glass Joe or Pitson Hondo and able to give them so much charm that are remembered to this day by thousands of people.

And it was able to take a game about boxing and make it so much more: each match and rematch feels like a monster hunter fight, where little mac goes against giants that can crush him in 2 hits.... but it is also a ryhthm game where you gotta tap and dodge to the bit, a series of puzzles where you gotta understand the way to open the enemy, and an endurance atch, both intimidating but addicting and thrilling..... it's sometimes also a propaganda where Doc Louis screams ad a dying Mac to join the nintendo fan club while he gets murdered by mr. Sandman.

Recently replayed on the NSO, and how much it is able to do I feel makes it stand up even to this day. An absolute classic that is still remembered and beloved form more than one reason.

This game has the most realistic boxing game mechanics as it involves getting punched in the face repeatedly, but you do get to dodge the punches to be able to punch the other guy in the face repeatedly till he gets punched in the face. Sometimes there is even a punching animation for one of the opponents. It's crazy. I think I am going to punch the screen now.

(Game is good up until you get to Super Macho Man and then it becomes bullshit. I guess it was the only way for you to beat up so many ethnicities back in the day, so people found charm in it or something.)

Retro Yearly List #13 [1987: Punch-Out!!]

This franchise never caught my attention enough to try playing its games, and I never did until now, one nice example of why I'm challenging myself with these retro challenges, hence, now I've just discovered a very nice game.

Some people tend to compare this with Dark Souls, not just because of difficulty, but due to the pattern-learning style of gameplay to beat the opponents, others say that it's a puzzle game disguised as a boxing game. I agree with both definitions, it's more than a sports game, this is a "practice makes perfect" type of game, (or "almost perfect").
Every opponent requires different strategies and will have to learn the hard way: trying and failing, tuning your reflexes in the process, you will have to react fast and faster once you reach the final challenges.

It truly gave me a good time to challenge myself, I managed to beat everyone fairly but Tyson, which I saved mid-match to progress, but I'm willing to try him the right way in some time, considering playing this on emulators is far worse than the original hardware due to the input lag.
Overall, the difficulty is fair and the learning curve is fine, the only opponent that got really on my nerves was Super Macho Man, but I managed to learn his secrets as well.

I just think there is a layer of repetition with the opponents, some of them will return for rematches and others have their sprites reused, even on completely different boxers. But overall the game is pretty good and I now understand its popularity, and I'm glad I finally learned to play this properly.

This is the best sports game so far that I have encountered during my challenge. Even though that it's more focus on goofy/ arcade style, this is still a really great game.

There's actual a story to this sports game : Little MAc (the main character) have met Doc Louis (coach) on pure chance. Doc started to train Mac and Mac started to enter the World Video Boxing Association. He goal is to beat everyone and challenge the champion of the league : Mike Tyson. This is not at all mentioned in the game and can only be learned in the booklet of the game.

The graphics are really nice. Since there's nothing in the background that moves, they could focus more on the opponents and little mac as well. You can also see Mario as the Ref in this game. The opponents looks really good and they all have some great design and personality to them, which is great.

The music is also a really great There's a neat that I learn form the title screen music : The song is an adaptation of a Gilette (the rasor brand) song that used to always pay during boxing matches in the 50's. The main song during the fight is really catchy and will probably be a earworm for a while after playing a lot of Punch out. Also, each fighters have their own intro songs when they enter the ring. This is a great touch.

The controls of the game are really good and responsive. You can dodge or block with the D-Pad, use B for a left punch and A button for a right punch. You can use the Up on the D-Pad while punching to aim the Face instead of the stomach.

For the mechanics of the game, each bosses have their own patterns that you will need to learn to beat them. This is a great way to learn the AI Behavior. When pushing at some specific timing, you can have a star, which can be used for an Uppercut. However, using the uppercut is not at the right place on the controller in my opinion. The select button is not instinctive to hit in the heat of the combat. You get used to it though.

You also have a cardio meter. This get depleted when getting one of your hit blocked or when blocking. When fully depleted, you need to dodge every hit that's coming and will receive more damage if you eat a punch.

My major complaint about this game is the last boss. Mike Tyson is simply way too hard in the first round. A single hit at the beginning of the match and you will see the floor instantly. That can be really frustrating and makes the match really hard. I don't mind a challenge in games, but a one-hit kill in that type of game is too much.

That being said, I really enjoy this game and will often play a couple of matches since the game is so fun and addicting. I recommend this game to be played by everyone. You don't need to try and beat it, but yo will find some fun to go the furthest possible.

Game #55 of my challenge.

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! has great re-playability with some good challenge to offer. You start in a boxing ring from Junior leagues, up to the World tournament (and in this version, against Mike Tyson himself as a final opponent!).

