Genyo Takeda, who produced the arcade versions of Punch-Out!!, directed the NES versions. Because the NES was not as powerful as the arcade hardware, Takeda and his crew realized that it would be too difficult to make the NES port completely simulate the arcade versions. Instead of making the playable boxer wire-framed or transparent to see an opponent, they decided to shrink the playable boxer, so that players could see his opponents over his head easier. And while the playable boxer didn't have an official name, he was called "Little Mac", because of him being small. Nintendo's mascot, Mario, was also added as the referee. Also, developers decided to give Mario speech balloons instead of the voice samples of the referee from the arcade versions to save space in the cartridge ROM. Other things added to the NES version that the arcade versions lacked was a plot, a background music track played during fights, animation sequences and a password system.

 Other versions

This game was inspired by the 1984 arcade game Punch-Out!!, also by Nintendo, as is its sequel, Super Punch-Out!!. Neither arcade version used Tyson's image or name, but several of the other characters were taken from one of the two arcade games. Glass Joe, Bald Bull, and Mr. Sandman are from Punch-Out!!, while Great Tiger, Soda Popinski, and Super Macho Man are from Super Punch-Out!!. Furthermore, Piston Honda is similar to Punch-Out!!'s Piston Hurricane with visual alterations, while Bear Hugger was replaced by King Hippo, due to Bear Hugger's appearance being too detailed to convert to the NES version.

During the release of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! in North America, Nintendo released it in a gold-colored Famicom cartridge simply titled Punch-Out!! in Japan, without Mike Tyson in it, as a prize for the Golf U.S. Course Famicom Tournament. This version's final boxer was Super Macho Man. When Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! sold well in North America, Nintendo later released the Mike Tyson version in Japan, in order to let more people play it.

Towards the end of the NES's run, Nintendo's license to use Mike Tyson as a special Punch-Out!! character expired. Therefore, Nintendo replaced Tyson with a fictional and official character by Nintendo, Mr. Dream. A popular myth is that Tyson was removed due to his rape conviction, which did not occur until a year after the changeover. In reality, he had lost the Heavyweight Championship to James "Buster" Douglas by the contract expiration, and Nintendo made no attempt to negotiate a new one with him.

In August, 1990, the game was re-released simply as Punch-Out!! (or Punch-Out!! featuring Mr. Dream according to Nintendo Power) only in North America. This later became the main version of the three NES Punch-Out!! titles, which was later ported to several other things in Nintendo media. For some examples, in Animal Crossing, the Mr. Dream version was one of the unlockable NES games, as well as one of the rarer ones available in the Nintendo GameCube title. This was also the first time the Mr. Dream version made an appearance outside of North America. It was also released through Nintendo's Virtual Console service on March 30, 2007 to the European and Australian regions, April 3, 2007 in Japan, and in North America on April 16, 2007. Only the Punch-Out!! version (with Mr. Dream) is available. Reports have surfaced stating that when the game is played in progressive scan, the Virtual Console version of Punch-Out!! suffers from a lag in controls, which significantly raises the difficulty level compared to the NES version.

Reception

With its unique playability, graphics, and characters, Punch-Out!! is highly regarded as one of the greatest Nintendo games of all time and greatest video games in general. It was rated the 17th best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Power's Top 200 Games list. GameSpot has also placed it among the best games of all time. The title has been a source of satire and nostalgic tribute throughout the several years following its release.

Other appearances

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! was featured in the comic book series, Nintendo Comics System. A few stories are based around Little Mac, Doc Louis, and other boxers from the NES version, and Mac briefly appears in the comic that introduces the story of Captain N: The Game Master. Mac doesn't appear in the Captain N stories himself; however, King Hippo is featured as a villain. Also, in the opening sequence of the Captain N TV series, the protagonist Kevin Keene was seen playing Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! before being forced into a vortex that formed in his television's screen.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Little Mac appears as a regular Trophy and an Assist Trophy. He sports a more textured look and performs punches and uppercuts. In the same fighting game, the music from the Manhattan skyline scene in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! can be heard in the song titled "Famicom Medley."

In the Wii game titled Captain Rainbow, Little Mac appears as a supporting character.

 Power Punch II

Soon after the release of the game, Beam Software began developing a sequel starring Mike Tyson with manager Don King. Originally titled Mike Tyson’s Intergalactic Power Punch, the game was supposed to take the series into outer space where Tyson would participate in an intergalactic boxing tournament against various space aliens. The game's production ran into immediate trouble, however, following Tyson's incarceration for the rape of Desiree Washington.

Beam changed Tyson's name to Mark Tyler and modified King but did little to change Tyler's in-game character sprite. Soon after, Nintendo saw the title and disliked what they saw, refusing to publish it. Eventually, American Softworks Corp. published the title, and the game was released on the NES as Power Punch II, despite the fact that there never was a first Power Punch title. The game was documented on the video game website ScrewAttack as part of the Guru Larry's Retro Corner.