Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!/Walkthrough

Controls

 * B - Left body blow
 * A - Right body blow
 * Up+B - Left jab
 * Up+A - Right jab
 * Start - Uppercut (requires a star)
 * Left/Right - Dodge
 * Down (hold) - Block
 * Tap down twice - Duck

The game cannot be paused; you must wait for the end of the round or match.

Ducking is a useless move since dodging is faster and works just as well.

Not all opponent attacks can be blocked, but all can be dodged.

If you press left and immediately press right, or press right and immediately press left, you will return to the center more quickly. This is the quick-dodge, an important technique against Mr. Sandman's uppercuts, since he will hit you hard if you dodge too long.

Rounds
Each fight is divided into three rounds of three game minutes each. (A second in the game is slightly quicker than in real life. From here on the terms "second" and "minute" will denote game time and not real-life time.) At the end of round 1 and round 2, your number of hearts is reset to the number you started the fight with, and your number of stars is reset to zero. If you knock down your opponent three times in a round, you get an automatic technical knockout (TKO), which means you win and get another KO added to your KO record. (Your opponents can also TKO you.) If round 3 ends before one of you is knocked out, you might be able to win by decision.

To win by decision, you need to have a certain number of points. The number of points depends on the opponent and is listed in this walkthrough. Circuit champions can never be beaten by decision, and neither can Mr. Sandman or King Hippo. Winning by decision does not add to your KO record, but it makes no real difference.

Hearts and stars
At the top of the screen you can see the number of stars and hearts you have. At the start of each round you will have a certain number of hearts, depending on your opponent. (You will usually have more hearts against opponents who require you to block a lot.) You will use up one heart whenever you block an attack or when your opponent dodges or blocks your attack. You will also lose three hearts if you are hit. If you run out of hearts, you will turn pink and you cannot punch, block, or quick-dodge. You will regain some hearts after dodging a few of your enemy's attacks. Be warned that opponents will alter their behavior when you're out of hearts, but they'll resume their normal pattern once you're back to normal. If you get knocked down, then your hearts are reset to 9.

The number of stars you have indicates how many uppercuts you can throw. If you are hit, the number of stars you have is reduced by one, and you will lose all your stars if you're knocked down. You gain stars by hitting your opponent at the right time, which you will learn about below.

Countering an attack
Most of the time you will not be the aggressor. Instead, you will wait for your opponent to make a move and exploit it.

There are three ways to counter an attack:
 * Blocking and countering
 * Dodging and countering
 * Interrupting it

Blocking causes you to take a small amount of damage and also uses up a heart. Dodging costs nothing but if your timing is off you will get hit by the full force of the attack. In either case you will usually get to hit your opponent multiple times in the face (they will usually block their body when stunned). You can keep hitting him until you hear and see a punch that looks particularly forceful: this signifies that your chain of hits is over and your opponent has recovered.

Interrupting an attack will usually, but not always, get you a star (but it won't if you knock down your opponent). It depends on the attack and the timing. Generally, you want to hit your opponent while they are preparing their attack, not the moment they actually begin their move. This can be a risky move, and will often backfire on inexperienced players except in the case of very slow moves (like Great Tiger's uppercuts). Although stars are valuable, you don't need to master this technique to be good at the game.

A few of your opponents have special moves which can be interrupted. These will be detailed in the description of your opponent. Interrupting your opponent's special move will usually knock down your opponent, so it is a valuable technique to learn.

Glass Joe

 * Record: 1-99 1 KO
 * Age: 38
 * Weight: 110 lbs
 * From: Paris, France
 * Points: 5000

(The "points" are how many points you need to win by decision if there is no result by the end of round 3.)

As you might expect, Glass Joe is your weakest opponent. He won only one of 100 fights. Only the most disoriented (or bored) player could lose to him.

Glass Joe's opening pattern is simple: he will guard his face or body, and if you hit where he is not guarding three times, he will switch his guard. He will attempt to throw jabs and the occasional hook if you let him, but keep pounding and he won't get half a chance. If he blocks a high shot, switch to low, and vice versa. Keep the pressure on and he'll crack under it.

His special move is the taunt, where he jumps back and taunts you. If you land a body blow as he jumps back into the center, you will knock him down. If he gets up on a count of 1, you can give him an uppercut to knock him down again (see miscellaneous).