You juggle between your punches and dodging while trying to figure out how to send your opponent to the floor. Also, it becomes even more fun when you learn about different tricks and move sets on how to defeat your opponent quickly. I myself rediscovered how to go through this game with this guy's tutorials:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cd3fAwR6TQ&list=PLzJ3rxOw8cbgudowBFUF30UoyNswCdDON

Frankly, it's one of the most well programmed and well polished games on the NES out there. It's a simple, yet complex boxing game for such an old console. Nonetheless, it still delivers on the fun and challenge for players!

I hereby recommend this one as it became one of my favorites on the NES!

we’ve all heard countless urban legends about classic games: for example, that the mythical pokemon mew can be obtained not just by crosspromotional toys r us garbage but instead by using the perfect sequence of actions on an unassuming out-of-place truck. i think there’s something beautiful about these urban legends- they get at the hyper-idealized version of a game we imagine in our minds.

punch out is a game about these moments- if your enemy unleashes their signature move you can often get a huge opening by unleashing a perfectly timed parry. little mac’s sprite in a round break reflects the damage you’ve allowed to be wrought upon it during the previous round. when knocked down, you can stay down and risk getting an early ko called to regain just a bit more health when you get back up. listed matter-of-factly in glass joe’s profile, you can see that this ziploc bag of a guy somehow was able to serve up a single knockout. call it soul. call it attention to detail. call it whatever you want. it’s these touches that bring the actual aesthetic experience of a game closer to the fantasy that we’re anticipating when we pull the cartridge out of the box or load the rom up or what have you.

the word “immersive” gets thrown around a lot about games these days, reflecting a more general shift in values that instead of being a maximally “fun” experience in and of itself a game instead does all in its power to make you really feel like spiderman. NES games are typically not excellent at this- the system’s limited audiovisual memory often forces every resource to be rationed to convey the maximum possible gameplay information. but punch out is able to exude style and oomph that makes the experience not just tangible, but visceral. “racist boxing” may seem like a threadbare setting to put a player into, but when the game heats up and you hyperfixate on the smallest of movements of whatever jk rowling extra you’re put up against the zone you get into legitimately feels like you’re in a fucking street fight. the danger might be fake, but the adrenaline in your veins damn well isn’t.

smarter people than me have pointed out how punch out’s rhythm of watching, dodging, and opportunistically attacking preempts the developments the action genre would take over the next several decades but this compliment is often delivered alongside a complaint that punch out’s lategame is overtuned, much too hard. it’s not difficult to back up this argument, especially looking at the game’s final boss.

mike tyson truly earns his place on the box. this motherfucker could make a teamup of dracula, the yellow devil, and shadow link say “erm, maybe we’ll just get into an mmo.” iron mike spends the first full minute and a half- a full sixth of the time you’re given to beat him- launching instakill punches at you, many of them delayed or hastened to throw you off of any groove you may be desperately clinging on to. the following sections of the fight increase the amount of openings you have, but they also widen the gamut of possible moves and patterns you’re expected to react to. frankly, beating punch out requires dedication that will elude most players. but i’m honestly a little surprised that this is still seen as an objective fault. punch out is from the ancient and nearly extinct land of the arcade, where games don’t necessarily have to be beaten to be enjoyed. the idea of playing a video game to finish it, finishing it, and being done is not the end-all be-all philosophy of interacting with a game. mike tyson is the DREAM FIGHT, just seeing him is akin to encountering a cryptid, let alone beating him. for most people, the game is about honing yourself on the remaining cast of characters in the game, becoming steadily more confident and experimental as you push yourself deeper and deeper into the roster. it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet of boxing action

but if you do make it to iron mike, and you’re able to survive past his initial rush of instakill punches and make it into the subsequent rounds, you’re granted some rare respite. for the briefest of moments, he will lean back and blink a few times, and you can punch him to earn a star punch. but, if you hold off, and punch in the last 3 frames of his blinking, he’ll simply fall to the mat. the tightness of this timing cannot be understated- even when using a save state placed right before to specifically see it, it can take several tries. but in the midst of one of the tensest fights in gaming, the game humbly offers you the opportunity to have your own, private, EVO moment.

Punch Out always fascinated me, it's one of those games you hear a lot about but have never played for yourself. So I decided to dedicate my time going through and beating every single title (There's only 3 not counting the inaccessible arcade one) and after finally beating this game without doing a billy mitchell I can say definitely, i'm a fan.
This is an old NES game, which if you're well inversed with these types of games it means they're hard, unforgiving, and brutal. Meant to keep you playing constantly. And yeah, this game is really hard. If you use save states I feel like you're not getting the true punch out experience, you need to feel those highs of finally beating that tough boxer you struggled on for days. (for me it was the sand man) and it's the greatest feeling once you do conquer the challenge.
While there's still some flaws in this games core design and its not the best entry, it's still a fun and enjoyable time learning the bosses and how to counter their movements. A game where only the best can step up to the plate, you either go big or go home. And for someone with the name "Little Mac" he goes nowhere but big.