| 1 | [[quoteright:283:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i_17631.jpg]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:283:[-''Let's keep it clean! Now come out boxing!''-]]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->''"You think the speed of your fingers can match the strength of my fists?"'' |
| 5 | -->-- '''Creator/MikeTyson''' |
| 6 | |
| 7 | ''Punch-Out!!'' debuted in 1983 as a dual-screen arcade game produced by Creator/{{Nintendo}}. It was a boxing game where the player fought for a world title against a series of quirky opponents, typically consisting of various [[ForeignWrestlingHeel comically exaggerated national stereotypes]], such as Glass Joe, Bald Bull, Pizza Pasta and Mr. Sandman. It was followed by a sequel, ''Super Punch-Out!!'', released in 1985, which added more stereotypes like Bear Hugger, Dragon Chan, Vodka Drunkenski,[[note]]Renamed Soda Popinski in home console versions[[/note]] Great Tiger and Super Macho Man. A spinoff game titled ''VideoGame/ArmWrestling'' ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin an arm wrestling game]]) was also released in 1985. A modified version endorsed by the British heavyweight boxer Frank Bruno was also released in 1985 on various eight bit computers of the era. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | The series made its home console debut on the Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem in 1987. Originally released in Japan as a gold cartridge given away exclusively to Second Place Winners of the ''Famicom Golf: U.S. Course'' Tournament, this new version of ''Punch-Out!!'' featured most of the classic boxers. As well as newcomers such as Von Kaiser, Don Flamenco, Piston Honda and King Hippo. Mario in a cameo as the Referee and two new protagonists in Little Mac and his trainer Doc Louis. The final opponent was Super Macho Man. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | After then-Nintendo of America CEO Minoru Arakawa saw Creator/MikeTyson at a boxing match, the decision was made to capitalize on his then-growing popularity, by releasing the game publicly worldwide under the name ''Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!'', in which the final opponent was the infamous real-life champ himself. The 1990 reissue of the game (available in the first ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' game as well as on the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} and UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS UsefulNotes/{{Virtual Console}}s instead of the Mike Tyson version), reverting back to the original ''Punch-Out!!'' name, replaced him with a fictional champ named "Mr. Dream" (actually a white {{head swap}} of Tyson, more reminiscent of [[Franchise/{{Rocky}} Rocky Balboa]]). Many people assume that this stems from Tyson being convicted of rape, causing Nintendo to ditch him, but since Tyson was dropped from the game a year ''before'' he was arrested on the rape charges, this is clearly not the case. In reality, Nintendo's contract with Tyson expired, and since Tyson was no longer the heavyweight champion of the world, having lost the title earlier to Buster Douglas, Nintendo opted to neither renew the contract nor seek a new one out with Douglas-- who had already signed a licensing deal with Creator/{{Sega}} to use his likeness in a pair of boxing games for the [[UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem Master System]] and [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Genesis]] (a decision made specifically to spite Nintendo). In case you were wondering, Douglas, would get K.O.-ed in his one and only title defense by Evander Holyfield, who would also make a deal with Sega. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | A second console installment was released for the Platform/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem in 1994 titled ''Super Punch-Out!!'' (unrelated to the earlier arcade game, but closer to it gameplay-wise), which brought back several characters from the first NES game (as well as the arcade installments), while introducing new ones, including new champions: the Bruiser Brothers, Rick and Nick. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Fifteen years later, a UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} version of ''Punch-Out!!'' was released in 2009, developed by Creator/NextLevelGames (of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioStrikers'' fame). Featuring modernized 3D graphics and full voice acting (with all boxers accurately speaking their native tongue), the game functions as a "greatest hits" collection of the series, consisting almost entirely of boxers from previous entries with the same patterns and weaknesses. This game adds several new modes to play. In "Title Defense," Little Mac has to defend his newly-gained World Circuit title against the boxers he defeated in the traditional Contender Mode to win it, but they have new moves and strategies to make the fights much more difficult. "Mac's Last Stand" pits Mac against an endless series of randomly generated Title Defense opponents, and he will retire from boxing once he loses three fights. Fights from Contender, Title Defense and the secret character unlocked via Last Stand can all be replayed anytime thanks to Exhibition Mode, where the player can tackle several unique challenges that have to be completed when fighting against the boxers; finally, there's a super-secret mode that turns Mac into a OneHitPointWonder during the fights, elevating the difficulty into a level that is only suitable for true experts. The game was rereleased on UsefulNotes/WiiU [=eShop=] in January 2015. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | A UsefulNotes/WiiWare stand alone game titled ''Doc Louis' Punch-Out!!'' is an exclusive download for platinum Club Nintendo members where players take control of Little Mac once again and fight against his mentor, Doc Louis. Released around the last week of October 2009, players spar with Doc Louis in training sessions, so the game could be a prequel to the Wii version. Doc Louis can also use the same Star Punch technique as Little Mac, since he invented it. This title was later rereleased for all Club Nintendo members to purchase during the club's closing sale in 2015. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Little Mac has also appeared three times in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' games; as an Assist Trophy in ''Brawl'', and as a playable character in the fourth game and ''Ultimate''. He also cameoed in the [[NoExportForYou Japan-only adventure game]] ''VideoGame/CaptainRainbow,'' where he's [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall gone overweight from years of not boxing]] and needs help getting back into shape. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | King Hippo, meanwhile, appeared as one of the major lackeys to [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Mother Brain]] in ''WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster'', though no other characters from ''Punch-Out!!'' ever appeared in the show for some reason[[note]]unless one counts Glass Joe's cameo in "Videolympics"[[/note]]. |
| 22 | ---- |
| 23 | !!This series features examples of: |
| 24 | |
| 25 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 26 | |
| 27 | [[folder:A-D]] |
| 28 | * ThirteenIsUnlucky: Mr. Sandman who personifies the connotation of the number as the 13th opponent in the game (as he manages to beat twelve boxers across the circuits of the WVBA and becomes World Champion). He's the most feared boxer due to his ease to defeat his opponents and a flawless victory record, as even former champion Doc Louis pulls an OhCrap during his grand entrance preceding the boxing fight. And when Little Mac confronts him at the end of Contender Mode, he only has 13 hearts of stamina (one of the lowest numbers when facing any boxer in the game), and this is repeated in their rematch in Title Defense. However, this also goes the other way: Little Mac defeats 12 boxers to reach Mr. Sandman (who is then his 13th opponent), and ''wins'' to become the champion. The trope is further surrounded with the following details: Sandman's Contender introduction cutscene is 13 images long, each one showing Sandman KO'ing an opponent (the other boxers only have four-image-long cutscenes), he has to be hit 13 times (in case Star Punches aren't used) after his fourteen uppercuts in a row are over to be definitely defeated, and his personal stats (age, fight record, height) provide nods to number thirteen as well. Oddly, during his World title hold, he has the highest rank in the World Circuit, while Aran Ryan (who embodies the LuckySeven trope) is the ''lowest'' in the same circuit. |
| 29 | * {{Acrofatic}}: Mad Clown in ''Super Punch-Out!!'' may be fat, but he is also acrobatic enough to retreat by doing a few backflips. |
| 30 | * AddictionPowered: Soda Popinski.[[note]]Originally named VodkaDrunkenski[[/note]] He drinks huge amounts of soda, even in the ring. The drink restores his stamina and increases his punching power, albeit for a short time. |
| 31 | * AddressingThePlayer: Overlapping with ThankingTheViewer, the game does this when [[spoiler:Little Mac retires after completing Mac's Last Stand]]. At the end of the credits, it shows "(name of Mii in save file) as Little Mac". |
| 32 | * AdiposeRex: King Hippo, whose large stomach is his AchillesHeel. the developers portray him as the king of a tropical island. |
| 33 | * AesopAmnesia: Super Macho Man, an egocentric {{Eagleland}}er who is blatantly based on Hollywood celebrities. He gets his fame and fortune stolen after his initial defeat by Little Mac, and in Title Defense, he gets greeted to jeers and boos from the fickle audience, with even the spotlight wanting to get away from him. If he wins, he comes to the realization that CelebrityIsOverrated as the crowd suddenly "loves" him again, only to promptly ignore that and go back to posing. |
| 34 | -->'''Super Macho Man:''' Oh, now you love me. Now you love Macho Man. Well, it's too late... ({{beat}}) ...Maybe not! (flexes) |
| 35 | * AgonyOfTheFeet: When you knock off King Hippo's manhole cover in the Wii version's Title Defense mode, it lands on his foot — much to his dismay. It even knocks his health down a small chunk. |
| 36 | * AllChinesePeopleKnowKungFu: Dragon Chan (Hong Kong) and Hoy Quarlow (Beijing). Both rely on kung fu-based attacks despite being boxers, and the latter isn't even dressed with boxing clothes. |
| 37 | * AlliterativeName: '''B'''ald '''B'''ull and '''P'''izza '''P'''asta |
| 38 | * AllStereotypeCast: Most of Mac's opponents starting in the second arcade game are national/ethnic stereotypes. These include a [[CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys cowardly Frenchman]], a Canadian lumberjack, the original VodkaDrunkenski (aka [[{{Bowdlerise}} Soda Popinski]]) from Russia, a militaristic German guy whose stage music is Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries, a BruceLeeClone from Hong Kong, an [[AllAsiansKnowMartialArts old martial arts master from China]], an [[FightingIrish aggressive Irishman]], a Flamenco-dancing Spanish ladies' man, and more. |
| 39 | * AmbiguouslyGay: Disco Kid in the Wii version, although he's just projecting up the ambient gay of the 1970s. In Title Defense Mode he jumps into the air and arcs like a rainbow, while letting out a blissful "WHEEEEEEE!" And he's dressed up ''[[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed exactly]]'' [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed like Richard Simmons]]. This is followed by: |
| 40 | -->'''Disco Kid:''' "I AM FAB-U-LOUS!" |
| 41 | * AngryAngryHippos: King Hippo, a real behemoth of a man who has hippopotamus as his AnimalMotif. While not the meanest of the bunch, he's still a very tough opponent to fight. |
| 42 | * AnimalAthleteLoophole: |
| 43 | ** Bear Hugger brings in a tiny squirrel as his partner in the Wii version's Title Defense mode, keeping it under his hat. Nobody even blinks when Mac knocks him out and sends the squirrel flying into the crowd. |
| 44 | ** Apparently, there Ain't No Rule that [[Franchise/DonkeyKong an ape]] can't box, according to the World Video Boxing Association. |
| 45 | * AnimalThemeNaming: The Major Circuit opponents in the NES version of included King '''Hippo''', Great '''Tiger''', and Bald '''Bull'''. Also included is Don Flamenco, which sounds sort of like "Don '''Flamingo'''". |
| 46 | * {{Animesque}}: Inverted. Despite the Arcade, NES and SNES games being developed in Japan, they are extremely cartoony with over-the-top cartoon caricatures of international stereotypes. The games also draw heavy influence from many Western boxing films like the ''[[Franchise/{{Rocky}} Rocky]] series'' and ''Film/RagingBull''. The Wii game averts it on principle for being developed in Canada and still retaining the Western designs for the characters. |
| 47 | * AntiFrustrationFeatures: |
| 48 | ** In the NES game, the first fight of each circuit has a way to easily end the fight in under a minute. Since passwords all only start at the beginning of a circuit, this way the player can get to the harder fights without straining themselves too much. |
| 49 | ** In the NES game, in the latter half of the game (from Great Tiger onwards) you can't get up from a third knockdown against most opponents, including against the final three opponents of the World Circuit, a big part of why the difficulty spikes so much at this point. One of the fighters though that it takes four knockdowns to permanently put you down against is Mike Tyson/Mr. Dream, and you also get much more generous health refills upon getting back up too, which helps ease the pain a bit against his very hard-to-dodge OneHitKill Dynamite Punches and means as long as you can survive the first 90 seconds without getting TKO'd, you still have a somewhat reasonable shot at beating him even if you took two quick knockdowns from the Dynamite Punches. |
| 50 | ** Also in the NES game in the second Bald Bull fight, you can only knock him down with Star Punches or by intercepting the Bull Charge. To make this less frustrating for players who don't know how to or aren't good at getting stars against Bald Bull 2, he'll occasionally jerk his gloves up and down without throwing a punch; a body blow will award a star. He always does this immediately after getting up from a knockdown, supplying players with a decent amount of essentially free stars throughout the match. Also Bull will stay stunned longer when he is countered to make it easier to hit him with Star Punches, unlike in his first fight where he would unstun faster than you could throw a Star Punch and dodge or counter with his own uppercut. |
| 51 | ** In the NES game, wins by decision require a fixed score. They are impossible against some enemies, including the champions. But the limit you have to pass to win that way against Tyson himself, who is hard to survive, let alone knock out, is one of the ''lowest'', in spite of him being the TrueFinalBoss. |
| 52 | * AntiMentor: Glass Joe is known for being the worst boxer in the franchise. That being said, he's the one who trained Gabby Jay from ''Super Punch-Out!!'' how to box. Gabby Jay's only win is against his own mentor, and his record ends up being about the same. |
| 53 | * AntiPoopSocking: In the Wii version, per Nintendo standards. |
| 54 | -->'''Doc Louis:''' That's great kid, you won! But you look a bit tired out there. Isn't it past your bedtime? |
| 55 | * ArbitraryMissionRestriction: In the NES and Wii versions, the amount of starting energy you have varies from opponent to opponent, with no in-universe explanation for why Little Mac has a whopping 50 hearts for fighting Piston Honda but has to ration his 10 hearts for King Hippo. |
| 56 | * ArtisticLicenseBiology: |
| 57 | ** The Wii game gives Mac's height at 5'7 and his weight 107 lbs. He's depicted as quite muscular both in gameplay and in the cutscenes, but 107 lbs at his height would be extremely skinny and dangerously underweight. He should be at least fifty pounds heavier. |
| 58 | ** Glass Joe is 5’10 and weighs only 110 lbs. That is SEVERELY underweight for someone of his height. Although this could be deliberate considering Glass Joe’s skinniness and his wimpy characterization. |
| 59 | * ArtisticLicenseSports: The game doesn't take itself seriously and plays very fast and loose with the rules of boxing overall. This is a good thing, as by real world rules there's a lot going on that wouldn't be allowed in a real-life boxing setting. |
| 60 | ** The series doesn't care for weight divisions. Little Mac is the wrong height (4'8 in the original game, upped to 5'7 in the Wii game), size (107 pounds), and age (17) for boxing, yet is allowed to fight amongst adults who can be over twice his size, such as the 440-pound Bear Hugger and 290-pound Bald Bull. Line up the weights of all the boxers together and you'll see that — depending on the promotion — the only other fighters who would possibly be in the same weight class as Little Mac (107 lbs.) would be Glass Joe (110 lbs.) and Hoy Quarlow (100 lbs.). This isn't necessarily a bad thing, since it neatly shows just how much of a badass Mac is, [[PintsizedPowerhouse especially for his size]]. |
| 61 | ** They also don’t seem to account for a normal rule in boxing, the mandatory eight-count. When someone gets up from a knockdown, the referee stops his count and the match resumes. In reality, referees continue the count up to eight to help see if the boxer is still in good condition to fight. |
| 62 | ** Boxing actually has a rather strict dress code that forbids long pants, personalized branding, not having a clear line indicating the waist (indirectly forbidding overalls and leotards), and any form of jewellery or headgear (even something as simple as a headband). A not insignificant number of boxers violate this dress code in some way. The only real exception would be Great Tiger's turban, which would most likely be protected as a religious garment. This dress code also covers hair, both facial and on the head. Boxers need to be clean-shaven or well-groomed, as excessive facial hair would provide cushioning, and long hair could potentially blind the boxer or even cause injury by getting torn out by the roots. Bear Hugger and Heike Kagero are perhaps the worst offenders (the former with his huge beard and the latter with his long hair), but fighters such as Von Kaiser and Bob Charlie would also have to get a trim at least. |
| 63 | ** Glass Joe's headgear in the Wii game's Title Defense mode is an odd case. The WVBA seemingly allows fighters who lose one hundred fights to wear one[[note]]Little Mac can wear one if the player loses that many[[/note]], and Joe's intro cutscene also establishes that he needs it for medical reasons. That said, by real-world rules, him wearing it constitutes an unfair advantage, and he and Mac should both be wearing headgear for sake of fairness. |
| 64 | ** In addition, the series allows the boxers to get away with things that would result in penalties or worse in real boxing. These range from the mundane (illegal blows such as backhands and headbutts, touching the ropes, general poor sportsmanship) to the unusual (Disco Kid's earphones, Don Flamenco's perfume, Bald Bull using hot towels instead of cold ones, assuming they're not cold and he's just ''that'' hot from his burning rage) to the outright criminal (Aran Ryan's horseshoe-loaded gloves and improvised flail weapon, Soda Popinski's lab-made soda that allows him to ''pull trucks with his teeth'', Hoy Quarlow bringing his staff to the ring and using it as a cudgel, etc). In the Wii game, three fighters - Aran Ryan, Bald Bull and Super Macho Man - go so far as to ''attack the referee'' during intermissions or victory cutscenes, which would be a lifetime ban even if it wasn't during a match. |
| 65 | ** Hoy Quarlow deserves special mention for violating every single rule listed above at the same time. His outfit is illegal (too loose, without a clear line marking his waist; the long pants and slippers are also against real-world boxing rules), his hair is illegal (long hair and long beards are both not allowed), and ''every single one'' of his moves is illegal (his punches are all illegal backhands, palm strikes, and shoves; some of his moves have him turning his back to his opponent, which is considered a forfeit in real boxing if done too much; even his leaps are too high and could be considered leaving the ring and forfeiting the match; and that's not even counting his staff, an obvious foreign object). Plus he should have retired nearly forty years ago. There is literally nothing boxing-legal about him at all. |
| 66 | ** By contrast, Mr. Sandman, the FinalBoss of the original arcade game and the Wii version, is one of the few boxers not to resort to any dirty tricks, which serves to make him all the more badass as he doesn't ''need'' such bastardry to be a world champion. Strictly speaking, raising his own hand when he wins and taunting Mac between rounds are both minor rule infractions, but none of his in-match moves are illegal (and you can't even pin the first one against him either, since it's shown that he is so heavy that the ref physically cannot lift his arm by himself). |
| 67 | * AscendedMeme: In the Wii game, Doc Louis may joke about taking a ride on Mac's bike in the chatter between rounds, based on the meme of him doing that in the NES game. |
| 68 | * AstonishinglyAppropriateInterruption: This is how the "Release the bogus!" meme was born in the Wii game. In Title Defense, Super Macho Man says "Release the beast!" when using one of his new moves, and might say "Bogus!" if you counter or dodge his attack, so interrupting his special move with a counter at the right time results in "Release the- Bogus!" |
| 69 | * AthleticallyChallenged: In each game, Glass Joe will be your first opponent. A French boxer who has the worst offense and defense of any boxer and has a total record of 1-99 (it's stated that his sole win was from an "accident"). It's said that he has a medical condition that makes him easily knocked out. And as such, for the most part, he's a pushover in the games he appears in. In the SNES version, he is replaced by Gabby Jay, who functions as an older Glass Joe. |
| 70 | * AtrociousAlias: The first opponent you face in the first Arcade, NES and Wii games is called "Glass Joe", which has the combination of referring to how fragile glass is and being a play on "glass jaw", a term in boxing used to refer to vulnerability. Despite this, Joe seems rather proud of the nickname, even shouting it for the whole stadium to hear in the Wii version. |
| 71 | * AttackItsWeakPoint: |
