American title:	Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
European title:	Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
American publisher:	Nintendo
European publisher:	Nintendo
Developer:	Nintendo
Year (USA/Europe)	1987/1987
Genre:	Sports

Ask a general gamer his favorite video game genre, and chances are small he will say 'Sports'. However this doesn't mean they don't have any sports game in their favorite game list.

Story
You play as Little Mac. He is a 17 year old boxer from the Bronx in New York and he enjoys a good fight. One day he met Doc Louis by accident. Doc Louis is an ex-heavy-weight, who was a famous boxer in 1954. Doc became Mac's trainer and taught him everything about boxing that you could learn about. The story of Doc and Mac is about a road to the top that seems endlessly long. Mac's ultimate dream is to fight against Mike Tyson.
Well this story is nothing great, but what did you expect from a boxing game?
Rating: 4/10

Game play
Before you are going to fight against Mike Tyson, you have to beat several other opponents. These opponents are easy to beat at first, but get stronger and stronger once you proceed in the game. 

The game is divided into three circuits: Minor, Major and World. When you become a champion in a circuit you will receive a password, and proceed to the next circuit. Once you are the World Circuit champion, you get the possibility to fight against Mike Tyson.

The game mechanics are easy to use. Little Mac can punch low and high with both his left and right fist. He can dodge to the left and the right, he can duck (which is pretty useless), and is able to block his opponent's punches.  You are also able to give your opponent a powerful uppercut, you need a star to be able to do this though. You can have a maximum of three stars at one time. Little Mac can also get tired, this is indicated by hearts. When you are tired, you can't attack your opponents. This means that you have to dodge your opponent's punches until you have back your power again. 

It's important to learn your opponent's moves. The key to winning this game is succesfully dodging your opponents' moves and counter attack them.
Rating: 10/10

Graphics
Punch-Out!! makes use of a special chip, that allows to create big characters on the screen. All the fighters look great, vibrant colors and funny expressions on their faces when you hit them on their face or their stomach. Little Mac is well.. little. Mario is the referee in the game and looks like Mario. All the boxers are very well drawn.
Rating: 9/10

Music & sound
The music in this game is quite good. The opening theme sounds good using various 'instruments'. Every match has the same song though,but it isn't annoyingl. Before every match starts your opponent is introducing himself, every opponent has its own opening tune which last about 10 seconds. When your opponent gets down you also hear another song which adds to the excitement of the game. The sound effects are not as good as the music. When you hit your opponent the tone is a bit too high. However if Little Mac is hit, the sound effect is more realistic.
Rating: 7/10

Bottom line
Overall Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! is one of those game that you can play over and over again, without getting boring. The game is a classic and is must-have for every NES owner in this world. This game was later re-released as "Punch-Out!!". Mike Tyson was removed from this version and replace by Mr. Dream. Last but not least this game also has a great sequel on the SNES (Super Punch-Out!!), that you have to try if you like the NES game.

Final rating (not an average): 10 out of 10