Have you played Punch-Out!! ?

[Nintegageo | 582]

The non-Mike Tyson version. Honestly, I don't think I have.

[Tanooki | 4,952]

Both, but the original was where my loyalties lie.  Mr Generic replacement does nothing for me.

[JamesRobot | 5,825]

My childhood copy was the "Original" Punch Out.  It was in the cheap bin at KB.  But yeah, it's gotta be Mike Tyson's.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

I try to forget that the "original" version even exists. It's always been Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! to me. I remember being disappointed when the NES classic edition had the rerelease instead of MTPO. I'm sure Nintendo could have worked out a short term licensing deal with Mike Tyson to cover the limited run of the consoles without spending an excessive amount of money. 

[glazball | 172]

You should be more specific.  There are 3 Tyson-less versions: the original arcade Punch-Out!!, the NES re-issue and the Wii remake.

And yes, I've played them all

[captmorgandrinker | 1,650]

1 hour ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

I try to forget that the "original" version even exists. It's always been Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! to me. I remember being disappointed when the NES classic edition had the rerelease instead of MTPO. I'm sure Nintendo could have worked out a short term licensing deal with Mike Tyson to cover the limited run of the consoles without spending an excessive amount of money. 

By that time Tyson was in legal hot water with the rape allegations, so they probably wanted to distance themselves anyway.

 

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

3 hours ago, captmorgandrinker said:

By that time Tyson was in legal hot water with the rape allegations, so they probably wanted to distance themselves anyway.

 

I think the official stance was his original deal ran out and by the time they re released the game, Tyson had lost to Buster Douglas and wasn't the champ anymore. Tyson seems to have redeemed himself recently, so I think Nintendo missed the boat not making a deal with him to get MTPO on the NES classic edition. I'm sure Nintendo made more than they imagined with it, but having MTPO instead of the Mr. Dream version would have made it so much cooler as childhood nostalgia in a box. I also think they should have went with Contra over Super C, but that's an entire different discussion.

[Tulpa | 3,534]

I don't think Nintendo expected the Classic Edition to blow up the way it did (otherwise they'd have flooded stores with them), so they probably slapped together whatever games they could license quickly for that holiday season. Instead of a protracted negotiation with Tyson, they just went with what they owned wholesale.

Also probably why Super C was chosen. Konami was like "We'll give you the lesser known one" and Nintendo was like "Sure, whatever, we're shipping tomorrow."

Edited September 8, 2022 by Tulpa

[DarkTone | 988]

Tyson edition. Finally beat it on the classic. There was debate on [NAME REDACTED] if it counted or not. 

[Lynda Monica | 350]

13 minutes ago, Tulpa said:

Also probably why Super C was chosen. Konami was like "We'll give you the lesser known one" and Nintendo was like "Sure, whatever, we're shipping tomorrow."

I don't know what the deal is with the original Contra, but it hasn't been available on anything of Nintendo's as far back as Wii Virtual Console. From what I understand it has something to do with the name of the game being somewhat in poor taste in hindsight, which is why Super C is allowed. You can unlock the original Contra in the DS game "Contra 4", but other than that it's seldom been made available.

It's fine by me since I much prefer Super C, but it's a bummer to those who love the original.

[phart010 | 1,708]

9 hours ago, glazball said:

You should be more specific.  There are 3 Tyson-less versions: the original arcade Punch-Out!!, the NES re-issue and the Wii remake.

And yes, I've played them all

[Mega Tank | 974]

I feel like this game needs to be mentioned for the GBA whenever MTPO is talked about:  Wade Hixton's Counter Punch:

 

[phart010 | 1,708]

2 hours ago, Lynda Monica said:

I don't know what the deal is with the original Contra, but it hasn't been available on anything of Nintendo's as far back as Wii Virtual Console. From what I understand it has something to do with the name of the game being somewhat in poor taste in hindsight, which is why Super C is allowed. You can unlock the original Contra in the DS game "Contra 4", but other than that it's seldom been made available.

It's fine by me since I much prefer Super C, but it's a bummer to those who love the original.