| 72 | ** Hit King Hippo in the mouth when he opens it to get his pants to drop. Then hit his stomach repeatedly when his hands drop down to pull his trunks back up. Repeat until you've depleted his meter once. He won't get back up. |
| 73 | ** Hitting opponents at certain windows of vulnerability is how you can pull off most OneHitKO tricks. |
| 74 | ** Bear Hugger is so overweight that hitting him in the stomach doesn't do squat, so he has to be hit on the head. However, in the arcade and SNES ''Super Punch-Out!!'', if the player waits a second, Bear Hugger will taunt the player, making Bear Hugger's belly vulnerable enough to stun him. In Title Defense mode in the Wii game, he wears a hat that makes doing so harder, so Little Mac has to wait for him to take it off to be able to do much damage. |
| 75 | * AutobotsRockOut: While the main themes of the Wii game are all heavy on guitar, the final boss (Mr. Sandman) is outright ''metal''. |
| 76 | * AxCrazy: |
| 77 | ** Aran Ryan in the Wii version. Mr. Sandman in ''Punch-Out!!'' Wii may also qualify, as he punches an entire building to rubble out of anger from having the WVBA title taken from him by Little Mac. |
| 78 | ** Bald Bull; his contender movie shows him attacking the paparazzi, and his victory sequence in Title Defense Mode has him chase the referee for no reason. |
| 79 | * BadassNormal: Little Mac. Considering the gimmicks used by most of his other opponents, Mr. Sandman and the Bruiser Brothers might also qualify. |
| 80 | * BaldHeadOfToughness: The series has its share of hairless heavyweights, but none are more prominent than resident WakeUpCallBoss Bald Bull, who's just as chrome-domed and ruthless as his moniker implies. In the NES game in particular, he acts as both the champion of the Major Circuit and as a rematch on the World Circuit. Both times, he acts as a massive difficulty spike, having the hard-to-dodge [[OneHitKill Bull Charge]] as his signature attack and, in the World Circuit, being immune to knockouts except through either Star Uppercuts or perfectly countering the Bull Charge. |
| 81 | * BananaRepublic: The fictional Hippo Island, in the South Pacific Ocean. (Though not so much the republic part, since its resident boxer isn't called President Hippo or Prime Minister Hippo.) |
| 82 | * BarehandedBladeBlock: Piston Honda in his Title Defense intro cutscene in the Wii version. It's part of his training for his rematch against Little Mac. |
| 83 | * BattleThemeMusic: As the series evolved, so did its relationship with this trope. |
| 84 | ** The arcade games (''Punch-Out!!'', ''Super Punch-Out!!'', ''Arm Wrestling'') didn't have music. |
| 85 | ** The NES ''Punch-Out!!'' has one theme for battles, but each boxer has a unique jingle when entering the ring. |
| 86 | ** The SNES ''Super Punch-Out!!'' has a different battle theme for each of the four circuits. Each boxer has a unique theme on the pre-fight stats screen. |
| 87 | ** The Wii ''Punch-Out!!'' has a battle theme for each circuit plus a unique theme for the final opponent in each circuit (King Hippo, Don Flamenco, and Mr. Sandman). Every boxer has unique jingles for the cutscenes, and (with the exception of Mr. Sandman) an additional unique battle theme that's only used for Exhibition mode. Unlike previous entries, all of these themes (except the boxer's intro cutscenes) are variants of each other, with only the musical genre changing between each one. |
| 88 | ** In ''Doc Louis' Punch-Out!!'', only one theme is used, since your only opponent is Doc. |
| 89 | * BearHug: Bear Hugger is a huge Canadian lumberjack that would love to give his opponents Bear Hugs. |
| 90 | -->'''Bear Hugger:''' ''NEED A HUG?!'' |
| 91 | * BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: Don Flamenco uses this against you. For most opponents, you have to block or dodge their attacks and then counterattack. Don does the same trick against you, refusing to land a blow on you unless you strike first so he can counter. Of course, you can counter his counterattack. |
| 92 | * BeginWithAFinisher: Mike Tyson (or [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Mr Dream]]) infamously opens his fight with his most powerful attack, ''[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill 90 seconds]]'' of nothing but OneHitKill uppercuts. If you avoid them all, he'll switch to fighting you more traditionally, but he'll still pepper in the uppercut. |
| 93 | * BerserkButton: |
| 94 | ** Narcis Prince ''really'' doesn't like being [[NotInTheFace punched in the face]]. |
| 95 | ** The Wii version's Don Flamenco ''really'' doesn't like having his hair being touched. |
| 96 | ** The Wii version's Soda Popinski will get very angry if you punch out his...er..."soda" bottles.[[note]]But you can actually uppercut him if you delay it ever so slightly.[[/note]] He also gets equally pissed if you knock him down or manage to land a star punch on him.[[note]]Which if you managed to get a star from doing that, only by landing an uppercut right after he finishes drinking, you can land an uppercut on him before he even does the first one.[[/note]] |
| 97 | ** Doc Louis gets his own berserk button in his UsefulNotes/WiiWare game. If you manage to punch out his chocolate bar during the fight, he gets angry and tears his jacket off, revealing a jaguar-patterned shirt and starts attacking much faster. If you manage to knock more of his candy out of his hands, he gets ''even faster''! |
| 98 | --->'''Doc Louis:''' Now you done it! [[Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977 You won't like Doc when he's angry!]]\ |
| 99 | ''[Doc Louis tears his jacket off, [[BrainBleach creeping out Little Mac.]]]''\ |
| 100 | ''Removal of Doc Louis's chocolate bar may be hazardous to your health. The WVBA is not responsible for any frustration from this point forward.'' |
| 101 | * BigApplesauce: The NES and Wii games take place in NYC as you see Doc Louis train Little Mac with the bike and you see the Manhattan skyline and Statue of Liberty in the background. Little Mac is also listed as being from the Bronx. |
| 102 | * BigEater: |
| 103 | ** King Hippo, Bear Hugger, and Piston Honda in his Title Defense mode. |
| 104 | ** Soda Popinski is basically this with his carbonated drinks. |
| 105 | ** Mad Clown, ostensibly. |
| 106 | ** And Doc Louis with his chocolate bars. |
| 107 | * BigFun: Bear Hugger, while easily one of the physically ''widest'' and most rotund boxers to get in Little Mac's way, is also an entertaining, goofy BoisterousBruiser with a big laugh, whose lines are pure comic gold, usually playing into his MooseAndMapleSyrup stereotype for all it's worth. He also seems to be in it for fun rather than harboring any serious thoughts of contending or being outright AxCrazy. |
| 108 | * BigNo: |
| 109 | ** Aran Ryan gives one of these when you dodge his more, uh, questionable attacks. Though slamming his foot with his own boxing glove might have something to do with it. |
| 110 | ** Mr. Sandman when you're about to Star Punch him. |
| 111 | ** Doc when you punch one of his beloved chocolate bars out of his glove in ''Doc Louis' Punch-Out!!''. |
| 112 | * BigOlEyebrows: Piston Hondo. His eyebrows even make a "doink doink" sound in the Wii version! |
| 113 | * BigThinShortTrio: The main non-opponent characters from the Wii game: Little Mac (short), Doc Louis (big), and the Referee (thin). |
| 114 | * BilingualBonus: |
| 115 | ** Most non-Anglophone challengers' dialogues in the Wii version are voiced in their native (foreign) language. In fact, the only one who doesn't speak a real language is King Hippo, and that's probably only because his home country is fictional as well. Granted, he doesn't appear to speak any kind of language, period. He mostly just grunts and roars, not unlike [[MeaningfulName a hippo]]. |
| 116 | ** The cornerman for Dragon Chan in ''Super Punch-Out!!'' calls out advice to him in Mandarin. |
| 117 | * BlackBoxerStereotype: |
| 118 | ** In the original NES game, Mike Tyson was your final opponent (until his contract expired, leading to the white-skinned Mr. Dream replacing him), and he's by far the most ferocious opponent in the game with his instant-knockdown uppercuts. He's also portrayed in a cocky manner, though he does congratulate Mac after the latter defeats him. |
| 119 | ** Despite being one of the highest-ranked boxers as well as one of the strongest, Mr. Sandman doesn't show much of this in the Arcade, NES or SNES games. However, he definitely does in the Wii game, not only retaining his power and having an intimidating entrance scene prior to the fight, but also having an angry attitude at all times plus nicknaming Little Mac "Mac baby" to provoke him. |
| 120 | ** Subverted by Doc Louis. The African-American former heavyweight champion can seem imposing, but he is actually quite friendly and cheerful. [[SchmuckBait Just make sure not to knock away his chocolate while training with him]], or else [[LetsGetDangerous he may end up playing the trope straight]]... |
| 121 | * BlondeBrunetteRedhead: |
| 122 | ** The Minor Circuit in the Wii game have Glass Joe (redhead), Von Kaiser (brunette), and Disco Kid (blonde). As King Hippo is completely hairless, he doesn't count. |
| 123 | ** And the World Circuit also follows this; Aran Ryan have reddish-brown hair, Soda Popinski, Bald Bull and Mr. Sandman all have black hair or mustaches, and Super Macho Man's gray hair is often considered as platinum-blonde. |
| 124 | * BloodKnight: Aran. Ryan. |
| 125 | -->"Fightin's like ''breathin''', Mac!" |
| 126 | -->"Keep hittin' me, I ''love'' it!" |
| 127 | %%* BoisterousBruiser: Bear Hugger in the Wii version. |
| 128 | * BoobsAndButtPose: Doc Louis [[http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/scale_small/15/151939/2295196-doc_louis.jpg strikes a standing variant of this pose]] for his portrait in the Wii game. Though in his case, it's more of a ''Paunch''-and-Butt pose. |
| 129 | * BossAlteringConsequence: If you punch out Doc's chocolate bar in ''Doc Louis's Punch Out!!'', he gets mad, and the sparring match gets harder. |
| 130 | * BossGame: Each individual boxer is a boss with its own patterns. |
| 131 | * {{Bowdlerise}}: Changing the Russian boxer's name and his drink of choice from Vodka Drunkenski to Soda Popinski. Even worse, his between round dialog ("I can't drive, so tonight I'm gonna walk all over you!", etc.) ''clearly'' makes references to alcohol as his drink of choice. This carries over into the Wii version, as one of his between-round taunts translates to "I am Soda Popinski! I will run over you!" |
| 132 | * BoxingBattler: Though most boxers play the trope straight, others mix up their "boxing" style with moves and techniques that wouldn't be approved in a real-life boxing tournament, such as Dragon Chan landing kicks like in kung fu, Aran Ryan using headbutts, or Great Tiger using teleportation. |
| 133 | * BraggingRightsReward: Beating an opponent in Exhibition Mode with Champion Mode enabled (turning you into a OneHitPointWonder) will add a trophy emblem next to that opponent, alongside any of the three exhibition challenges you cleared. The reward does nothing. |
| 134 | * BreakingTheFourthWall: |
| 135 | ** They didn't call it the World '''Video Boxing''' Association for nothing. |
| 136 | --->'''Mr. Dream/Mike Tyson:''' You think the speed of your fingers can match the strength of my fists? |
| 137 | ** In the NES game, Mike Tyson says between rounds, "You think the speed of your ''fingers'' can match the strength of my fists?" The line is also said by Mr. Dream in the game's rerelease. |
| 138 | ** In the Wii game, Doc Louis may try to plug the old Nintendo Fun Club like he did back in the day, before correcting himself to the modern version. |
| 139 | --->'''Doc Louis:''' Join the Nintendo Fu--I mean, Club Nintendo today, Mac! |
| 140 | ** In the Wii game, Aran Ryan ''literally'' breaks the fourth wall if you lose to him in contender mode. He attempts to ''literally'' break it again in the ''next round'' cutscene in Title Defense, but the ref stops Aran Ryan. |
| 141 | ** Soda does this in the Wii game's Title Defense, where he pushes a bottle box at the screen, covering it up. |
| 142 | * BriefsBoasting: Super Macho Man stands out for his extremely small underwear. It demonstrates his show-off attitude. |
| 143 | * BringIt: The entirety of Don Flamenco's boxing strategy is to goad you into making the first move, then countering it. That is, unless you've hit his BerserkButton. His Wii lines accentuate this. "¡Venga, venga!" |
| 144 | * BrokenArmorBossBattle: The second fight with King Hippo in the Wii game has him protecting his belly with a manhole cover. You cannot deal real damage until [[PuzzleBoss you figure out how to take the cover out.]] |
| 145 | * BrooklynRage: Little Mac hails from the Bronx, and has the skill to defeat the toughest of boxers. Even Mike Tyson. |
| 146 | * BroughtToYouByTheLetterS: The player character of the spinoff ''Arm Wrestling'' has a V on his shirt; since he's nameless outside the initials you give him, it's unknown what it might stand for. |
| 147 | * BruceLeeClone: Dragon Chan is a reference to Creator/BruceLee as "The Dragon," and Creator/JackieChan. |
| 148 | * BrutalBonusLevel: The special Another World Circuit in the NES game, where you face every boxer in a row except Glass Joe and Von Kaiser. |
| 149 | * BullfightBoss: Bald Bull. Instead of dodging his special technique — the Bull Charge, you have to hit him head-on. In the Wii version, it's possible — and preferable — to do this against almost all special attacks. Von Kaiser, of all people, has one that can't be stopped this way. |
| 150 | * ButtMonkey: |
| 151 | ** Glass Joe, He sucks to the point that one of the challenges is letting him win. |
| 152 | ** Von Kaiser even more so, having been beaten up by his own pupils and cowering behind his gloves whenever he gets hit with a star punch. At least Joe takes his beating like a man. It's especially humiliating when you consider that Kaiser's pupils are ''children''. In the NES game, Kaiser is much bolder and more confident; Glass Joe, on the other hand, is afraid of you, and constantly talks about how he just wants to retire, yet he still doesn't cower from you. |
| 153 | ** The referee himself in the Wii version, mostly noticeable if you lose to someone in Title Defense mode. Bald Bull will literally chase the referee around and headbutt him like a bull. Mr. Sandman lifts the referee up with just one arm. Super Macho Man also smacks the referee before the start of the next round. |
| 154 | * ButtonMashing: Discouraged. If you randomly spam punches, the enemy will eventually do nothing but block until you get tired. Once tired, you're very easy to defeat, and chances are, if you try this tactic, you'll have no idea how to counteract tiredness. |
| 155 | * CallingYourAttacks: Useful as an audio cue in the Wii version. |
| 156 | ** This seems to be a bit inverted, as most people seem to be naming attacks after the attack cues, rather than calling the name of an attack as a cue. |
| 157 | ** Early fighters vocalize their attacks, and a few later fighters do too, but there's also a distinct sound attached to every motion the character makes, making it essential to develop keen ears. |
| 158 | ** The arcade games have the announcer call every punch you make. |
| 159 | * CameraAbuse: If [[AxCrazy Aran Ryan]] wins, he'll shake the camera and smash the "screen" with his head. |
| 160 | * CanCrushingCranium: Soda Popinski in the Wii game does this with his bottle during one of his opening scenes. The fact that it crumples rather than shatters is a testament to the fact that yes, it ''is'' actually soda pop this time, and not the [[FrothyMugsOfWater lazily-censored vodka]] it was in older versions. |
| 161 | * CaneFu: It's more of a staff, but Hoy Quarlow uses his with gusto. |
| 162 | * CaptainErsatz: |
| 163 | ** Mac is partially based on Franchise/{{Rocky}} Balboa. His minuscule size is a nod to Sylvester Stallone's below average height. Taken a step further with the Challenger in the arcade games, whose face is clearly based on Sylvester Stallone's. |
| 164 | ** The NES version of Little Mac is almost certainly based on real boxer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charley_White Charley White]], who was a 5'6" featherweight (making him about the same weight but even shorter than Little Mac, who is 5'7") with a 123/35/57 KO record. |
| 165 | * CaptainEthnic: It's easier to count how many ''Punch-Out'' characters ''aren't'' fairly blatant ethnic and/or national stereotypes: Piston Hurricane, Little Mac and the Bruiser Brothers. Possibly Pizza Pasta, who aside from his ridiculous name, doesn't do anything especially "Italian" and comes from Napoli instead of Rome. The addition of language appropriate voices and mid-match cutscenes in the Wii version only makes it even more obvious. The majority of boxers also tend to come from the capital of their home country. The fact that the publisher (Nintendo) is also [[SelfDeprecation making fun of their compatriot, Piston Hondo]], is an indication on how no one is spared. Same with Next Level Games and Bear Hugger (on the Wii version). |
| 166 | * CarpetOfVirility: As befitting a Canadian logger, Bear Hugger has one in the shape of a pine tree. |
| 167 | * {{Catchphrase}}: The boxer in the SNES game (whose identity is subject to inconsistent veracity) is fond of saying "Piece of cake!" when he [=KOs=] his opponent without being knocked down. |
| 168 | * CelebrityIsOverrated: In Title Defense Super Macho Man's cutscene, Little Mac is clearly shown as uncomfortable around the paparazzi, which is probably one of the things that influences [[spoiler:his decision to retire early in the end.]] Super Macho Man himself realizes this after you lose to him in Title Defense. [[IgnoredEpiphany Almost.]] |
| 169 | * CelShading: The Wii game features this look and manages to make all characters move at 60 FPS, except in the cutscenes showing Mac training with Doc Louis. The game's overall art style harkens back to old-school American comics. |
| 170 | * ChampionsOnTheInside: At the end of the Wii game, [[spoiler:after Mac loses three times in Mac's Last Stand]]. |
| 171 | --> '''Doc Louis''': Listen, son! You've had a great career! I'm proud of you, son! You're still the champion in my book! |
| 172 | * CharacterDevelopment: In the rematches in the Wii version, basically, most of the fighters seem to try to rectify mistakes that got them beaten, and try to remove blind spots. |
| 173 | * CharacterizationMarchesOn: |
| 174 | ** Little Mac was a noticeable complainer in the NES game and seemed to lack confidence. Often, he would say things like "I can't win, Doc!", "He's hurt me, Doc!", complaining about being tired and begs Doc for help. In Wii, He's instead portrayed a lot more confident and with a strong willpower through his animations and facial expressions. He also [[HeroicMime doesn't talk as between rounds anymore]]. |
| 175 | ** Aran Ryan was an unassuming, generic opponent in SNES ''Super Punch-Out!!''. Then they brought him up to the Wii version. And made him a ''completely insane'' dirty fighter, bringing good luck horseshoes into the ring (within the knuckles of his gloves) and eventually making a boxing glove whip, which is as ironic as anything when you consider that he was one of the few boxers in Super Punch-Out!! who generally fought clean, as his gimmick in that game (clinching) is common in RealLife boxing (and was the gimmick of Pizza Pasta in the arcade game). |
| 176 | ** Kid Quick probably would have applied to this assuming his name was kept the same in the transition to the Wii title (he is now Disco Kid). It's quite possible his [[CampGay new characterization]] was the reason for the name change, assuming he can still be considered the same character at this point. |
| 177 | ** Bear Hugger seems to have a more mellow personality in the Wii game. In the SNES game, he introduced himself as "a killer," but in the Wii game he says he's "[[HoldYourHippogriffs a hugger, not a fighter]]." In addition, the Wii game's portrayal of him as being [[FriendToAllLivingThings fond of wildlife]] hardly fits how he described himself in the SNES game. |
| 178 | * CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Some of the training methods the opponents put themselves through for their rematch in Title Defense mode qualify. |
| 179 | ** Piston Hondo's is the most prominent example. In it, he: |
| 180 | *** [[BarehandedBladeBlock Stops a katana from cutting him in half]] |
| 181 | *** [[BigEater Devours several times his own weight in sushi]], and |
| 182 | *** ''[[SuperSpeed Runs alongside - and is able to keep up with - a BULLET TRAIN]].'' |
| 183 | ** Bald Bull can now stay on his feet even after being rammed head-on by a charging bull. |
| 184 | ** Mr. Sandman ''punches out a building'' when he's enraged over Little Mac having been able to defend his title against all other boxers except him (since he's the last one remaining unfought in Title Defense). |
| 185 | ** The premise of the game since the NES. You have Mac who is in his late teens and weighs only a little over 100 lbs. go on to fight and defeat Mike friggin' Tyson! |
| 186 | ** Inverted with Don Flamenco. He sends a charging bull flying with a single punch before his ''contender'' match, but then is shown simply [[BoringButPractical lifting dumbbells]] in preparation for his Title Defense match. |
| 187 | * CheatersNeverProsper: In the Wii version, you can pull this on [[CombatPragmatist Aran Ryan]] by using a 3-Star Punch on after blocking his headbutt or a Star Punch during his illegal LastDitchMove where he swings a horseshoe on a rope. He will NOT get back up from this, and you will win. |
| 188 | * CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys: Glass Joe both plays this trope straight and inverts it. Played straight because he has a record of one win and 99 losses. Inverted in that despite his record, he refuses to surrender (retire), and he'll gladly go through a fight until his [[WarmUpBoss inevitable defeat]]. This also applies to his student, Gabby Jay, who has the exact same record as him. His only victory was against Glass Joe. |
| 189 | * CherryTapping: A number of challenges for the Wii version are effectively this, particularly ones that involve KO'ing your opponent in less than a minute, in a certain small number of punches, or ignoring your natural instinct to avoid your opponent's attacks. Also, most of the OneHitKO attacks reward you for counterattacking them with an ''instant knockdown'' for an otherwise minimal-damage punch. |
| 190 | * TheChewToy: If you're going for world records, there will be some fights that require getting knocked down. But for Soda Popinski, you have to BARELY survive a TKO in order to get the fastest time. |
