Retro-Review: Mike Tyson’s Punch Out!! (NES)

punch out nes

Overview:

Who doesn’t love Punch Out? I don’t think I know a single person. When Punch Out was first released it was widely regarded as the single best and most innovative boxing game available. Period. Here we are, over 20 years later and it’s still one of the funnest games out there. If you’ve never played Punch Out, you can download it on the Wii’s Virtual Console for 5 bucks and score yourself endless fun.

Review:

Gameplay:
In Mike Tyson’s Punch Out your goal is to climb your way through the boxing championship ranks all the way up to the legendary Mike Tyson himself. Of course after Tyson turned out to be a flesh eating zombie they had to change the game’s name to Punch Out Featuring Mr. Dream and Mr. Tyson was promptly removed from the game. Which sucks, I love zombies.

The control scheme in Punch Out was one of the most revolutionary features of the game. A simple push of the A or B button throws Mac’s left or right fist, respectively, aim high or low with up or down on the d-pad, build up enough energy for an extremely powerful punch and press Select to deliver it and knock Bald Bull flat on his ass! Yep, simple and innocent fun at it’s finest. While the controls in Punch Out may not be as deep as any fighting game released since, they stand up to this day and still offer more than enough strategic opportunities for some interesting and fresh fights.

Graphics and Audio:
punch out nesThe visuals all work just fine. Characters all have a distinct look and several unique animations for each punch thrown. There’s also a special cameo appearance by Mario as the referee, which is totally awesome.

On the audio front there is just a little to whine about, though. While music is all catchy and perfectly fits the mood of the fights, the sound effects aren’t all that great. But! Keep in mind this is an NES game and you’ll get over it in no time.

Final Words:

Man, the review’s over already? I wish there was more to write about, as this game is simply awesome. Sadly though, I’ve covered just about everthing that needs covered. If you have never played this game and have a working NES then run down to a pawn shop and pick it for 10 bucks, or, if you have a Wii you can dowload it for 500 points. It’s an awesome game that has given me some wonderful childhood memories, and I’m sure it’s done the same for you.

Pros

  • Mario is the referee
  • Shameless, awesome fun
  • Graphics are all well-detailed for an NES game

Cons

  • Character voices can get annoying
  • It’s freaking hard

Score:

Overall: 8.8/10 (Great)

Gameplay: 9.5/10 (Lotsa fun. Simple controls)
Graphics:
8.5/10 (Animations range from hilarious to terrifying)
Audio:
8.5/10 (Well executed for it’s time)
Fun:
TKO/10

img via and via

0 thoughts on “Retro-Review: Mike Tyson’s Punch Out!! (NES)

  1. This is the best game EVER! I played it in college non stop. We even had cash tournaments and one dude walked away with 5,000 big ones in one fucking tournament.

    There we like… 200 people on the roster. Running on 28 NESs it took almost 46 hours of nonstop play between players with all systems occupied at once.

    There was lots of beer, too.

    I miss college… 🙁

  2. lol Mike Tyson’s a Zombie? haha. Just because he eats humans doesn’t mean he’s a reanimated corpse arrisen from the grave.

    but still, lol.

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