Game mechanics
Control
- Left/right - dodge left/right
- Up - raise your guard
- Down - lower your guard
- Left punch/right punch - throw a left or right punch
- Knockout punch - throw an uppercut or right hook
If you throw a punch while your guard is high, it will be a jab to the face. If you throw a punch while your guard is low, it will be a body blow. If you throw a knockout punch while your guard is high, it will be a right hook, and if you throw it while your guard is low, it will be an uppercut. Both attacks are aimed at the face. The right hook is a bit faster and generally the better punch, though it nets you fewer points.
If you have played the NES or SNES versions, in those games your guard always defaults to low and you must hold up to keep it high. In this game, your guard always stays where you last left it: if you move the joystick up, then back to the center, you will still be guarding high until you pull the joystick down.
The left jab is your fastest and weakest punch, followed in strength (and slowness) by the right jab, left body blow, and right body blow. The speed tends to be more important than the power, so the left jab will usually be your main punch, and you will not use right punches too often.
You can only execute a knockout punch when your knockout meter is full. Even if the tone rings and you hear "Knock him out!", you cannot execute the punch until the meter is actually full (it lags behind a bit). You fill up your knockout meter by beating up your opponent. You may lose a point when your punch is blocked or dodged, and you will lose a significant amount if you get hit or grabbed.
Miscellaneous
If you get knocked down, repeatedly press the punch buttons until you get up.
A boxer will never get up after being knocked down a third time. If you just got knocked down for the third time, you don't even need to bother punching the buttons, you won't get up. (Of course, if you're not certain if it was your second or third time, do pound the buttons just in case.)
You only get one round of three game minutes (time goes faster in the game than in real life). If time runs out, you lose automatically.
You can tell a boxer is about to throw a punch because their eyes will turn yellow. This is called a "telegraph", since it tells you what's coming, and most of your opponents will have other telegraphs such as raising their fists a certain way before punching.
Opponents
Glass Joe
Glass Joe can be defeated by blind aggression. If he blocks your punch, just switch your guard and keep pounding. He likely won't give you any trouble at all once you're familiar with the controls. Knock him down within the first minute or so and he won't even get up!
Piston Hurricane
Most people think of Piston Hurricane as a character in the SNES game [[Super Punch-Out!! (SNES)|]] who is a ripoff of Piston Honda in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!... as you can see here, Piston Hurricane was around first!
Piston Hurricane tends to leave his body open more often than his head, and will sometimes duck your jabs, so you can keep pounding away at his body.
Piston's signature move is his Hurricane Rush. When he does this, he will jump away, then back toward the center. Then he will unleash a flurry of alternating high and low punches, although they're easy to block. Don't try dodging them. He then finishes the series with an uppercut (telegraphed by squatting). The best way to counter the Hurricane Rush is to punch him -- either a jab or body blow will work -- just as he hops back into the center. He will fall down. If you hit him on his first Hurricane Rush with the clock showing exactly 2:30, he won't get up! (He also won't get up if you manage to knock him down before his first Hurricane Rush.)
Bald Bull
Bald Bull is middle-of-the-road: pretty easy to defeat, but probably a tough opponent the first few times. This is where the game starts getting harder, since you cannot just keep pounding him into submission. You have two options: waiting for him to make a move, dodging, and countering with jabs to the face, or throw a punch you know he will block, hoping it will induce him to make a move which you can dodge and counter. For instance if you punch at him and he ducks, you know you should dodge immediately because he will throw an uppercut.
His special move is the Bull Charge. This move will automatically knock you down if it connects. You have two options: dodge it and then throw repeated jabs at him, or jab him (body blows don't work) right after his second hop. Err on the side of punching too late rather than too early, but you don't have too much room to make a mistake. It is still not difficult to do once you know the timing. If your punch connects it will knock him down. This makes him pretty easy to beat if you can get the timing right consistently.
Kid Quick
Kid Quick is tough. He is not physically dangerous, especially when you get used to his timing. He can still knock you out, of course, but your big danger against him is running out of time. He does not provide too many opportunities to pound at him, and he has no special move that you can hit him out of to knock him down.
