Little Mac Attack
A Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! Review
Genre: Sports
Number of Players: 1
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: October 1987 (US), November 21, 1987 (JP), December 15, 1987 (EU)
Platform: Nintendo
Also Available On: NES Classic Edition, Nintendo Switch Online (as Punch-Out!! on both platforms; Mike Tyson not included)
I discovered the Punch-Out!! series through Big Brother (my actual brother, not the reality show). Each summer in the late 80s, he and Big Sister (my actual sister, not the BioShock 2 character) were sent to spend time with the grandparents in North Carolina. Our cousin also lived there, and he and Big Brother would play Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!.
Between him reading about it in Nintendo Power magazine and seeing it in our local Electronics Boutique store (aka GameStop), Big Brother saw to it that the game eventually found its way into our home at some point between 1991 and 1992, when I was in first grade.
Before we go any further, let’s address the obvious. Yes, like Super Mario Bros., Tetris, and The Legend of Zelda, Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! is one of those NES games that often gets attention, perhaps ad nauseam for the casual observer. It is frequently on somebody’s top list of best NES games.
Rest assured that this piece wasn’t written simply to parrot well-known sentiments we’ve heard a million times over. But objectively speaking, it’s rather impressive how well the game has held up over the years. And let’s face it — everyone loves an underdog story.
You play the role of 17-year-old Little Mac — a 107-pound kid from The Bronx who wants to be the next World Video Boxing Association's champion. But to do that, Mac is going to face-off with heavyweights twice his size. That's where you come in. Help Little Mac work his way through the minor circuit, major circuit, world circuit, and finally to the dream match with Mike Tyson himself (or Mr. Dream in regular Punch-Out!!).
Similar to its arcade roots, Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! encourages defensive strategy over relentless offense. Sure, the opening match with Glass Joe is the throwaway fight, allowing you to land easy face jabs and body blows while giving minimal thought to strategy. Getting caught by a stray hook isn’t a serious cause for alarm at this point in the game. He’s a lightweight and goes down for the count easily enough. But once you reach the first title bout with Piston Honda (and each contender after), the road to victory isn’t as straightforward.
The game’s fun factor is due in no small measure to the intuitive controls. Little Mac can deal right and left body blows (or face jabs when holding the up direction) with the A and B buttons, dodge left or right with the directional pad, block (hold the down direction), and duck (double tap down on the directional pad). Everything feels responsive and fluid. It’s precisely what you’ll need as you go up against the heavy hitters on your way to Tyson.
If you manage to sucker punch an opponent, Little Mac gains a star, granting him the ability to throw an uppercut by pressing the start button. It’s fun to do, but also leaves him open to attack if it's mistimed or your opponent simply dodges it. He also has a heart counter representing his fighting spirit.
Each time Mac absorbs a blow (either by blocking or taking a hit), he loses a heart. You’ll want to keep an eye on that counter during the match. If it gets down to zero, he’ll be too tired to fight and can only regain strength by dodging or ducking to gain hearts again.
The general rules of the game are truncated versions of the real-life sport. Each match lasts a maximum of three rounds, three knockdowns for a TKO, or one knockout. Short, sweet, and to the point. You’ll want to do your best to put away an opponent before the end of the final round. Otherwise, referee Mario steps in to announce the winner, and he sometimes decides in favor of your opponent.
Patience and paying attention to opponents’ attack patterns are paramount. Each fight has a cadence that must be observed for optimal results. Most contenders are deceptively intimidating in size and raw power. But they all have a visual cue (a brief flash around their silhouette) or Achilles' heel that can be exploited.
Perhaps the most infamous example is King Hippo. He appears to be invincible, blocking every hit effortlessly. Fighters like Bald Bull and Super Macho Man can make quick work of you, delivering one-hit knockdowns if their special uppercuts or haymakers connect. But once you catch on to their rhythm and respond with precise countermoves, things get interesting. No longer are they the untouchable powerhouse they want you to believe they are.
But that doesn’t mean the game will be a walk in the park either. As you make your way up through the major circuit and especially the world circuit, the margin of error and window to exploit an enemy's weakness narrows considerably. A good example of this is the fight with Mr. Sandman. First off, you know this guy is trouble when he shows off with his razor uppercuts before the match starts, and they are quite devastating if you don’t dodge immediately after the cue.
Equally as endearing as the gameplay mechanics in Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! are the characters in the game. Certain opponents stretch the meaning of boxing with special attacks that are better suited in the flashy world of wrestling (especially the WWF era). It's fun to read what some opponents say between rounds. They can do some real trash-talking, like Soda Popinski’s line, "I can't drive, so I'm gonna walk all over you.”
What’s most interesting about opponents like Piston Honda and Don Flamingo is the nuanced changes to their fighting style when facing them for a second time in later matches. While they have the same basic move sets as before, the timing of their attacks and countermoves is different.
In the second match with Bald Bull, you can’t knock him down with simple jabs and body blows, even if you completely wear down his stamina meter. It forces you to think on your feet and find a solution outside of just repeating the same strategy you relied on in previous bouts. Or you could just join the Nintendo Fun Club. I’m sure it’ll work wonders.
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While Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! is nearly perfect in its execution, there is one glaring omission I must point out. There’s no pause function. It's particularly baffling since the select button had no functions mapped to it. It could have easily been used as the pause button (or be the uppercut button instead, freeing up the start key as the traditional facilitator of the pause function).
Perhaps the rationale was that pausing would interrupt the player's rhythm and could therefore cause them to lose when unpausing the action. However, I don’t think it warranted omitting a means to pause the game during a match. That’s just a theory, of course. However, it’s odd that the function wasn’t included, even though the ability to pause was well established in Nintendo’s other in-house developed games up to that point.
Overall, the controls are spot on, the music is excellent, and the game's overall presentation is flawless. If you don't yet have Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, it would make a great addition to your NES library. And if you can't find the Mike Tyson version, just go for plain 'ol Punch-Out!! (currently available on the Nintendo Switch Online service). It’s just as good.
I’ll end this review with another personal anecdote. At some point in the 2nd grade, my parents noticed an uptick in fights I was getting into at school. Worried that I was being influenced by seeing cartoonish characters trade blows on the NES, Big Brother was forced to give up Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! in favor of something else.
Little did we know that it would lead to him to a game that remains one of my personal NES favorites to this day. But that’s a story for another time.
Question for the audience: Who’s your favorite or most annoying Punch-Out!! opponent?
Never noticed there's no pause functionality. I wonder if they thought it would be too easy, as being able to pause mid-fight might take away from the frantic action and give you a chance to plan your next move.
Don Flamingo is one of the truly great 80s names.