** MIKE TYSON'S PUNCH-OUT!! ** a.k.a. ** JUST PLAIN OL' PUNCH-OUT!! ** a.k.a. ** PUNCH-OUT WITHOUT THAT ROTTEN DIRTBAG CRIMINAL WE HAD NO IDEA WOULD DO SUCH A THING, HONEST!! ** a.k.a. ** THE GAME FOR WHICH EVERYBODY WAS APPARENTLY REQUIRED UNDER FEDERAL LAW TO USE THE WORD "CARICATURE" WHEN DESCRIBING OR REVIEWING, MUCH LIKE USAGI YOJIMBO DID FOR "ANTHROPOMORPHIC"!! ** A special 20th anniversary FAQ by Darrell Wong (DKW 001) ** YO, CJAYC!! THIS IS FOR YOU!! ** Date completed: 7/16/03 Version: Final E-mail: wongd012@hawaii.rr.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- == Obligatory introduction == In honor of this, the 20th anniversary of the Nintendo Entertainment System, I...uh... Okay, show of hands. Who actually gives a damn about the 20th anniversary of ANY system? Or the 10th anniversary or 30th anniversary, for that matter? 20 years? That just means it's REALLY obsolete technology, as opposed to just plain obsolete! I mean, it's one thing to hold onto a system forever and keep enjoying the games no matter what anyone says. Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of that; I intend to do it with my Dreamcast. It's a free country; get your kicks however you see fit. But I'm not throwing a damn party 20 years or 10 years or even five years after the fact. The system's *retired* (I will never, never ever use a super-loaded term like "dead" in regards to a home console); there's nothing to celebrate. Sheesh, the very idea... Anyway, in honor of the 20th anniversary, I decided for no good reason to do a FAQ for one of my favorite NES games of all time, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. Or just plain Punch-Out. With or without the completely gratuitous exclamation points. Same diff. I'm not sure if anyone's really going to get any use out of this...but what the heck, it was fun for me to write, and I hope it'll be fun for you to read, and maybe...just maybe...someone still has this game and hasn't finished it yet. Heck, I got all kinds of responses to my Zork FAQs, so anything's possible. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- == The basics == Technically, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out is a boxing game, but aside from the ring attire and rules, the fighting herein has only the faintest resemblance to actual boxing. I prefer to think of it as an action game that happens to be mano-a-mano. That's because all the opponents are different, and you have to learn their styles and techniques to figure out how to beat them. You take the role of Little Mac, a young, puny, feeble, scrawny, weak, pathetic boxer who somehow thinks he can take on Mike Tyson. You take on one opponent after another who's at least twice your size, and invariably far stronger and tougher. Sounds bad, huh? Well, not to worry; no matter how big, strong, or tough they are (and they get *very* big, strong, and tough near the end), rest assured that everyone is beatable. You get a password after clearing each "Circuit" so you don't have to complete the road to the top in one sitting (although this is definitely possible). One other thing...I'm not sure who said it first, but this game's supposed to be "unfair". You know, how you're at a disadvantage and have bad decisions go against you and face techniques that'd be illegal in real life, etc. Which, I suppose, just shows you how far we've come. Yes, there was a time when *a somewhat unorthodox setup* was considered to be unfair...which, of course, is LESS THAN NOTHING compared to the steaming mountains of cheapness and injustice and hair-tearing insanity and other assorted BS that'd follow. Try passing license exams or setting time trial records on Gran Turismo 3 or get various extremities handed to you in Bloody Roar 3, and then tell me how "unfair" you think some stupid spinny jab is. - General strategy - Success at Mike Tyson's Punch-out hinges on one thing: patterns. Recognizing them, triggering them, exploiting them. Once you know what he's going to do and how to react to it, you have him. So there's really very little actual strategy in this game...just do what you gotta do, and keep on doing it until you're done. Simple, right? There are three ways for the fight to end. In order of frequency: TKO - Although it's kinda weird in retrospect, there was a time when the "three knockdown rule" in video game boxing wasn't just standard practice (and far more so than in real life), it usually dictated the entire game. I'd be hard-pressed to name three boxing games in the NES era where the fight *didn't* completely hinge on who went down the third time. So it is with Punch-Out. Most of your wins, and more than a few of your losses, will end with the ref declaring this familiar three letter