Von Kaiser

 * Record: 23-13 10 KO
 * Age: 28
 * Weight: 144 lbs
 * From: Berlin, Germany
 * Points: 8000

Von Kaiser is not as easy to defeat as Glass Joe: instead of just pounding, you need to stand back a bit and watch what he does. When he wobbles his head, this is a "telegraph", a signal that he's about to do a certain move -- in this case, a jab. Dodge the jab, then hit him with a few jabs of your own. He also has uppercuts that are telegraphed by ducking (but he doesn't always uppercut when he ducks). You can hit him while he's ducking, but be careful as he's to the side and cannot be hit with a punch to the other side.

Piston Honda

 * Record: 26-1 18 KO
 * Age: 28
 * Weight: 174 lbs
 * From: Tokyo, Japan
 * Points: cannot win by decision

His main telegraph is that he twitches an eyebrow before throwing a jab. As before, dodge the jab and hit him a few times.

When he jumps back and does a little dance, he's about to hit you with his Hurricane Rush. This is a flurry of punches which is easily blocked. However, if you hit him with a body blow just when he jumps back into the center, as you did against Glass Joe's taunt, he will fall down.

Don Flamenco

 * Record: 22-3 9 KO
 * Age: 23
 * Weight: 152 lbs
 * From: Madrid, Spain
 * Points: 10,000

Don Flamenco can be difficult if you don't know the trick to defeating him. First, he will stand and taunt you. If you try to jab him, he will do his Flamenco Punch, the powerful move that would make this match difficult if you didn't know what to do about it. When he does this move, he will stand straight up and raise his arm, quickly followed followed by a very swift and broad punch that looks sort of like an uppercut. Dodge as soon as you see him raise his arm (in fact, you can dodge just after he blocks the punch.

Now here's the bit that makes this really easy: after you dodge the punch, hit him with alternating jabs: left jab, right jab, left jab, right jab... it will not work if you hit the same side twice. He will just stand there letting you hit him with alternating jabs until he falls down! When he gets up, he will immediately do a Flamenco Punch, which you likewise need to immediately dodge... then you do it again! If he hasn't hit you by the time you knock him down the second time, you will probably get a KO!

If you're unlucky and he knocks you down, beware that he will immediately do a Flamenco Punch when you get up.

King Hippo

 * Record: 18-9 18 KO
 * Age: ??
 * Weight: ??
 * From: Hippo Island, South Pacific
 * Points: cannot win by decision

This guy's not so tough if you know his secret. He has two telegraphs: if he raises a fist to his mouth, he's about to punch. But it's the other telegraph your interested in: he quickly vibrates, opens his mouth, and goes for the overhead smash. Give him a jab when he opens his mouth. If you do, his boxing shorts will drop and expose his bandaged navel. Repeatedly punch that navel until he pulls his pants up. Just repeat this process until you knock him down. He'll fall on his butt and won't get up.

Great Tiger

 * Record: 24-5 3 KO
 * Age: 29
 * Weight: 132 lbs
 * From: Bombay, India
 * Points: 10,000

This guy's jab telegraph isn't as obvious: the jewel of his turban will flash, but you have to watch closely because it's small and the color change isn't as obvious as it could be.

After a while he will begin a series of uppercuts, alternating left and right. Hit him while he's ducking and you will get a star. Then dodge the next uppercut, hit him with a couple of jabs (not more than three), then hit him with an uppercut of your own. It is easy to knock him down a couple of times pretty quickly this way.

Eventually he will disappear and do his magician routine. As soon as he disappears, hold down to block. You will see shadows of him going about in a circle, pausing when you block his punch. Each time you block his punch, hold down to block the next one. After the fifth time you block, he will stand in the middle, stunned. Hit him with a jab or uppercut and he will fall down.

Bald Bull

 * Record: 34-4 29 KO
 * Age: 36
 * Weight: 298 lbs
 * From: Istanbul, Turkey
 * Points: cannot win by decision

Bald Bull telegraphs a jab by circling his fists, and telegraphs a hook by an odd, quick motion which is difficult to describe. Just dodge and return jabs as normal.

At times he will jump back and run toward you. This is his Bull Charge. When he reaches you he will do a really fast uppercut that will instantly knock you down. As usual, if you hit him just as he gets close, you will instantly knock him down instead. If you dodge the Bull Charge, he will just jump back and do it again, and again, until one of you gets knocked down or the clock runs out.

Piston Honda (rematch)

 * Record: 26-2 18 KO
 * Age: 28
 * Weight: 174 lbs
 * From: Tokyo, Japan
 * Points: 3000

Piston Honda has the same moves and telegraphs as before, just with different timings and he doesn't dance as much before the Hurricane Rush.

