
Punch-Out!! on the NES has plenty of fans. For some reason, though, a lot of them seem to be completely unaware that there’s a second game in the series available on home consoles – this is rather strange, because Super Punch-Out!! is easily as good, if not better than the NES original.
The main objective of the game is still the same. You have to fight your way through a number of boxers to become the champion of the WVBA (World Video Boxing Association); this time there are four circuits with four opponents each. Once all circuits are unlocked, you can play any you want any time. There is also a time attack mode, where you can practice against any of the 16 enemy boxers to understand their patterns.
The actual gameplay has taken both a step back (But not in the bad way) and a step forward – as in the two arcade Punch-Out!! titles, you view your boxer from behind. His sprite can be seen through, and you can clearly see your opponent in front of him; this gives you a much more “involved” feel than the NES game.

All the moves you could pull off in the previous three games are here again – dodging left/right, ducking, and both body blows and jabs. What’s new, however, is the very useful charging system – if you can land a series of hits on the opponent without getting hit yourself you’ll be able to perform super-strong punches and uppercuts which take off a great deal of the opponent’s health. You can also opt for a series of weaker but very fast punches.
The game has also done away with the multiple rounds you find in real boxing; each match only has a single round. As in Punch-Out!!, you can KO an opponent by hitting him so hard he stays down for 10 seconds, or TKO him by knocking him down thrice. If the timer (which counts up slower than in the NES game) reaches 3 minutes, you lose, so don’t screw around!
Super Punch-Out!! has a whopping 16 opponents, each with their own unique moveset. You’ll find familiar faces like Bald Bull and Super Macho Man, but most opponents are totally new, and some of them are even crazier than the characters in the previous entry – for example, there’s Bob Charlie, the Bob Marley look-a-like, and Masked Muscle, the Mexican luchador who tries to blind you by spitting in your eyes! Multiple other opponents also seem to forget the rules of boxing and attack with their feet, weapons and even their hair, so watch out.

Graphically this still looks great today – the characters all have plenty of animations which help their obvious stereotyping even more. Musically the game is also much improved; instead of having just one fight song like Punch-Out!! on the NES, there are now four different tracks – one for each circuit. Each opponent also has their own short theme song which plays before the match.
Conclusion
Super Punch-Out!! is a great sequel. It really only improves on what was already there, being careful not to screw anything up. If you liked the NES game you can do absolutely no wrong in downloading this.
Comments 43
So... what's the "step back" the review mentions? Just the literal step behind Little Mac?
This is one I never got to play much when I was younger. I'll probably give it a chance when it comes to North America, especially since I'm a fan of the NES one.
Can't wait till this comes to the US. This is my all time favorite SNES game!
@ Jogurt: Yup
I like this game and am glad I bought it. The graphics are really nice and the game play is challenging. Actually I prefer it to the NES version
I'm ashamed to say I've never played Punch Out. It sounds good from the review, but I think I will wait to try the new one for Wii first, which has a really good look to it.
This does look good. The game in action has great animation for a SNES game. I will pick this up later when i get the chance.
Good to see nintendo releasing this in the run-up to the wii version. Its fun to play. What chance Pilotwings and Super-you-know-who-kart now please?
@Jogurt: I think the "step back" is supposed to refer to the fact that the player character and point-of-view have more in common with the older arcade games than with the NES game. IIRC the protagonist in this game is not Little Mac; he's never named, and is comperable in size to his opponents.
i cant see this takin long to come out over here prob within the next week or 2
I'm like Drake, I still prefer this one to the original Punch Out. Great little game.
I always found this to be a fairly poor game as far as this series goes. My problem lies not in the a/v as that's a sweet upgrade, but the gameplay model across the board. The controls don't confuse with that, they work, and well, but the setup sucks as it's a huge step backwards. The old 8bit title and even the arcade games it came away from gave you 3 rounds to work within. And in those 3 you could follow a strict pattern and beat the sucker to death in record time, or if you didn't know it, all was not lost but it was slow and likely painful to win getting you few points. The SNES game sucked in that respect as they made it a 3min game with no rounds, and after the easiest league if you didn't follow the script like a robot you were never going to win and that's just not fun as it was reverted into a memory match game alone.
I want the upcoming Wii game as it appears to return to the better days, but if they give it the play model of this SNES title they'd have to pay me to get it.
I might pick this up one day, graphics and gameplay seems very nice. I love Mike Tyson´s Punch Out! Pity they removed the rounds. It was great to hear Doc´s advice and the opponents taunts in between
I've never liked boxing. The only boxing game I'm involved in is Boxercise on the Wii Fit.
Viral, this is more a timing and strategy style game rather than flat out boxing. It's incredible fun and I highly recommend it!
is funny how people talk about it, like is a new game! great.
I never knew much about this game unitl recently. How is the difficulty compared to the first Punchout?