acronym. In many cases, this saves you a grueling fight to the finish (which may or may not be a good thing to you, of course). KO - If you do the right things against the right opponent, you can get a 10-count. There's no difference statwise or any other way from a TKO; it's just more satisfying because it's so much harder. Decision - A ha. Heh. You're not serious, are you? Ha ha ha ha. No, you can't be serious. Hee hee. Hoo hoo ha ha... Well, you and your opponent have three rounds to take care of business, so it won't come to this very often. If you're fortunate, you won't have to face it at all. If you do, chances are extremely likely that you will not be happy with the result. Take the most brazenly unjust boxing decision you've seen in your life and make it about twice as bad...that's what's gonna happen nearly every time. Thankfully, there are only two fights where there's a *chance* that you *might* have to sweat the decision, but even those are better ended with a TKO. - On screen - No, this isn't some cheesy Star Trek reference, no matter how much you think I'm the kind of person to include one. This is simply what you seen on the screen during the fisticuffs. Stamina meters: The left is yours, the right is your opponent's. Pretty self-explanatory. Note that not all the opponents' stamina bars drain at the same rate; the World Circuit bruisers can take a lot more punishment than Von Kaiser and the like. Heart meter: A heart with a number next to it. Getting a punch blocked *or* blocking a punch reduces it by 1; getting (gulp) hit reduces it by 3. Once it reaches 0, Mac enters "useless mode", indicated by a red tint and hanging arms, and can't punch at all for several seconds. Once he recovers, he'll have a tiny handful of hearts, which hopefully are enough to last him until the end of the round. For the most part, once you get good at dodging, hearts won't be an issue, so you don't have to pay attention to this too much. Star meter: Same as the heart meter, except with...surprise!...a star. You get one by connecting with a "star punch", which has a different requirement for each opponent (some never yield stars). They allow you to use Mac's specialty, the Mac Super Flying Haymaker, and you can store up to 3. Getting nailed costs you a star, and a knockdown or the end of the round rids you of all of them, so use 'em or lose 'em! Score: A completely meaningless number which supposedly measures how badly you're pummelling your foe. Good for ego pumping and nothing else. I don't know why they even bothered to put this here. Move along, nothing to see... ...okay, I'll level with ya. If, by some extremely bizarre quirk of fate, the fight actually goes the freaking distance, your score determines who takes the decision. Unless, of course, unless your opponent happens to be a "hometown boy", meaning that he will not lose the decision even if he looks like he was run over by a thresher, then thrown onto the street and run over by a steamroller. Not surprisingly, the two fights where the judging is most reasonable are the ones most likely to go to decision. Clock: A standard timer that counts upward, ending at 3 minutes, with the round number below it. *Usually* this runs at three times normal speed. (I don't understand the reason for this at all...anyone care to enlighten me?) There are a number of instances, however, most notably against Super Macho Man, where it runs slower. It always stops during a knockdown. - Controls - For the most part, there's no difference between Mac's left and his right. Both are just as fast and do the same damage. I don't care what anyone says; I've spent countless hours on this game and have never noticed even the tiniest speed or power difference anywhere. There are a few instances where you'll want or need one or the other; I have them covered in the individual fights. There is NO difference whatsoever between the dodges; both work equally well against anything and everything. B: left body A: right body Up + B: left head Up + A: right head Mac's basic punches. Well, I should say punches, period, because the only other thing he has is that big haymaker. The head shots, BTW, are not "jabs", "hooks", "uppercuts", or any other highfalutin nonsense, they're just plain ol' "punches in the face", as Strong Bad puts it. Well, technically *jumping* punches in the face, but let's not make this any more confusing than it has to be. Start: Mac Super Flying Haymaker (uses 1 star) The instructions call this an "uppercut", a term I'd gladly use if it looked anthing remotely like an actual uppercut. Anyway, this is, of course, his big gun, which does a big chunk of damage. However, it has a hefty startup time, which means he can be hit out of it, and an alert opponent can