is a series of boxing video games created by Genyo Takeda and Makoto Wada, and published by Nintendo. The main protagonist and player character of the series is Little Mac, a short boxer from the Bronx who climbs the ranks of the fictional World Video Boxing Association (WVBA) by challenging various opponents. These opponents come from different countries and feature various ethnic stereotypes associated with their place of origin.
Concept and creation In the original Punch-Out!! arcade game, the characters were named by Genyo Takeda, who chose names with the intention of appealing to the American market. The developers used the two screens in the cabinet to be able to display the opponents' face, which they intended to ensure that players would have a more vivid recollection of their faces. The characters in this game were animated in conjunction with Studio Junio, who used art by Shigeru Miyamoto as reference for the animations. Many of the characters in the 1984 title Super Punch-Out!! are similar to each other by design because they are variants of the same programming; the code recycling and the lack of character differentiation outside of crude nationalistic stereotypes is a result of the game's limited development time and storage resources. For example, Soda Popinski's obnoxious laughter is also used for Mr. Sandman, Bald Bull, and Super Macho Man, and in other Nintendo games, such as for Ganon in the Game Over screen of the game Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.
The 2009 release of Punch-Out!! for Wii is primarily made up by characters from Punch-Out!! for the Nintendo Entertainment System, who play similarly to the characters in this version. They intended to ensure that the player could beat the first three opponents just by throwing punches. Their models in the Wii game were based on the original designs, put into 3D and given cel shading. The fighters also received new fights that were more difficult in a mode called "Title Defense".
Introduced in Punch-Out!! (1984) NameNationality DescriptionLittle MacAmerican is a 17-year-old boxer from the Bronx and the main protagonist of the series. In the NES game, he was made shorter than the opponents. He appears in each subsequent entry of the series, as well as a playable character in the fighting games Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. His weight is 107 lbs. Glass JoeFrench is a boxer born in Paris, France. He was originally designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and was revised by Makoto Wada for the NES game. He is voiced by Christian Bernard in the Wii game. He is the player's first opponent in every game in which he appears, and is famous for his weakness and cowardice. These elements are considered by critics to be stereotypes of French people. His weight is 110 lbs with a record of 1-99 (1 KO). Piston HurricaneCuban is a boxer from Havana, Cuba. Piston Hurricane reappeared in the SNES version of Super Punch-Out!!. His weight is 170 lbs with a record of 21-10 (11 KO). Bald BullTurkish is a boxer born in Istanbul, Turkey, created by Shigeru Miyamoto. His next appearances were in the 1985 arcade game Arm Wrestling as "Mask X", in the 1987 video game Punch-Out!! for NES as Champion of the Major Circuit, in the 1994 video game Super Punch-Out!!, and in the 2009 video game Punch-Out!! for Wii. Bald Bull features an instant knockdown attack called the Bull Charge, where Bald Bull rears back and charges forward. In the first fight against Bald Bull in the NES game, the camera flash fired by a man in the audience indicates the exact moment Little Mac can counter Bald Bull's attack. This detail was revealed in 2009 by Makoto Wada in an interview with the former president of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata. His weight is 298 lbs with a record of 34-4 (29 KO). Kid QuickAmerican is a boxer from Brooklyn, New York, whose only appearance was in the arcade version of Punch-Out!!. He was later modernized as Disco Kid in Punch-Out!! for Wii due to his "dated representation". His weight is 210 lbs. Pizza PastaItalian is a boxer born in Napoli city. His only appearance is in the arcade version of Punch-Out!. His weight is 230 lbs. Mr. SandmanAmerican is a 31-year-old black boxer from Philadelphia, United States, and was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto. He is voiced by Riley Inge in the Wii game. His weight is 284 lbs with a record of 31-0 (31 KO).
