Mike Tyson’s Punch Out -NES- 9

May 13, 2024

I have owned the authentic cib of Mike Tyson’s Punch Out for over 20 years, and I have watched people play and talk about this game for over 35 years. However, I never committed to actually playing through the game myself until now, at the age of 41. It was an absolute joy to finally experience this long celebrated classic, and it was an immense accomplishment when I finally knocked out Mike Tyson at the end of the game. It took me about a week of casual play to beat the three circuits of fighters, starting from Glass Joe to Super Macho Man. And then it took another five days to defeat Mike Tyson himself. When I was first fighting Tyson, I was using the code the game gave me to fight Super Macho Man first, but I soon started using the secret code to go straight to Tyson. And after hours and hours of practice and perseverance, I finally got the TKO on Tyson in the second round.

Mike Tyson’s Punch Out pushes you to sharpen your reflexes like few games have. This is without question one of the hardest games on the NES, which is famous for its extremely challenging games. The game teaches you to react rather than predict, and you must do so in a split second, or else you can knocked out. It is very much like real life boxing in that regard. You can slip, block, jab, cross, and throw body blows. You also earn stars that allow you to throw a powerful uppercut. The move set is brilliant in its simplicity, so speed is the name of the game.

Punch Out is loaded with personality. Each of the boxers is distinct in their outlandish look and skill set. They all feel like a challenge at first (except Glass Joe), but defeating them becomes second nature once you learn their tells and tendencies. Mr Sandman gave me the most trouble in the third circuit, but Super Macho Man and Soda Popinski were also pretty intimidating until I learned their patterns. However, none of the guys in any of the regular circuits gave me as much trouble as Tyson did. Mike Tyson easily ranks as one of the top few hardest bosses I have ever beaten in a videogame, and probably the single hardest boss I have beaten on the NES.

I am very proud to have finally played and conquered Mike Tyson’s Punch Out after all these years. It is a classic of the 8bit era, and I am rating it a 9 out of ten.