Mike Tyson might have inadvertently announced that Nintendo is making a new Punch-out sequel. The former professional boxer was the titular character in Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! on the NES before being replaced when his contract expired.
A tweet from Tyson reads, “heard @Nintendo was doing the new “Punch Out” without even contacting me. it won’t be the same. my knockouts made the game. thats whack.”
heard @Nintendo was doing the new “Punch Out” without even contacting me. it wont be the same. my knockouts made the game. thats whack.
— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) April 4, 2019
Nintendo has made next to no mention of Punch-Out besides the inclusion of Little Mac in the recent Super Smash Bros titles. It’s unclear if Tyson knows more than the rest of us, but as of right now, Nintendo hasn’t announced a new Punch-Out sequel.
It’s also unusual of Tyson to say that his appearance in Punch-Out “made the game,” as he only existed in the NES version for about three years until 1990. Nintendo’s license for Tyson’s likeness expired in 1990 and saw the company replace him with the fictional Mr. Dream in re-releases of the NES title. Subsequent games like Super Punch-Out and Punch-Out on the Wii continued to use other fictional characters.
Next Level Games, developers of Punch-Out on the Wii, is working on Luigi’s Mansion 3. And Tyson could be confusing the addition of the NES game to Nintendo Switch Online with a new game entirely.
The most recent Punch-Out title was released in 2009 on the Wii and saw a re-release on the Wii U in 2015. Punch-Out on the Wii was well-received for its graphics and gameplay and sold over 1 million copies on the system.
The first Punch-Out arcade title released in 1983 to arcades and was followed by a Punch-Out Game and Watch title in 1984. Super Punch-Out released in 1984 in Japan and was updated for the Super Nintendo in 1994. Mike Tyson’s heavyweight boxing championship in 1986 made him the youngest to win the championship and turned him into a worldwide phenomenon. His name and likeness helped Nintendo sell the original NES game.
