The game starts right off proving itself a bit harder than the original game. Bear Hugger is not quite as bad as Glass Joe was in Punch-Out!!, but not by much. You cannot do any damage to his gut, so it's useless punching him there. Just dodge and counter or jab at him when he's open and you'll do fine.
After you knock him down, he will do his special move, which looks like a "Bear Hug", when he gets up. He will extend his arms and after a brief pause will clap them together with you in between. If you get hit, you will automatically be knocked down. Use the new duck button to dodge the attack, then counter with some jabs or hooks to the face.
==Going for the belt==
When you start a new game, you will be a newcomer to the boxing league with 0 wins and 0 losses. You must start off by fighting against the Canadian boxing champion Bear Hugger, and proceed to fight other national champions (Dragon Chan, Vodka Drunkenski, Great Tiger) until you earn the chance to earn the world championship by winning a fight against Super Macho Man.
Bear Hugger is apparently left-handed, since his jabs are usually thrown with his right hand (viewer's left) and hooks are thrown with the left (viewer's right). His hook is very slow, so don't dodge it too soon or you will get hit by it.
For each bout, you are given three minutes to defeat your opponent by knocking them down three times, or knocking them out cold. If you do not succeed in three minutes, or if you are knocked down three times, you lose the match. You are given one, and only one, chance to pay for a rematch against an opponent who beat you. If you lose the second time, the game is over and you must start from the beginning.
==Dragon Chan==
==Defending your title==
Dragon Chan's special move is a flying kick. He will hop up on the turnbuckle, jump over to the other turnbuckle, jump to the floor, then finally deliver the kick. You want to duck just before he starts to deliver the kick. Throw him a jab on whatever side he's on -- a right jab if he's on the right, left if he's on the left -- then pound him with left jabs. You might get in a hook but he might dodge it.
[[File:Punch-Out ARC Player.png|right]]
After you defeat Super Macho Man, you must defend your title. You will fight all of your old enemies again. They will be significantly harder, their moves and patterns will be a little different, and their eyes will not turn yellow to telegraph punches.
At the start of the match he will tend to leave his face open a lot, which is good for building up your KO meter. Wait for him drop his guard, then just pound on his face.
The order you face your enemies this time will depend on the game's "Difficulty" dip switch setting: if the switch is set to Easy or Medium, the order you face your enemies will be exactly the same as the first time you faced them. If it is set to Hard or Very Hard, you'll face them in a different order: Dragon Chan, Great Tiger, Vodka Drunkenski, Bear Hugger, and Super Macho Man.
For quick knock out, dodge any punches he throws in the initial seconds of the bout. If you can knock him down before he makes contact with you, he will stay down for a ten count.
If you lose a fight, you will get the opportunity to rematch as usual if you hadn't lost a fight yet. When you do, your opponent becomes champion and you will be fighting to get your belt back. Your opponent's eyes will turn yellow in advance again, and he will be a bit easier to defeat, but your opponent will still be tougher than when you first fought him.
==Vodka Drunkenski==
After you beat Super Macho Man a second time, Great Tiger will be removed from the lineup, the game will get harder yet again, and Bear Hugger is moved to the last fight, making the new order: Dragon Chan, Vodka Dunkenski, Super Macho Man, Bear Hugger. After defeating Bear Hugger, this pattern repeats until you ultimately lose. The game still gets progressively harder each time with difficulty maxing out at the 15th match. It is possible to continue for hundreds of fights.
Like many Punch-Out!! opponents, Vodka Drunkenski can be very tough if you don't know the trick, and very easy if you do. This big guy doesn't have any real special moves, he's just strong and aggressive. That aggression is going to be his downfall. Keep your guard up, covering your face, as he will usually lead with a jab. His two main attacks in the beginning are a jab and a hook, and two jabs and a hook. Do not lead into him, he will counter it. It's not necessary to, anyway, because he will throw plenty of punches of his own. Block the jabs, dodge the hooks, and jab back. If his hook places him to your right, hit him with a right, and if it places him to your left, hit him with a left. (If you hit him with a right when he's on your left, it will connect but you won't get to follow through with more jabs. Be careful!) Then continue with left jabs. Eventually he will start using uppercuts -- you can tell when he enters this phase when he throws a jab but doesn't follow it up -- and those are easy to dodge and counter, too.