| 191 | * ChromosomeCasting: Every boxer in the series is male. Female characters are extremely rare, and there is only one named female character[[note]]Don Flamenco's girlfriend Carmen[[/note]]. This is at least somewhat {{justified|trope}}, seeing as the series focuses on boxing, a male-dominated sport. The spinoff ''Arm Wrestling'' features a girl named Alice who is indirectly participating by controlling a robotic monkey called Ape III (the tournament is unisex; what prevents Alice from playing directly is her young age). |
| 192 | * CirclingBirdies: In the Wii version, this indicates that you've stunned the opponent and set him up for a flurry. In some boxers' cases, it's something different, and more appropriate to that boxer: |
| 193 | ** Stunning Piston Hondo causes tamago nigiri (egg sushi) to circle around his head, which he sometimes [[LampshadeHanging proceeds to point out]] by repeating the said item's name. |
| 194 | ** Bear Hugger has fish circling his head, likely as a reference to the name of his hometown of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_Arm,_British_Columbia Salmon Arm, British Columbia]]. |
| 195 | ** Doc Louis has chocolate bars, of course. |
| 196 | ** Glass Joe has croissants and baguettes when he suffers a massive KO (he gets birds for regular hits). |
| 197 | ** Don Flamenco has roses. |
| 198 | ** Bubbles rise from Soda Popinski's head. |
| 199 | ** Mr. Sandman gets groups of Z's. |
| 200 | ** King Hippo has pineapples. |
| 201 | * ClassicCheatCode: In 2022, [[https://twitter.com/new_cheats_news/status/1556727895778856960 it was discovered]] that ''Super Punch-Out'' contains a code that unlocks a Free Play mode. This mode in itself contains a code that allows a second player to control the opponent. |
| 202 | * CleanDubName: VodkaDrunkenski from the ''Super Punch-Out'' arcade game became Soda Popinski in the UsefulNotes/{{NES}} and UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} versions. |
| 203 | * ColorCodedMultiplayer: The multiplayer for the Wii game has Mac fighting a clone of himself in different clothes. Doc Louis even lampshades this. |
| 204 | * CombatPragmatist: |
| 205 | ** Masked Muscle from the SNES game, who includes headbutts and spitting in your face in his boxing repertoire. Aran Ryan takes on this role for the Wii version, complete with headbutts, elbow shots, and even uses horseshoes in his gloves and swinging weighted boxing gloves. |
| 206 | ** Don Flamenco in the world circuit rematch in the NES game, who will constantly force you to punch at him as he just stands there blocking until you're tired and unable to hit him back when he unloads on you. |
| 207 | ** Aran Ryan, [[AdaptationalVillainy only]] in the Wii version, will cheat a lot. He will even use a horseshoe against you. |
| 208 | ** Although it is quite subtle, the Macho Spin is resembling a Haymaker Punch which is illegal as an "impure" punch: arm whipped with minimum elbow bend which [[GlassCannon deals a lot of damage but leaves you vulnerable if you miss]] |
| 209 | * ComebackMechanic: The Wii game has two examples: |
| 210 | ** If the player is about to go down from a KO or TKO, mashing buttons 1 and 2 or shaking the Wii Remote and Nunchuk can help bring Little Mac back into the action and not lose, coming back with about 1/4 of his energy. However, the mechanic has a great chance of failing if said mechanic is relied on too much in a single round. |
| 211 | ** If Mac takes a hit that will normally knock him out, there's a small chance that he'll force himself to stay up through HeroicWillpower. However, it only works once per fight. |
| 212 | * ComedicUnderwearExposure: This is King Hippo's weakness. In the Wii version, he wears [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Super Star]]-[[GoofyPrintUnderwear print boxers.]] |
| 213 | * ComicBookTime: In the NES version, the game was shown to place in early 1987, as the newspaper after defeating Super Macho Man was dated April Fools of that year. The Mr. Dream reprint updated the year on the paper to 1990. Additionally, the manual mentions that Doc achieved his fame as an ex-Heavyweight Champion around 1954, a detail carried over to the Valiant Comics. Later games would forego mentioning the year, with that aspect of Doc's backstory dropped, though they still somewhat reference the time period in ''Doc Louis's Punch-Out!!'', before each fight. |
| 214 | * CompanyCameo: Throughout the series, Doc Louis has random tips telling Little Mac to join Nintendo's external services. In ''Mike Tyson's...'' and ''...Featuring Mr. Dream'', he says to join the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Fun_Club Nintendo Fun Club]]; in the Wii ''Punch-Out!!'', he begins to say "Nintendo Fun-", but since that program had been defunct for two decades by the game's 2009 release, Doc corrects himself to "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_Nintendo Club Nintendo]]". In ''Doc Louis's Punch-Out!!'', a game which was only available by getting a code from Club Nintendo, he thanks Mac for having joined the club. |
| 215 | * TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: |
| 216 | ** The NES game managed to be popular despite (or perhaps even because of) this. Many of your opponents use attacks that would be illegal in real boxing. This is notably averted by Mr. Sandman, who despite being one of the toughest opponents in any Punch-Out keeps it clean by using only legal moves. |
| 217 | ** ''Super Punch-Out'' upped the ante, with characters who obviously break boxing rules, like Dragon Chan's kicks (imported from the arcade game), the Bruiser brothers' elbow strikes, and Hoy Quarlow ''attacking you with a staff instead of his fists''. |
| 218 | * ConfusionFu: There are two in the Wii version: |
| 219 | ** [[{{Oireland}} Aran Ryan]] in the Wii verion. He has no "idle animation" like the other opponents and never holds still, and slides all about the ring throwing in random punches. Also unlike every other fighter it's impossible to land a combo on him unless you counter him mid-attack. He's also a [[CombatPragmatist foul stinking cheat]] and incorporates headbutts, elbow strikes, horseshoes in his gloves and perhaps most blatantly of all a ''boxing glove on a rope'' that he swings around like a flail, into his attacks. Also, [[AxCrazy he's fucking crazy]]. |
| 220 | ** [[spoiler:Donkey Kong]] beats even Don Flamenco in the taunt-and-counter department, with multiple taunts, each with their own counter-attacks, and a lot of his attacks have similar build-ups. And sometimes he'll just accidentally hit himself in the face and give you a free star. |
| 221 | * ContinuityNod: |
| 222 | ** Title Defense Sandman in the Wii game is a clear throwback to Mike Tyson with his [[ImportantHaircut new haircut]] and his winking attack. |
| 223 | ** During the breaks between rounds against King Hippo, sometimes Doc Louis suggests to Little Mac to take Hippo out to lunch after the fight. This was something Hippo said to Mac in one of the intermissions in the NES game ("I feel like eating… after the fight, it's time for lunch!"). |
| 224 | ** Also from the breaks, Doc Louis will suggest you give Hondo a "[=TKO=] from Tokyo", one of his taunts from the original. |
| 225 | ** "Join The Nintendo Fun… I mean, Club Nintendo today, Mac!" In turn, ''Doc Louis' Punch-Out!!'' (only distributed through Club Nintendo) has Doc say: "Thanks for joining Club Nintendo, Mac." |
| 226 | ** Bear Hugger's special Knock Out animation involves spinning on his toes and landing in a sitting position, much like his knock-out animation in the previous games. |
| 227 | ** One of the comments Doc Louis can give about Bald Bull is that if Mac can't beat him at boxing, he should try arm wrestling, a reference to his cameo in ''Arm Wrestling'' |
| 228 | ** Title Defense as a whole is a reference to the arcade games where, after beating the FinalBoss, the game would loop, and the opponents would get stronger. |
| 229 | * ControllableHelplessness: Depending on how you get knocked down, Mac won't stand up no matter how much you mash the buttons, but the game's "Get Up!" message still flashes as you try. Averted in the Wii game, as no matter how hard Mac gets knocked down, he can always get back up in time (unless it's his third knock-down, in which case he's immediately TKO'd). |
| 230 | * CounterAttack: The key to victory is to dodge and counterattack. In early fights, the enemies tend to hang open for quite some time; the window rapidly closes as the game goes on. In addition, launching your own attack successfully just before the opponent does theirs deals extra damage and grants you a [[LimitBreak Star]]. |
| 231 | * CoupDeGraceCutscene: In the Wii game, exactly one of the special cutscenes triggered by finishing the opponent with a Star Punch (or under certain other circumstances) features Little Mac delivering additional punches that finally send the opponent to the canvas. |
| 232 | * CrackDefeat: In the NES game, you'd better KO your opponent in the title bouts, or else the judges will always vote for the other guy. Mr. Sandman must also be [=KOed=] even though he isn't a circuit champion. Same with King Hippo who isn't a champion either, though it only takes one knockdown to defeat him anyway. The worst case is the Bald Bull rematch: Usually, you can win on points in other matches, though it takes a ludicrous amount; but this rematch is particularly egregious as it's possible to dodge every single one of his punches and hit him several times and ''still'' get a loss from the judges. Inverted with Mike Tyson / Mr. Dream, who not only ''can'' be beaten by decision, but the amount required is one of the lowest — only 5000 points are required, the same amount required for Glass Joe. |
| 233 | * CreativeClosingCredits: The Wii game lets you punch the names in the credits. The important part is to look out for weird symbols, misspellings, and the names of characters from the game in particular. |
| 234 | * CreatorProvincialism: In the Wii game, Bear Hugger is portrayed as originally being from Salmon Arm, British Columbia (where Next Level Games is headquartered). He's actually from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. |
| 235 | * CreditsGag: After finishing Contender Mode in the Wii version, you will play a little mini-game with the following credits sequence. Some of the names will have upside-down letters or names of some of the characters you have fought on your way to the top. If you move the boxing glove cursor over those names and press A, you will gain points. Chain together combos for higher scores. |
| 236 | * CriticalExistenceFailure: The NES and Wii games offer a slight correlation between Little Mac's ability to keep standing and his ability to fight back -- taking or blocking an opponent's hits will reduce both his stamina and his heart count, and running out of hearts means he can't punch or block. Therefore, it's possible to take a few blows and suddenly be unable to retaliate. Dodge a punch or two, though, and Little Mac is ready to strike back, even if one more hit would knock him down. |
| 237 | * {{Crunchtastic}}: In ''Doc Louis's Punch-Out!!'', Doc will sometimes take a break in the middle of a fight to eat one of his beloved chocolate bars, healing himself back up. Upon taking a bite, he proclaims that the bar is "choctastic" or "choclicious". |
| 238 | * CurbStompBattle: Glass Joe can be knocked out in one properly-timed hit to the gut, or [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential several to the jaw]], all while he fails to retaliate properly. It is quite amusing. |
| 239 | * CutscenePowerToTheMax: Some characters in the Wii game are shown doing amazing feats in their intros before the fight, like Piston Hondo outrunning a bullet train or Mr. Sandman who ''punches down a building''. In battle they are tough to beat, but still are on a rather human level. Either that or Little Mac is absurdly strong. Title Defense Bald Bull is shown to take a charging bull to the chest and not fall down, if only barely; he reacts to same way to Little Mac's punches. |
| 240 | * CycleOfHurting: |
| 241 | ** In Glass Joe's Title Defense rematch (Wii game), you can Star Punch him to stun him, gain a star at the end of the stun period and then Star Punch him again. |
| 242 | ** In the original NES game, it's possible to beat Don Flamenco with a series of quick 1-2 jabs to the face. This was [[MythologyGag carried over]] into the Wii version, though the combo to do this is slightly more complex. |
| 243 | * DamnYouMuscleMemory: In NES ''Punch-Out!!'' you blocked by holding down, which blocked all attacks besides uppercuts and a couple other certain moves, whereas in ''Super Punch-Out!!'' there's a low guard and high guard system which has holding up block attacks aimed at your head while holding no direction blocks blows to your body, with down now only inputting ducking. This will for sure trip up people playing either game for the first time after having extensively played the other game beforehand. |
| 244 | * DanceBattler: |
| 245 | ** Disco Kid. Later an ''aerobics'' battler as well. |
| 246 | ** Even more so with Don Flamenco, who uses many dance moves in his attack patterns. |
| 247 | ** The SNES version has Bob Charlie and Heike Kagero. |
| 248 | * DarkerAndEdgier: While not very dark on its own, the Wii installment does have more of an edge than any other installment so far. For starters, all of the boxers can get torn up pretty badly and unlike the NES game, the injuries stick throughout the match, not just in the intermissions. Some boxers actually swear during a match which is [[ForeignCussWord disguised by them speaking in their own language.]] Some of the boxer's personalities are also darker. Von Kaiser has a bad case of self esteem issues, Aran Ryan's attitude is much more psychotic, and some of his tactics could actually kill someone if done a certain way. There's also a little bit of angst in this version as seen during the Mac's Last Stand bout and even has a fairly emotional moment between Doc and Mac before the bout begins. |
| 249 | * DartboardOfHate: The "punching bag of hate" variation occurs in the Wii game, where Super Macho Man has a bag with Little Mac's face on it during his title defense TrainingMontage. |
| 250 | * DavidVersusGoliath: In the NES game, protagonist Little Mac fights a series of boxers who are all at least twice his size. He still prevails. |
| 251 | * DeathOfAThousandCuts: This is how Little Mac fights, along with being a FragileSpeedster. While most of the other fighters have moves that deal roughly a fourth of Macs health bar, Mac uses a flurry of jabs and uppercuts to whittle down his opponents health. |
| 252 | * DeathOrGloryAttack: |
| 253 | ** Most of the fighters have a specialty move that will knock you down if they nail you with it but which will allow you to knock them down if you can either counter it or dodge/block it and hit them afterwards (depending on the opponent). |
| 254 | ** Bald Bull's Bull Charge attack. If it hits you, you're kissing the canvas. But if you can hit him at ''just'' the right moment, he goes down. Nick Bruiser has very similar attack that's harder to counter. Averted in his Title Defense match on the Wii version. If you counter his Bull Charge, it ''seems'' like he'll go down… only for him to stay up and laugh in your face. It will still deal him quite a bit of damage, but it's no longer an instant knockdown. |
| 255 | ** In the Wii game, after you knock Title Defense Mr. Sandman down twice, he goes into a series of fourteen uppercuts, none of which can be countered and the last of which is a OneHitKill. If you're still standing after dodging the last uppercut, Mr. Sandman will become exhausted, unable to throw a single punch or even block. Now he's ready for a beatdown; land a Star Punch before he recovers, and it's an instant KO. |
| 256 | * DeerInTheHeadlights: In the Wii iteration, the Contender half of the game has all of the opponent boxers get stunned in fear of Little Mac's signature Star Punch should he throw one while they're in their idle animation. All of them (even Glass Joe) grow out of this in time for the Title Defense portion, where all of them ''will'' dodge the Star Punch should they not be in a stun or the middle of an attack. |
| 257 | * DefeatByModesty: Almost everyone who's played the NES game knows how to defeat King Hippo; hit him in his big mouth to get him to drop his pants, then pummel his fat belly. This strategy has been kept untouched in the new Wii game [[spoiler:though in the rematch, he's taped a manhole cover to his stomach, which you need to punch off first]]. |
| 258 | * DefeatMeansPlayable: Subverted in the Wii game with the secret character [[spoiler:Donkey Kong]]. To unlock him as an opponent in exhibition mode, you just need to find him and finish a match against him in Mac's Last Stand - the outcome does not matter. |
| 259 | * DefeatingTheUndefeatable: The final fight in the series is about defeating the undefeatable. |
| 260 | ** In ''Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!'' on the NES does this by making the final opponent Mike Tyson, who was undefeated at the time the game was made. Same with Tyson's replacement Mr. Dream in ''Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream''. |
| 261 | ** In ''Super Punch-Out!!'', Nick Bruiser has a 42-0 record before losing against you. [[HumiliationConga To add insult to injury]], according to Official Nintendo Magazine, he then lost ''again''. To '''''[[WarmUpBoss Glass Joe]]'''''. His twin brother Rick is almost undefeated, having lost only to Nick. |
| 262 | ** ''Punch-Out'' for the Wii does this for the FinalBoss Mr. Sandman. Not only does he have a whooping 31 wins - 0 losses record, but his introduction cutscene shows him knocking out every other boxer in the game like it was nothing. |
| 263 | * DeletionAsPunishment: A variation--Fail Mac's Last Stand three times and you're permanently locked out of Career Mode (and, by extension, [[PermanentlyMissableContent permanently locked out]] of [[OneHitPointWonder Champion's Mode]]). |
| 264 | * DenserAndWackier: The games get weirder and weirder over time. The first arcade game was basically just a boxing simulator with a slightly cartoony edge, where most of the fighters could be described simply as "is a boxer with a funny name." The second arcade game had a lumberjack and a BruceLeeClone on the roster, the NES game gave the boxers often-goofy personalities and featured a few implied supernatural elements, the SNES game featured the return of ''Super'''s weirder characters and had a good number of characters that are barely boxers at all, and the Wii version played up the personalities of the existing boxers to make just about all of them over-the-top and wacky in some way, especially in Title Defense. |
| 265 | * DesperationAttack: |
| 266 | ** The UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} version gives [[FinalBoss Mr. Sandman]] a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imDTsu5TA90&feature=youtu.be&t=5m50s brutal desperation attack]] when he's on the cusp of losing the match. He roars with anger, huffs with exhaustion and wipes sweat between throwing an onslaught of punches with no openings, and surviving long enough to land a counter-attack is the ''only'' time the game gives you a free star... and landing that star punch will knock Mr. Sandman out guaranteed. Those familiar with Mike Tyson, the man Mr. Sandman was based on, will recognize this as a reference to Tyson having a lung condition which made him tire quickly, forcing him to rely on a very aggressive fighting style in order to win before tiring out. |
| 267 | ** Aran Ryan has this as well, but it's much more realistic in its execution...cheating aside. Namely, he tries using a boxing glove on a rope, but he's ''really'' slow because of all the damage he took during the match, to the point where he won't hit you unless you intentionally let him. |
| 268 | * {{Determinator}}: |
| 269 | ** In the Wii Version, it's an actual ''game mechanic'' for Little Mac to occasionally come back from sure defeat with one final burst of strength if you're doing reasonably well in the fight. Really cool when it happens, and even cooler to come back and WIN when it happens (one of the Exhibition challenges against Mr. Sandman in Title Defense requires you to do the latter). |
| 270 | ** Glass Joe is still determined to fight after 99 (later 100) defeats, more so in the Wii Version. By extension, his friend Gabby Jay from ''Super Punch-Out!!'' also counts. |
| 271 | --> '''Gabby Jay:''' I'll never retire! I can win at least once more. Come on! |
| 272 | * DevelopersForesight: |
| 273 | ** There are two defeat cutscenes that show Little Mac after the fight beaten on the mat, Kaiser's Title Defense and Don Flamenco's Contender matches. Lose by decision and the cutscene is abbreviated and Little Mac doesn't show up. |
| 274 | ** In Title Defense, even if you lose the belt to any of the challengers, you get the same intro cutscene in rematches. Against Mr. Sandman, the same cutscene that plays in Contender Mode's Title Bout against him plays if you rematch him in Title Defense after losing the belt to him. |
| 275 | * DiscoSucks: Doc Louis says "Gonna let you in on something, Mac. Disco's dead, Rock and Roll soothes the soul" during the fight against Disco Kid. |
| 276 | * DiscOneFinalBoss: Defeating Mr. Sandman at the end of the World Circuit will net Little Mac the title belt of WVBA champion, and the game's credits roll... now it's time to ''retain'' that title, which marks the start of Title Defense mode. Mr. Sandman once again displays this trope at the end of Title Defense itself, as even after defeating all boxers once again Mac has to keep fighting until [[spoiler:his planned retirement]] in the true last mode, Mac's Last Stand. |
| 277 | * DiscOneFinalDungeon: World Circuit in the SNES and Wii versions. In the SNES version, there is a fourth circuit unlockable by having an official 4-0 record on the other three circuits. In the Wii version, gaining the WVBA title is only half of the work! Also, World S Circuit in Title Defense mode for the Wii, as Mac still has to keep fighting until the end in Last Stand. |
| 278 | * DiscOneFinalBoss: Super Macho Man in the SNES version; Mr. Sandman in the Wii version, in both circuits. |
| 279 | * DivergentCharacterEvolution: There are a fair few characters that have evolved over the years, the most notable being [[FightingIrish Aran Ryan]]. In the SNES game, he was a bland palette swap of Piston Hurricane who fought by the rules. In the Wii game, he's a ''[[AxCrazy complete lunatic]]'' who [[{{Heel}} threatens Mac, the referee and the audience]]. He breaks just about every rule of boxing, from using his elbows to loading his gloves with horseshoes to tying a rope to one of said horseshoe gloves and ''using it as a flail.'' |