also dodge it. Because of these drawbacks, you always need to pick the right time to unleash these bonecrushers. Left: dodge left Right: dodge right Your primary defense; you'll be using these against at least 95% of your opponent's blows. Again, either or both work fine for *all* punches. The lean-in-the-direction-of-the-blow thing was incorporated into a number of NES games, but *not* this one. Back: block You can block straights and hooks (and nothing else). You can hold the block for as long as you want, but you can only block one punch at a time. Furthermore, because Mac's such a little guy, he takes a little damage from the force of the blow *and* loses a heart. Needless to say, this isn't too useful, so use it only if the situation calls for it. Back twice rapidly: duck This is just a fancy dodge. The regular dodges work perfectly fine, so this isn't really useful. A and B when down: get up Self-explanatory, except for one little detail: The *later* you get up, the more stamina you'll have. The ref counts pretty fast, so don't try to nail it squarely on 9; 7 or 8 is good enough. If your stamina is very low and the end of the round is near, you may be tempted to take a knockdown on purpose to get more stamina. *Don't*; Mac can only get up three times total in any fight, after which the buttons do nothing, so this actually hastens defeat. Select between rounds: increase stamina You only have to press the button once. The effectiveness of this diminishes with use, so only use it if you need it. If you dodge just before the opponent's fist reaches you, it'll be faster than normal. This is good, for example, against Soda Popinski, where fast responses are crucial. As a final note, there's a way to throw fast counter punches. Dodge, then hold up *during* the dodge (not opposite the dodge or up after or anything else), and you can counter to the head much faster than normal. This only works against certain punches, all noted in the walkthrough. ====================================================================== == Complete walkthrough (yay!) == Terms used in the walkthrough: Counter: Dodge the opponent's punch and hit him (either the head or body, usually the former) to stun him, then follow up with one or more blows in the same area. The most basic, common technique in the game. Normal punches: Counter punches, thrown after a dodge or block (usually the former), including the initial stunner. I call them normal because they're what you'll be using the vast majority of the time. Breaker punches: These are punches you throw when your opponent is "normal", i.e. not punching or about to punch. So called because you're trying to "break" your opponent's guard. Stopper: A punch you use against an opponent's specialty, so called because, if successful, it stops it cold. Directional punch: Sorry I couldn't think of a better name...anyway, this is when you use a punch in the same orientation as your opponent. In other words, if he's to your left, you use a left, and if he's to your right, you use a right. This is one of just two situations where the hand you use actually matters. Speed flurry: Fast counter punches, as described above. I mark all punches counterable with this with "SF". L, R, B: Left, right, both. S: Straight; a punch that comes straight at you. (Again, there's no difference between the hands, so I don't use terms like "jab" or "cross".) Can be blocked or dodged. H: Hook; any punch that curves horizontally at you. Can be blocked or dodged. U: Uppercut; a punch, usually thrown from a crouch, in an upward arc. Cannot be blocked, only dodged. Difficulty rated on a 6 point scale. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- +++ MINOR CIRCUIT +++ #2: GLASS JOE "I used to be a lot better than this! Really!" Regular punches: LS, RH Specialty: none Difficulty: 0 Profile - In the original arcade version, he wasn't quite as wimpy as his name suggested, but he was still pretty easy. That is, of course, until a player won the championship, upon which all the opponents got *really* tough...with Joe being the first title defense. Ironically, the "palooka" of the game often ended up winning the championship! Apparently, the cognitive dissonance was too much for Nintendo to take, as they've stripped poor Joe of all but the most minimal fighting abilities for MTPO. As soon as the fight starts, nail him with repeated breaker punches. It takes him several seconds to adjust his guard; when he does, switch to the other body part and repeat. At the 43 second mark, he'll step back and tap his chest, indicating something kinda like a special. The moment he gets in range again, hit him anywhere, and he'll collapse like a bad souffle. That's right, the easiest stopper in the game (I don't even