If you knock him down, his first move when he gets back up will always be an uppercut. Dodge and counter as usual. That is all you need to know to bring down Vodka Drunkenski.
==Great Tiger==
If you've played against the blue-gloves Piston Hurricane in Punch-Out!!, you've played against this guy. He is almost exactly the same, just maybe a little easier.
It's best to have your KO meter full when he starts going into his Hurricane Rush. The reason is that after he starts dancing and starts to run at you, if you throw an uppercut or hook at ''just'' the moment he starts coming for you, it will connect at the right time. Otherwise, the timing is tricky. Watch closely and you can get it. If you miss, he will run down the clock severely.
If you knock him down while he goes into the Hurricane Rush, be warned that he will throw a few uppercuts when he gets up. This is the way he ends the Rush as well.
==Super Macho Man==
Super Macho Man is where the difference between Punch-Out!! and Super Punch-Out!! is most pronounced. Mr. Sandman is easy compared to this guy.
First, leading with your left is dangerous. He will usually duck and uppercut before you can dodge. For the same reason you don't want to keep throwing left jabs when you have him stunned until he blocks, because he won't block... he'll duck and hammer you. Try to remember how many jabs you can get in whenever you stun him in a particular situation.
Super Macho Man has two spin punches: the Spin Punch and the Super Spin Punch. The Super Spin Punch knocks you down instantly, and the normal Spin Punch still hits pretty hard. You can tell when he's about to do the Super Spin Punch because he jumps over to your right before doing it. Whenever he jumps over to the right, he's about to do this move. You must duck (not dodge) the punch. He often does this after a jab, so do not develop a habit of dodging immediately after countering his jab, thinking he will do a hook or uppercut. If you dodge prematurely and he starts the spin punch instead, you will get hit. When he does the Super Spin Punch he will always do two spins. Duck both, then give him a right and three lefts.
He does not jump over to your right before doing the normal Spin Punch. He will very quickly do something that resembles a quick dancing movement, sort of wobbly, then he will wind up. He will usually spin multiple times and there is no telling how many he will do until he stops. There is a pause between between the individual spins and you can hit him between them.
When you start a new game, you will be a newcomer to the boxing league with 0 wins and 0 losses. You must start off by fighting against the Canadian boxing champion Bear Hugger, and proceed to fight other national champions (Dragon Chan, Vodka Drunkenski, Great Tiger) until you earn the chance to earn the world championship by winning a fight against Super Macho Man.
For each bout, you are given three minutes to defeat your opponent by knocking them down three times, or knocking them out cold. If you do not succeed in three minutes, or if you are knocked down three times, you lose the match. You are given one, and only one, chance to pay for a rematch against an opponent who beat you. If you lose the second time, the game is over and you must start from the beginning.
After you defeat Super Macho Man, you must defend your title. You will fight all of your old enemies again. They will be significantly harder, their moves and patterns will be a little different, and their eyes will not turn yellow to telegraph punches.
The order you face your enemies this time will depend on the game's "Difficulty" dip switch setting: if the switch is set to Easy or Medium, the order you face your enemies will be exactly the same as the first time you faced them. If it is set to Hard or Very Hard, you'll face them in a different order: Dragon Chan, Great Tiger, Vodka Drunkenski, Bear Hugger, and Super Macho Man.
If you lose a fight, you will get the opportunity to rematch as usual if you hadn't lost a fight yet. When you do, your opponent becomes champion and you will be fighting to get your belt back. Your opponent's eyes will turn yellow in advance again, and he will be a bit easier to defeat, but your opponent will still be tougher than when you first fought him.
After you beat Super Macho Man a second time, Great Tiger will be removed from the lineup, the game will get harder yet again, and Bear Hugger is moved to the last fight, making the new order: Dragon Chan, Vodka Dunkenski, Super Macho Man, Bear Hugger. After defeating Bear Hugger, this pattern repeats until you ultimately lose. The game still gets progressively harder each time with difficulty maxing out at the 15th match. It is possible to continue for hundreds of fights.
