Uppercut: the Evolution of Punch-Out!

In response to Nintendo's announcement that Punch-Out! will be arriving on the Wii sometime in 2008, here's a collection of videos documenting the evolution of one of my all-time favorite video game series. Personally, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that some of the classic characters from previous incarnations of Punch-Out! will return in this latest game. Bald Bull and King Hippo: I'm looking at you guys.

Let's start with the new trailer. This is the world's first glimpse at Punch-Out for the Wii, first premiered at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show:

Man, just hearing that classic theme music gets my heart-racing. 

Way before the time of the NES, there was an arcade version of Punch Out. The profile picture of Little Mac on the right side of the screen looks kinda fucked. He's a lot older than he appears in his NES incarnation, and what's with the green hair? Was Little Mac originally supposed to be Irish? Those are questions I bet not even N-master Shigeru Miyamato could answer:

Little Mac's first big fight on the NES came in the form of the critical and commercial smash hit, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!:

In order to avoid the potential controversy of publishing a boxing game starring a convicted rapist and renowned ear-biter, Nintendo quickly changed the title to just plain Punch-Out!, and subsequently removed Tyson's likeness from the game. Funny side note: Soda Popinski, the boxer seen below, was originally named Vodka Drunkenski in the Japanese version of the game: 

And last but not least, my favorite installment of the Punch-Out series- Super Punch Out! for the Super NES:

Fuck, I can't wait for Punch-Out on the Wii!