Kid Quick tends to leave his body open more than his face. He will usually throw jabs in series of three. You can tell when he is about to jab because he raises his gloves, which allows you to hit him with a body blow. Alternatively, you can dodge his jab and try to hit him back. He sometimes follows the series with a hook.
The easiest way to get a few hits on him after his hook. He will raise his gloves in a specific way, different from the jab. Dodge it and throw a couple of left jabs. He will often let you get in a couple of extra jabs even after he is no longer stunned. Whatever you do, don't use body blows in this situation, because he will block and no longer be stunned. You can get away with making your first punch a body blow, but once he's stunned you must use jabs.
The breakthrough in a given match against Kid Quick will probably be when you finally get your KO meter full. He will often stand there and let you hit him multiple times. Don't stop unless he starts fighting back against them. If you get really lucky you can fill up your KO meter and knock him down very fast at the start of the fight, and he might not even get up!
Pizza Pasta
How's that name for a national stereotype? ;)
Pizza Pasta can be very tough if you don't know a trick to defeating him. This trick will work pretty much every time, but may take a little practice. Keep throwing left jabs. Sometimes he will just block them, but sometimes you can see him prepare for a hook as he blocks. When he does, dodge and counter with jabs. Also, sometimes he will duck your jab. Dodge his uppercut and counter with jabs. You can use a knockout punch when he's stunned, too. That's pretty much it... until he grabs you.
His grab will not hurt you, but will drain a substantial portion of your KO meter. Afterward he will throw an uppercut. Dodge as soon as he lets go. Then you will get to throw lots of left jabs at his face and you will probably refill your KO meter. Give him a hook or two and if you've been doing well, he will probably fall down.
The second time he grabs you and you beat him up, you might not be in a position to knock him down. Afterward, he will likely begin a fast flurry of punches. This will be somewhat like Piston Hurricane's rush, with a twist: instead of alternating high and low, he will punch wherever you're not guarding. You must switch your guard with just the right timing. He might knock you down, and that's OK... you can get back to your old pattern when you get back up. This is the hardest part about fighting him, and you don't have to deal with it too much.
Mr. Sandman
You can use exactly the same technique against Mr. Sandman as you did against Pizza Pasta. He will usually duck and then uppercut. However, this pattern is much more risky against Mr. Sandman. Sometimes he will catch on and will block your counter punch, and when he does he might not fall for it again until one of you is knocked down. If you get lucky with this pattern, you can have him out cold in under a minute. If you get unlucky, you might be the one on the canvas. Pay attention to how he's reacting to your moves.
There isn't too much else to this guy, just watch out for his quick uppercuts, and be warned sometimes he does more than one.
Defending your title
After you defeat Mr. Sandman, you must defend your title. You will fight all of your old enemies again except for Kid Quick. This time around they will all be ranked #1 in the world, as you were when you fought Mr. Sandman. They will be significantly harder, their moves and patterns will be a little different, and their eyes will not turn yellow to telegraph punches. They also wear blue gloves which apparently signifies their status as the challenger.
If you lose a fight -- and be warned that even Glass Joe can be tough to somebody new to this part of the game -- you will as usual get the opportunity to rematch 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 gloves will switch back from blue to their standard color, and his eyes will turn yellow in advance again, but other than that your opponent will still be as tough as when he was the challenger.
In this part of the game, your opponents will now tend to punish a jab with an unavoidable counterpunch. Therefore, inducing mistakes by throwing a left jab will no longer work reliably and is actually dangerous. This is now a game of watching your opponent and reacting.
Unfortunately, we cannot give a breakdown of opponents in this part of the game at this time, because furrykef isn't very good at it and nobody else here has yet written about it. Just be warned that the normal strategies for your opponents do not necessarily work as well or at all.
Still defending your title
After you beat Mr. Sandman a second time, Pizza Pasta will be removed from the lineup, the game will get yet harder, and Glass Joe is moved to before Mr. Sandman, making the new order Piston Hurricane, Bald Bull, Glass Joe, and Mr. Sandman. After defeating Mr. Sandman this part of the game repeats indefinitely until you finally lose.