Nintendo Tournaments and Prizes

[JC]

My Holy Grails shrine is almost complete. Just trying to track down some info on the gold Punch-Out!! carts. If anyone knows anything, let me know!

[JC]

I've been learning a lot more about the gold Punch-Out!! The first thing is that it's Punch-Out!! and not Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!. I don't think (but am not sure) Punch-Out!! was actually released in Japan. I don't see it on the lists I've looked at. Of course, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! was released in Japan. I am also pretty sure it's a pre-release, out before any of the other 8-bit Punch-Outs. By how long, I don't know. I'm think weeks to two months.

I've played through almost all of the game (I suck at it so haven't beaten Macho to get to the final bout) and have discovered that the only changes are in the color of the canvass and tile "scoreboard" -- with possibly one small music change when the screen says "TITLE BOUT," but I haven't confirmed that. The passcodes to access the circuits and final bout are also different, so if anyone has the passcode for the final bout, please pass it along. I imagine the code would be the same for the Famicom Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, but I'm not sure about that.

[michaelthegreat]

The japan mike tyson's punchout was on a completely different mapper than the US version.  The US version is the only game to use mmc2 and I believe the Japan version is one of the few to use mmc4.  Therefore, there are bound to be some differences...

[vealchop]

playing the japanese version, some of the music and sound effects are different, but those are the only things I noticed. I'd love to see some screenshots from the gold version, is the title screen any different?

[JC]

The only thing that may be different about the title screen, and I don't know for sure because I don't own but the NES MTPO, is that the copyright only says  "C 1987 Nintendo" instead of both "C 1987 Nintendo" and "C 1990 Nintendo" as it does on the 1990 rerelease without Tyson's name and ugly mug. The title screen has the same look with the same glove that pounds through the Punch-Out banner.

[JC]

Ok. So I beat Super Macho Man and then that's it. The game says via a newspaper "New Champion, etc." and then it scrolls through pics of the fighters you beat, and then it shows a final screen with Mac, his wins/losses/KOs and the "THE END." And you have to reset the game to play again. No button on the controller does anything on the last screen.

[Doc]

Was it any harder to play? New difficulty?

[JC]

Nope. Same level of difficulty.

[JC]

I did some closer comparisons of the NES Punch-Outs and the gold one. I'm now convinced that the gold Punch-Out was released prior to both of those releases, and possibly before Famicom MTPO. I'm also convinced it's a different version (i.e. slightly changed) from the other versions. Why? Because the use of English is poor and slightly different in the intro screens. It's obvious they cleaned it up before the official commercial release. For some examples, go to the Holy Grails shrine. I'll be posting some screenshots.

Also, if anyone has the Famicom MTPO, please kick it my way: jc@famicomworld.com.

[featherplucknfilms]

It had to have been before Mike Tyson Punchout or I think they would have used Mike Tyson or at least used the guy who they replaced him with after his scandle.  What was his name, Mr. Dream or something?  I don't think I ever played that version actually.  But I don't think they would just take him out and make Super Macho Man the last guy.  I don't remember seeing the bad English in the intro scenes, and I just sold mine so I can't check anymore but I am confirming that the music is different for the "Title Bout" and much worse IMO.  So much weaker sounding. 

[JC]

Interesting about the music on the Famicom version, since that's how the gold Punch-Out version is. I need to get my hands on that dump.

I've put up a few screenshots of the poor English on the Holy Grails shrine. It's subtle, but definitely evidence of the gold Punch-Out being an early version.

[featherplucknfilms]

Oh actually I don't know about the regular Japanese MTPO, I'll check to see if the music is like the US version or the gold version.  I was talking about the Gold version before.

[JC]

Ah ok. I was confused. I had discovered that sound change a while back. It is a sad sound...that must be why they changed it.

[featherplucknfilms]

On the Japanese MTPO version they have made some updates.  Are they the same as the US one?   "Also, playing the role of Mac.  It's you!!"  and "This is a story of true victory!!" and of course it says "And special guest,  Mike Tyson" in the list of guest stars.

And it has the same Title Bout music as the US version. 

So if those minor changes to the wording are also the same then I guess the US and Japanese verison of MTPO are the same.

[vealchop]

Here's some screenshots from the japanese MTPO...





They're exactly like the gold version I think?