We had a thread about this topic years ago either here or on NA and came up with several possible reasons that Konami may be deliberately distancing itself from Original NES Contra.
 

Probably the most likely is that they used Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallones likeness on the box art as well as in game without any permission. They haven’t been sued yet, and they’d like to keep things that way:

 

Another possibility is that the mini boss in the last stage clearly looks like a giant alien penis monster. And further, it is vomiting out what appears to be either little alien embryos or maybe even giant alien sperms (they appear to be swimming to get around). It really is ridiculous and without a doubt, it would not fly today.

Konami was evidently at least acutely aware that this mini boss design took things a little too far because in Super Contra on SNES they reintroduced all the bosses from the final stages of both NES games. They preserved the original design of all the NES bosses, except the giant monster just previously mentioned. Now, he is no longer straight as an arrow… they also added gave him an arm that rapidly waves back and forth, and his body now has additional features instead of the smooth hot pink colored skin.

 

[Code Monkey | 2,013]

What about the first print release in Japan which did not have Mike Tyson in it at all? It was a prize giveaway.

[phart010 | 1,708]

23 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

What about the first print release in Japan which did not have Mike Tyson in it at all? It was a prize giveaway.

Is that punch out gold?

[Tulpa | 3,534]

30 minutes ago, phart010 said:

Is that punch out gold?

Yeah, the one with Bald Bull on the label. I think Super Macho Man was the last fighter.

Edited September 9, 2022 by Tulpa

[Lynda Monica | 350]

I played the first two console games in the early 2000s in my teens, and I really liked them. I had never seen or played the arcade Punch Out games as they were before my time, but I later found them on Youtube.

I was super excited when Punch Out Wii was announced out of nowhere, and played through the whole game wondering who the final boss was going to be. I assumed it'd just be Mr. Dream again, but I literally cheered when Mr. Sandman showed up. Mr. Sandman was the final boss of the original arcade game, so it made sense for him to be at the top again. He was also a great stand in for Mike Tyson, and deleted Mr. Dream from existence. 

While Mike Tyson is iconic as part of the Punch Out series, I'm okay with him leaving and giving Sandman his proper role again.

Edited September 9, 2022 by Lynda Monica

[Tanooki | 4,952]

I was psyched to see the arcade pair, I had a little time on them, more than most it appears, largely at a local pizza shop where there was an arcade inside in the 80s.  I could get a few fights in, so it wasn't my first go around with Bear Hugger for one.  When they went ACA on the Switch they were both day one pick ups, fantastic games.

 

Always wanted that gold bald bull fami-cart but I haven't looked in years, since I was on NA far back and even then it was like a $100 cart, hate to look now.  Bald Bull was the highlight for some reason, but Macho Man was the last man to take down there.  It's a nasty beast to pick up, limited in nature when new, given it was earned, not purchased.

[G-type | 2,521]

Mr. Dream? More like Mr. Dumb...

[DarkTone | 988]

On 9/8/2022 at 9:35 PM, DarkTone said:

Tyson edition. Finally beat it on the classic. There was debate on [NAME REDACTED] if it counted or not. 

Just remembered. The Nes classic had white tyson. 

[NESfiend | 1,515]

Did mr dream have any different pattern/moves to tyson or is he literally just the white version? 

MTPO for me. I remember growing up, if you asked me if it was more likely that I would one day become president OR one day beat mike tyson, I would have said POTUS is more achievable. I beat the shit out of tyson on occasion just for good measure now. And I still feel every bit as accomplished as I would have as a child 

[AstralSoul | 502]

Growing up I only had the Mr. Dream version so I went with that

[Dr. Morbis | 2,091]

2 hours ago, NESfiend said:

Did mr dream have any different pattern/moves to tyson or is he literally just the white version?

I believe he has identical patterns and moves and is just a graphic hack of Tyson...

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

8 hours ago, NESfiend said:

Did mr dream have any different pattern/moves to tyson or is he literally just the white version? 

He fights exactly the same. One hit knockdown uppercuts for the first 1:30 of the first round, ten jabs to start the second, and so on.