| 280 | * DoppelgangerAttack: Great Tiger does a simple mirage move in the Wii game in Contender Mode to mess up with Mac. But in Title Defense and his NES game's solo fight, he'll use a more elaborate version where he summons multiple replicas. |
| 281 | * DoppelgangerSpin: Great Tiger's signature move. In Title Defense, he summons an army of them. |
| 282 | * DorkInASweater: Aside from his boxing uniform, Glass Joe can usually be seen in a cozy turtleneck, which communicates his softness compared to the rest of the cast. |
| 283 | * DoWellButNotPerfect: In the Wii game, you have the Challenge with Glass Joe that requires to knock him down three times, and let him win by decision, and the Challenge with TD Mr. Sandman that requires you to almost get knocked out, and then return to win. Also, there's the protective headgear unlocked for losing 100 times in Career Mode. It becomes {{Permanently Missable|Content}} if you clear all of Career Mode without getting it, since Career Mode goes away upon completion. That's the only mode you can use it in anyway, though, so it's not a big loss. |
| 284 | * DownerEnding: The Wii game has one, and it's terribly depressing. [[spoiler:If Little Mac loses three matches in the mode "Mac's Last Stand", he will keep his word and retire from boxing for good. Some time later, Doc Louis visits a museum exhibit highlighting Mac's career and rings the bell on the bike he used to help train Mac. He looks up at a photo of himself riding that bike with Mac running behind him, quietly says, "Good job, son. Good job," and walks off eating a candy bar. To drive the point home, Career Mode becomes permanently locked out in that particular game file since it is literally "retired."]] |
| 285 | * DrunkenMaster: In his appearance in the Wii version, Soda Popinski takes a swig from his [[FrothyMugsOfWater trademark bottle of soda]] to power himself up and restore his stamina. |
| 286 | * DrunkOnMilk: Soda Popinski and his bottles of soda in the Wii version. In the original NES game, it was more of a FrothyMugsOfWater scenario (with his name getting changed from VodkaDrunkenski, his name in the arcade, and just plain old booze), but the Wii remake ran with the soda angle and made it vague whether he was getting drunk or high from his drinking (the remake [[PlayedForLaughs plays his drinking for laughs]] by noting he trains by hauling crates full of soda, which he then proceeds to down by the ton). Either way, he retains enough of his LightningBruiser skills to still be a tough opponent. |
| 287 | * DuctTapeForEverything: Appears in the Wii game's Title Defense match with King Hippo, who duct-tapes a manhole cover to his belly to keep the player from punching at it. It doesn't really do him much good, though, since the player can just punch across it to remove the tape and knock it off. |
| 288 | [[/folder]] |
| 289 | |
| 290 | [[folder:E-H]] |
| 291 | * {{Eagleland}}: In the Wii game, BOTH types are present: Little Mac is Type 1 (young, scrapper, humble roots, works hard to get to the top and achieve his dream). Super Macho Man is Type 2 (rich, arrogant, self-absorbed, etc.). |
| 292 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The original gold cartridge version of the NES game featured a different song for the Title Bout, and no Dream Fight tune, as well as slightly different graphics and Engrish. |
| 293 | * EasyModeMockery: Losing 100 times in single player mode unlocks the headgear, which protects your face from attacks, greatly reducing the damage you take from most attacks. However, it means you're as much of a loser as the game's resident French punching bag, Glass Joe. |
| 294 | * EndlessGame: |
| 295 | ** ''Arm Wrestling'' goes on and on until you get a GameOver. |
| 296 | ** In the Wii version, Mac's Last Stand goes on until you lose three times, after which Career Mode is over and closed. |
| 297 | * EndOfSeriesAwareness: In the Wii game, the end of the line is made explicit in the hidden "Mac's LastStand" mode. After its completion, Career Mode is [[PermanentlyMissableContent locked permanently]], emphasizing that Little Mac has retired.[[note]][[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros For a while, anyway]].[[/note]] |
| 298 | * EnemyPosturing: Several of the boxers in the Wii game will taunt you at least once during the match, essentially giving you a free hit. You can also fill up your star meter if you hit them right when they're blinking yellow. |
| 299 | ** Disco Kid is a particularly shameless example, in that he strikes a pose at you right at the beginning of the first round. And then, when you rematch him in the Title Defense mode, he starts the first round ''the exact same way''. |
| 300 | ** [[GuestFighter Donkey Kong]], the TrueFinalBoss, is a less straightforward example. During the fight, he spends a lot of time making faces at you, dancing, scratching himself, etc. You can try to attack him while he's taunting, but you have to get the timing just right, or else he'll dodge and counter-punch. |
| 301 | * EnemyRollCall: All games since the NES version give the names of all the fighters during the credits. The first two entries out of them also give one last line to each of them. |
| 302 | * EpicFlail: In the Wii game, Aran Ryan packs an improvised flail made using a boxing glove and a rope when you rematch him in the Title Defense mode. He can also use it when he is knocked down, though it cannot knock Mac down. |
| 303 | * EqualOpportunityOffender: The series has a long list of nationally stereotypical boxers. It also helps that two of said boxers [[SelfDeprecation are from the creators' home countries]]: UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} for Next Level Games, and UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} for Creator/{{Nintendo}}. |
| 304 | * EverybodyLaughsEnding: ''Doc Louis' Punch-Out'', oddly. After Mac defeats Doc in the final training session, Doc declares it's time for some chocolate cake and the two share a laugh. |
| 305 | * EvilCostumeSwitch: The Wii version takes it furthern in Title Defense Mode. It takes ''every single opponent in the entire game'', gives them all a badass makeover, and makes them all much harder than they are normally. Some of the makeovers have practical purposes, namely, Glass Joe's headgear and King Hippo's manhole cover, but for the most part, they just make them look different and distinguishable from their weak counterparts, plus DarkerAndEdgier. |
| 306 | * EvilLaugh: Mainly Great Tiger's. It really gets on your nerves after a while, to the point where you want to beat him just so you won't have to hear it anymore. |
| 307 | ** Soda Popinski's good old 8-bit guffaw (which was recycled the following year for [[VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink Ganon]]), for when Little Mac is knocked down, and he doesn't stop laughing unless Mac gets back up. The Wii game gives him a more realistic-sounding laugh that fits this trope pretty well, and is used in the same manner as his laugh in the NES version. |
| 308 | ** In the NES game, Bald Bull (and Mr. Sandman) laughed like Soda Popinski when he won a match. The Wii game gives Bull a gruff "heh heh heh" laugh which in that game he has for whenever Little Mac is knocked down (though, unlike Soda Popinski, he doesn't wait until Little Mac gets back up to stop), regardless of whether he wins. |
| 309 | * {{Expy}}: |
| 310 | ** Disco Kid, who is advertised as the only new character in the Wii installment, was designed to be an updated version of Kid Quick from the original arcade game. Piston Honda/Hondo from the NES game is also somewhat based on Piston Hurricane from the arcade game. |
| 311 | ** Gabby Jay in ''Super Punch-Out'' is a Glass Joe expy, right down to the country of origin, despite saying "Come on!" in a Southern United States drawl. In fact, his only win in 100 fights came against Glass Joe. |
| 312 | * ExpressiveHealthBar: The NES version, in addition to an actual health bar, has Little Mac's sprite change between rounds depending on whether he's been knocked down and how long the fight has lasted. He can go from happy, to happy with a swollen eye, to sad and tired with a swollen eye. |
| 313 | * ExtremityExtremist: Not surprisingly, in a boxing game most of the boxers fight with only their fists, but certain boxers subvert this trope by using weapons, items and other body parts to fight with. Hoy Quarlow is the worst at following the trope, as he barely punches at all. |
| 314 | * FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Mac's Last Stand can't be won per se; it only keeps going endlessly until you lose three times, and [[spoiler:Mac retires]]. |
| 315 | * FakeHairDrama: Don Flamenco in the Wii game has a toupee which you can knock off, to his annoyance. |
| 316 | * FatBastard: King Hippo (NES); Bear Hugger and Mad Clown (SNES). The first two also appear in the Wii installment, while the third originally appeared in the SNES ''Super Punch-Out!!''. |
| 317 | * FictionalCountry: King Hippo hails from the fictional Hippo Island, located in the South Pacific. The island is very tropical and King Hippo rules it. |
| 318 | * FightingClown: Mad Clown in Super Punch Out. |
| 319 | * TheFightingNarcissist: |
| 320 | ** Narcis Prince, who, true to form, goes completely apeshit if you manage to punch him in the face. |
| 321 | ** Also applies to Don Flamenco in the Wii game, where knocking off his toupee causes him to fly into UnstoppableRage. |
| 322 | * FinalBoss: |
| 323 | ** Arcade ''Punch-Out'': Mr. Sandman, though the game loops. |
| 324 | ** Arcade ''Super Punch-Out'': Super Macho Man, though the game loops. |
| 325 | ** ''Arm Wrestling'': Frank Jr., [[RuleOfThree though the game loops.]] |
| 326 | ** NES ''Punch-Out'': Depending on your version, Super Macho Man, Mike Tyson, or Mr. Dream. |
| 327 | ** SNES ''Super Punch-Out'': Super Macho Man, though there is a TrueFinalBoss in Nick Bruiser. |
| 328 | ** Wii ''Punch-Out'': Mr. Sandman. [[spoiler:Donkey Kong is an unlockable {{Superboss}}.]] |
| 329 | * FinalDeathMode: In the Wii game, there is a mode called "Mac's Last Stand", where Little Mac will keep fighting opponents until he takes three losses, at which point he retires and the Career Mode closes. It's downplayed in that you ''can'' still fight in Exhibition Mode, but if you retire before obtaining the extra perks ([[OneHitPointWonder Champion's Mode]], [[spoiler:VideoGame/DonkeyKong as a hidden opponent]], etc.), they'll be [[PermanentlyMissableContent lost forever on that save file]]. |
| 330 | * FinishingMove: The Wii game uses Little Mac's Star Punch as one during the Title Defense battle against Mr. Sandman. After you survive his series of fourteen uppercuts in a row (which he'll only do when he's already on the brink of defeat), he'll be so tired that you can start punching him to receive free stars, and then finish him off with one big powerful uppercut. |
| 331 | * FlawlessVictory: In the Wii game, some of the characters can be knocked-out instantly by performing certain actions during combat, but it will require that Little Mac is never hit (such is the case of Don Flamenco in Contender Mode and Bald Bull in Title Defense). And in Exhibition Mode, one of the challenges require you to defeat Piston Hondo in his Title Defense rematch without taking damage ''or'' lowering your stamina. |
| 332 | * FlexibleTourneyRules: |
| 333 | ** It's a boxing federation... that includes "boxers" who use flying kicks (Dragon Chan), a quarterstaff (Hoy Quarlow), throwing weapons (Mad Clown's apples), his own ''hair'' (Heike Kagero), and more. Hell, even one of the more mundane fist fighters uses an elbow crush that would get him thrown out of any actual ring. |
| 334 | ** The Wii version's ''Title Defense'' mode is hard because of this. Realizing that his stomach is a weakness, King Hippo wears a ''manhole lid over it''. They're even worse cheaters than before! |
| 335 | ** Wait until you see Aran Ryan's title defense move. It can't be legal in any ring whatsoever. [[spoiler:He's made a boxing glove whip - and the glove has his lucky horseshoes in it too.]] |
| 336 | ** Even some of the more mundane attacks tend to go against most boxing convention and rules. Backhands, overhead punches, double hooks, etc. Even the Bull Charge probably goes against some kind of rule, despite being just a ludicrously powerful uppercut in the end. |
| 337 | ** Amusingly, the Wii version provides a possible explanation for this. Considering how much abuse and humiliation the Referee takes in the World Circuit, he probably couldn't enforce the rules even if he wanted to. |
| 338 | ** As Bumbles [=McFumbles=] points out in [[https://youtu.be/Q7aKQj3nEIw these]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_JCv-ldJXU analysis videos]], ''almost everyone in the Wii version commits an infraction of some sort''. Yes, including Little Mac himself, who is too young and underweight to theoretically compete with ''anyone'' he actually fights. Ironically, Mr. Sandman, the champion, is the only one who is ''completely'' above board; the sole exception is that, in his Title Defense outfit, one could argue there isn't clear enough demarkation between his waistband and trunks- though that's an edge case, and Bumbles [[VictoryThroughIntimidation jokes that no one sane would want to argue that case, because Mr. Sandman is terrifying.]] Notably, Aran Ryan's level of cheating is ''more than double'' his next closest competitor in the regular roster of boxers in this regard at ''20 infractions''. As Bumbles observes, ''[[BeyondTheImpossible even Ryan's cheating is cheating]]''. The sole person to even come close is the OptionalBoss, [[spoiler:Donkey Kong]], who almost catches up at ''19'' infractions... [[spoiler: And he's a ''literal gorilla'' who shouldn't be in a boxing ring, to give you an idea of how much cheating Aran Ryan stuffs into his match.]] |
| 339 | * FlowerMotifs: Don Flamenco of ''VideoGame/PunchOut'', being a Spanish stereotype that walks like a man, carries a rose to the ring. In his Title Defense rematch, however, he chooses to PaintItBlack and switches it out for a black rose. A black rose means "revenge". The game even lampshades it, as he asks you (in Spanish) between rounds "Do you know what a black rose means?" If he wins, he restores it to its normal color... [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane somehow.]] |
| 340 | * ForeignCussWord: In the Wii game, various boxers who are walking national stereotypes speak foreign languages. Great Tiger tells Little Mac (in Hindi) to do what translates to suggesting he go back to his mommy's milk, while Bald Bull asks (in Turkish) if Louis (Mac's Trainer) is teaching Mac how to get spanked. |
| 341 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: |
| 342 | ** Don Flamenco's intro has him punch a bull mid charge, providing a hint on how to stop Bald Bull's charge. |
| 343 | ** Look in the background after getting into the World Circuit and you might see a familiar if nonhuman shadow in the crowd. Said shadow gets closer during the Title defense bouts. If you go far enough, [[spoiler:Donkey Kong]] shows up to challenge you. |
| 344 | * FourIsDeath: One of the Exhibition challenges tasks you to defeat Japanese boxer Piston Hondo after blocking 44 jabs. |
| 345 | * FourTemperamentEnsemble: |
| 346 | ** In ''Super Punch-Out!!'', the Special Circuit follows this trope, albeit a bit less straight; Narcis Prince (choleric), Hoy Quarlow (phlegmatic), Rick Bruiser (sanguine), and Nick Bruiser (melancholic). |
| 347 | ** In the Wii installment: |
| 348 | *** The Minor Circuit has: Glass Joe (melancholic), Von Kaiser (choleric), Disco Kid (sanguine), and King Hippo (phlegmatic ([[BerserkButton until you knock his crown off]])). |
| 349 | *** The Major Circuit in the same game has: Piston Hondo (choleric), Bear Hugger (sanguine), Great Tiger (phlegmatic), and Don Flamenco (melancholic). |
| 350 | *** The World Circuit has: Bald Bull and Aran Ryan (choleric), Soda Popinski (phlegmatic), Super Macho Man (sanguine), Mr. Sandman (melancholic), and [[spoiler:Donkey Kong]] (leukine) |
| 351 | * FragileSpeedster: Mac is definitely one. He's good at dodging and punch way faster than the opponents, but it generally only takes a handful of punches from any given opponent to knock him down. Even Glass Joe can knock down Mac in less than half the punches it takes Mac to knock him down. |
| 352 | * FranchiseCodifier: This boxing series debuted with two arcade installments (plus an SpinOff based on arm wrestling) during the 1984-85 period, but it was the NES game released in 1987 (''Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!'') which premiered the format and presentation the series is known for: A longer roster of boxers ready to challenge the player, tiered by circuit (Minor, Major, World), plus [[{{Superboss}} a very powerful opponent]] (or [[BonusDungeon an entire circuit]] hosting ''four'' such opponents in the SNES game) unlocked after earning the WVBA title belt. Most importantly, the NES game was the first in the series to actually ''end'', since the arcade games were {{Endless Game}}s. |
| 353 | * FrankensteinMonster: Frank Jr., the final boss of the spinoff ''Arm Wrestling''. True to his name, his appearance is even reminiscent of the iconic creature. |
| 354 | * FreezeFrameBonus: There's a bearded guy in a corner of the crowd in the NES version that nods only in two occasions: When you can OneHitKill an opponent. Most people never noticed this and was discovered in 2014. |
| 355 | * FrenchAccordion: The French boxer Glass Joe's theme uses an accordion. |
| 356 | * FriendToAllLivingThings: Bear Hugger in the Wii Version. His training and drinking partner is a bear, and in Title Defense he has a little squirrel in his hat, that he seems to have developed a rather strong bond with. It actually makes him one of the nicer fighters (he even describes himself as "a hugger, not a fighter, [[MooseAndMapleSyrup eh]]"), personality wise, when he isn't [[OneHitKO one-shotting you]]. |
| 357 | * FromNobodyToNightmare: Face it: the first time you play Title Defense mode, you ''will'' lose to Glass Joe. Part of this is due to [[DamnYouMuscleMemory muscle memory.]] You're literally so jumpy and hair-triggery after surviving Mr. Sandman that Joe's laconic jabs, misleading body language and [[spoiler:invulnerable head]] mess with your mind, watching yourself being outsmarted by Glass Joe is video game psychological manipulation of the very first order. |
| 358 | * FrothyMugsOfWater: Soda Popinski is ''really'' drinking Soda in the Wii version, inheriting the changes made to him from the Arcade to the NES versions (in the former, he is called Vodka Drunkenski and always fights drunk). |
| 359 | * FunnyBackgroundEvent: In the background of Don Flamenco's Contender Mode cutscene, someone is holding a sign that reads "Te amo Don" ("I love you Don") in all caps and pink letters. |
| 360 | * FunnyForeigner: |
| 361 | ** From [[CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys Glass Joe]] to [[GermanicDepressives Von Kaiser]] to [[WildSamoan King Hippo]] to [[MooseAndMapleSyrup Bear Hugger]] to [[TorosYFlamenco Don Flamenco]] to [[MysticalIndia Great Tiger]] to [[{{Oireland}} Aran Ryan]] to [[HuskyRusskie Soda Popinski]], ''Punch-Out'''s boxers span the entire HollywoodAtlas. Outside the US perspective, [[SurferDude Super Macho Man]] is one as well because of his {{Eagleland}} attitude. |
| 362 | ** ''Super Punch-Out!!'' has Mad Clown (a sadistic Italian MonsterClown), Bob Charlie (a laid-back Jamaican who fights according to "the rhythm"), Heike Kagero (an effeminate Japanese kabuki actor), Gabby Jay (a French {{Expy}} of Glass Joe and feeble old man), Dragon Chan (A Hong Kong native BruceLeeClone), Hoy Quarlow (a rude Chinese OldMaster), Narcis Prince (TheFightingNarcissist from Britain), and Masked Muscle (A Mexican MaskedLuchador who fights dirty). It also has Piston Hurricane from Cuba and the Bruiser brothers from PartsUnknown, but neither of them have any traits that are very funny. |
| 363 | * GaidenGame: Nintendo's arcade game ''Arm Wrestling'' is in the same little universe as ''Punch-Out!!'', and includes Bald Bull as a contender named Mask X. |
| 364 | * GameplayAndStoryIntegration: |
| 365 | ** In Title Defense, Glass Joe is back with damage-reducing headgear after his 100th loss. If you lose 100 times, Mac will be given headgear too, which does actually reduce damage for you. |
| 366 | ** It's mentioned Glass Joe’s sole win was against Nick Bruiser (how, no one can say). Sure enough, checking the default leaderboards for Nick shows a "G. Joe" as the lowest entry. |
| 367 | * GermanicEfficiency: Parodied with Von Kaiser. He claims to be the very model of German efficiency, and when he winds up to attack you hear sound effects like a toy soldier rattling or the cocking of a rifle. If he manages to knock you down, he begins mechanically jogging in place, and when he wins a match he paces around Little Mac's unconscious body disapprovingly like a drill sergeant. Despite this, it's soon revealed that this affected perfectionism is a front to cover the fact that he's a twitchy, nervous wreck. In Contender mode, a single counterpunch turns him into a basket case, hiding his face and whimpering "mommy", and hitting him with a Star Punch in this state will automatically knock him down or even KO him outright. Later played straight in his Title Defense fight, where he loses his fragile Star Punch weaknesses and gains an attack that will instantly knock down Little Mac if it lands (coincidentally ''this'' is when he namedrops German efficiency in his between rounds quotes). |
| 368 | * TheGiant: |
| 369 | ** Plenty of fighters, but especially Bald Bull, Bear Hugger, and Mad Clown. |
| 370 | ** Soda Popinski and Mr. Sandman as well in the Wii version. Mr. Sandman in particular comes off massive enough that even when he slouches for a particular move, he's about as big as any other character in the game. Bald Bull is noticeably shorter that many of the later boxers in the Wii version, but no less muscular than he's always been. |
| 371 | * GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere / GuestFighter: |
| 372 | ** [[spoiler:Franchise/DonkeyKong is a secret contender]] in the Wii version. |
| 373 | ** Bald Bull appears as a GuestFighter in ''Arm Wrestling''. |
| 374 | * GlassCannon: King Hippo. He hits hard, yes, but once you knock him down, he's ''not'' coming back up. Once you figure out how to hit him reliably, he's one of the easiest fights in the game. |
| 375 | * TheGlomp: Doc does this to Little Mac during title belt victories in the Wii version. |
| 376 | * GorgeousGeorge: |