If you knock him down exactly one minute into round 1 (when he starts his first Hurricane Rush), he will not get up.

Soda Popinski

 * Record: 33-2 24 KO
 * Age: 35
 * Weight: 237 lbs
 * From: Moscow, USSR
 * Points: 10,000

Is he a drunk or a soda jerk? This guy specializes in hooks and uppercuts. He will start the match with mostly hooks and transition to mostly uppercuts. He will also rarely throw in a jab to throw you off balance. Sometimes he will do a little dance, which telegraphs three jabs. This happens most often, but not always, when you run out of hearts. If you're not out of hearts, you can hit his face a few times after each jab but watch out for the next.

Bald Bull (rematch)

 * Record: 34-5 29 KO
 * Age: 36
 * Weight: 298 lbs
 * From: Istanbul, Turkey
 * Points: 7000

This is one of the stranger matches of the game. This time you will be unable to knock him down normally. You must either uppercut him when his health is low enough, or hit him during his Bull Charge. That means you should save your uppercuts until he's almost out of health unless you think you can get another star before his health gets low enough.

After one of you gets knocked down, Bald Bull will stand there raising and lowering his gloves repeatedly. When he does this you are free to hit him to get a free star. Sometimes he will do this at other times, too. This should provide the stars you need to knock him down.

Don Flamenco (rematch)

 * Record: 22-4 9 KO
 * Age: 23
 * Weight: 152 lbs
 * From: Madrid, Spain
 * Points: 5000

Don Flamenco is more difficult this time around. He will no longer stand there like a fool when you hit him with alternating jabs. He still has his Flamenco Punch, but it plays a less important role in this match. He will no longer do it when you knock him down, but he will if he knocks you down.

The match begins with a series of jabs and hooks. He has no special telegraph for these except that he does them slowly. As usual, dodge and return jabs of your own. Eventually he will start taunting you. When you punch, he will block your shot and sometimes, but not always, do a Flamenco Punch. It no longer matters if you use alternating punches when you counter the Flamenco Punch, and in fact you may get more punches in if you don't.

Mr. Sandman

 * Record: 27-2 21 KO
 * Age: 31
 * Weight: 284 lbs
 * From: Philadelphia, PA
 * Points: cannot win by decision

This is by far your toughest match yet, and some think he's the toughest opponent in the game except for Iron Mike himself. Forget about a round 1 TKO, you'd be lucky to knock him down twice in the first round. In fact... don't even try to knock him down twice in the first round. If his health is low towards the end of round 1, just dodge his moves instead of knocking him down. This way you'll be able to knock him down at the beginning of round 2, making it easier to get a round 2 TKO.

Mr. Sandman will begin the match with jabs, telegraphed the same way as Bald Bull, but quicker. Do not bother dodging them; leave that to the experts. Instead, block them. His right jabs (to your left) will be retracted immediately, but he will pause after you block a right jab, giving you a chance to hit his face one time before you must resume blocking. Eventually he will throw a hook.

From this point forward, you should repeat this pattern: throw a jab at his face (he will dodge it), dodge his hook, and hit his face one time. He will raise his guard to cover his face, but he will still be stunned. Then, give him a few body blows. After he recovers, repeat: swing at face, dodge, hit face, body blows. Eventually, he will block your jab.

When he blocks your jab, you are in trouble. He is about to perform his Midnight Express move. You might have noticed his rapid uppercuts before the match. He was not just showing off... he really uppercuts that fast. After standing for a few seconds, he will flash white and very rapidly throw three uppercuts. Dodge all three times -- you need to use the quick-dodge technique, where you press left and immediately press right, or press right and immediately press left. As soon as you get back in the middle, you need to dodge again, until finally his third uppercut misses. If he misses his last uppercut, hit his face and, as before, follow up with body blows. If he missed all three, you get to really pound on him!

In rounds 2 and 3, after a knockdown (whether you knock him down or vice versa), he will always perform the Midnight Express. He will also do it at other times, especially during round 3. For this reason, you really want to knock him out in round 2 instead of round 3.

Super Macho Man

 * Record: 35-0 29 KO
 * Age: 27
 * Weight: 242 lbs
 * From: Hollywood, California
 * Points: cannot win by decision

If you lose to Super Macho Man, you will be knocked down to #3 and have to face Don Flamenco again, rather than #2 and facing Mr. Sandman.

