Vimm's Lair: NES Reviews - Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!

Nintendo
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!

Graphics:
Sound:
Gameplay:
Overall:
8.93
8.99
9.07
9.02
Votes: 94
Reviews: 3


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Reviewer: Lil' Mac Date: Sep 6, 2002
This here is one of the greatest games ever, not just on the NES. The graphics are acceptable as is the sound, but it's the feel of the game that rules all. Going from the puny ""Minor"" circuit all the way up to the ""Dream Fight"" against his royal earness Iron Mike just lends a ""Rocky"" sort of feel to this game that is incredible. I can't explain for the life of me why I find enemies that repeat the same patterns over and over again is still entertaining fifteen years after this game's release, but it is. Just try it, you'll know what I mean.

Graphics: 9
The characters animate extremely well. They move quickly and fluidly, and there is great variety between the way they look. The first guy who reveiwed this game found the oversized opponents not likeable; personally, I think it adds that ""Rocky"" feel to the game, that the odds of beating a guy 3 times your size is impossible and the ensuing victory is an incredible miracle. The only reason that it dosen't get a 10 is that some opponents animations repeat, such as Bald Bull's and Soda Popinski's.

Sound: 7
The effects are acceptable enough, as the crowd cheers during a knockdown or after you've won. The punch effects are good too, with different sounding effects for different kinds of punches. However, the quality is not very high for any of these, as the crowd sounds garbled at times. Also, the tune that plays for every fight is exactly the same! If you ask me, they should have at least used a more dramatic one for the title fights. The music that plays when you have knocked down your opponent, when your opponent knocks down you, and when you win and lose a match is very catchy. The opponent intro music, although varied, is extremely annoying, as are the ""voices"" in the game. These are so bad, they should have just used word bubbles for when your opponent steps back to taunt you.

Gameplay: 9
Everything is amazing here, as Mac can jab, uppercut, super-uppercut, body-blow, block, dodge, and roll with ease. It's the response speed which is really amazing. Once you get really experienced, the later enemies will have you flying all over the ring, ducking their blows to slowly shrink down their life bar with your weak punches. The earlier enemies all have ""achillies heels"", such as Piston Honda's eyebrow wiggle, King Hippo's red flash, and Great Tiger's incredible stupor. These ease newbies into the game, and the later opponents give incredibly tough battles to even the most seasoned of boxers. My one problem is that there are no title defense fights; it's always you fighting the next guy up in the rankings. This would have added a little more variety to the game.

Overall: 10
Overall, the game may be repititous, but you still won't stop until you pound Tyson's face into a bloody mess.

YOU GO BUY HAPPY SUPER FUN BOXING GAME NOW.

 

Reviewer: anizaniacs Date: Apr 3, 2002
This game is the best fighting game I can imagine on the NES. It deals with boxing. It just never stops being fun. I've enjoyed the game just to play it.

Graphics: 4
It has uncanny graphics for the NES, but they are well developed, especially the opponents. It seems kind of weird having Little Mac's adversaries be 2-3 times bigger than he is.

Sound: 7
Great battle music. Good music all around.

Gameplay: 10
There are plenty of fighters, especially ones you have to fight twice. Out of all the fighters, you have to fight 3 opponents twice. They are Piston Honda, Don Flamenco and Bald Bull. What I enjoy the most is the amusing gestures and the funny faces Also, what they do when they are about to be knocked out.

Overall: 8
It has more fighting than I could handle. But it pays the price by its gruesome brutality. It shows no blood but, it does show bruises.
I think this is the best fighting game on the NES.

Nothing much. Have extreme fun. Don't be a party pooper.

 

Reviewer: Drodog 1 Date: Jul 7, 2001
This is, to me and most of my friends who I've talked to about it, the best game ever made for the NES (Except maybe Mario III). For political correctness reasons, the game was remade into just ""Punch-Out!!"" which is the exact same, except no Mike Tyson endorsement. However, in both games, the gameplay is unbelievably fun...you would think a game like this would get monotonous after a while, but it just never stops being fun. This is an absolute must for any NES gamer.