Mike Tyson’s Punch Out

Well, who would have though that Mike Tyson would have gone from the wholesome name sake of a cute and very popular videogame to the vicious blood thirsty ’child-eating’ monster that he as become.

It’s funny, in many ways the life of Mike Tyson can be compared to the life of the videogame industry. Besides the fact that both make million of dollars. Videogames used to be pleasant affairs that were aimed at kids and they would not offend anyone. The same can be said for Mr. Tyson early on in his career.

Of course things have changed, and now, both videogames are dark, bloody affairs that make Tipper Gore very nervous.

Basically you are an underdog boxer named Little Mac (He’s 3’7 and 107 pounds!) with a strong uppercut who has to box his way up through the ranks. What really makes this boxing game stand out from the others is the amount of personality that goes into all the characters.

Between each round the opposing boxer will speak his mind (Bald Bull: my barber didn’t know when to quit, do you?), and you cornerman will give you some advice, ranging from useful ones like ’’Keep you guard up!’’, to the irritatingly useless ’’Join the Nintendo Power club, Mac!’’

The boxers themselves are pretty cool, you have Super Machoman with his constantly flexing pecs (eww), or Don Flamenco who dances with a rose in his teeth before every fight. Unfortunately, a few early boxers appear again later on due to space constraints.

In a fight you battle it out for 3 one-minute rounds or until someone goes down for 10 seconds, or if someone gets knocked down 3 times in one round. This is where one of the games flaws becomes apparent, the odds are heavily stacked in the opponents favor due to recovery.

If Little Mac gets knocked down 3 times over the duration of the entire match (or sometimes 4) then he’ll go down and stay down. Not only that, but the health he’ll have left when he gets back up is mimimal. On the other hand, you can knock down your opponent 6 times without scoring a knockout, and each time he gets back up his health will be almost full. This is extremely frustrating because in fights where you’re clearly dishing out more punishment you can still suffer total defeat.