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Power Punch II
Cover art
Developer(s)Beam Software
Publisher(s)American Softworks (NES)
Piko Interactive (Windows)
Producer(s)Sue Anderson
Programmer(s)Andrew Bailey
Artist(s)Greg Holland
Composer(s)Marshall Parker
Gavan Anderson
Platform(s)Nintendo Entertainment System, Windows
ReleaseNES
Windows
  • WW: August 22, 2019
Genre(s)Sports (boxing)
Mode(s)Single-player

Power Punch II is a boxing video game developed by Beam Software for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and originally released in North America in June 1992. The game puts the player in the role of Mark Tyler, an undefeated heavyweight champion on Earth who is invited by an outerspace boxing federation to fight the toughest challengers in the universe. Gameplay consists of the player battling each computer-controlled opponent in up to three one-minute rounds and a scoring system based on the player's performance. Training sessions between opponents allow the player to improve stats prior to an upcoming bout.

Power Punch II was initially developed as a sequel to Nintendo's popular 1987 NES boxing title Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! and was set to feature that game's final opponent, the likeness of real life champion Mike Tyson, as the player character. However, Tyson's concurrent legal troubles allegedly resulted in Nintendo disowning the production of the game and forced Beam Software to modify the game by removing all references to the boxer before its eventual release by publisher American Softworks. The rights to the game were later acquired by Piko Interactive who published the game on Microsoft Windows via Steam. Critical reception for Power Punch II has been negative to average with complaints mostly directed at its graphics, gameplay, and play control. Beam Software would use Power Punch II's engine again with George Foreman's KO Boxing on multiple systems the same year.[citation needed]

Plot

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Mark "Tough Guy" Tyler is the undefeated heavyweight champion of the world, with an Olympic gold medal and a 33-0 (30 KO) record to his claim. After knocking out another opponent with ease, Tyler and his manager taunt the world by saying that nobody can stop him. However, the broadcast is picked up far from Earth in the outer reaches of the universe by an alien boxing promoter for the Intergalactic Boxing Federation (IGBF). The promoter decides to accept Tyler's challenge that he can beat "anybody". Thus Tyler is brought into the throes of the universe to compete against the best fighters in the universe and defend his earthly title.[2][3]

Gameplay

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The game includes a scoring system based on punch percentages as well as knockdowns. Rounds are only one minute long.

Development and release

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Power Punch II was developed by Melbourne-based Beam Software. The game was allegedly intended as a sequel to Nintendo's 1987 NES release Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, which featured the likeness of former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson as its final boss. Similar to Punch-Out!!, Beam Software's project, originally titled Mike Tyson's Intergalactic Power Punch, was to star the eponymous boxer, this time as the player-controlled protagonist. This version of the game was showcased at the Winter 1991 Consumer Electronics Show.[4][5] However, possibly due to Tyson's rape conviction that same year, the developer modified the game by removing all references to Tyson including changing the player character's name to Mark Tyler.[6][7][8][9] It was picked up and released in North America by publisher American Softworks as Power Punch II despite the game not being a actual sequel.[8][9][10][11]

There has been conflicting information and confusion regarding Nintendo's involvement in the game. While most sources state that it was originally a co-production between Beam Software and Nintendo only for the latter to distance themselves from the project due to Tyson's legal issues,[7][8] others such as Destructoid dispute this, opining that it made little sense for Nintendo to maintain the licence when they re-released Punch-Out!! without Tyson's likeness in 1990 when their deal with the boxer expired. They did note the mention of Nintendo supposedly owning the trademark to Power Punch II in the game's legal screen, though programmer and character designer Andrew Bailey does not recall having been contracted by Nintendo to develop a Punch Out!! sequel. He stated, "I don’t remember it being commissioned by Nintendo. We were working for LJN (from memory) a small US publisher. Of course, Nintendo needed to approve every game, and they would have probably not liked [Mike Tyson’s] involvement once the issues came out."[12]

