Back during the days of Nintendo making arcade games, one title was rather unique. It was a boxing game that used two monitors, with the second being used to display fight marquees, and was titled Punch-Out. It was a fairly basic but somewhat interesting boxing game, and received arcade sequels and spinoffs at the time, but it was not until the home release that things really took off for the game. The game went from just another boxing game, to a puzzle like sports game involving patterns, timing and character. We were given a proper protagonist in the form of Little Mac, and a colorful cast of characters to go up against. But when it came time for the western release, Nintendo decided to go all out and get the endorsement of Mike Tyson himself, and have the boxer be the final boss in the game.
Punch Out on home systems could not have the playable character be the size of the opponents and still have the screen be visible due to system limitations, so the response was to make the protagonist smaller. Little Mac may have started out with inauspicious roots, but the character quickly grew to become a beloved figure and fans were excited for him to debut in Smash Bros 4. Punch Out as a whole is less of a boxing game than when it started, but still manages to replicate some of the styles of boxing. Little Mac is thought of by many as a Swarmer style fighter ( like Mike Tyson himself), though others view him as a Puncher style boxer instead, due to the game effectively mixing styles for him to use.
Perhaps it was the image of a little guy taking on giants, perhaps it was the cameo of Mario as the referee, or perhaps it was the great gameplay that was challenging but made you want to keep coming back, that helped Punch Out so much. Its music became iconic in its own right, and the characters were mostly memorable, even if some were unfortunate stereotypes ( something Indie Gamer Chick and I discussed here). What is inarguable though, is that Mike Tyson being involved helped the game so much. Mike Tyson was on a massive hot streak at the time, and having him endorse the game helped garner a lot of mainstream attention. It helped that Tyson as the final boss proved to be a truly difficult challenge and a worthy member of the ranks of the best final bosses in games. Nintendo’s deal with Tyson expired after a few years and he was replaced with the rather generic Mr. Dream, but fans never took to that character, and Mr. Dream never made any later appearances in the series. In fact, The Wii incarnation would tweak one of the existing characters, Mr. Sandman, to be more of a Mike Tyson stand in. Mr. Sandman was originally more of a Joe Fraizer inspired character, but the change worked well and made his fight more memorable.
While Tyson was not involed with the series after his initial deal, it will always be Mike Tysons’s Punch Out in the hearts of fans everywhere.
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