Ancient Web: RedTom’s Punch-Out!! Page Counted Every Knockout

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.

RedTom's site announces itself as the work of the player who found a way to knock out Mr. Dream and Mr. Sandman in the first round. Then it offers enough reference material to suggest that the claim was not made casually.

Visit RedTom's Punch-Out!! page.

The front page dates the site's creation to August 14, 2000. Its subject is the Nintendo Entertainment System's Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, but the archive extends to later Punch-Out!! versions and their differences.

The navigation reads like a fan's research notebook: character biographies, strategies, knockout times, game passwords, the code system, high scores, quizzes, game manuals, music, programmers, reviews, merchandise, and obscure facts. It even has a section devoted to winning by decision, a kind of victory that rarely features in the game's popular mythology.

Every fight becomes a technical problem

The strategy section organizes opponents by the Minor, Major, and World circuits, with separate entries for rematches. Players can look up Glass Joe, King Hippo, Bald Bull, Soda Popinski, Super Macho Man, and the final fight with Tyson or Mr. Dream.

RedTom also built a comparison of cartridge versions, from opening screens and endings to differences in when particular opponents can be knocked down. The page makes the 1990 replacement of Tyson with Mr. Dream more than a bit of trivia: it is a version-control problem for players who care about records.

The high-score page goes another level deeper. It distinguishes points earned by knockout, technical knockout, or a three-round decision and explains how punch types and knockdowns affect the score. Sometimes a high score even requires allowing an opponent another chance to stand up. Winning fast and scoring high are not always the same objective.

Some old outbound submissions and database links may not survive intact. The local pages still preserve the categories of knowledge people once gathered around this one game.

A modern wiki might organize the information more efficiently. RedTom's linked tables and homemade sections convey something different: the pleasure of building an entire small website because one game has occupied your brain for years.

Browse the strategies and records archive.

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.