In 2009, a playable prototype ROM of Mike Tyson's Intergalactic Power Punch was released online by a collector after funds were raised from users of a popular Nintendo forum.[9][11][13] Piko Interactive eventually acquired the rights to Power Punch II and in 2019 released the game digitally on Steam for PCs that use Microsoft Windows.[2] Piko Interactive also included the game on a multicart released for the handheld Evercade console the following year.[14]

Reception

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Power Punch II received middling reviews from gaming magazines at the time of its original 1992 release. GamePro remarked that it had "slightly better than average 8-bit graphics and challenge" yet that the player's limited moveset lacked realism and that the game became repetitive once each opponent's weakness was found.[3] George Sinfield of Nintendo Power saw the visuals as mediocre and that the control was not very responsive, particularly in training mode.[16] His co-writer Rob Noel criticized the gameplay as inconsistent and unfair as he was unable to defeat even the first opponent by knockout or decision. Noel stated, "I'd like to see made easier for players who are just starting out. It'd be nice to have one easy victory before the bigger challenges."[16]

Retrospective reviews in the decades after have been much more negative. Video Game Bible author Andy Slaven described the game as having "inexcusably bad graphics and horrible control"[17] while Retro Gamer simply described the game as "a terrible stab at doing Punch-Out!! in outer space."[10] Charles P. Gill of Hardcore Gaming 101 criticized the graphics as being better suited for a 1986 release rather than one from 1992 and stated that the gameplay "walks a line between boring and massively frustrating".[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "NES Games" (PDF). Nintendo of America. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2014. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  2. ^ a b Valve staff (August 22, 2019). "Power Punch II". Steam. Valve Corporation. Archived from the original on July 8, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Captain Controller (October 1992). "Power Punch II: A Spacey Game Against the Ropes". GamePro. No. 39. IDG. p. 122. ISSN 1042-8658.
  4. ^ Nintendo Power staff (April 1991). "Pak Watch Blabber Bonus: Treasure Master". Nintendo Power. Vol. 23. Nintendo of America. p. 94. ISSN 1041-9551.
  5. ^ EGM staff (March 1991). "1991 Winter Consumer Electronics Show". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 20. Sendai Publishing. p. 98. ISSN 1058-918X.
  6. ^ Edge staff (2003). "Family Values: Mike Tyson's Intergalactic Power Punch". Retro: The Collector's Series. No. 3. Future plc. p. 33. ISSN 1350-1593.
  7. ^ a b Schedeen, Jesse (November 9, 2009). "Big Boss of the Day: Mike Tyson". IGN. Archived from the original on February 20, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d Gill, Charles P. (November 27, 2012). "Power Punch II". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on February 4, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  9. ^ a b c Caoili, Eric (April 10, 2009). "Mike Tyson's Intergalactic Power Punch ROM Released". GameSetWatch. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  10. ^ a b Retro Gamer staff (March 2013). "The Ultimate Guide To... #07 Punch Out!!". Retro Gamer. No. 114. Imagine Publishing. p. 41. ISSN 1742-3155.
  11. ^ a b McFerran, Damien (April 13, 2009). "It's Tyson vs. Aliens in Aborted NES Punch Out!! Sequel". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on September 26, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  12. ^ Handley, Zoey (June 6, 2022). "No. Power Punch II wasn't going to be a sequel to Punch-Out!!". Destructoid. Archived from the original on March 24, 2024. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  13. ^ McWherter, Michael (April 13, 2009). "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! In Space Released 17 Years Later". Kotaku. G/O Media. Archived from the original on November 18, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  14. ^ Craddock, Ryan (August 9, 2019). "The Evercade Handheld's Latest Cartridge Features Several Rare SNES Games". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  15. ^ Baker, Christopher Michael. "Power Punch II". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  16. ^ a b c Sinfield, George; Noel, Rob (June 1992). "George & Rob's Now Playing". Nintendo Power. Vol. 37. Nintendo of America. pp. 103, 105. ISSN 1041-9551.
  17. ^ Slaven, Andy (June 30, 2002). Video Game Bible 1985-2002. Victoria, British Columbia: Trafford Publishing. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-55-369731-2.
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