| 377 | ** Heike Kagero, who appears in the SNES game, is an effeminate boxer on the World Circuit with bishonen traits aplenty. He has a slim build, lilac trunks and matching lipstick, long silver hair which he uses as a lethal weapon, and skips back and forth when he knocks you down. And he gives a NoblewomansLaugh when he wins. According to the manual, Kagero was actually trained in kabuki (specifically the balletic arts of Nihon Buyo) before taking up boxing as a means of defending himself. |
| 378 | ** Narcis Prince on the Special Circuit (SNES) shows this via the blonde hair, and absolute rage he flies into, should the player manage to hit his pretty face. |
| 379 | ** Disco Kid from the Wii game is also a very flamboyant boxer who cares more for dancing then for fighting. |
| 380 | * GratuitousForeignLanguage: The Wii game features boxers from all over the world, and every non-English-speaking boxer (except for King Hippo) speaks in their native language. |
| 381 | * GratuitousJapanese: Piston Honda in the NES version behaves more like a JapaneseTourist, because they put this into his character. The following is one of his between-round quotes: "Sushi, kamikaze, Fujiyama, Nippon'ichi..." Remedied in the Wii version, where he is now Piston Hond'''o''', and a boxer with {{Samurai}} motifs. Plus, now he speaks exclusively in [[BilingualBonus genuine Japanese.]] |
| 382 | * GuestFighter: [[spoiler:Donkey Kong]] in the Wii game. You can challenge him in Mac's Last Stand, which requires surviving for long enough until he appears. Luckily, it's not necessary to defeat him in this mode to have him available in Exhibition Mode; just meet him once in the former mode and you're good. |
| 383 | * GuideDangIt: |
| 384 | ** Both Nintendo and Next Level claimed that players would be able to "intuitively" figure out to beat the opponents in the Wii version without having to use a guide. However, while this might be the case for some players, others may have a really hard time, especially in Title Defense mode and in "Mac's Last Stand". The biggest offender however, is the challenges in exhibition mode, as it's not immediately clear what you have to do to clear some of them. Without a guide, it could take hours, maybe even longer, to figure out how to clear some (if not most, or even all) of the challenges. |
| 385 | ** How to earn stars. Stars allow you to use a powerful uppercut that is essential for taking out most opponents quickly. Most players will easily learn to earn a star by hitting the opponent when he taunts and flashes gold. However, this will only get you one or two stars per round - the game never even hints that most moves can give you stars if you counterpunch them. Even if you know that, when to counterpunch - as the move winds up, just before the move connects, after the move misses and the opponent is in the follow-through animation, just before the opponent puts their guard back up - differs from boxer to boxer and even move to move, with no discernible patterns. The game also never mentions that after a standard dodge-and-counter combo, you can extend the combo with a few extra hits by timing it so you hit the opponent's head just as he starts to center himself; doing this long enough earns more stars. The World Circuit and Title Defense are much easier when you learn this trick. |
| 386 | * GuiltBasedGaming: The NES version plays with the trope. The game over screen shows a depressed-looking Little Mac against a red background, at first making one feel bad about crushing the little guy's dreams of becoming champ...until you see the text at the bottom encouraging you to "Start training, make a comeback!" |
| 387 | * AHandfulForAnEye: Masked Muscle, who cheats repeatedly. One of his moves is to spit in your eye, making everything blurry and preventing you from attacking for about ten seconds. |
| 388 | * HairColors: The arcade entries in the series star a nameless, green-haired pugilist. The fourth ''VideoGame/{{Super Smash Bros|ForNintendo3DSAndWiiU}}'' gives Little Mac's black hair in his [[http://www.smashbros.com/us/images/character/little_mac/illust-modal.jpg character illustration]] a tint of green in reference to this. |
| 389 | * HarderThanHard: In the Wii game, surviving long enough in the (hard by itself) Mac's Last Stand mode gives you Champions Mode, accessible via Exhibition when choosing an opponent in Contender or Title Defense. Every opponent can floor Little Mac with a single punch. |
| 390 | * HardModeFiller: |
| 391 | ** The Wii game has Title Defense mode. You have to refight all the characters from the game with remixed movesets, and you have less HP. |
| 392 | ** ''Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!'' for the NES makes you re-fight Piston Honda, Bald Bull and Don Flamenco a second time in [[TookALevelInBadass tactically improved form]] with halved HP. |
| 393 | * HeadSwap: |
| 394 | ** The arcade games have Glass Joe/Kid Quick, Bald Bull/Mr. Sandman and Vodka Drunkenski/Super Macho Man (both of which appear in the NES game) and Piston Hurricane/Pizza Pasta/Great Tiger. |
| 395 | ** In the NES version, every character [[UniqueEnemy except King Hippo]] shared a character model with another boxer: Glass Joe/Don Flamenco, Von Kaiser/Great Tiger, Bald Bull/Mr. Sandman, Soda Popinski/Super Macho Man, and Piston Honda/Mike Tyson. Mr. Dream was also just a headswap of Tyson. |
| 396 | ** The Super NES game has Bald Bull/Mr. Sandman once again, as well as Gabby Jay/Bob Charlie, Bear Hugger/Mad Clown, Piston Hurricane/Aran Ryan, Dragon Chan/Heike Kagero, Masked Muscle/Super Macho Man, and the two Bruiser Brothers. The only characters with unique models are Narcis Prince and Hoy Quarlow. |
| 397 | ** Given that the Wii game uses 3D models instead of sprites, this is less blatant with all of the fighters having unique models and animations, though the body type similarities still remain as they did in the NES game. Disco Kid's similar to Piston Hondo, King Hippo and Bear Hugger are both overweight, and Aran Ryan is closest to Glass Joe and Don Flamenco. Only [[spoiler:Donkey Kong]] is so obviously unique. |
| 398 | * HealingBoss: |
| 399 | ** In the [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]] ''Super Punch-Out!!'', if you perform a KO punch on Aran Ryan, he'll follow up with a clinch that heals him while lowering your own health. |
| 400 | ** Wii version: |
| 401 | *** Soda Popinski will drink some cola to heal up both in between rounds and in the middle of one. The amount healed in between can be decreased by skipping the scene, and he can be stopped during a round by punching the bottle out of his hand. |
| 402 | *** On higher difficulties, Doc Louis will pull out a chocolate bar to restore health. He can be stopped on the highest difficulty by punching the chocolate out of his hand. |
| 403 | * {{Heel}}: Aran Ryan puts horseshoes in his gloves and sabotages opponents. Super Macho Man knocks the ref over and showboats like there's no tomorrow. The crowd reacts to both of them like wrestling heels, booing whenever they do well and cheering like crazy when Mac takes them down. |
| 404 | * HeroicMime: |
| 405 | ** Little Mac in the Wii version. His only speech appears to be grunts when he attacks or is hit/[=KOed=] or what have you, and happy laughs and whoops when he wins; the only actual word he ever says is, "Yeah!" That said, in the NES version, he seems to speak a bit more, asking Doc for help in between rounds. |
| 406 | ** Averted by the SNES protagonist, who always has something to say after a match, with the phrase changing depending on how many times he was knocked down. |
| 407 | * HeroicResolve: In the Wii game, Mac can force himself to continue fighting after a final TKO hit, complete with dramatic stomp and him growling in a HotBlooded way. Bald Bull is capable of pulling this as well, during Title Defense if you manage to TKO him during his Bull Charge move, though with a sinister chuckle rather than the growl. |
| 408 | * HeroicSecondWind: |
| 409 | ** Incorporated into the gameplay of the Wii title; after a few knockdowns, start mashing 1 + 2 (or shake like crazy) after being hit by a punch that would ordinarily KO Mac instantly. If you're lucky, Mac stops himself from hitting the canvas, and fights passing out just to give himself one more chance to win. Becomes this trope instead of merely {{Determinator}} if you manage to start thrashing your opponent immediately and easily after returning to the fight. |
| 410 | ** Subtly applied in the gameplay of the NES version; normally you get more health refilled and stamina by getting up as quickly as you can after being knocked down. But in the later, harder fights, if you get up on a 9 count instead, you'll always get 9 hearts (the maximum you can get back after getting up from a knockdown) ''and'' get much more of your health back, possibly even as much as an entire health refill depending on the opponent and how many times you already been knocked down. Learning how to time your mashing to get up on 9 can really help make getting knocked down in the later fights not so devastating. |
| 411 | ** Bald Bull can do this in the NES and Wii versions. If you drain his stamina completely during his NES World Circuit bout, he recovers a little bit with the next punch he throws; he'll only go down if you punch him during a Bull charge or uppercut him when his meter is low enough. He takes it one step further during his Wii Title Defense Bout, recovering about a quarter of his meter even if you drain it by hitting him mid-charge, and will only fall to a Star Punch. |
| 412 | ** In the NES game the opponents generally don't change much in Round 3, but after having a rather tame and predictable pattern in the prior round, Mike Tyson/Mr. Dream overhauls his entire pattern and becomes very random with a variety of different punches, unlike every other opponent in the game who have significantly less deviation from their basic patterns, while he is throwing out punches that are barely within human reaction time. His uppercuts also deal quite a bit more damage than they did in the prior round, and he can now throw out his unstoppable Dynamite Hooks infinitely until you get knocked down if you fail to block the initial four he throws after blinking. Indeed strategies for beating Mike Tyson/Mr. Dream will advise going for a Round 2 TKO, as trying to knock him out in Round 3 or survive for the decision victory is incredibly difficult, especially if you can only take one or two more knockdowns before Mac can't get back up. |
| 413 | * HoldYourHippogriffs: In the Wii version: "I'm a [[labelnote:hugger,]]lover,[[/labelnote]] not a fighter." |
| 414 | * HonorBeforeReason: Piston Hondo in the Wii game has a really bad habit of bowing before a match, being Japanese and all. [[CombatPragmatist You can punch him in the middle of his bowing to gain a start punch]]. He learns his lesson for the title defense match against him and will dodge and counter your punch if you try to do it again. |
| 415 | * HugeGuyTinyGirl: Super Macho Man's opening montage in the Wii game shows him with a series of girlfriends, each one about half his size. |
| 416 | * HurtFootHop: When knocking off the manhole cover over King Hippo's belly, it lands on his foot, causing him to hop up and down while holding it. |
| 417 | * HuskyRusskie: Vodka Drunkenski, who became the [[FrothyMugsOfWater non-alcoholic]] Soda Popinski. The UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} game goes further by making him 6'6", the tallest human character in the game, even taller than FinalBoss Mr. Sandman ([[spoiler:although he is shorter than the non-human VideoGame/DonkeyKong]]) and he does the cossack dance when he wins. Also, in a possible ShoutOut to ''Film/RockyIV'', after losing to Mac, scientists create a chemical formula to make him faster and stronger. The funny thing being that the contender mode montage (instead of the tougher Title Defense mode) features him performing rustic workouts like Rocky did in that movie. |
| 418 | * HyperactiveMetabolism: Doc Louis's remedy chocolate bars will instantly replenish his health if he manages to eat them. In fact, if Doc Louis eats one around Little Mac between rounds, Little Mac will replenish some health himself. This also goes for Soda Popinski and his soda. |
| 419 | [[/folder]] |
| 420 | |
| 421 | [[folder:I-L]] |
| 422 | * IHitYouYouHitTheGround: Disco Kid's plan for Mac in Title Defense mode: |
| 423 | -->''"I have a three step program for you -- [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin I punch you; you fall down; I win!]]" |
| 424 | * ILetYouWin: Rick Bruiser's record is 41-1, and his only loss is to his brother, Nick Bruiser. However, Rick Bruiser claims he let his brother win their match, and that he's really the best. |
| 425 | * IWantMyMommy: Von Kaiser in the Wii game, especially effective if you give him a star punch just as or after he says it ([[spoiler:since it gives you an instant KO]]): |
| 426 | -->"Wo bist denn...MOMMY!" |
| 427 | * IconicOutfit: Little Mac is well-known for his black and green outfit -- especially the iconic, bright green boxing gloves. In the Wii game, it's the attire he wears in the Minor Circuit at the start of the game. |
| 428 | * ImportantHaircut: Von Kaiser and Mr. Sandman in Title Defense mode in the Wii game, both before their respective rematches with Little Mac. Kaiser is shown getting a military cut, symbolizing he's not letting his emotional trauma hinder him for the next match. Sandman does it to reinforce his desire for revenge after losing the WVBA belt to Mac. |
| 429 | * ImprobableWeaponUser: This being a boxing series, it shouldn't feature weapons other than fists and gloves. Nevertheless, in ''Super Punch-Out!!'', luchador/boxer Masked Muscle uses (illegal) wrestling techniques, Dragon Chan uses Jeet Kune Do, Heike Kagero attacks with his Bishonen hair, Mad Clown has his juggling balls, and Hoy Quarlow likes to hit you with his walking stick repeatedly. It might be easier to mention the boxers that fight ''fair''. And of course, the ref will never call them on it. |
| 430 | * InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: The NES game was originally titled ''Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!'', referencing that Mike Tyson is the FinalBoss. Later versions of the game changed the name to ''Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream'', since Tyson himself is absent (and replaced by the eponymous Mr. Dream) due to license expiry. |
| 431 | * InstantWinCondition: |
| 432 | ** Many of the boxers can be instantly KO'd under the right conditions, usually involving three-star counterpunches. Making proper use of this is the only way to clear certain challenges in Exhibition Mode. Some of them are alluded to, if not outright stated (such as doing 50 jabs to TD Glass Joe), while others are simply referred to by a strict time limit, forcing you to use this trope to clear the challenge. |
| 433 | ** Some notable aversions to the challenges include Piston Hondo (blocking 44 jabs does nothing), Super Macho Man and [[spoiler:Donkey Kong]] (who don't have instant [=KOs=], though the latter has an instant KD, and must be TKO'd in a perfect run to beat their time challenges), and Sandman (knocking him down in 33 seconds is partially a LuckBasedMission). |
| 434 | * {{Jerkass}}: Many of the fighters in the game are massive jerks at the start, while some are just eccentric. However, if they best Little Mac in a bout, the jerk tendencies come immediately to the surface for each and every one of them. The one exception seems to be Disco Kid. |
| 435 | * JiveTurkey: Disco Kid. |
| 436 | -->'''Doc Louis:''' Time to teach this turkey how to jive! |
| 437 | * {{Jobber}}: Glass Joe, your first opponent, has a 1-99 record (his one win once being jokingly called a fluke victory in a freak incident over Nick Bruiser, the final boss of Super Punch-Out. Or a fluke win over Von Kaiser; no one knows for sure, though the latter is more likely due to Nick's undefeated record). In ''Super Punch-Out'', Gabby Jay has the same record... and his one win was explicitly against Glass Joe, his trainer. The Wii version returns Glass Joe to his place of "prominence". |
| 438 | * KaizoTrap: Subverted. Aran Ryan, in Title Defense on the Wii version, will do one last desperate attack every time he's knocked down. However, the said attack can't actually knock you down regardless of how little life you have left, even in the mode where every hit knocks you down, and star-punching him during the attack is a OneHitKO. |
| 439 | * {{Kevlard}}: Lots. |
| 440 | ** King Hippo is one of the earlier video game examples. He was completely immune to being knocked out until you figured out you were supposed to hit him in his gaping maw and then proceed for the rather obvious bandages. |
| 441 | ** Bear Hugger and Mad Clown, both fat boxers, are nearly immune to body blows. You have to punch them in the head to damage them. Punching them in the stomach results in a boing, and the boxer mocks you. If they taunt, their midsection is vulnerable, and hitting it will stun them. |
| 442 | * KillerBearHug: This is a SignatureMove for Canadian boxer Bear Hugger; he will swing his arms out wide and try to bring Little Mac into a crushing grip. |
| 443 | * LadyLooksLikeADude: Would you have guessed that Bear Hugger's bear coach is female? |
| 444 | * LargeAndInCharge: In the NES game, the opponents are at least twice as tall as Little Mac (they don't call him little for nothing). The UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} version tones down the height advantage that opponents have over Mac, but they don't tone down the weight advantage. Mac weighs in at 107 pounds. Glass Joe, his first opponent, weighs in at 110 lbs. Von Kaiser, his second opponent, weighs in at ''144'' lbs, and Disco Kid, his third opponent, weighs in a '''''210''''' lbs! In real life, that's ''several'' weight classes apart! Then there's King Hippo, whose weight and height are listed as "???". |
| 445 | * LargeHam: In the Wii version, Super Macho Man is "gonna put on a show". He also loves the fans until they go over to Mac after he wins against Super Macho Man. He dials up his hamminess trying to get the crowd to love him again. |
| 446 | * LaserGuidedKarma: The Wii game has Aran Ryan, who has two signature illegal moves: a headbutt and, in Title Defense, a glove on a rope that he uses when he gets knocked down. [[CheatersNeverProsper Countering the former with a 3-Star Punch or the latter with any Star Punch will]] [[OneHitKill KO him instantly.]] |
| 447 | * LastChanceHitPoint: The Wii version allows the player to mildly recover if the character (Little Mac) is about to lose by KO or TKO during a fight. One of the Exhibition challenges actually requires this to be done during the fight against Mr. Sandman in Title Defense. |
| 448 | * LastDitchMove: In the Wii game, Aran Ryan has one of these. In the first round of Career Mode, every time you knock him down, he takes a swing at you which doesn't hit. However, in Title Defense mode, he has a boxing glove on a rope that he uses like a flail. When you knock him down, he brings out the glove on a rope and tries to whack you one more time before falling down. Of course, it's not really capable of turning the tables, because he can't knock you down with it, and if you time a Star Punch right you'll instantly knock him out. |
| 449 | * LastStand: In the Wii game, there's a mode called Mac's Last Stand, where you have to fight random Title Defense opponents. If you lose three times, that's it. The game ends. Mac retires and the Career mode is locked. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin It really is Mac's Last Stand]]. Fortunately, a locked Career Mode simply means the "story mode" of that profile is over. You're still able to fight anyone anytime in Exhibition Mode (and Last Stand only unlocks after you've beaten all of the regular fighters in both their modes, so you have the run of them). The main goals of the Last Stand are to unlock Champion's Mode (where every hit on you is a OneHitKO) and fight the GuestFighter, which in turn adds him to the Exhibition roster. |
| 450 | * LateArrivalSpoiler: The UsefulNotes/WiiU rerelease uses [[spoiler:the [[{{Superboss}} Donkey Kong]] fight]] as one of the screens on the Wii shop. |
| 451 | * LeaningOnTheFourthWall: The pre-fight intros in the Wii version see some of the opponents messing around. |
| 452 | ** Von Kaiser, Great Tiger, and Bald Bull all get up and personal while glaring at Mac. |
| 453 | ** Aran Ryan runs over to Mac's side of the screen to antagonize him. |
| 454 | ** King Hippo ignores Mac and stares into the camera. |
| 455 | * {{Leitmotif}}: The series as a whole has a very recognizable [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZ-LoqRAHLg theme]] that is in nearly every single game of the franchise. The Wii version goes as far as giving each challenger their own variations of the same theme, to give them more personality and matching each of their nationalities and/or quirks. |
| 456 | * LeotardOfPower: In the Wii game, Disco Kid wears a purple leotard when he challenges you for the World Championship in Title Defense mode. |
| 457 | * LethalJokeCharacter: Literally, in Mad Clown of Super Punch Out. Granted, he's pretty hard to begin with, but he's a clown that can literally [[CurbStompBattle curb stomp]] you if you're not careful. |
| 458 | * LetsFightLikeGentlemen: After an entire career of facing [[CombatPragmatist opponents with questionable tactics or attire]] in the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} game, the FinalBoss and World Champion Mr. Sandman is the only boxer in the game to not resort to using weapons, dirty / illegal moves, support like Soda Popinski's health-replenishing soda, or even improper boxing attire or a national stereotype (fellow American boxer Super Macho Man got him covered there anyway). During the Championship bout ''and'' the Title Defense rematch, he gives you a straightforward and fair fight, ''and'' one that's more difficult than any other opponent in the game [[spoiler:save for SecretCharacter ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'']]. |
| 459 | * LightningBruiser: Almost every opponent in the World Circuit qualifies in most versions, but Mike Tyson takes the cake, giving you very little time to react to his OneHitKO move. |
| 460 | * LimitBreak: |
| 461 | ** The Star Punch is this, especially at Three-Star level. |
| 462 | ** Great Tiger's special attack in Title Defense. |
| 463 | ** Von Kaiser's TD move is a windmilling wowser of a hit: it slams Mac horizontal ''before'' he actually falls to the canvas! |
