Super Punch-Out!! (SNES)

This article is a quality article.

Not to be confused with Super Punch-Out!! (arcade).

Super Punch-Out
The cover art depicts, from left to right, Mr. Sandman, Bald Bull, and Super Macho Man, the three initial champions in the game.
Developer(s)	Nintendo IRD
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Designer(s)	Genyo Takeda (producer) Makoto Wada (game director, art director) Takashi Kumegawa (composer) Masaro Sakakibara (composer) Masato Hatakeyama (chief programmer) Yasuyuki Oyagi (assistant director)
Platform(s)	SNES
Release date	NA October 1, 1994 EU January 26, 1995 NA 1996 (re-release) JP March 1, 1998 (Nintendo Power)
Genre(s)	Sports
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multi-player
Rating(s)	ESRB: K-A
Media	16Mb (2MB) cartridge
Input methods	Gamepad

Super Punch-Out!! (スーパーパンチアウト!!, Sūpā Panchi-Auto!!^?) is a boxing video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was released on October 1, 1994 in North America, and was re-released in the same region in 1996. It was also released in Europe on January 26, 1995 for the same console, and in Japan for the Nintendo Power flash RAM cartridge series as well as the Super Famicom. It is the fourth game in the Punch-Out!! series, taking place after Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream.

Development

After the release of the SNES, Genyo Takeda decided to resume producing for the Punch-Out!! series, rather than directing. As producer, his vision included a perfect transition from arcade to console for Super Punch-Out!! arcade to Nintendo's 16-bit home console, which had been previously impossible for its NES predecessor. This time, however, Nintendo chose not to include any real professional boxers as was the case in the previous Punch-Out!! title. Takeda chose to use the same name of the arcade version not only to provide continuity, but also to indicate the "Super" status with the transition to the SNES. This game marks the era that Nintendo Integrated Research & Development (Nintendo IRD) had the most activity in the software development section. During this period, Nintendo IRD was producing both Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II along with the SNES version of Super Punch-Out!!. Super Punch-Out!! was scored by Takashi Kumegawa and Masaru Sakakibara, while Charles Martinet (a prominent voice actor for the Super Mario franchise) was credited for providing all of the voice clips used in the game.

Gameplay

Like the previous titles in the Punch-Out!! series, Super Punch-Out!! requires good timing and pattern recognition skills to react to the attacks of each opponent. In this game, Little Mac works his way up the new four circuits of the World Video Boxing Association (WVBA). As the player proceeds through the game's circuits, the opponents will be a lot more varied in their skill set.

Unlike the previous game in the series, there are no rounds. Instead, the matches take place in one three minute period. If Mac fails to score a KO or a TKO within three minutes, a "Time Up" is declared and the match is recorded as a loss for Mac. The clock stops whenever Mac or his opponent are knocked down. However, the time bonus continues to count down when Mac is knocked down.

Continuing the trend of opponents sharing 3 core maneuvers and a special, most opponents have 3 core moves shared with every boxer, the jab, the hook, and the uppercut however, unlike the older games, most boxers will possess multiple special attacks to beat the player and keep them unique.

Also unlike most games, to make up for the easier engine, most opponents will have multiple special attacks unlike the NES, Wii, or the arcades and almost all opponents (with the exception of Gabby Jay, Bear Hugger, Piston Hurricane, and Aran Ryan) will perform combos that must be dodged fully to gain a stun unlike the other games where you just need 1 dodge most of the time to get a stun for example, Bob Charlie will perform a 2 body blow combo with a small cue, Nick Bruiser will perform a jumping haymaker with 2 high hooks with a small cue and Mr. Sandman will bob his head for a second before throwing 3 jabs in a row. Also, opponent’s attacks are similar to each other unlike the NES where they had the same attacks but made them unique to the character. Boxers are overall more aggressive in this game than most other titles seeing that the player’s damage output is higher than in other games with the reintroduction of the K.O punches and the player’s base punches dealing more damage once powered up over time.

Opponents are overall more vulnerable to punches where they’re not guarding unlike most games and your character emulates more of a normal boxer, being able to win more matches by brute force by punching before the opponent swings and having a more well rounded arsenal. This game also has no opponent that’s immune to punches where their not guarding which makes this the first home console game without an opponent with perfect defense (Narcis would count if his second phase didn’t exist) for example. In the Wii PO, Super Macho Man has perfect defense since there are no gaps to gain a stray punch like Glass Joe or Von Kaiser. In this game, even the final boss has gaps in his defense which emulates a more realistic fight between player and boss.

The player's score is determined by a combination of their technical score, which is affected by how many punches they land and how many knockdowns they score, a stamina bonus based on how much health the player has remaining, a time bonus based on how quickly they score the victory, and a "no rematch" bonus if they defeat the opponent without requiring a rematch. Losing a match only adds the technical score to their current circuit total.