know what his "special" is supposed to be). To make things even easier for you, he always gets up on the count of 1, meaning that a haymaker will drop him every time. It's easy to get stars after the first knockdown (just keep throwing breakers), his punch speed is pathetic, and he never dodges, so load up and fire away. As for his, ahem, offense, he flashes every time he throws a punch, so you'll see everything coming a mile away. It's usually the hook; either nail his head for a star, or dodge and counter with 6 shots to his head or body. Because he's so slow, there's actually a danger that you'll dodge too soon, so you may be better off just stopping it. If he pulls out his glacier-slow straight, just slug him in the gut to stop it. Again, he's a bum with no defense; all you have to do is keep punching and he's history. Big secret-like thing - If you do just the right thing, he won't get up from the stopper, and you win by KO! As for what that thing is...beats me. I've faced him literally dozens of times, and it seems to happen purely by chance. I'm sure there's a specific method, but I'm not going to sweat it, and you shouldn't either. ~~~~~~~~~~ #1: VON KAISER "I vill vipe your veakling vace from the vorld, and vance on...I mean, dance...ah, who am I kidding." Regular punches: BS, BU Specialty: none Difficulty: 1 Profile - Generic German stern military type. A bit of power, but otherwise a total scrub. Known in the fighting game biz as "filler". He gives you so many openings that you'll probably clock him even faster than Joe. Dodge the straights (or block; doesn't really matter against him) and counter with 5 normals to the head. He exhibits the same telltale flash as Joe, so these are easy to avoid. When he crouches for an uppercut, either stuff it with a body shot (use a directional punch and you'll usually get a star), or dodge and counter with alternating lefts and rights to the head; he'll never recover and go down hard. It's pretty easy to get breakers against him, many of which net stars. Speaking of which, if you throw a haymaker when he's stunned, it'll instantly send him to the canvas. Sheesh, sucks to be him, doesn't it? :-) Anwyay, clobber him any way you like. Just for fun, you can go for the "cycle": Knock him down with a breaker, drop him a second time by countering an uppercut, and then slam him with a stunned haymaker for the coup de grace. ~~~~~~~~~~ CHAMP: PISTON HONDA "Sushi kamikaze sukiyaki senshuraku yuki hentai baka gorufu...whatever." Regular punches: all Specialty: Big Pistons - continuous alternating straights Difficulty: 1 Profile - He's your stereotypical honor-and-duty samurai type. Had a minor role in the Nintendo Power comics. Don't be intimidated by his size. The bigger they are, the harder they fall, and Honda's one that *does* fall so often. You can counter a straight with 2 normals to the head, a hook with 5 normals anywhere, and an uppercut with a whopping 11 normals anywhere. He gives the same flashes as the other Minor Circuit wannabes, so these are all easy to see coming. Breakers are also pretty easy...he rarely blocks more than half of them...and every breaker against him nets a star (haymaker him anytime, just don't overdo them or he'll dodge). Eventually, he'll back off and shuffle around a few times, indicating that the Big Pistons are coming your way. If your timing is good, you can stop it with a directional body shot the moment he gets back in range (listen for the telltale grinding sound and time your stopper accurately). If it connects, not only is it an instant knockdown, but usually an outright KO as well! If you can't hack it, just block the straights. Remember, you can only block one at a time, so put up a block for each straight. He'll stop after you block five in a row. (Don't dodge; the next incoming straight will always nail you.) He'll follow with an uppercut; dodge it and and lay on the pain. Unless you totally screw up, you'll be done with him well before the first round is over. After completing the Minor Circuit and watching a little cutscene of Mac jogging through a park, you get your first password. