Mike Tyson's Punch Out is everything that is right with retro gaming. It's a game that doesn't have a plot outside of "get to the top and win!" and honestly, it doesn't need anything more than that.
This is a game I walked into expecting to be a fairly unimaginative boxing game, one where the difficulty would continue to increase with not much else to focus on. Instead, Punch-Out grabs every positive aspect of third-generation gaming and places it front and foremost.
Gameplay: The NES controller is not a very complicated one, with only its two red buttons and control-pad, but Punch-Out makes sure to not only use every button and combination possible but to insure that it's useful in helping you fight and feel in control. The people you fight gradually increase in difficulty in ways that are unique to the character themselves. You know to watch out for Piston Honda's Piston Punch, and you learn how to prepare yourself for the Great Tiger's teleportation trick. Small tips and tricks in both the background and forefront add to the fun and make the seemingly too difficult to defeat enemies quickly switch to easy as pie once you learn their quirk. It's incredibly rewarding to do. Additionally, it was obvious to me once I started playing that Little Mac is "little" Mac specifically because it helps in the gameplay to more easily see the opponent without your own player's body blocking everything. Having Mac simply be a short underdog not only graphically works better than the see-through aspect of the original arcade Punch-Out, but adds a small bit of character to our protag that makes him more endearing.
Speaking of story...
Story + Character Design: Mike Tyson's Punch-Out is a game that came out when systems were just learning how to juggle between arcade-like gameplay aspects and the ability to add more lore to the medium than ever before. For the first time, a game didn't need to jam-pack the manual in order for the player to get a story with their game, they could simply turn it on and have everything they needed. The screens in-between each fight give a background and personality for each fighter, which not only gives the added fun of identity to an enemy, but allows you to get hints of how to find their special weakness without it being blatantly spelled out for you. It can understandably be argued that the characters themselves are a bit offensive in stereotypes that only grew in uncomfortablity as time went on, but as a Mexican I can easily say I've never seen a proper stuck-up "head-up-their-own-ass" Spanish stereotype done as well in a video game as Don Flamenco was (haha).
It's an odd game to expect to give body positive kudos towards with the entire cast ranging from lighter to extremely obese fighters, though all can easily beat you to a pulp (except for Glass Joe-) if you don't learn their tricks. Even Little Mac himself is a positive representation that shorter men aren't something to immediately laugh at. Sure, King Hippo is the obvious "haha, look he's so fat," joke that seemed to pop up everywhere in the 80's, but the first time he's able to suck one on you, instantly depleting your health bar by half, you'll find you are no longer not taking him as a proper threat.
Mike Tyson not only being the final boss, but the actual title of the game, is one of the few examples where celebrity marketing made the game significantly BETTER. Everyone knew who Mike Tyson was, who didn't? The man was a BEAST, anyone who watched him in the ring would know that. Seeing him as the final boss with his name on the title of the game? That's all you needed to know that this game was going to kick your ass, and that he in the game successfully does that. Mike Tyson to this day continues to be listed as one of the most difficult to beat final bosses ever created, with his eventual replacement of Mr. Dream barely getting more than a fun-fact mention.
Overall, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out is nothing less than a masterpiece, and one of the few retro games that I beg people to put aside the money and if possible purchase the physical copy in order to experience the game as it was intended.
The game was a perfect prize when it first came out in 1987 and it continues to hold the title of a 5 star game almost 30 years later.
This is a game I walked into expecting to be a fairly unimaginative boxing game, one where the difficulty would continue to increase with not much else to focus on. Instead, Punch-Out grabs every positive aspect of third-generation gaming and places it front and foremost.
Gameplay: The NES controller is not a very complicated one, with only its two red buttons and control-pad, but Punch-Out makes sure to not only use every button and combination possible but to insure that it's useful in helping you fight and feel in control. The people you fight gradually increase in difficulty in ways that are unique to the character themselves. You know to watch out for Piston Honda's Piston Punch, and you learn how to prepare yourself for the Great Tiger's teleportation trick. Small tips and tricks in both the background and forefront add to the fun and make the seemingly too difficult to defeat enemies quickly switch to easy as pie once you learn their quirk. It's incredibly rewarding to do. Additionally, it was obvious to me once I started playing that Little Mac is "little" Mac specifically because it helps in the gameplay to more easily see the opponent without your own player's body blocking everything. Having Mac simply be a short underdog not only graphically works better than the see-through aspect of the original arcade Punch-Out, but adds a small bit of character to our protag that makes him more endearing.
Speaking of story...
Story + Character Design: Mike Tyson's Punch-Out is a game that came out when systems were just learning how to juggle between arcade-like gameplay aspects and the ability to add more lore to the medium than ever before. For the first time, a game didn't need to jam-pack the manual in order for the player to get a story with their game, they could simply turn it on and have everything they needed. The screens in-between each fight give a background and personality for each fighter, which not only gives the added fun of identity to an enemy, but allows you to get hints of how to find their special weakness without it being blatantly spelled out for you. It can understandably be argued that the characters themselves are a bit offensive in stereotypes that only grew in uncomfortablity as time went on, but as a Mexican I can easily say I've never seen a proper stuck-up "head-up-their-own-ass" Spanish stereotype done as well in a video game as Don Flamenco was (haha).
It's an odd game to expect to give body positive kudos towards with the entire cast ranging from lighter to extremely obese fighters, though all can easily beat you to a pulp (except for Glass Joe-) if you don't learn their tricks. Even Little Mac himself is a positive representation that shorter men aren't something to immediately laugh at. Sure, King Hippo is the obvious "haha, look he's so fat," joke that seemed to pop up everywhere in the 80's, but the first time he's able to suck one on you, instantly depleting your health bar by half, you'll find you are no longer not taking him as a proper threat.
Mike Tyson not only being the final boss, but the actual title of the game, is one of the few examples where celebrity marketing made the game significantly BETTER. Everyone knew who Mike Tyson was, who didn't? The man was a BEAST, anyone who watched him in the ring would know that. Seeing him as the final boss with his name on the title of the game? That's all you needed to know that this game was going to kick your ass, and that he in the game successfully does that. Mike Tyson to this day continues to be listed as one of the most difficult to beat final bosses ever created, with his eventual replacement of Mr. Dream barely getting more than a fun-fact mention.
Overall, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out is nothing less than a masterpiece, and one of the few retro games that I beg people to put aside the money and if possible purchase the physical copy in order to experience the game as it was intended.
The game was a perfect prize when it first came out in 1987 and it continues to hold the title of a 5 star game almost 30 years later.