Mac starts each circuit with three lives, which indicate how many rematches he can have. Losing a match when Mac has no lives remaining results in a Game Over and Mac has to restart the circuit from the beginning. Mac can earn more lives by scoring points; another life is added for every 50,000 points earned during the circuit. After completing the circuit, any remaining lives are converted into bonus points for the circuit score.

The game keeps track of the best times for defeating each boxer, as well as a best score list for total points earned in each circuit. Each save file also has a records list, keeping track of their wins and losses (capped at 255) as well as their best times for each boxer and best scores for each circuit.

Originally used in the Punch-Out!! and Super Punch-Out!! arcades, as well as Nintendo's Arm Wrestling arcade game, is the Time Attack feature. This feature will allow the player to time their matches against boxers. This feature has been updated to allow players to select and play against any boxer after they beat a circuit they have already finished. The more circuits a player finishes, the more boxers they can play against in Time Attack. When all four circuits are finished, there will be no more boxers to unlock.

A unique system of super punches has been added. Once the meter is full, Mac can unleash devastating uppercuts, hooks and fast punches. However, if Mac is hit, the meter diminishes. The punches can be thrown anytime, but they are slower than normal jabs and body blows. Once they connect, they remove a good chunk of the opponent's health, these punches are crucial to the player’s ability to deal damage and to knock down opponents because for some fighters normal punches aren’t going to do as much damage as super punches and these juiced up strikes can make it more likely to gain a knockout without gaining 3 knock downs.

This game also has a reworked counter punch system that never made a reappearance where in the NES, counters are only really used for stars and instant knockdown techniques. In this game, counters gain extra purpose where instead of only being used rarely, the game encourages and rewards players greatly for countering opponents at the right time for extra stun time and to interrupt certain strings of attacks to push their momentum forward like with Nick’s punch rush and Aran’s grab. The counter-punch is successful if the opponent moans or makes an exaggerated expression of pain. Each type of punch requires a specific move to be used in order to successfully counter it:

• Jab: Counter with a jab or a carefully-timed uppercut on the opposite side of the opponent's punch.
• Body blow: Counter with a body blow or hook on the opposite side of the opponent's punch.
• Uppercut: Counter with a body blow or hook on the opposite side of the opponent's punch.

Opponents

Minor Circuit

• Gabby Jay ^(debut)
• Bear Hugger
• Piston Hurricane
• Bald Bull

Major Circuit

• Bob Charlie ^(debut)
• Dragon Chan
• Masked Muscle ^(debut)
• Mr. Sandman

World Circuit

• Aran Ryan ^(debut)
• Heike Kagero ^(debut)
• Mad Clown ^(debut)
• Super Macho Man

Special Circuit

• Narcis Prince ^(debut)
• Hoy Quarlow ^(debut)
• Rick Bruiser ^(debut)
• Nick Bruiser ^(debut)

Trivia

• In early beta photos and trailers, Little Mac had short brown hair, resembling his original Punch-Out!! (NES) design more closely. It is unknown why or when it was changed.
• This game is the 3rd and last game to use a transparent and a reasonable height boxer to make it possible to see opponent’s incoming moves or tells.
• Super Punch-Out!! has the largest roster of unique opponents, having 16 different boxers in its lineup.
  • Not only that, but Super Punch-Out!! also has the most characters to make a debut, having 10 new characters. However only one character to debut in this game, made an appearance in the next game.
• The identity of the player character is a common source of contention amongst both fans and official sources. Bryce Holliday, one of the main developers of Punch-Out!! (Wii), has said that this character is not Little Mac. However, Nintendo of America and Europe have both stated that he is Little Mac during the game's Virtual Console releases in their respective regions. The history section of the Wii version's official website also states that the character is Little Mac.
  • According to Nintendo of America, Super Punch-Out!! takes place after the NES and Wii titles, claiming that Little Mac received a makeover and parted from Doc Louis.
• Two debug modes were discovered by Unlisted Cheats on August 8, 2022. To enable the first one, at the title screen, hold Y and R on Controller 2 and press start on Controller 1. If done correctly, you will be taken to a single match menu with all 16 boxers. To enable the second one, hold Y+B on Controller 2 until Controller 1 starts the match. If done correctly, Player 2 has the ability to control one of the opponent fighters with all their moves. Certain specials like the Hurricane Rush have their punches mapped individually and Player 2 has to chain it for however long they feel like. Also, specific traits that are not mapped to any buttons (like Mad Clown's taunt or Rick and Nick's block counter) are automatic and can't be changed otherwise, and Mac will still lose if the timer reaches 3:00.