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- +++ MAJOR CIRCUIT +++ #3: DON FLAMENCO "Look at me! Look at me! I'm dancing!" Regular punches: RH Specialty: Flamenco Slash (SF) - A big looping swipe Difficulty: 0 Profile - Before Dan Hibiki, there was Don Flamenco, the original ineffectual taunting idiot. Okay, so "Blarnk blarnk blarnk!" wasn't exactly Snaps material, but it was something. He's also a joke character pioneer in that he's ridiculously easy to beat. This guy makes Glass Joe look like Lennox Lewis. He doesn't do anything until you throw a punch (it doesn't matter whether or not he's blarnking), whereupon he always blocks and counters with his Flamenco Slash. When he does, dodge and go machinegun on his smirking face. Four speed flurries and one more punch for good measure, or three flurries and two regular counters, and he's down. When he gets back up, he'll immediately go to the Flamenco Slash; throw continuous lefts to the body to stop it (you'll get stars; you won't need them) and drop him for the second time. Which'll be the last time; he's down for the count. Boy, that was fast, huh? :-D Oh, if for some weird reason he does get up again, either left-body him to oblivion, or dodge, speed flurry, and use your stockpiled stars to haymaker him into potpourri. Extra addendum footnote: Yes, he does have a right hook, which he uses if you run out of hearts. If this happens (hypothetically speaking, of course, because it *won't*), dodge the hooks, then smack him with 2 normals to the head when you can move your arms again. Okay, moving on... ~~~~~~~~~~ #2: KING HIPPO "I have a weakness...but I'm not telling you what it is! AHHHH HA HA HA HA HAAA! You're doomed! Doomed...what?? You know? Waauugh! Pleeease don't hurt me! (sob) (snivel) (whimper)" Regular punches: BS Specialty: Coconut Cracker - A hard downward swipe Difficulty: 1 Profile - The archtypical "cheap" fighter. Unbelievably frustrating...until you know how to beat him, after which he's unbelievably easy. He was a regular villain in the short-lived Captain N: The Game Master cartoon. He'll block each and every punch you throw at him...except one. The stopper. Dodge his normal straights and wait for a Coconut Cracker; you'll know one's coming when he hops around a bit, then raises a fist and opens his mouth. When he does, punch him once in the face. This drops his guard (among other things :-P), allowing you to fire 8 normals into his belly. Four such assaults and he's a goner; he never gets up from a knockdown. Next! ~~~~~~~~~~ #1 GREAT TIGER "Um...could you please let this fight go to the second round? I have all these great taunts about cats and tigers, and I want to try one of them out. C'mon, just one? Pretty please?" Regular punches: LS, BU Specialty: Tiger Illusion - see below Difficulty: 1 Profile - In the arcade Super Punch-Out, he played like a juiced-up Piston Hurricane and was the second hardest opponent. Like Glass Joe, took a pretty big hit in MTPO. His specialty perfectly illustrates the unhinged, "caricatured" style of the game. He's probably the least imaginative fighter when it comes to between-round invective; it's always some lame variation of "a kitten fighting a tiger". Easy. There are three stages to this fight, the straight stage, the uppercut stage, and the specialty stage, in order. When the jewel in his turban flashes (and he stops moving), a straight is coming; block it and counter with 4 head shots. (From here on out, always counter to the head unless otherwise noted.) You can also dodge, but you'll only be able to get one smack in response. If you throw a breaker to the head before the flash, he'll block and immediately counter with a straight; do this if you want to wear him down even faster. You have a ton of hearts for this fight, so don't sweat the loss. If you don't throw any breakers, he'll go into the uppercut phase after four straights. You can dodge and counter with 4 normals, or you can use directional body shots to get stars. It's easy to connect with a haymaker; just stun him. You'll get the first knockdown and at least one other in this stage; if you're aggressive with haymakers, you'll bury him before he even has a chance to use his specialty. If you're feeling merciful, or just want to see the flashy specialty, he'll pull it out at around the 2:40 mark, announced by his backing off and vanishing with some sound effects. The Tiger Illusion is a bunch of straight lefts in quick succession. Don't be dazzled by the purely theatrical spinning; just block five of these in a row (as with the Big Pistons, don't dodge). Once you've done this, he'll be so dizzy/exhausted/embarrassed/astonished that one punch to the face will drop him. That's #3 and a TKO for you. ~~~~~~~~~~ CHAMP: BALD BULL "I'm gonna charge at you! And them I'm gonna charge you for...I mean, your charge is just a target for my...charge...crap, how does this go again?" Regular Punches: all Specialty: Bull Charge - see below Difficulty: 2 Profile - A prolific fighter, one of just three to appear in an arcade game, this one, and Super Punch-Out for the SNES, the others being Mr. Sandman and Super Macho Man. He also was in Arm Wrestling (as "Mask X"). He's most famous for introducing the one-hit knockdown, which eventually became commonplace. Don't bother trying to break him (or anyone after him); you'll just waste hearts, and it's