| 464 | ** A game mechanic in the multiplayer mode in the Wii version. When the other player flashes blue, landing a hit on the opponent fills your Giga Juice meter. Should the meter become full, the player's Little Mac character transforms into Giga Mac, a taller, more muscular version of Little Mac, and the camera angle shifts behind the non transformed Little Mac, mimicking how fights look in single player. Giga Mac hits a lot harder than Little Mac, but he is prone to being stunned, allowing the other player to combo him, which is also what you do in single player. |
| 465 | * LongSongShortScene: The training music in the Wii version is chopped up to only 14 seconds or so due to the length of the videos, so all you ever hear is the introduction to the song. Until you think to stitch all the training montages together… |
| 466 | * LostFoodGrievance: In the Wii game, Soda Popinski will occasionally get out a bottle and drink it to restore his health. However, you can knock it out of his hands before he has a chance. If you do, he'll launch a flurry of powerful uppercuts very quickly at you. Far worse is if you do the same thing to Doc Louis's chocolate bar during ''Doc Louis's Punch-Out!!'', which makes his attacks ''much'' faster (and he gets out another chocolate bar straight away that you can't knock away). |
| 467 | * LoverNotAFighter: Spoofed by Bear Hugger in the Wii game, when he claims to be a ''hugger'', not a fighter. He would be right if he didn't use that BearHug to inflict so much damage to his opponents in combat... |
| 468 | * LoveToHate: In-universe, Doc Louis says this about Aran Ryan as one of his intermission quotes. |
| 469 | * LuckBasedMission: In the Wii version, one of Mr. Sandman's Title Defense challenges requires you to come back from getting knocked out to win the match. This has a random chance of happening if you mash buttons or shake the Wii Remote and Nunchuk as you are getting knocked out, and if it doesn't happen, you have to start the whole match over again. |
| 470 | * LuckySeven: In the Wii version, being Irish, Aran Ryan has some motifs with the seven, such as the number of hearts you have and when he's knocked down, he'll get back up when the ref counts to seven. He'll also take up to 7 punches when he's stunned, and the Contender and Title Defense mode challenges require you to land 7 star punches on him and defeat him on the 7th minute of the match, respectively. Even his stats contain 7s, in a sense. He weighs 160 lbs, and he's 6'1" tall). |
| 471 | [[/folder]] |
| 472 | |
| 473 | [[folder:M-P]] |
| 474 | * MadLibsCatchphrase: Doc Louis in the Wii version, during an ongoing fight's intermission. "What's your favorite kind of ______? Mine's chocolate!" |
| 475 | * MadLibsDialogue: The Wii game has an accidental example in Super Macho Man. He [[CallingYourAttacks calls his attacks]] with SurferDude lingo, but only finishes the phrase if they connect. If he misses, the phrase is interrupted with his disappointed interjection. Popular phrases resulting from this include "Release the... Bogus." and "Crunch... Dude?" |
| 476 | * MarathonBoss: King Hippo is a fat, overgrown boxer from PartsUnknown that has an amount of HP so large that it is only required to knock him down once to win. And in the Wii version, when fought in Title Defense mode, he'll tie a manhole cover to his belly so you can't hurt him there without removing it first, which only prolongs further the fight. |
| 477 | * MaskPower: Masked Muscle, as well as Bald Bull in his Mask X disguise. |
| 478 | * MeaningfulName: |
| 479 | ** Glass Joe (think Glass Jaw), Kid Quick (his attacks are fast). |
| 480 | ** Mr. Sandman will ''put you to sleep''. |
| 481 | ** Soda Popinski drinks a lot of Soda, King Hippo wears a crown and is roughly the size of a Hippo, Super Macho Man embodies the stereotypical strong male celebrities, Bear Hugger's signature move is the Bear Hug, etc. |
| 482 | ** An unusual case: In the Japanese arcade version of ''Super Punch-Out'', Super Macho Man's name is still written as such on the screen, but [[https://youtu.be/rjmKbyi4QLE?t=154 the announcer calls him "Super Body Bill"]] (as in "body builder"), which is an extremely appropriate name. |
| 483 | * MegatonPunch: In the Wii version, Don Flamenco does this to a bull during his back story. |
| 484 | * MercyMode: In the Wii release, lose 100 times during Career mode and you will be given damage-reducing headgear … [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration much like they did to Glass Joe after he took his 100th loss against you.]] |
| 485 | * MindScrew: In ''Super Punch-Out'', one of the top fastest times against champion Nick Bruiser is Glass Joe. Because of this, people are starting to say that Joe's one win was a fluke win against Nick before the Bruiser Bros. went pro. |
| 486 | * MiniGameCredits: In the Wii version, you can correct inaccuracies (mirrored/upside down letters and boxer names) in the credits for points. |
| 487 | * MinorInjuryOverreaction: The primary tactic involved in fighting Narcis Prince is first hitting him in the face, which enrages him and causes him to use a series of attacks that can be easily countered. |
| 488 | * MisbegottenMultiplayerMode: The Wii game has a head-to-head mode that is regarded as this by many people, though others will argue that this mode is actually a very deep and intense battle of the wits and people are mainly disappointed that they can only play as recolored clones of Little Mac as opposed to popular characters like King Hippo or Super Macho Man. |
| 489 | * MissionPackSequel: The arcade ''Super Punch-Out!!'' is one to the original arcade game. The only differences between the two arcade games, besides the opponents you face and haircut of your character, is the addition of an extra button used for dodging attacks (which is required to avoid certain moves) and a more detailed display of top scores. |
| 490 | * ModernMinstrelsy: The various opponent boxers all come from different countries, and [[AllStereotypeCast each of them is an obvious stereotype]] of their respective nation. This ranges from Frenchman Glass Joe being a [[CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys weak fighter]], Spaniard Don Flamenco being a [[DashingHispanic dashing bullfighter]] who knows how to dance, and Russian Soda Popinski who [[DrunkOnMilk drinks a lot of soft drinks]] in an E-rated send-up of the [[VodkaDrunkenski vodka-chugging Russian]]. In the Wii iteration, the characters are, if anything, more stereotypical than in previous installments, though any potential offensiveness is, at least, highly mitigated thanks to each character [[BilingualBonus being voiced in their native language]]. Also, as it is a Japanese Game, there's also a Japanese character called Piston Hondo [[SelfDeprecation who is just as stereotypical as all the others]]. |
| 491 | * MoodMotif: In the ''Wii'' game, everybody has their own remix of the same tracks. For example, [[HuskyRusskie Soda Popinski]]'s fight is filled with OrchestralBombing and OminousLatinChanting. Don Flamenco's is an acoustic guitar. |
| 492 | * MoodWhiplash: In the Wii game, Von Kaiser, a very serious boxer with a menacing, overpowering {{leitmotif}}, is sandwiched in between the comically pathetic Glass Joe and the fabulously flamboyant Disco Kid. |
| 493 | * MooseAndMapleSyrup: Bear Hugger. He's a woodsman from Salmon Arm, British Columbia, who drinks maple syrup, chops down trees, plays hockey, and hugs bears. When not being trained by one. He talks like a stereotypical Canadian in the Wii game, often saying "eh" and calling Little Mac a hoser. [[SelfDeprecation Incidentally, that installment was developed by Canadian developer Next Level Games]], and both the developer and the character are from Salmon Arm. |
| 494 | * MustacheVandalism: Aran Ryan's introduction video has him doodling a moustache onto a poster of Little Mac. |
| 495 | * MyGrandmaCanDoBetterThanYou: In the Wii game, during Title Defense intermissions, Aran Ryan will yell that his sister is a better fighter than Little Mac. |
| 496 | * MyRulesAreNotYourRules: Little Mac has fought against opponents who intentionally disregard the fact that boxing is strictly a hands-only sport. Intended by the game designers as defeating them makes Little Mac a very honorable badass. |
| 497 | ** Dragon Chan uses kicking attacks. |
| 498 | ** Masked Muscle spits in your eyes and headbutts you. |
| 499 | ** Hoy Quarlow fights with a walking stick. |
| 500 | ** Heike Kagero attacks with his hair. |
| 501 | ** Aran Ryan uses headbutts and elbow strikes. He adds a boxing-glove flail in Title Defense mode, and [[TakingYouWithMe it can hit you even when his health is depleted]]. |
| 502 | * MysticalIndia: Great Tiger, a "[[FlexibleTourneyRules boxer]]" who fights with attacks like teleporting and illusions. Justified, as Great Tiger is also [[StageMagician performs magic for show]], and he presumably plays up some of the stereotypes as part of his image. |
| 503 | * MythologyGag: The ''Wii'' version has references to the games the characters appeared in. |
| 504 | ** When knocking down Glass Joe, he staggers and falls the same way he did in the NES version. The knockdown sound even plays! |
| 505 | ** Sometimes, Donkey Kong's distinctive silhouette appears in the audience, just like in the arcade days. |
| 506 | ** Doc says if you can't beat Bald Bull in boxing, maybe beat him in Arm Wrestling. Bald Bull indeed was present in ''VideoGame/ArmWrestling''. |
| 507 | ** In the NES game, you could trap Don Flamenco in a CycleOfHurting by jabbing him in the face quickly enough. It's totally possible to trap him in a CycleOfHurting in both of his fights, but the way to do it is slightly more complicated than in the NES days. |
| 508 | * TheNameIsBondJamesBond: Don Flamenco in the Wii version does this in Spanish as one of his taunts. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX3MViTpNZ0 See 5:04]]. |
| 509 | * NationalAnimalStereotypes: |
| 510 | ** Bear Hugger the Canadian lumberjack is heavily themed around bears, especially in the Wii game where he has an actual grizzly bear for a sparring partner. |
| 511 | ** The Indian boxer is named Great Tiger, and wears tiger-striped pants. In the NES game, he has a tiger pelt hanging on the post in his corner of the ring. |
| 512 | * NationalStereotypes: Among the cast are a cowardly Frenchman, a militaristic German man, a Spanish ladies man, an aggressive Irishman, and several others. |
| 513 | * {{Nerf}}: Happens to all three veteran characters who appear in the SNES game. Bald Bull is demoted to the champion of the Minor Circuit; he is notably much slower and easier to beat than in the original NES game. Mr. Sandman (who is usually the champion or at least the runner-up of the World Circuit in other games) is only the champion of the Major Circuit, and consequently this marks his weakest incarnation. Super Macho Man didn't have a tier downgrade (he's still the World Circuit champion, like in the NES and second Arcade games), but he's still easier than in other games. However, for all three characters, the nerf was reversed in the Wii game, where they're back to normal. |
| 514 | * NintendoHard: The series is well-known for this. The last few fights in the NES version (the very last one in particular) are the biggest example. Champion Mode on the Wii version is hard enough to unlock: win 10 random defense fights before losing 3 in Mac's Last Stand. Should you fail, you literally need to create a new save file and climb up the ranks to try again. But you probably don't want it anyway; Champion Mode is an option you can enable in any exhibition fight that turns any attack on Mac into a OneHitKO, '''and''' stops enemies from blinking red before they attack. Then again, should you ''do'' manage to unlock it, winning every fight in said mode is a BraggingRightsReward. |
| 515 | * NoblewomansLaugh: A rare male example; this is a VerbalTic of Heike Kagero's. |
| 516 | --> ''Hoo, hoo, hoo, hooo.'' |
| 517 | * NobodyTouchesTheHair: Don Flamenco has a battle quote telling you not to touch his hair. In the Wii version, [[spoiler:it's a wig you can punch off him, which angers him.]] The NES version has the same thing, although you don't see him [[spoiler:bald]] until the closeup on his face between rounds. |
| 518 | * NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: |
| 519 | ** Bob Charlie, if in name only. |
| 520 | ** How to make up for Mike Tyson's absence with a game that had him as one of its claims to fame? Make Title Defense Mr. Sandman an {{Expy}} of him. |
| 521 | * NoDamageRun: In the Wii game, one of the Exhibition Challenges in Title Defense requires you to defeat Piston Hondo without depleting a single heart from Little Mac's stamina. This requires not taking damage, not blocking any attack ''and'' not having any of Mac's punches blocked. There are also a few OneHitKO tricks against certain boxers that can only be performed as long as Mac never takes any damage. |
| 522 | * NoFairCheating: If you use a Game Genie or Pro Action Replay with a ''Super Punch-Out'' career, you won't be able to access the fourth and final circuit for that career. An Emulator/Console Game Genie code now exists to reverse the disabling effect. |
| 523 | * NoNameGiven: |
| 524 | ** There is absolutely ''nothing'' hinting as to who the boxer in the SNES ''Super Punch-Out!!'' was. |
| 525 | ** The green-haired fellow from the arcade games is only known by the player's initials. |
| 526 | * NoNonsenseNemesis: Mr. Sandman, the champion of the WVBA in the Wii and first arcade game, doesn't rely on gimmicks or cheats during his fight. He's just a regular boxer who's very good at what he does. Relatedly, he doesn't waste any time with national stereotypes (unlike all other boxers, including fellow American Super Macho Man), so his traits and portrayal are also decidedly realistic. |
| 527 | * NoSell: Two examples in ''Super Punch-Out!!'', although neither one is completely played straight. |
| 528 | ** Aran Ryan's gimmick is that standard punches don't faze him - they do only scratch damage. He's something of a WakeUpCallBoss, forcing the player to get better at counter-punching (counter-punches do full damage to him). |
| 529 | ** When you land jabs and hooks on Nick Bruiser, the dour expression on his face never changes. However, he's taking normal damage from the punches even if he's acting like he doesn't. |
| 530 | * NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught: Is very much present in the Wii and SNES installments, the latter moreso. Aran Ryan in the Wii title is all about this, as he puts horseshoes in his gloves before the Contender bout, uses said gloves as a makeshift mace via rope in the Title Defense bout, and will often attempt to headbutt the player regardless of the bout. |
| 531 | * OhCrap: |
| 532 | ** In the Wii version, fighters gain this expression just before you counter them with a signature uppercut, though Von Kaiser's is particularly noticeable, as he shouts "HILFE!"[[note]]"Help!" in German.[[/note]] |
| 533 | ** Doc Louis has one when you first go up against Mr. Sandman. |
| 534 | * OldMaster: Hoy Quarlow, who fights ''with a staff''! |
| 535 | * OncePerEpisode: Every game in the series features a match against Bald Bull, with the exception of the arcade ''Super Punch-Out!!'', although the developers made up for it by including Bull in ''Arm Wrestling''. |
| 536 | * OneHitKO: A staple of the series, for both you and opponents. |
| 537 | ** In the NES game, a universal one that applies to all opponents is after you knock them down and they get up on a 1 count, their health bar will be entirely refilled but if you hit them with a Star Punch it'll instantly send them right back to the canvas. If someone gets up on a 1 count can be either random or have some prerequisite conditions that have to be fulfilled (such as against Great Tiger, for him to get up on a 1 count your health must be full and it has to be within the first minute). |
| 538 | ** In ''Super Punch-Out'' for the SNES, it is possible at some point to throw this in any fight. When you punch your enemy enough times within a short enough time window, they will become dizzy and will come back and forth dazed. If the player unleashes a super punch and it lands on the opponent right as they waddle back into range, no matter if it's Gabby Jay or Nick Bruiser, they'll be instantly knocked down. Plus if knocked down this way, they'll usually stay down for longer so you can recover more health, and they'll get a significantly smaller health refill than usual upon getting back up. |
| 539 | ** The most well-known character-specific instance across the series is from Bald Bull - if you get hit by his Bull Charge, you're going ''down''. Conversely, if you throw a jab at him just before he throws that punch, he gets knocked down instantly (and in the Wii game, if the uppercut is powered by three stars, it'll be an instant knockout instead). Bear Hugger (only in the second arcade game), Dragon Chan, Von Kaiser (only in the Wii version's Title Defense), Super Macho Man, Mike Tyson/Mr. Dream, and Rick and Nick Bruiser later continue the tradition. Mac himself can pull off [=OHKOs=] on almost everyone in the Wii game[[note]]the exception is Title Defense Super Macho Man[[/note]], whether it's a simple knockdown or a match-finishing knockout (in fact, it's necessary for various otherwise impossible Exhibition challenges). |
| 540 | ** Piston Honda's 2nd fight in the NES version (and Piston Hurricane in the SNES version) allows Mac to hit a literal one hit KO. [[spoiler:Counter the Piston Rush with a left body blow and Honda will stay down nearly every time.]] |
| 541 | ** In the NES game Glass Joe at specific times will step back, do a taunt, and then come in to punch, while if the player jabs him right as he moves forward he will be instantly knocked down, and if the punch landed on the right frame, he won't get back up (otherwise if your timing is off he gets up on a 1 count, which as covered prior means a Star Punch send him right back down). Since there's no reason to attack before the taunt in the first round (it's impossible to knock Joe down before it and he won't begin attacking before he does it) this becomes a literal OneHitKO. |
| 542 | ** The Wii game allows you to score this against certain opponents by landing a Star Punch at a key moment. Do it right, and you win the bout regardless of the opponent's stamina or how many times he's been knocked down in the current round. |
| 543 | ** The Wii game has an unlockable extra option in Exhibition Mode that is {{permanently missable|Content}} if you screw up Mac's Last Stand, which turns any and all opponent's attacks into a OneHitKO (with the exception of Aran Ryan's attack whenever he gets knocked-down in Title Defense). |
| 544 | * OneHitPointWonder: In case you thought the Title Defense mode in the Wii version wasn't hard enough, a special mode, called Champion's Mode, makes every one of your opponent's attacks knock you down in one hit - even ''[[WarmUpBoss Glass Joe]]'' can send you to the mat with a single punch. The only exception to this is Title Defense Aran Ryan's [[DesperationAttack rope-glove attack]] when you knock him down. |
| 545 | * OnlyKnownByInitials: Your character from the arcade games only has a descriptor of "Challenger", and you enter three initials to name him when starting play. |
| 546 | * OutOfContinues: Your third loss in Mac's Last Stand on the Wii game is the hard end to Little Mac's career and you won't be able to play Career mode again afterwards. As there is unlockable content associated with this mode (Champions Mode and [[spoiler:Donkey Kong]] as an opponent selection for Exhibition), you better survive long enough to open this stuff up or you've got some PermanentlyMissableContent on your hands. |
| 547 | * PaintItBlack: |
| 548 | ** Don Flamenco and Mr. Sandman in the Wii game's Title Defense Mode, symbolizing their grief and anger over having lost to then-rookie Little Mac. |
| 549 | ** Inverted with Piston Hondo, as he wears all white in Title Defense mode. But given that he's Japanese, [[ShownTheirWork the connotations of wearing all white are equivalent to a Westerner wearing all black]]. |
| 550 | * PaletteSwap: In the earlier games, many boxers have each a swapped counterpart with a different face: |
| 551 | ** The first arcade game has Glass Joe and Kid Quick, Piston Hurricane and Pizza Pasta, and Bald Bull and Mr. Sandman. |
| 552 | ** The second arcade game (''Super Punch-Out!!'') actually has the first two of five fighters, Bear Hugger and Dragon Chan, have their own distinct palettes. Vodka Drunkenski and Super Macho Man share similar bodies. Great Tiger is Piston Hurricane with a turban and slightly longer mustache. |
| 553 | ** The NES version has Glass Joe and Don Flamenco, Von Kaiser and Great Tiger, Bald Bull and Mr. Sandman (returning from the arcade game), VodkaDrunkenski / [[FrothyMugsOfWater Soda Popinski]] and Super Macho Man (returning from the arcade sequel ''Super Punch-Out''), and Piston Honda and Mike Tyson / [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Mr. Dream]]. The only character with a unique model is King Hippo. |
| 554 | ** ''Super Punch-Out!!'' for SNES has Gabby Jay and Bob Charlie, Bear Hugger and Mad Clown, Piston Hurricane and Aran Ryan, Bald Bull and Mr. Sandman (again), Dragon Chan and Heike Kagero, Masked Muscle and Super Macho Man, and the two Bruiser Brothers (sharing their own model). The only original palettes are Narcis Prince and Hoy Quarlow. |
| 555 | ** The Wii game gave all of the characters distinct character models, although they still have similar appearances, indirectly referencing this trope. |
| 556 | * TheParalyzer: In the SNES game, the Bruiser brothers can render one of your arms useless for ten seconds, making it impossible to punch with it or to block. The arm thus "broken" turns red until it heals. |
| 557 | * PartsUnknown: The Bruiser Brothers, Rick and Nick. Also King Hippo, hailing from "Hippo Island". |
| 558 | * PecFlex: |
| 559 | ** Super Macho Man in the NES and Wii versions. (In the former, he tends to do so when Little Mac is knocked down, much like Soda Popinski laughs in the same situation.) In the Wii version, he steps it up by flexing his glutes at you before the fight begins. |
| 560 | ** Also Frank Jr. in ''Arm Wrestling'', who strikes a big ol' man-candy, arms-curled pose in a thong when you lose. |
| 561 | * PermanentlyMissableContent: Three instances in the Wii game. |
| 562 | ** If you never fight {{Superboss}} [[spoiler:Donkey Kong]] before losing three times and retiring in Mac's Last Stand, you won't be able to fight him in Exhibition Mode. |
| 563 | ** In Exhibition Mode, there's an alternate option called Champion Mode which turns you into a OneHitPointWonder. It can only be unlocked by defeating ten boxers (doesn't have to be consecutively) during Mac's Last Stand. Lose three times before accomplishing this, and it becomes locked forever in that save file. |
| 564 | ** If you never train in Exhibition Mode against wireframes before reaching Mac's Last Stand in Career mode, the second movie will be locked on that file. |
