Punch-Out!!

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About

Punch-Out!! is a boxing video game series released by Nintendo.

History

The first title Punch-Out!! was released in the Japanese arcade in 1983, and in the North America in the following year.^[1] It has been followed by 4 sequels throughout 26 years.

Super Punch-Out!! (Arcade, 1984)^[2]
Punch-Out!!/Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (NES, 1987)^[3]
Super Punch-Out!! (SNES, 1994)^[4]
Punch-Out!! (Nintendo Wii, 2009)^[5]

(w.i.p)

Online Relevance

Most references towards Punch-Out!! online often come from the NES and Wii titles, as they were the biggest sellers at 2+ million and 1.27 million, respectively.^[6]^[7] Oftentimes in social media, it comes into a positive light for the NES game's titular character, Mike Tyson. Iron "Mike" himself has admitted that he himself has not played the original NES game; that is until 2013, when Fox News brought him in to play the game for the first time. In the video (shown below), Mike is taught by staff on how to play the game, and is struggling against the first fighter – Glass Joe – on the TV display. The video has since received 1.5 million views and 1.5k likes as of August 20th, 2013.

Mike would get another attempt at playing the game in Oct 29th, 2014 on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon". In the video, Jimmy Fallon talks Mike Tyson into playing the original NES Punch-Out!!, set immediately to the NES Mike Tyson's fight, where the real version could go up against him. The video received over 4 million views and 46k likes on "The Tonight Show's" Youtube Channel.

Oftentimes, the older Punch-Out games have come under fire for its cultural stereotypes. Several different websites such as the Punch Out wiki will bring up various examples of the represented boxers that may come off as offensive for their nation, such as militaristic obsession in Germany (Von Kaiser), overt perfectionism in Japan (Piston Hondo), and Obesity in Polynesian nations (King Hippo). On Jun 25th 2014, Youtuber Gaijin Goombah made a video discussing the various ethnic stereotypes throughout the Punch-Out!! series, noting how the stereotypes got progressively more positive as the series went on. The video (shown below) received over 3.2 million views and over 44k likes as of the upload date.

Noteworthy Characters

Glass Joe

Glass Joe is frequently the first boxer to defeat in the Punch-Out franchise. ^[8] The gimmick with Glass Joe is that he is pathetically easy to beat, so that the player can ease into the controls before getting into tougher fights. This weakness is in obvious reference to jokes about the French being weak, as well as his name being a reference to the boxing term, "Glass Jaw".^[9]

Aran Ryan

Aran Ryan is a late-game boxer who appears in both the SNES Super Punch-Out!! and the Wii version of Punch-Out!!.^[10] He is widely more famous in his Wii appearance, notably with his bombastic personality and penchant for cheating.

He is considered a favorite by Punch-Out fans in the countdown community. On Sep 13, 2010, Youtuber and Countdown Creator "JoshScorcher" placed him #14 for his "Top Fifteen Craziest Characters" Countdown – claiming him to be a "Sado-Masochist" who loves making pain as much as taking pain – shown left. On Mar 6, 2012, Countdown Creator "The Green Scorpion" placed him #1 in his "Top Fifteen Wii Boxers" Countdown – citing his personality/caricature, unique fighting style, and subtlety in his cultural references (such as aspects of the fight revolving around the lucky number "7") – shown right.
On Aug 27, 2021, Youtuber "Fully Baked" made a video essay called "Why Aran Ryan is my Favorite Punch-Out Fighter". The video points out several of the unique aspects of the boxer, both inside and outside the ring, shown below.

While mostly inoffensive and bland in his SNES incarnation, he is often cited by fans to demonstrate that at one point, he was one of the cleanest fighters in the franchise. Youtuber "Bumbles McFumbles" made two videos on who is the biggest cheater in both games Aran Ryan is present in, with his Punch-Out!! Wii infractions shown on the left (timestamp 12:34), and his Super Punch Out!! infractions on the right (timestamp 7:23). both videos received over 5 million views – collectively – since May 3, 2021 and Aug 16, 2021 respectively

Super Macho Man

Super Macho Man is one of the final challenges Little Mac goes up against in most Punch-Out!! titles, starting with his debut of the Super Punch-Out!! on arcade cabinet.^[11] His stereotypical Californian "Surfer Dude" personality and self-absorbed narcissistic personality makes him a favorite among fans, especially with his Wii iteration. He is also one of the more quotable characters in the series, notably whenever he whiffs a punch and says "BOGUS".

He is popular in the YTP community, as YouTube Poop Music Videos feature Super Macho Man and his antics during his match in the Wii version. Dozens of parody video remixes were posted to YouTube throughout the years.

Nigga Stole My Bike

Nigga Stole My Bike is a catchphrase that was originally paired with a cutscene sequence from the 3rd title in Punch-Out!! series. The picture associated with the phrase came from Something Awful in 2003, and it became to have many derivatives on YTMND in 2004.

Release the Bogus

"Release the Bogus" is a common catchphrase/portmanteau said by Super Macho Man and his fans. Oftentimes, in Super Macho Man's "Title Defense" will often use a powerful hook, prefaced by him saying "RELEASE THE BEAST". However, if the user dodges at the right moment, the word "BEAST" will get cut off by him verbally reacting to the whiffed attack. Super Macho Man will usually say "BOGUS" as a result, hence the portmanteau. Two examples of the voice lines spliced can be seen below.

According to Urban Dictionary, it is a phrased used in the context of taking something "TO THE X-TREME!!!".^[12] Memes have been made from this incidental catchphrase as a result of the absurd sentence mixing. Sparta Remixes can be found on Youtube, as well as several freeze-frame images of Super Macho Man "releasing" his "Bogus"