Introduced in Super Punch-Out!! (1984) NameNationalityDescription Bear HuggerCanadian is a Canadian boxer from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. After an appearance as the second opponent in Super Punch-Out!! for the Super NES, he appeared in Punch-Out!! for the Wii, where his hometown was changed to Salmon Arm, British Columbia. His weight is 440 lbs with a record of 17-12 (14 KO). Dragon ChanHongkonger Dragon Chan is a boxer from British Hong Kong. (Hong Kong was a British crown colony during his appearances.) His weight is 130 lbs with a record of 15-7 (13 KO). Soda PopinskiRussian is a 35 year old Soviet (Russian in releases after 1992) boxer born in Moscow. He was originally called Vodka Drunkenski, but his name was changed to Soda Popinski in subsequent entries due to marketing concerns with younger audiences. He drinks vodka in the first game, but drinks soda in later versions in alignment with the censorship. He drinks soda in the Wii version to recover health, either during combat or after being knocked down. If prevented from doing so during combat, he becomes enraged. A version of the character appears in an unlicensed Punch-Out!! PC game titled Frank Bruno's Boxing, where he is named "Andra Puncharedov". The character is the namesake of Soda Popinski's, a bar located in Nob Hill, San Francisco, California since 2012. The bar's name is an allusion to a "USSR-era Siberian hunting lodge" which references the character's in-universe depiction, serving a double shot of Russian vodka served neat named Vodka Drunkenski. His record is 237 lbs with a record of 33-2 (24 KO). Great TigerIndian is a 29-year-old boxer born in Mumbai. He first appeared in Super Punch-Out!! for arcade, and later appeared in Punch-Out!! for the NES in 1987 and Punch-Out!! for the Wii in 2009, the latter featuring Sumit Seru as his voice actor. He uses teleportation in his fight, and his turban has a jewel that flashes when he is about to perform an attack. He also uses a flying carpet, and in the NES version, the skin of a Bengal tiger is seen hanging on the post in his corner of the ring. These have all been referred to as stereotypes of Indian people. Davey Nieves of Comics Beat commented that "Decent people in India or Pakistan have been seeing much more offensive stereotypes in the media for years." Reason for which he stated that "looking at Great Tiger with his tiger skin robe dangling behind him like he's opening a nightclub is probably not the worst they've ever seen on a screen." Kakuchopurei believed that the stereotypes helped make him more memorable. His weight is 132 lbs with a record of 24-5 (3 KO). Super Macho ManAmerican is a 27-year-old (28 in Super Punch Out (SNES) American boxer from Hollywood, California. He first appeared in Super Punch-Out!! for the arcades, where he was the final boss of the game. He later took this role again in the Gold version of Punch-Out!!. However, in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! he appeared as the penultimate game boss. Macho Man also appeared in Super Punch-Out!! for the SNES, and Punch-Out!! for the Wii, where he was voiced by Mike Inglehart. An ESRB description of Punch-Out!! for the Wii mentioned a boxer who flexed his pectoral muscles and glutes, leading editor Stephen Totilo to question whether this was Super Macho Man or not.
Since appearing in Super Punch-Out!! for the arcades, Super Macho Man has received generally positive reception. He is considered a memorable character of the franchise. Super Macho Man appeared on the cover of an issue of GameFan magazine, GamesRadar editor Chris Antista included it as an exception in his list of the most embarrassing gaming magazine covers. IGN editor Jesse Schedeen named Super Macho Man one of the series' top fighters, describing him as a "thinly veiled parody mash-up of "Superstar" Billy Graham and another famous fighter who goes by the nickname "Macho Man".
GamesRadar editor Brett Elston states that Super Macho Man embodies the stereotypes of American celebrities of being "too tanned, narcissistic, materialistic, and obsessed with fame, money, and looks." He added that Super Macho Man was not just a parody of celebrities, but "Hollywood and American's fascination with celebrities." In the video game for NES he has two versions of his signature move called Super Spin Punch. One in which he performs a spin after a few seconds to be still and another in which he performs several multiple spins that could instantly knock the player down. His weight is 242 lbs with a record of 35-0 (29 KO).
Introduced in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (1987)