| 565 | * PolarOppositeTwins: The Bruiser Brothers. Rick Bruiser is outgoing and hot-blooded, while Nick Bruiser is quiet and cold. |
| 566 | * ThePowerOfHate: While a lot of opponents in the Wii version train harder to get at Mac during their rematches during "Title Defense" mode, a few who Mac beat use THIS to fuel their focus: |
| 567 | ** Aran Ryan resorts to a whip tied to a boxing glove to take on Mac. |
| 568 | ** Don Flamenco was extremely bitter after losing to Mac, tearing down a poster of Mac and putting on black shorts and black eyeliner, and giving Mac a black rose. |
| 569 | ** Super Macho Man found that Mac was the somewhat reluctant darling of the public, with girls falling for him and Mac dealing uncomfortably with the media. He trains harder to get back what he lost. |
| 570 | ** Mr. Sandman ''wrecks the building he trained in with his bare hands''. |
| 571 | * PrimalChestPound: |
| 572 | ** Aran Ryan will do this if you lose to him in Contender Mode. |
| 573 | ** [[spoiler:Donkey Kong]] does this in his pre-Round 1 cutscene. |
| 574 | * ProducePelting: In Title Defense mode on the Wii, the crowd will pelt Aran Ryan with all sorts of garbage, to which he threatens the spectators. Super Macho Man also gets this treatment before the start of the 2nd and 3rd rounds. |
| 575 | * ProductPlacement: Doc Louis will urge Little Mac to "JOIN THE NINTENDO FUN CLUB TODAY, MAC!" between rounds. The Wii sequel sometimes has him correcting himself mid-sequence to reference Club Nintendo instead.[[note]]Club Nintendo has since been replaced by My Nintendo in the U.S...which was actually replaced by Club Nintendo in the first place.[[/note]] |
| 576 | * ProlongedVideoGameSequel: Entries in the series have become progressively longer over the decades. |
| 577 | ** The three arcade games had very few opponents: ''Punch-Out!!'' only had six opponents, while ''Super Punch-Out!!'' and the spin-off ''VideoGame/ArmWrestling'' had only five opponents apiece. |
| 578 | ** The NES game, however, featured a whopping 13 opponents fought in three circuits[[note]]actually 10 distinct ones, as you fight Piston Honda, Bald Bull, and Don Flamenco twice[[/note]], with a 14th challenger serving as the final boss; depending on the version, it's either Mike Tyson or Mr. Dream. There's also a fourth circuit, accessible only by code, with the rather uninspired name "Another World Circuit." It doesn't contain any unique fights, but the fight order is different from the original World Circuit, and losing to any opponent ''once'' triggers a GameOver. |
| 579 | ** In the SNES sequel, there are 16 challengers across four circuits -- the most unique fighters of any ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' game. |
| 580 | ** The 2009 Wii version has only 13 regular opponents, but each is fought a second time in completely remixed (and much harder) fights in the newer Title Defense mode. Additionally, a secret 14th challenger can be found in the [[ArrangeMode Last Stand Mode]], making for a grand total of ''seven'' circuits in story mode. Then, of course, there's Exhibition mode, which allows players to challenge any previously defeated fighter individually. |
| 581 | * PublicDomainSoundtrack: The NES version has many instances: |
| 582 | ** "Sakura, Sakura", a traditional Japanese folk song, is used for Piston Honda's ring entrance. This is referenced in the Wii game (where he was renamed "Piston Hondo"). |
| 583 | ** "Ride of the Valkyries" is used as the themes to Von Kaiser and a couple other boxers[[note]]Great Tiger in his second and third rounds, and Super Macho Man in his entrance[[/note]]. |
| 584 | ** Glass Joe's entrance theme is ''La Marsellaise'', the French National Anthem. |
| 585 | ** Don Flamenco's theme is an excerpt from the Georges Bizet's opera Theatre/{{Carmen}}. |
| 586 | ** Soda Popinski's theme is "Song of the Volga Boatman". |
| 587 | * PunnyName: Glass Joe is pronounced similarly to "glass jaw", referencing his fragility. Other examples include Soda Popinski (or Vodka Drunkenski), Bear Hugger (some people do go by the name "Bear"), and Narcis Prince. |
| 588 | * PuzzleBoss: |
| 589 | ** King Hippo, who can only be hurt in the stomach, which he guards constantly unless punched in the mouth. More so in the Title Defense bout for the Wii version, where you have to knock off a manhole cover that he taped onto his stomach. It is also possible to hit his stomach without punching him in the mouth first, but it's not the best and easiest strategy (and it only has to be done once for an Exhibition challenge). |
| 590 | ** In the Wii game, you will likely not win (even by decision) unless you figure the best way to outmatch the strategies done by the opponents. In Title Defense, Glass Joe has a helmet to protect his head, so it won't be so easy to land a jab unless the helmet is raised with a Star Punch; in the same mode, both Bear Hugger and Soda Popinski must be dealt with via unique methods (namely and respectively, landing a Star Punch to prolong the stun period for extra hits, and not being hit at all so the stun period prolongs gradually by itself); and so on. |
| 591 | [[/folder]] |
| 592 | |
| 593 | [[folder:Q-T]] |
| 594 | * RacingTheTrain: Piston Hondo does this as part of his training for the upcoming Title Defense rematch. Specifically, he's racing a ''bullet train''. |
| 595 | * RailingKill: Twice in the Wii version: |
| 596 | ** Every time you knock out King Hippo, he staggers back, falls over the ring ropes and crashes onto the floor below. |
| 597 | ** Aran Ryan can get tangled in the ropes when you KO or TKO him. In RealLife boxing, a fighter who ends up in this situation is considered to have been knocked down, and the referee will either start a 10-count or declare a TKO as appropriate. |
| 598 | * RealMenWearPink: Little Mac wears a pink tracksuit when jogging, as seen in the TrainingMontage in the NES and Wii versions. |
| 599 | * RedheadsAreUncool: |
| 600 | ** Glass Joe, the laughingstock of the WVBA, is typically auburn-haired, if not outright redheaded. |
| 601 | ** In the Wii version, Von Kaiser is redheaded, and like Joe, he's seen as a hasbeen and a joke, even getting beaten by a ''kid''! |
| 602 | * RedOniBlueOni: A surprisingly not ColorCodedForYourConvenience example: The Bruiser Twins - Fiery red Rick with speed and overwhelming power on his side, and cruel blue Nick with the grim inevitability of a glacier (while lacking all the warmth) and, uh, even more overwhelming power on his. |
| 603 | %%* {{Retool}} |
| 604 | * RecurringRiff: Almost every theme from the NES game returns in the Wii version, with each boxer having their own versions of the fight theme, both countdown themes, title bout victory theme and failure and game over themes done in their own style (a laid back acoustic guitar style for Glass Joe, a beat-driven orchestral style for Soda Popinski, a menacing metal style for Mr. Sandman, etc.). |
| 605 | * RecycledTitle: There are three games with the name "Punch-Out". The latest one was released in 2009 on the Wii. Similarly, there are two games with the name "Super Punch-Out" (the arcade game and the Super Nintendo game). |
| 606 | * RegeneratingHealth: Released in early 1984 with its first arcade game, this series provides the UrExample for the medium. After a boxer gets knocked down and gets up again, the health generates, though never back to full health (with very rare exceptions, such as Bald Bull and Mr. Sandman in the Wii game, when knocked down in their Title Defense rematches). There are also unique instances with certain boxers: Bald Bull in his rematches (he mildly recovers if his health is depleted with a normal punch, only a star-powered uppercut will knock him down properly), Soda Popinski in the Wii game (he drinks soda to recover some health), and Little Mac himself if he's flexing his punches while an opponent is knocked down. Doc Louis can also recover some HP by eating a chocolate in the ''Doc Louis'' spinoff. |
| 607 | * RemovedAchillesHeel: In the Wii installment, many opponents cover up their weaknesses during Title Defense. For example, Glass Joe wears headgear to protect his glass jaw while King Hippo wears a manhole cover over his stomach. Special mention, however, goes to Bald Bull. Normally, Bald Bull will instantly be knocked down if he's punched in the stomach during his Bull Charge, but in Title Defense he will keep his balance and go right back to fighting (this also happens in his rematch in the NES game). In all these cases, Mac will need to figure out a way to disable the extra perks, reinforcing their nature as {{Puzzle Boss}}es. |
| 608 | * ReplayMode: In the Wii game, both the training session scenes and the slide show of the boxers (both in Contender and in Title Defense) are available for rewatch. |
| 609 | * {{Retcon}}: According to material that is AllThereInTheManual, ''Super Punch-Out!!'' Bear Hugger was originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In the ''Wii'' version, this is changed. He's from Salmon Arm, British Columbia instead.[[note]]This is presumably an [[DevelopmentGag inside joke]] referencing the fact that ''Punch-Out!! Wii'' was developed by Canadian studio Next Level Games, who are located in British Columbia.[[/note]] |
| 610 | ** Various characters would have their origin, weight, and win-loss record change from game to game. Since none of the games are really sequels to each other, it's not really significant like other franchises. |
| 611 | * RingOut: Defeating King Hippo in the Wii game will result in this, complete with an audience member (presumably the one Hippo landed on) screaming. |
| 612 | * RoguesGallery: Several boxers, most notably Glass Joe, Mr. Sandman, Bald Bull and Super Macho Man, have been recurring antagonists from the very early arcade game in the 1980s. In fact, the only one of the arcade boxers that doesn't come back in any way[[note]]If we count Disco Kid as a retooling of Kid Quick[[/note]] is Pizza Pasta. |
| 613 | * RuleOfFunny: How else could they get away with such stereotypes? And how else could they let many of the characters get away with fairly blatant cheating? |
| 614 | * RuleOfSeven: All over the place with Aran Ryan in the Wii game. He can knock you out in seven punches, he always gets up from a knockdown on the seventh count, you start with seven hearts, you can hit him seven times when he's stunned, and sevens pop up in his challenges in Exhibition Mode. He's Irish, so it's a "lucky seven"/"luck of the Irish" gag. |
| 615 | * RuleOfThree: Knocking down an opponent (or getting knocked down yourself) three times in one round results in a TKO. Also, each bout has up to three rounds and in the Wii version Mac can get up to three stars for his star punch. |
| 616 | * TheSandman: Invoked with the Mr. Sandman character, a boxer whose quotes are about to "put to sleep" the opponent. |
| 617 | * ScaryBlackMan: Mr. Sandman, especially in his Wii rendition, which has been compared to ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk. He levels up in scariness in Title Defense mode where he gets pissed off at Little Mac for basking in the glory of his fans and the camera zooms in on Sandman's face. Also occurs in the in between round segments where he says something like "Did you brush your teeth, Little Mac? It's bed time!" and having a close-up of his scary face. Finally, in the cinematic before his Title Defense Fight, he punches a gym down to the ground just because there was a poster of Little Mac on the side wall. He ''punches'' a building once with his bare fists, and it falls ''to the ground''. |
| 618 | * SecondPersonAttack: The SNES and Wii versions essentially use this perspective, with only a transparent version of the player visible in the foreground. |
| 619 | * SelfDeprecation: |
| 620 | ** Nintendo is the publisher of the series, but to prove no nationality is spared from funny stereotypes, they conceived Piston Hondo as a Japanese boxer who looks like a stereotypical samurai fighter and who, despite his over-the-top training regiment, can't do any better than the lowest rank of the major league (and is beaten out by Bear Hugger, whose training regiment basically consists of drinking maple syrup and playing hockey with a bear). |
| 621 | ** Next Level Games, a Canadian game studio, when put in charge of making a new ''Punch-Out!!'' title for the Wii, went out of their way to pick Bear Hugger as one of the only two returning characters from ''Super Punch-Out!!'' (the other being Aran Ryan), and went even further out of their way to make him more of a walking embodiment of canadian stereotypes. |
| 622 | * SelfieFiend: Super Macho Man in the Wii version takes selfies in-between rounds during his Title Defense match. This serves as an UnbuiltTrope because he did this before selfies became popular or even socially accepted, and he only does it because he's a washed-up has-been celebrity that no longer has a camera crew following him everywhere. |
| 623 | * SelfPlagiarism: Between the SNES and Wii games, Nintendo made a similar boxing game called ''VideoGame/{{Teleroboxer}}'' for the Platform/VirtualBoy. |
| 624 | * ShamelessSelfPromoter: Doc Louis will promote the Nintendo Fun Club between rounds. In the Wii version, he reuses this quote but corrects himself to mention Club Nintendo instead. |
| 625 | --> "JOIN THE NINTENDO FUN CLUB TODAY, MAC!" |
| 626 | * ShieldedCoreBoss: In the Wii version, King Hippo becomes this kind of opponent in Title Defense. He uses a manhole cover he finds in an urban street to cover his belly during his fight against Little Mac. The cover is attached by three pairs of duct tapes, and to disjoint each pair the player has to stun Hippo after countering an attack and then land three hooks. When the cover is dropped ([[AgonyOfTheFeet hitting one of Hippo's feet in the process]]), then the fight proceeds as a regular one. |
| 627 | * ShortLivedBigImpact: An InUniverse case in the Wii game. This is the end result of the "Mac's Last Stand" mode, in which Little Mac takes on an endless stream of challengers and then [[spoiler:retires after three losses to go out in a blaze of glory. In the grand scheme of things, his career was very short-lived, but it was still the stuff of legends considering just how many people he took on and ''beat'', especially considering all of them have height and weight advantages over him, and even after he does retire he's considered a LivingLegend, enough to have an entire wall in a museum dedicated to his short career]]. |
| 628 | * {{Shoryuken}}: Little Mac's full-power [[LimitBreak Star Punch]] is a rising uppercut that straight up knocks down most of the early opponents outright. The three-stars version in ''Punch-Out!! Wii'' is identical to the last hit of [[VideoGame/StreetFighterIII Dudley's]] Rocket Upper Super Art. |
| 629 | * ShoutOut: |
| 630 | ** Some of the training montage scenes are inspired by similar scenes [[Film/{{Rocky}} the first Rocky film]]. The scene where Mac trains by jogging in the pink hoodie is very similar in appearance to a shot from Rocky's training montage, except Rocky's hoodie was gray. |
| 631 | ** Dragon Chan is a reference to both Bruce Lee (appearance) and Jackie Chan (name). |
| 632 | ** Both times you fight Mr. Sandman in the Wii game: |
| 633 | *** The first time around, he bears a resemblance to UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli. |
| 634 | *** In Title Defense, it's clear he's supposed to be a Mike Tyson {{Expy}}. |
| 635 | ** TD Disco Kid appears to be channeling Richard Simmons. And his intro and intermission are total riffs on the dance scene from ''Film/{{Flashdance}}''. |
| 636 | ** In the NES version, Soda Popinski mentions that he's gonna "walk all over you", a reference to Nancy Sinatra's song, "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'". |
| 637 | ** When doing a blocked right uppercut, Don Flamenco shouts out, "Carmen, mi amor!" before executing this attack. This is a Spanish shout-out to his quote in the NES version: "Carmen, my love... I dance so sweet for you!" The name Carmen in itself is a shout-out to ''{{Theatre/Carmen}}''. |
| 638 | ** One of Doc's taunts against Giga Mac is, "Come on, kid, you got to be smart out there again. What's your brain age again?" referencing ''VideoGame/BrainAge''. |
| 639 | ** If Aran Ryan knocks you down: |
| 640 | --> "Ya prob’ly got ''[[UsefulNotes/McDonalds CHEESEBURGERS]]'' in those gloves, have ya Mac?!"[[note]]in other words, does Little Mac stuff his gloves with Big Macs?[[/note]] |
| 641 | ** Losing to the GuestFighter results in a scene similar to the opening for [[spoiler:the original ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' game.]] |
| 642 | ** Super Macho Man was likely named after [[Wrestling/SuperstarBillyGraham "Super"star Billy Graham]] and [[Wrestling/RandySavage "Macho Man" Randy Savage]]. |
| 643 | ** Bear Hugger's "I'm a hugger, not a fighter" is a reference to the song "I'm a Lover (Not a Fighter)" performed by Skeeter Davis. |
| 644 | * ShownTheirWork: ''Punch-Out!! Wii'' actually has the characters speaking in their native tongues, and it's pretty accurate on that front. |
| 645 | * ShowsDamage: The NES and Wii versions, but especially the Wii version. Both Mac and his opponents develop black eyes, bruises, and InstantBandages as they take hits and are knocked down. In the NES version, this happens to the characters' portraits in between rounds. |
| 646 | * SignatureLaugh: Bald Bull and Soda Popinski from the NES games are the only characters who laugh at you. The sound effect of the laugh later found its way onto the overseas version of ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'. |
| 647 | * SignatureMove: |
| 648 | ** Bald Bull's Bull Charge, which he will repeat until he hits Little Mac or Mac successfully counters it. |
| 649 | ** Aran Ryan in his Wii incarnation has his cheating moves: the headbutt and his last-ditch whip glove. [[CheatersNeverProsper Both of which can also spell doom for him, as countering the former with a 3-Star Punch or the latter with any Star Punch will instantly KO him.]] |
| 650 | ** Mike Tyson's OneHitKill uppercut, which he uses exclsively for the first 90 seconds of the fight. |
| 651 | * SlasherSmile: Aran Ryan in Title Defense before the 2nd or 3rd round starts. |
| 652 | * SmugSnake: If Super Macho Man knocks you down, he'll pose and sneer, "''Stay'' down". [[BerserkButton Then you just want to beat his face in]]. |
| 653 | * TheSmurfettePrinciple: Alice from ''Arm Wrestling'' is the only female character in the entire series who serves as an opponent. Ape III, her robot, fights in her stead, presumably because she's just a kid going against grown adults arm-wrestling. |
| 654 | * SomethingAboutARose: Don Flamenco carries one around before he enters the ring in both of his appearances. In Title Defense form in the Wii version, he carries a black rose instead of a red one, to show you that he means business. |
| 655 | * SongsInTheKeyOfPanic: The games have a dire "GET UP!" music play if you're knocked down. You only have 10 seconds to get up from the mat or you will be considered KO'd and lose. |
| 656 | * SoreLoser: In the Wii version, Mr. Sandman acts like this after being defeated in Contender Mode. Visiting the opponent selection screen will show him shaking with rage, plus his Title Defense cutscene has him leveling a building ''just because a poster of Little Mac was on it''. |
| 657 | * SoundTest: In the Wii version, whenever the three challenges of a particular fight are completed in Exhibition Mode, the audio theme and voice clips from the boxer fought in that particular battle will be available for the player to play. Rinse and repeat with all fights and characters to complete the music collection. |
| 658 | * SoundtrackDissonance: Losing to Don Flamenco in the Wii version will still play his "Match Over" theme, done in very relaxing Spanish guitar. |
| 659 | * SouthpawAdvantage: Much of the reason [[MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong Soda Popinski]] (formerly known as VodkaDrunkenski) can be a challenging opponent to face is the fact that he fights southpaw, meaning his patterns are flipped from the standard, and as such, [[DamnYouMuscleMemory he's trickier to react to]]. |
| 660 | * SovietSuperscience: {{Parodied|Trope}} in the Wii version, where Soda Popinski's Title Defense intro shows Soviet scientists working with all their might to produce... grape soda. Grape soda that makes Soda Popinski strong enough to ''drag a truck with his teeth''. |
| 661 | * SpectacularSpinning: Super Macho Man's SignatureMove is the Super Macho Man Combo, a series of spinning backhands which are technically ''illegal'' in real life. In nearly all appearances of the character, these punches are [[OneHitKill instant-knockout moves]] (the exception is in the Wii game's Contender Mode, as they only deal high damage; the instant-knockdown effect only applies in Title Defense). |
| 662 | * SplittingPants: In Super Macho Man's promo comic for the Wii game, he flexes his muscles so vigorously in front of a group of women that he tears his speedo, [[NakedPeopleAreFunny leaving him completely naked]] besides his gloves. |
| 663 | * StageNames: Almost all of the boxers use stage names, though some such as Glass Joe reference their real names while others like Bob Charlie seem to literally be their names. |
| 664 | * StaminaBurn: An important mechanic in the series. You start each match with a number of stamina points that vary between each opponent. Getting hit, hitting the enemy while he's defending or blocking too much reduces stamina and losing all of it prevents you from attacking or defending. You get some back each time you dodge. |
| 665 | * StealthInsult: The game jabs at Japan this way with Piston Hondo. He's shown to be the most stereotypical Japanese super-warrior imaginable, training by catching swords and ''outrunning bullet trains'', yet he's merely the lowest ranked boxer of the second circuit who can't defeat the lumberjack who trains by [[MooseAndMapleSyrup chopping down trees and guzzling maple syrup]]. Doubly funny if you're aware that the development studio, Next Level Games, is based in Canada. |
| 666 | * TheStoic: Nick Bruiser, the FinalBoss from the SNES game. Hardly ever changes expression while fighting, even after being hit in the face. Only getting hit with a super punch will faze him. |
| 667 | * StoryOverwrite: Depending on how well you fight in the Wii game, you sometimes get a cutscene of Mac's final blow to the opponent. It's fairly common for the punch thrown in the cutscene to not match up with the punch that you actually used to finish the fight. |