Super Macho Man is just a souped-up Soda Popinski. He is much quicker, but it is still easy enough to dodge his moves when you get used to his timing. He traded in Popinski's jabs for two Spin Punches. Either one will knock you down if it connects. The first type, you can tell when he is about to do one because he will stand still for a few seconds, blocking your punches but doing nothing else. Then he will do a quick vibration -- you should dodge immediately, and the punch will miss you. After you knock him down, he will use the second type when he gets back up. Again he will stand inactive for a few seconds, but instead of vibrating he will wind up. He's about to spin in place several times. Dodge each time just before his punch reaches you. Don't bother counting his swings because the number changes each time; just wait until he stops. Then pound his face for all it's worth.

The Dream Fight: Mike Tyson

 * Record: 99-0 99 KO
 * From: Catskills, NY
 * Points: 5,000

Mike Tyson is by far the toughest opponent in the game, making Mr. Sandman seem like a pansy. This guy will start out with a series of Dynamite Punches. He telegraphs this with a brief blue flash followed immediately by a swift uppercut. To make matters worse, he varies his timing very well so that it's difficult to predict. To make them even worse, if it connects it will automatically knock you down. Then finally to make matters absolutely horrible, this flurry of Dynamite Punches will last a minute and thirty seconds. The only good news is you can get in about two jabs after each one.

After this phase ends, he will start throwing hooks, telegraphed by winks. Starting in the second round he will begin to use jabs without any telegraphing, and he will occasionally throw in a Dynamite Punch although they are no longer lethal. If he stands back and blinks, hit him for a star and beware the jabs.

This will take a lot of skill, reflexes, and perhaps good fortune. Some people go months without beating Tyson. At the very least, it is not something you are likely to master in an afternoon. Some people can consistently beat Mike easily, but be assured that anybody who can is a fanatic who spent many, many hours at it. ;)

Cheats and passwords
Passwords: Major Circuit          005 737 5423 World Circuit          777 807 3454 Super Macho Man        940 861 8538 Piston Honda (rematch) 032 730 8442 Mike Tyson             007 373 5963 Another World Circuit  135 792 4680* Busy signal            800 422 2602 See the credits        106 113 0120*


 * After entering the second-to-last digit, hit A+B+Select all at the same time. Otherwise the code will not work.

Why does 800 422 2602 give you a busy signal? Easy: that's Nintendo's old customer service number!

Another World Circuit is a new way to take on the Major and World Circuit fighters. You play through the entire Major and World Circuit fighters (minus your first matches against Don Flamenco and Bald Bull) in one long circuit, and if you lose even one fight it's Game Over. Unfortunately, if you can already beat the World Circuit pretty easily, this will not provide much extra challenge, but it can make the game a little more interesting.

Health regeneration:

After round 1 or 2, you can press "select" while Doc is talking to you. You will see Doc pumping his fist faster. When you start the next round you will regain a bit of health. If your health meter is full or very close to it, you will lose health instead (this can be done before round 1 to make the match harder). The code can activated only once per fight.

Game Genie codes:
 * AAVETLGE - Knock down opponent in one hit. Does not seem to work for all kinds of punches you can land, and does not work at all against King Hippo.

Miscellaneous

 * If your opponent's health is very low towards the end of round 1, but you haven't knocked him down twice yet, it might be a good idea to avoid knocking him down and waiting to do it at the beginning of round 2. Then you have lots of time to knock him down twice more for a TKO. This stategy is most important against Mr. Sandman and Super Macho Man. (Of course, if you have already knocked him down twice, you may as well knock him down a third time for a round 1 TKO.)
 * If your opponent gets knocked down and gets up on a count of 1, he will automatically fall down again as soon as you land an uppercut, even on a full life bar. (This rule probably does not apply if the round ends before you knock him down again.)
 * Every boxer except King Hippo shares a body type with exactly one other opponent. This means that their bodies look exactly the same except for the colors and the head, and they use many of the same animation frames. Therefore, a telegraph that applies to one boxer will often apply to the other, although the timing may be different. These are the boxers who share bodies:
 * Glass Joe and Don Flamenco
 * Von Kaiser and Great Tiger
 * Bald Bull and Mr. Sandman
 * Soda Popinski and Super Macho Man
 * Piston Honda and Mike Tyson
 * No opponent ever gets up on a count of nine, except the second time you fight Bald Bull, who always gets up on a count of nine.
 * Soda Popinski was originally named Vodka Drunkenski in the arcade game Super Punch-Out!!. Strangely, his banter between rounds still suggest drunkenness. Either Nintendo wanted to avoid offending Russians, or perhaps more likely they just wanted to avoid references to alcohol.