Can't wait for this to come to N.A!
I've only played this once on the SNES at a friend's house, and back then, I wasn't too into sports games of any kind. Since then I've picked this up on emulator, but I want the authentic Classic Controller experience.
Since I'm quite a fan of the NES Punch-Out!! I'll probably buy this next time I've got WiiPoints. By the way, how hard is it compared to its predecessor?
It's just as hard as the NES game really, the only difference being that the final opponent is actually beatable
To be fair the NES game doesn't really start getting hard until the World Circuit either. Super has more opponents so obviously it takes a bit longer to get going.
North American gamers can play Super Punch Out on the Wii right now. Just buy Fight Night Round 2 for the Gamecube and it includes Super Punch Out and you can play it on the Wii. That way we don't need to wait for it to hit NA VC.
Really Don?
And none of us are lucky about this Virtual Console schedule. I went and got a 360 so I could play better games, and they have a whole library of older games I haven't hardly got a chance to touch(TMNT/Castlevania SOTN are better purchases than ANY of the VC titles I've bought).
So, I'm voicing my displeasure with Nintendo's VC release schedule by buying a 360, and putting any free video game capital toward that. Although I love this game, and if it comes out, I will be all over it.
Fordianslip, yes, it's true. That's the reason my friend Lawrence bought that game. He didn't really care for the other game (Fight Night Round 2). And Chunky Droid, no, I'm still not a fan of boxing games...boxercise does it for me. I'm more of a marathon runner than boxer.
@J.K.
Not to worry, the Wii Punch-Out!! uses the same model as the Nes version, but with the updated cel-shaded graphics.
I kid you not: the original sequel to Mike Tyson's Punch Out is called "Power Punch II" or "Mike Tyson's Intergalactic Power Punch." You play Mike Tyson and beat up space aliens in the ring. Seriously--google it!
I've been looking forward to this for a looong time. I've never played it before, but the first Punch-Out is one of my favorite games of all time. Sigh but I guess I'll have to wait a little longer for it to come to the U.S...
Oh, btw, IGN had some new info on the new punch-out for wii which you can check out here: http://wii.ign.com/articles/964/964846p1.html
I can't wait!!!
I can wait forever for that title...just started Metroid Prime 3 and it's pretty amazing so far...not difficult though.
Zack & Wiki was a pretty cool game too...difficult in some ways.
I enjoyed this game despite the stereotyping. This kid (who reminds me of Nester from Nintendo power for some reason) is proportionate to his opponents, knows some killer moves and his trainer doesn't look like my dad anymore.
This game's coming out monday for North America by the way. I might not buy it because I'm saving up for my DSi...but I REALLY want it. Esspecially with the new Wii Update today that let's you play games straight from the SD card. It's so nifty.
Yeah, I'm not getting it myself. I'm surprised the staff haven't posted the confirmation of it being out on Monday... Maybe it was overlooked?
Well it's out, and it seems officially the title character is indeed Little Mac. According to the Wii-kly update, anyway
Huzzah! The U.S. finally gets this gem of a game! I'm definitely going to download it. And it's great to hear that the title character is indeed Little Mac.
Saw the headline of this in my RSS feed and bought it. God, I love Punch-Out...
8 out of 10 is great and all but I really can't see where this game actually lost any points...
It does everything it does perfectly imo from graphics and sound to control and gameplay.
So why 2 points off a 10 out of 10?
You can probably tell this is one of my favorite SNES games. Great control and gameplay design at it's purest and most fun.
Also, I really wish the developers of Punch Out Wii would brighten up the rings/backgrounds and crowds a little so it looked more like this game because I actually think the rings and stuff look prettier in this game, and I can actually see them.
Just downloaded it yesterday--even better than I expected! I actually dissagree with the review on one thing though--the music is not better. It's more varied, sure, but not nearly as memorable.
Everything else though, is spot on. And I'm in the crowd that thinks that this is just as hard as the original. Personally, I would've given it an 8.5 or 9. It's not QUITE as good as the original (the lack of Little Mac automatically makes it slightly less awsome) but still much better than an 8, and one of the best SNES games I've ever played.
I never said the music was better (Although I do think it is, especially the Special Circuit theme), just that there's more songs
That fighter IS Little Mac.
I enjoyed playing the NES version so far,so I must buy this.
This is way better than the first Punch Out. I can't find any major flaws with it.
Why does every sequal to an original old game always have to start with "Super"? (Mario Bros. to Super Mario Bros. ect.)
I might pick this up from Club Nintendo if I have enough coins. I've always wanted to try a Punch-Out game.
I got this day1 on my snes when it first came out the first game i had on new was mike tysons punch out so i was a big fan and waited years for punch out 2. I would give this 9out of 10 punch out games rock !
I got this for Christmas when it came out. Will pick this up soon. Sooooo many memories.
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