| 668 | * SuddenlyVoiced: ''Everyone'' in the Wii version (including Little Mac, who doesn't have any lines in the main game, and King Hippo, who just has inhuman grunts), thanks to the addition of voice acting. Mac does speak in the live-action commercials for the Wii game, but has no actual dialogue in the (cel-shaded) game itself. He has a few lines in Head-to-Head mode between rounds, but they don't always play. |
| 669 | * {{Superboss}}: [[spoiler:Donkey Kong]] in the Wii version. You can fight him if you survive for long enough in Mac's Last Stand (do make sure to not receive three defeats until then, [[PermanentlyMissableContent or else you won't have another chance]]; luckily, the chances of him appearing early are pretty high). He's by far the toughest opponent, having a wide array of attacks, and being able to chain them in different ways. |
| 670 | * SuperSpeed: In the Wii game, Piston Hondo is shown ''outrunning a bullet train'' as part of his Title Defense training. |
| 671 | * SuperStrength: |
| 672 | ** Mr. Sandman doesn't need a wrecking ball to demolish a brick building. He's strong enough to destroy it ''with his bare hands''! Plus, he can curl the ring ropes as if they were strings. By being able to defeat that monster, Little Mac has this by de facto. |
| 673 | ** [[HulkingOut Giga Mac]] gives Mac even greater strength. |
| 674 | * SurferDude: Super Macho Man has fully transformed into one of these in the Wii edition. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2UCQLAlfFs His new Theme Music positively screams this.]] |
| 675 | * SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: |
| 676 | ** The Wii version introduces Disco Kid, a character who resembles Kid Quick from the first arcade game: Both are 210 pounds and have their home in Brooklyn, New York, and also share a few attacks and moves. Disco Kid isn't ''quite'' as stereotypically black as Kid Quick, though, as he embodies more the image of a disco dancer from a suburb. A look into the game's files reveals that Disco Kid's codes are typed as kid_quick. It's been revealed that Disco Kid was supposed to be Kid Quick, but they had a lot of fun with the redesign so they just called him a new character. |
| 677 | ** ''Super Punch-Out!!'' for SNES has Gabby Jay. French nationality (though he looks and sounds like a Southern USA Colonel for some reason), a 1-99 record, first opponent in the game, just like Glass Joe. It is {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d, too, since Gabby Jay is Glass Joe's pupil and his one win was against Glass Joe. |
| 678 | ** Piston Honda/Hondo from the NES and Wii ''Punch-Out!!'' is a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute for Piston Hurricane, who appears in the arcade ''Punch-Out!!'' and the SNES ''Super Punch-Out!!'' |
| 679 | ** The 1990 reissue of the NES version replaced Mike Tyson with Mr. Dream, after Nintendo declined to renew Tyson's contract. |
| 680 | ** In the Wii game, Mr. Sandman deliberately looks like Muhammad Ali in Contender mode, and like Mike Tyson in Title Defense. He even borrows Tyson's infamous one hit uppercut in the latter fight. |
| 681 | * SuspiciousVideoGameGenerosity: The NES game gives you 77 hearts for the fight against Great Tiger, more than any other fight, and certainly far more than was given for previous fights. [[spoiler:You'll be using a lot of them to block.]] |
| 682 | * TacticalSuicideBoss: |
| 683 | ** King Hippo. If he never opened his mouth, he'd literally be unbeatable. This doesn't apply in the Wii version, though, since hooking his stomach when he jabs provides Stars for Star Punches, which don't discriminate. |
| 684 | ** Everybody would have a better chance against Little Mac if they didn't have tells, stop to taunt, etc. Of course, they ''do'' recognize this in time for Title Defense mode, shoring up some of their vulnerable spots (and sometimes opening up whole new cans of this). |
| 685 | * TakingYouWithMe: In the Wii installment, Aran tries to hit the player just as he's knocked down. During the contender bout, he never gets close enough to, so nothing to worry about there. During the Title Defense bout, however, the mace he makes from his old, horseshoe-power gloves give him just enough reach to give you a good smack on the way down. You can dodge it, though [[spoiler:(or even instantly KO him with a well-timed Star Punch)]]. |
| 686 | * TeleportSpam: Great Tiger's tactic in the Wii version, though it can be intercepted. He teleports after certain stun animations, to launch hooks and uppercuts, during gem blink combos during his title defense fight, and before performing either of his super attacks. He'll even teleport during the between-round cutscenes, changing places with Doc Louis! |
| 687 | * TermsOfEndangerment: In the Wii game, Mr. Sandman is the only character aside from Doc Louis to refer to Little Mac as [[AffectionateNickname "Mac Baby"]]. He obviously does this for the sake of intimidation. |
| 688 | * TestosteronePoisoning: This is how Super Macho Man stereotypically portrays the United States, especially in the Wii game where he combines his muscular physique and macho imagery with boorish-flavored {{Eagleland}} and SurferDude traits. Little Mac, who is also from the USA, doesn't care about any of that and simply beats the crap out of him. |
| 689 | * ThatRussianSquatDance: Soda Popinski does this in one of his win animations. |
| 690 | * TheatricsOfPain: Happens especially in the Wii version, where boxers react in differing degrees to punches; depending on how you hit them, they'll either stand there stunned and take a flurry, take one hit and back off, or, depending on if you knock them down with a jab or a body blow, get sent flying or twirling backwards instead of merely falling over as real boxers usually do. Of course, the comical reactions are there to help the player and give them a rush from clobbering their opponent. |
| 691 | * ThemeAndVariationsSoundtrack: The Wii game takes the ''Punch-Out!!'' theme and culturally rearranges it for every boxer in Exhibition mode. |
| 692 | * {{Timber}}: Lumberjack Bear Hugger says "Timbeeeer!" when knocked down. |
| 693 | * TimedMission: |
| 694 | ** The arcade ''Punch-Out!!'' and ''Super Punch-Out!!'' give you a single 3-minute round to win. Run out of time and you're done. |
| 695 | ** Unlike the SNES or arcade games, the NES game has "winner by decision" if there is no knockout by the end of the third round. Some of these matches are automatically decided for your opponent (these are called "unfair hometown decisions" [[AllThereInTheManual in the NES manual]]) while others can be called in your favor if you score enough points (3,000, 5,000, 7,000, or 10,000, depending on the opponent fought), though it's more straightforward to just win by TKO. This mechanic returns in ''Punch-Out!!'' for Wii, albeit without a visible score counter. |
| 696 | ** ''Super Punch-Out!!'' gives you only 5 minutes to beat your opponent and if it rounds out, you lose. |
| 697 | ** In the UsefulNotes/WiiWare game with Doc Louis, failing to beat him in 3 rounds makes you lose by default. |
| 698 | ** A strange thing to note about the timer is they all run down extremely fast. 3 minutes of game time can be just a minute and a half real time. The clock does slow down or stop at times when certain actions happen in the fight. |
| 699 | * TookALevelInBadass: All of the rematched fighters, but especially Don Flamenco. |
| 700 | ** This is perhaps the driving premise behind the Title Defense mode in the Wii version. Just about everyone can dodge star punches and loves to fake you into dodging the wrong way or too soon. |
| 701 | ** Don Flamenco MOST especially took a level in badass in the NES version when you fight your rematch with him on the world circuit. If you're expecting it to be anything like the pushover your major circuit match with him was, think again. |
| 702 | ** Glass Joe, [[WarmupBoss usually the weakest opponent you'd fight (as well as the first)]], becomes a surprisingly difficult WakeUpCallBoss when you face him during Title Defense within the Wii game, catching many players off guard. |
| 703 | * TorosYFlamenco: Don Flamenco. Besides his name, this fighter likes to comment about everyone's hair, thinks he's very beautiful, dances flamenco (some dance the game designers thought looks like flamenco, anyway) with a rose between his teeth and has a girlfriend named Carmen. And the entrance music is from Bizet's opera -- specifically, "The Toreador Song". The Wii game not only retains these characteristics, but adds to them by showing him in a bullfight during his intro cutscene, adding a rose print to his trunks, having him swear his love to Carmen nonstop during his fight, and gives him dialogue in actual Spanish (a trait shared with all other boxers from non-English speaking countries). |
| 704 | %%* TotallyRadical: Super Macho Man. |
| 705 | * TrademarkFavoriteFood: |
| 706 | ** The Wii version gives Doc Louis chocolate bars. |
| 707 | ** Soda Popinski, and his namesake. |
| 708 | ** Bear Hugger chugs down jugs of maple syrup between rounds and in his intro montage. That may be why he weighs [[FatBastard 440 pounds]]. |
| 709 | ** He's also a BigEater, as his intro in Exhibition mode shows him eating tons of bacon, eggs, and pancakes. |
| 710 | ** Piston Hondo and egg sushi (it replaces the CirclingBirdies for crying out loud!). |
| 711 | * TrainingMontage: In the NES and Wii versions. Well remembered for Mac's bright pink track suit, which [[CallBack caps off the end of the montage in the Wii version]]. |
| 712 | * TropicalIslandAdventure: King Hippo's home, Hippo Island, is shown to be this in the Wii version. |
| 713 | * TrueFinalBoss: Nick Bruiser in the SNES version. He's the champion of the brutal Special Circuit, which can only be unlocked by winning the other three circuits without losing against any opponent. Nick borrows many attacks from his brother Rick (being his PaletteSwap also helps), but he's much stronger and eager to use his most dangerous attacks (including his OneHitKO special move) more often. |
| 714 | * TurnsRed: Most opponents in the NES version, and all of them for the Wii version, get more difficult the more times you knock them down. This is even Mr. Sandman's gimmick in the SNES version: he doesn't use his full power until he's been knocked down twice. |
| 715 | ** Soda Popinski goes from pink to bright berserk red upon getting up from knockdown, getting hit by a star punch or having one of his sodas knocked out of his hands. In any of these cases, the end result is between 3 to 6 successive uppercuts (depending on which fight, and when in the fight). |
| 716 | ** Bald Bull turns red before unleashing a Bull Charge in the Wii version. The second time you fight him in the NES version, regular punches will not knock him down. Once his energy is low enough, you can only drop him with an uppercut or by punching him during a Bull Charge. If you dodge a charge, he'll keep doing them until one of you knocks the other down. In the Wii version, ''only'' a Star Punch can knock him down after the first time you beat him; that said, if you take him to the brink, you usually get one and can use it to finish the job if you time the punch just right as he comes back to you. |
| 717 | ** Don Flamenco also turns red after you knock off his toupee. |
| 718 | [[/folder]] |
| 719 | |
| 720 | [[folder:U-Z]] |
| 721 | * UnderestimatingBadassery: What happens in the Wii version as the challengers don't take Little Mac seriously enough in "Contender" mode. Once they're beaten, they take Little Mac a LOT more seriously (as with the belt on the line, their reps could be remade and then some). |
| 722 | * TheUnintelligible: In the Wii game, King Hippo has only animalistic roars, contrasting his coherent speech in the NES game. |
| 723 | * UnlockableContent: The Wii game has a secret mode called Champions Mode which is unveiled after [[spoiler:the player wins 10 matches in Mac's Last Stand]]. There are also audio tracks that can be heard via SoundTest when the player completes the challenges in Exhibition Mode. |
| 724 | %%* UnmovingPlaid: Mad Clown's shirt. |
| 725 | * UnstoppableRage: Two characters invoke this in the Wii game: |
| 726 | ** Don Flamenco, in both fights. When you knock his toupee off his head, he will get so pissed that he will constantly throw punches at you until he goes down, you go down, or if the round ends. |
| 727 | ** Title Defense Mr. Sandman gets this at a certain point in the fight, requiring you to dodge enough of his punches until he gets too tired to counterattack or block, at which point depleting whatever life he has left while he stands there defenseless leads into an instant KO. Also, he apparently ''tore apart a building with his bare hands'' prior to the fight. |
| 728 | * UnwinnableByDesign: After beating the Contender and Title Defense modes of the Wii game, you can partake in Mac's Last Stand, an EndlessGame where you will face the boxers [[spoiler:and Donkey Kong]] until you eventually lose three times and retire. [[GameOver Permanently]]. This is justified, as Little Mac wants to cement his place in boxing history with one last show. |
| 729 | * UpgradedBoss: The Wii version has Title Defense variants for all the boxers you've faced on the way to world champion. These rematches often involve gimmicks or attacks not present in your first fights with them (such as Glass Joe having protective headgear, Von Kaiser adding a OneHitKill move to his attack pattern, and Bald Bull only getting knocked down if he gets hit by a Star Punch), some can use fake-out attacks to throw off your dodging, and they all dodge your star punches if you don't stun them first. |
| 730 | * VagueAge: The age of Rick Bruiser and his brother, Nick, is listed as ??. |
| 731 | * VariableMix: In the Wii version. The soundtrack from the original ''Punch-Out!!'' is used, but is remixed multiple times, with the fighters getting variations based on their country of origin. Their battle themes will shift to a different melody if you or they get knocked down. |
| 732 | * VideoGameRemake: ''Punch-Out!!'' for the Wii is a "remake" in the truest sense of both the word and the trope. That is to say, it's a "remake" of an older video game (specifically the NES version) in the same way as a movie or TV series being a remake of an older movie or TV series. It features nearly all the classic characters from the NES ''Punch-Out!!'' game, plus two characters from the SNES sequel (and which originally debuted in the second arcade game), a new character (Disco Kid, who is a remake of a character in the first arcade game, Kid Quick), a two-player versus mode, and a new Title Defense mode where you fight harder variations of the same fighters (which means Glass Joe can finally knock you out if you're not careful). Also, [[spoiler:Donkey Kong]] is the GuestFighter (interestingly, Princess Peach was originally supposed to fill the role). |
| 733 | * VisualPun: After you press Start on the NES game, a boxing glove Punches Out of the screen towards you. |
| 734 | * VodkaDrunkenski: Soda Popinski is the Trope Namer. His stereotype is that of Russians drinking a lot. He was even called Vodka Drunkenski in the arcade version of ''Super Punch-Out!!'', until he was renamed in the console games. |
| 735 | * TheVonTropeFamily: ''Von'' Kaiser. He's a stereotypical UsefulNotes/WorldWarI-era German aristocrat and apparently a military academy boxing instructor. This still doesn't change the fact that after years of fighting, he has only made it to or has just dropped down to the number two place in the WVBA Minor Circuit. With a record of 23-13. One suspects he's 23-1 against Glass Joe and 0-12 against anyone else. |
| 736 | * WakeUpCallBoss: |
| 737 | ** Bald Bull in the arcade version, due to his Bull Charge being an instant-knockdown attack. |
| 738 | ** King Hippo and again Bald Bull in the NES version, the former because he's the first (and only) enemy where you can't dodge and counter after his attacks, you ''must'' counter-punch when he opens his mouth; the latter because, again, you have to counter-punch his bull charge rather than just dodging or blocking it. |
| 739 | ** In a way, Don Flamenco in the NES version, since he's the first fighter where blind punches do no good. While his pattern is ridiculously easy to recognize, he's the first fighter in the game that will regularly block your punches if you throw them wildly, opening up a brand new level of strategy that will be used for the rest of the game. |
| 740 | ** Dragon Chan in the SNES version, due to his habit to attack with kicks. |
| 741 | ** In the Wii version, Beginners will more-likely-than-not [[CurbStompBattle easily beat Glass Joe]], wipe the floor with Von Kaiser, [[WarmupBoss learn a new trick on Disco Kid]], and then [[WakeUpCallBoss get horribly, horribly owned by King Hippo when they find their old tactics don't work]]. Doc tells you to meet him in the Exhibition mode after your first loss to practice, and for beginners, it'll probably be against King Hippo. |
| 742 | ** After you become champion you'll enter Defender Mode, where you'll face all your oponents again. You might underestimate the concept until you fight Glass Joe and find out he's become a lot harder than his first battle. Yes, it's very likely that you'll lose the championship belt to ''Glass Joe''. |
| 743 | ** Both Great Tiger and Don Flamenco are ''big'' wake-ups in the Wii version, especially if you played the NES version. In the Wii versions, it seems like their attack patterns are the same... and then Tiger starts using spooky mystical ghost powers he ''never'' had in the NES version and he introduces you to the concept of having to dodge a ''specific'' way in order to avoid an attack (rather than just dodging in one direction the whole time like you could in the NES version). Flamenco, meanwhile, gradually increases the speed of his attacks (and in Title Defense, he can attack up to twice in a row before you can attack him back). |
| 744 | ** Aran Ryan is this in two separate games: in ''Super'' he's the first boss you need to use the super-punches on and in Wii he's the first boss you have to use counter-punches against. |
| 745 | ** Piston Hurricane in the SNES version. He's much more aggressive than Gabby Jay and Bear Hugger, he's also quicker than the two, can also counter punch should be player be goaded into punching him during a taunt, throws uppercuts everytime he or the player gets back up and his Hurricane Rush is bad news for unprepared players. |
| 746 | * WalkingShirtlessScene: ''Almost the whole cast.'' The only boxers that don't are Narcis Prince, Hoy Quarlow, Mad Clown, Disco Kid (in Title Defense), and Little Mac himself. |
| 747 | * WarmupBoss: Glass Joe in the first arcade, NES and Wii games, and his successor Gabby Jay in ''Super Punch-Out'' on SNES. They're both rather frail boxers who take a while to mount any offense; their special punch merely consists of them [[TheComputerShallTauntYou taunting you]], and leaving themselves wide open to an easy knockdown. |
| 748 | * WearingAFlagOnYourHead: Boxer Don Flamenco wears shorts with the colors of the Spanish flag, though inverted. |
| 749 | * WhamLine: In the Wii version, after Little Mac succesfully defends his champion belt against all opponents (including former champion Mr. Sandman), he and Doc Louis talk about the former's "plans in mind" for the future. Cue the start of the seventh and final boxing circuit of the game: |
| 750 | -->'''Doc Louis:''' You really sure? [[FinalDeathMode Three losses and you call it quits?]] |
| 751 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Many people wonder where Bear Hugger's squirrel ended up after his defeat. |
| 752 | * WildSamoan: King Hippo's official bio lists him as hailing from [[BananaRepublic Hippo Island, which is somewhere in the South Pacific]]. And although he isn't a hippo, he's called that because he looks and sounds like one. |
| 753 | * WinkDing: In a case where it's ''not'' done for hilarity, Mr. Sandman does an audible eye wink that precedes a fast and powerful uppercut during his Title Defense rematch; he spams this attack when he's almost defeated, forcing the player to dodge efficiently to avoid being defeated in turn. Mike Tyson (and, by extension, Mr. Dream) has this type of attack in the NES game as well, but the winks don't emit any sound. |
| 754 | * TheWorfEffect: You will know how dangerous Mr. Sandman is in the Wii game as soon as you unlock the final fight. That is, by watching the 8-second clip that shows him effortlessly knocking out ''every other opponent you beat before him''. When he enters the ring, even ''Doc Louis'' is afraid of him. |
| 755 | * WorfHadTheFlu: Played with in the Wii game with Von Kaiser. Prior to his first match he's [=KO'd=] by what appears to be a ''kindergarten student'' and mocked by all the kid's friends, making him suffer from a nasty inadequacy complex when facing you for the first time, resulting in weakened attacks and a tendency to cower with fear and beg for his mother. Unlike the other characters who [[TookALevelInBadass Take a Level in Badass]], change tactics, or ''cheat'' to up their game for the Title Defense match, Von Kaiser merely gets so angry that you have the championship belt that he gets over his complex and shows up at full strength to challenge you. [[spoiler:It's played with because, while he's about as difficult as the Major Circuit opponents from before, the "full strength" Von Kaiser is still laughably easy to beat if you can counter his new, dangerous special attack.]] |
| 756 | * WorthyOpponent: |
| 757 | ** Hoy Quarlow says that he enjoyed fighting with you and invites you to fight with him again sometime. |
| 758 | ** Rick Bruiser says he's okay with having lost to you; his brother Nick, however… |
| 759 | * WouldntHitAGirl: The game was originally going to have [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Princess Peach]] as an opponent but she was cut due to this reason. |
| 760 | * YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Mr. Sandman says this trope word by word prior to his Title Defense boss fight, upon seeing Little Mac has taken not only his title but also his fans. |
| 761 | * YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry: Happens in ''Doc Louis's Punch-Out!!''. Midway through the fight, Louis pulls out a chocolate bar that he'll eat and restore all his health with if not interrupted. However, punching the bar out of his hand is the ultimate way to push his BerserkButton. He immediately flips out with the phrase - "NOOOOOO! NOW You've done it! You won't like Doc when he's angry!", proceeds to rip off his jacket, and his attack speed doubles. [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard Right after pulling out another chocolate bar and healing himself out of your attack range.]] |
| 762 | [[/folder]] |
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