Punch Out!!,
Nintendo's first
successful boxing
arcade game was released in
1984. Original
cabinets
used large red handles which were manipulated like
boxing gloves
-- later machines used a
joystick and three
buttons (left
punch, right
punch and
knock out punch). The
cabinet
housed two
monitors -- the topmost one displayed
round
information (
opponent's name,
score,
match number,
etc.) while the lower one displayed only the
ring and your
boxer's power meter.
Your character the Challenger (by default nameless, one can enter
three characters as his name before the first match) initially wears
green boxing gloves to match his green hair. Similar to the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System console game Super Punch-Out!!, only the main
character's head and boxing gloves are solid -- the rest is
wireframe.
The referee (which unlike Mike Tyson's Punchout, isn't Mario)
has a limited vocabulary but does indeed speak -- he counts,
introduces fighters ("Ladies and Gentlemen, Glass
Joe!") as well as providing a very limited play-by-play ("Hook!
Body blow! Uppercut! Uppercut! He's down for the count!")
Unlike either of the the Nintendo console versions, one only has
a single three minute round to defeat your opponent. Matches do
not go to decision.
As part of the
World Video Boxing
Association-
sanctioned event, your character must defeat
each of the following
opponents to gain the title:
Glass Joe -- Paris, France
Piston Hurricane -- Cuba
Bald Bull -- Istanbul, Turkey
Kid Quick -- Brooklyn, New York
Pizza Pasta -- Napoli, Italy
Mr. Sandman -- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The game doesn't end after defeating the
champ -- now you must
face each of your
opponents again as the '
Champion of
the World'. Opponents (wearing blue accessories instead of red)
appear in this order:
Glass Joe
Piston Hurricane
Bald Bull
Pizza Pasta
Mr. Sandman
After defending your title against each of these strangely familiar
Top Ranked challengers, you go on to do so again against each of
these boxers indefinitely -- as far as this noder can
tell, there is no end to this game:
Piston Hurricane
Bald Bull
Glass Joe
Mr. Sandman
This game's sequel, Super Punch-Out!! appeared shortly after.