ArcadeOverview
Super Punch-Out!! was released in arcades, in 1984, in both Japan and North America, shortly after its predecessor, Punch-Out!! It is the second game in the Punch-Out franchise.
Gameplay is nearly identical, with the one major difference being the addition of an innovative ducking mechanic that the player is required to use to avoid certain attacks. The game also made minor revisions to the appearance of the player character. Opponents in Super Punch-Out!! were slightly more difficult than in the predecessor.
The game introduced an all new set of opponents. Rather than facing ranked contenders to the world title as in the original Punch-Out!!, each opponent in Super Punch-Out!! was introduced as champion of a certain country. Super Punch-Out did reduce the number of unique opponents from 6 to 5.
Also as in Punch-Out!!, if the player managed to defeat the world champion, the game would begin with the first opponent again, albeit with the player character's appearance switching from green to yellow, and opponents wearing different attire and having more difficult attack patterns.
Opponents
In order of appearance:
- Bear Hugger (introduced by the announcer as "Canadian Bear Hugger" - Champion of Canada)
- Dragon Chan (Champion of Hong Kong)
- Vodka Drunkenski (Champion of USSR)
- Great Tiger (Champion of India)
- Super Macho Man (World Champion, not to be confused with Macho Man Randy Savage)
Technical Information
Like Punch-Out!!, Super Punch-Out used a dual-monitor setup. The lower monitor displayed the field of play, while the top monitor showed player & opponent information, including health meters. It also retained the digitized speech of the prior title used for opponent introductions, play by play, and various boxer grunts and taunts.
Legacy
Every character from Super Punch-Out!! later appeared in Nintendo home console Punch-Out titles, although Vodka Drunkenski had his name in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! changed to Soda Popinski due to Nintendo frowning on alcoholic references at the time.
Super Punch-Out was adapted into Frank Bruno's Boxing, released for home computers in Europe in 1985.