almost impossible to land haymakers anyway. Normals are more than sufficient to wear him down. All his punches are telegraphed. Spinning fists indicates a straight, counterable with 1 normal. Arms moving up and down means a hook; 3 normals. And a crouch, of course, indicates an uppercut. Mix up your normals, i.e. don't use all lefts or rights, and it's 7 shots; 6 otherwise. Sooner or later (usually, but not always, after the second knockdown), he'll turn to his big gun, the Bull Charge. He backs up all the way to the ropes, takes three fast jumps at you, than fires an uppercut which'll send you to the canvas. (More like a *Kangaroo* Charge if you ask me, but never mind.) The stopper for this is a body shot just before he throws the uppercut. You *must* stop this, as it's not counterable, and he'll try again and again until you or he is down. And don't even think about winning a decision. It may take a while to get the timing down, so don't fret if you get decked a few times. Trust me, it's not that hard. Two Circuits down, one to go! Mmm, judging by the time of day, it looks like Mac's workouts are getting pretty intense. Copy down your new password, natch. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- +++ WORLD CIRCUIT +++ #5: PISTON HONDA Difficulty: 2 Not much tougher than before, but he recovers a lot faster and gives you fewer openings, so it'll take some time to put him away. He throws straights in threes this time. Although he doesn't flash anymore, he still does a telltale eyebrow twitch, so it's still an easy read. Dodge the first two, block the third, and counter with 2 normals. You can now only get 2 normals against his hooks and 4 against uppercuts. As for the Big Pistons, he'll no longer do a lot of shuffling before firing away, so be alert. You can still drop him with a single directional body blow, and there's still a chance (although much less than before) that it'll result in a KO. Otherwise, just keep plugging away. This is one of the two fights that might *possibly* go the distance, but you only need 3,000 points to beat him, so it's no sweat. As long as you get in at least one successful stopper, you should be done with him by round 2. ~~~~~~~~~~ #4: SODA POPINSKI "Soda Popinski? *Soda Popinski*?? It's VODKA DRUNKENSKI, you morons! Sheesh. Damn stupid Nintendo puritanical reactionary censorship..." Regular punches: LS, BH, BU (SF) Specialty: Drunk Jabber - three left straights Difficulty: 3 Profile - His original name, of course, was a really bad pun alluding to the propensity of Russians to drink. Well, some Russians anyway...whatever. That is clearly *not* a soda bottle he's got planted in his mouth, so I dunno who the hell Nintendo thought they were fooling. This fight is ALL normals. Dodge the hook, 6 normals. Dodge the uppercut, speed flurry. Repeat until down. Yawn. The only reason this fight's a 3 instead of a 2 is the occasional out-of-nowhere straight he'll mix in. It's a good idea to put up a block if he goes a while without doing anything, just in case. On the rare occasions he goes for the Drunk Jabber...he'll announce this by shuffling his feet a lot...block the straights and counter. Thanks to the speed flurries, it's an easy 2nd round TKO. ~~~~~~~~~~ #3: BALD BULL Difficulty: 4 Exactly the same as before...except for a few little details. First off, the only ways to knock him down are by stopping his Bull Charge and connecting with a haymaker. He always gets up on 9, so you have a lot of stamina to work off. Finally, stopping the Bull Charge works a little differently this time. Okay, to start off, counter his jabs, hooks, and uppercuts like you did before. Once in a while he'll move his hands up and down (slower than the hook telegraph); when he does, hit him anywhere and you'll get a star. The haymaker will connect anytime he's stunned, so all you have to do is pick the right time to send him to the canvas. As for the Bull Charge, this time it's impossible to hit him on the first pass, so dodge it. He'll back up a shorter distance for the retry; *now* you can bury him with the stopper. Stay calm and capitalize on every opportunity, and he's history in two. ~~~~~~~~~~ #2: DON FLAMENCO Difficulty: 4 He'll make you work this time. As with Great Tiger, there are three stages to this fight. He begins by throwing right hooks and straight lefts. Dodge the former and counter with 2; block the latter and counter with 4 (or dodge, but then you can only get 2). Later in the round, he'll halt his attack and...you guessed it, "Blarnk blarnk blarnk!" Treat this the same way as the last time. He won't always respond with the Flamenco Slash, so keep pounding until he does, and keep your eyes open! When you run out of hearts (which is inevitable), dodge the