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I first talked about Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! was covered back in 2019 as a single paragraph, and this expands on it substantially.

One of the classic NES games and one of the better ones of its library, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! is, on the surface a boxing game, but it actually relies on pattern memorization and lightning-fast reflexes (and by far not one of the hardest). You are a boxer, Little Mac, who fights a series of goofy-looking fighters from all over the world including stereotypes of their countries: the first guy you fight is an underpowered Frenchman who can barely take a punch, the Indian is a turban-wearing magician, the Russian is a heavy vodka drinker (despite being renamed as Soda Popinski from "Vodka Drunkenski", though the dialogue still suggest alcohol), etc., with the "final boss" being real boxer Mike Tyson, who at his prime was heavyweight champion (not the mushmouthed pushover he was with Logan Paul). Unfortunately, due to licensing issues, the later releases of the NES game replace Mike Tyson with "Mr. Dream", a generic-looking white guy, which extended to every re-release of the game, from the Virtual Console re-release to the current Nintendo Switch Online version.

Like many Nintendo games, it is literally impossible to play the iconic Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! version legitimately without a real NES and real cartridge...which is why emulators exist. Other than that, there's not too much to say about it that hasn't already been said. I believe personally that there seems to have been some uneven development. Glass Joe, Von Kaiser, Piston Honda, King Hippo, Don Flamenco, and Soda Popinski have unique themes, and for the most part those are all the early-game fighters and are more likely to be heard. Tough late-game opponents like Mr. Sandman and Super Macho Man don't.

I also made (based on StrategyWiki) a PDF guide for this game.

FINAL RATING:   

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