Differences from the arcades include the addition of former undisputed world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson as the final boss.

features Little Mac, a young boxer fighting his way up through ranks of the World Video Boxing Association.

[3] After facing a series of colorful fictional opponents in three circuits and winning the championship in each, Little Mac enters a final "Dream Fight" against a highly skilled boxer.

[3] The uppercut can only be used once the player earns a star, which is typically accomplished by counter-punching the opponent directly before or after certain attacks are launched.

When the counter decreases to zero, Little Mac temporarily turns different shades of pink and appears tired/exhausted, leaving the player unable to attack but still able to dodge, duck, and block.

[3] At this point, Mac can regain some hearts and his normal color palette only by avoiding the opponent's punches.

[3] A bout can end by knockout (KO), if a fighter is unable to get up within ten seconds after being knocked down; by technical knockout (TKO), if a fighter is knocked down three times in one round; or by decision, if the bout lasts three full rounds without a clear winner.

[10] The behavior of each opposing boxer follows a set pattern requiring trial and error and memorization to defeat them.

[13] The opening theme of some characters are classical and folk themes: Glass Joe has the French national anthem, "La Marseillaise"; Von Kaiser, Great Tiger, and Super Macho Man have "Ride of the Valkyries" by Wagner;[14] Piston Honda has Japanese folk song "Sakura";[15][16] Don Flamenco has the prelude to the opera set in Spain, Carmen by Georges Bizet;[17] and Soda Popinski has Russian folk song "The Song of the Volga Boatmen".

in Japan, without Mike Tyson, as a prize for participating in the Famicom Disk System's Family Computer Golf: U.S.

[20] Around the time the Gold Version was released for Nintendo's US Golf Tournament competition,[20] Nintendo of America's founder and former president Minoru Arakawa attended a boxing match during the Heavyweight unification series that featured its future champion Mike Tyson.

Arakawa became so astonished with the athlete's "power and skill" that he was inspired to use his likeness and the tournament itself in the upcoming game.

This transaction was something of a risk for Nintendo, as it occurred before Tyson won the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight championship from Trevor Berbick on November 22, 1986, which greatly increased the profit for the game.

[25] When Nintendo's license had expired with Mike Tyson, his likeness was replaced by a fictional character named Mr.

[27] This version of the game was used in all major re-releases, including the Virtual Console, Animal Crossing for GameCube, the NES Classic Edition, and on the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service (which Mike Tyson humorously contested).

[36] In August 2008, Nintendo Power listed it as the sixth best NES game, praising it for putting arcade-style fun over realism.

[22] Author Nathan Lockard cited the graphics, violence, controls, and the variety for making it a "true classic" and one of the best NES games.

[45] On The Tonight Show on October 29, 2014, Mike Tyson was challenged by host Jimmy Fallon to play the game on live TV.

While interrogating a murder suspect in Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Season 5 episode "The Box", Detective Jake Peralta laments the difficulty of beating the Punch-Out!!