hooks and counter as I explained before. The final stage, which starts late in the 2nd round and continues to the end of the fight, is a combination of the two previous stages. He won't last to the 3rd if you get behind a relentless attack. ~~~~~~~~~~ #1: MR. SANDMAN "Good night. Sleep tight. Your fighting bites! Heh heh heh..." Regular punches: all Specialty: Sand Blaster - three fast uppercuts Difficulty: 6 Profile - The champ in the first arcade game, he's one of the few fighters who's every bit as tough in MTPO (although he lost a lot in the SNES game). With a well-stocked arsenal of punches, blazing speed, tons of stamina, and a very difficult specialty, Mr. Sandman represents a serious challenge for even the experienced Punch-Out veteran. He may actually be tougher than Iron Mike himself! Okay, to start off, the counters. As with Bald Bull, rolling fists is a straight, waving arms a hook, a crouch an uppercut (which he does rarely). The problem is that he's a lot faster than Bull, which makes dodging all the tougher. (You may be tempted to block. *Don't*; you can't afford to spare any stamina.) The straights are 1 normal apiece. For the hook, hit him in the head once, than follow with three shots to the body (he covers his head after the first hit). Same with the uppercut, except it's 7 body shots. Now for the really, *really* hard part, the Sand Blaster. He stops moving for a brief moment before doing this, and always after a long pause, so you'll always have *some* idea of when it's coming. The *instant* he freezes, dodge, then dodge the other two uppercuts. DO NOT use a fast dodge against the first or second, or the one after will hit you every time. You might actually want to use ducks here just to avoid the risk of a fast dodge. If you evade all three cleanly, you can stun him and throw a whopping 15 lefts to the body (make sure they're all lefts or you won't get as many in). Needless to say, there's a good chance you won't make it through unscathed; in that case, just dodge whatever his follow-up is and counter. You will have to get at least one clean counter against the Sand Blaster to beat him, which is what makes this fight so difficult. Don't get discouraged...it took me at least five tries to beat him. It can be done. ~~~~~~~~~~ CHAMP: SUPER MACHO MAN "Bet you wish you could be even a *tenth* as big, muscular, strong, brusing, crushing, ripping, and macho as me, huh?" Regular punches: BH, BU Specialty: Super Spin Punch (SF, two types) - see below Difficulty: 5 Profile - Of all the Punch-Out pugilists, he's undergone the biggest changes, from a bug-eyed psychopath in the orignal Super Punch-Out, to a Mafiaesque muscle man in this game, and finally a flexing beach bum for the SNES (his best persona, IMHO). Oh yeah, did you notice that his hair keeps changing color? He was featured in one of the Nintendo Power comics. The clock runs in real time for this fight! Which is good, because it'll take a while to run down his impressive stamina. Okay, counters. 4 normals for the hook, 6 for the uppercut. He does exactly the same motions as Popinski. When he pauses for a long time, watch for a rapid vibration; this indicates his fast single Super Spin Punch. Dodge and punish him with a speed flurry. Keep normalling his noggin unti he's down. When he gets up, listen for the now-familiar grinding sound; this indicates his slower but deadlier Super Spin Punch, which he does multiple times, and which puts you down if any punch connects. Dodge as many times as you have to...it'll be anywhere from 2-12...and the instant he stops, unload on him. If you're quick enough, you can actually do an extended speed flurry. You'll know you've pulled it off if you start off with what looks like a normal counter. Keep slugging and you'll eventually speed up; you'll rack up a ton of damage when it's all over. With sharp reflexes (which you should have at this point), he's actually easier than Mr. Sandman. Because you get so much time, a first round TKO is a definite possibility. A newspaper article chronicles Mac's improbable rise to the top. You get a password here, but this gives you a rank of #1 in the World Circuit, which means you have to beat Super Macho Man again. If you're bored, you can beat him over and over to rack up wins. Make sure you stop at 97, however, since the win column rolls over at 100, erasing all your hard-won progress. (Funny how SMM's losses never seem to increase... ;-) ) Okay, all the circuits are done with...you know what that means... