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 an important technique against Mr. Sandman's uppercuts, since he will hit you hard if you dodge too long.

It never makes a difference whether you dodge left or right. It's may be best for you to just pick a direction and stick with it.

Minor Circuit

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.

Major Circuit

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 right cross. 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.

World Circuit

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.

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

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

Miscellaneous

• 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.