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DREAM FIGHT!! THE BATTLE FOR THE WVBA HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD!! SMALL, SCRAPPY PHENOM AGAINST THE UNDEFEATED KING OF BOXING!! BATTLE OF THE CENTURY!! NO, THE DOUBLE CENTURY!! I CAN'T USE ENOUGH EXCLAMATION POINTS!! THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE KILLING MACHINE: MIKE TYSON "I'm strong. You're weak. I'm going to destroy you. Any questions?" Regular punches: BS, BU Specialties: Dynamite Uppercut, Lightning Strike, Eye Closer - see below Difficulty: 6 Profile - Well, if you don't know who he is, you must've been stranded on a desert island for the past 15 years or so. He's a shell of a fighter today, but for one brief, incredible, magical time, he was an invincible destroyer who dispactched everyone he faced with frightening ease. There were boxers who were genuinely terrified of even stepping in the ring with him. Now you have the chance to face him at the peak of his game, and rest assured that every second will be a battle. The fight's broken up into a number of phases, each of which has a different pattern. I'l describe them as best as I can. Again, it's all normals, something you should be very used to by now. None of his specialties have any kind of stopper, so don't even think of that. Round 1, first half: Iron Mike throws a flurry of Dynamite Uppercuts, all of which send you down in one hit. Watch *very* carefully for a telltale speed-up which signals one of these. Dodge and respond with 2 normals. NEVER, EVER dodge when he's not throwing one; he'll *always* throw one the instant you return and send you flying! (It's happened to me countless times.) Stay sharp! Round 1, second half: He switches to straights, each preceded by a wink. Dodge the instant he winks (you can't fast dodge these) and counter with 2 normals. If you're even a hair too slow, he'll block . You'll (hopefully) get your first knockdown at this point. Round 2, start: He opens with a series of Lightning Strikes, which are straights that come out INSTANTLY and cannot be stopped or countered in any way. Block these and keep blocking until you're out of hearts; he doesn't stop until you are. (Yes, it's that bad.) You might actually want to throw some breakers just to get this over with sooner. Dodge everything he throws at you until you recover. Round 2, remainder: Mostly straights, with a few uppercuts thrown in for variety. You can get 6 normals against the uppercuts. He'll probably pull out his last specialty, the Eye Closer, at some point; he blinks rapidly several times, then throws four straights. Block them all (don't dodge; you'll get nailed on the way back). He usually follows with an uppercut; defend accordingly. Round 3: The remainder is just a grueling fight to the finish. He'll mix up plenty of straights and uppercuts with at least one Eye Closer, possibly two. He's also fond of tossing a Lightning Strike out of nowhere; if he doesn't do anything for a while, put your guard up! If you've worked him enough in the first two rounds, you should be able to level him three times in the third for the win. There's also a good chance that it'll go to a decision. Thankfully, the judging is actually fair for a change; you only need 5,000 points to claim victory. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- == Ending == Mike's grinning mug on the screen. "Well done, Mac! I'm really impressed! I've never seen such finger speed before." Eh, something like that. Wink. Pics of the rest of your vanquished foes, in order. Picture of Mac in his "champion pose" with your ultimate record below it. The end. Okay, so it's not Final Fantasy. It's a freaking 8-bit boxing game, what did you expect? :-) ====================================================================== == Acknowledgments == Nintendo, for making such a fantastic, enduring system, and some great games to go with it. As much as I've harped on the questionable directions this company has taken, I can't deny the fact that they had some absolutely killer games. The NES era was a time when Nintendo was king, and there's never been anything like it before or since. Thanks for the memories, guys. CJayC, obviously, for putting up yet another one of my spur-of-the-moment creative efforts (the last one being for Sega Sports Tennis). It took me about five hours to complete this, start to finish. No kidding. Mike Tyson, for actually having the balls to do something like this. I'll never forget the awe-inspiring presence you had, even as I watch you stumble blindly through life, continually make an embarrassment of yourself, and make everyone around you wish you'd just go away. And finally, my own indelible memory, for remembering all these patterns over a decade after I traded away that game...over 12 years ago. I can't believe I still remember "smash his open face and slug him in the gut 8 times" as if I just did it yesterday. FAQ copyright (C) 2003 by Darrell Wong (DKW 001) All rights reserved.