Punch-Out!!(arcade) FAQ version 1.5.0 copyright 2004 by Andrew Schultz schultza@earthlink.net Please do not reproduce this FAQ for profit without my prior consent. However, if you write a polite e-mail to me referring to me(and this FAQ) by name, then I will probably say OK. But if I ignore you that means no--and I am bad about answering e-mail. Sorry. **** AD SPACE: **** My home page: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762 **** Note: this FAQ only covers the first time through. I'm clueless about the second. I can't even beat Glass Joe. But I'm sure about the initial challenges. I'm sort of fishing for advice on later stuff with this guide but it should still be useful. ================================ OUTLINE 1. INTRODUCTION 2. CONTROLS AND METERS AND GENERAL STRATEGIES 2-1. CONTROLS 2-2. METERS 2-3. GENERAL STRATEGIES 3. POINTS 4. OPPONENTS 4-1. GLASS JOE 4-2. PISTON HURRICANE 4-3. BALD BULL 4-4. KID QUICK 4-5. PIZZA PASTA 4-6. MR. SANDMAN 4-7. THE NEXT GENERATION 4-8. THE FINAL RECURRING NIGHTMARE 5. VERSIONS 6. CREDITS ================================ 1. INTRODUCTION Punch-Out!! decidedly deserves the two exclamation points in its title. It's a great game for its time and still nice to plow through today. Some of the hit-and-dodge maneuvers may be too simple, but the different opponents-- all caricatures of stereotypes--and what almost feels like a dance after a bit make this a pleasant game to play. Yes, even after you've lost, when opponents come up to the screen and taunt you in heinous magnification, with the announcer to back you up("Stand up and fight!") I played this game a lot when I was younger, although I watched first, trying to glimpse and imitate special strategies. Opponents had seemingly irrefutible attacks, and they were all so lovably grouchy that I just wanted to meet them, and they could knock me down a few times before I got the hang of them. The path to the championship goes through six fighters, each with different weaknesses and special attacks. Once you defeat them, you go to a blue-gloves circuit where everyone's incredibly tough and I am clueless. So I am only covering the first wave. Here are your opponents: Glass Joe, 112 pounds, Paris, France Piston Hurricane, 176 pounds, Havana, Cuba Bald Bull, 298 pounds, Istanbul, Turkey Kid Quick, 210 pounds, Bronx, New York Pizza Pasta, 235 pounds, Napoli, Italy Mr. Sandman, 312 pounds, Philadelpia, PA They get bigger and faster as they go on, and the basic strategy against bad guys is to goad them into a punch and then let fly with a few of your own, well timed and well placed. I wish there would be a bit more closing off one strategy once it works too well, but at the same time there's still opportunity to sneak in a surprise punch here or there, and not throwing any body blows at all may put you in hot water after two knockdowns. For the most part, you just have to overemphasize what works, though. After winning the first six fights you have two championship circuits that get a bit harder. You can't lead punches. You have to respond, and quickly. Your opponents' eyes also don't turn yellow so you can't anticipate things easily that way. You have to watch body language. Sadly some of the later levels force you to find something quickly and then slow the game down. You have to wait to get in a punch or take bad chances while both sides are dancing around. Which dampens the excitement and creates a real possibility you'll sit around and not do much and lose after three minutes, which is not so fun. Figuring out what to do is exciting, though, and it's fun to rip through the first course. The second and third circuits are subtly different. Note: I'll refer to "right" as a punch throughout the game. Keep in mind that an opponent's right is on the left of the screen, at your fighter's left. So his "right" punch and yours are the opposite. It's how it's done in real boxing I guess. 2. CONTROLS AND METERS AND GENERAL STRATEGIES 2-1. CONTROLS You have four basic types of punches in Punch-Out!!--the jab, left and right, and the body blow, left and right. A successful punch will get your KO meter up. Once the meter reaches left to the KO sign, it will flash, and you have the option of the hook and the uppercut. There's only one direction to throw a hook or an uppercut, and these punches have a separate button--it appears your fighter is right handed, so he comes with a right. Moving your guard up or down determines if you throw a jab or a body blow. Moving and throwing a punch together doesn't change things. Sometimes this is tricky because you need to move your guard just before you punch, which is possible and works decreasingly well as rounds go on. Sometimes you'll get jammed a bit, too, trying to punch where you want. The solution is to move the joystick the other way before moving your fists where you want them. Then throw the punch. For MAME controls, CTRL = left ALT = right SPACE = knockout blow = game start/restart UP/DOWN = guard up/down LEFT/RIGHT = duck left or right You can also restart a game once if you get knocked out. In Super Punch- Out!! your fighter has a few bandages on him but they didn't think of that cool detail yet here. Sometimes your boxer won't do what you want him to. You'll try to get him to avoid his opponent's punch and he won't do it in time. It's not your reflexes. Your opponents are faster than your guy on later levels. So even when you telegraph a move or do it in advance your guy won't get it in time. Also note that sometimes you stun your opponent and he's just sitting there. Well, it can happen to you too. Basically it seems that anything you can do to your opponents, they can do back, although they have a few extra special moves for you to avoid. Fortunately, they have ruts and patterns you can always crack as well. On the other hand you can anticipate what to do next. Throw a punch before you're set, or duck before a punch is finished. Your fighter will do that. It can mean the difference between a successful punch and a blocked one. But be sure you know how your opponent reacts or you will be a sitting duck for him. Note that on MAME the graphics often don't seem to be refreshed if you use save states(and you probably will the first time through unless you use the awesomely funny cheats.) That is because the game only refreshes the sprites it knows has changed. So if you skip from a fight with Bald Bull to Glass Joe, Bald Bull will still be in the upper left because there's been no instruction to change the fight. The graphics stay the same. Also the timer and score may seem out of date. You may have the wrong number of minutes because the game hasn't changed that yet. This is a big deal if going from :59 to 1:06. Basically what I've done is to make save states 1-6 at the beginning of the first circuit and a-i at the advanced circuit(9 fights there) and then I can play whomever I want at whatever difficulty. 2-2. METERS Hooks and uppercuts may be the most powerful of shots, but they have drawbacks. First, if you land a hook or uppercut, it seems to reduce your ability for an early knockout. The computer seems to keep an internal meter of this. If you have a way to win with continual jabs, do so. It means a higher bonus, and also you'll have one less chance to deal with an opponent you must successfully duck/block before you can safely punch him again. You gain one arrow on the KO box for ducking a punch, two for an initial punch connected, and five for a punch in a combo that connects. It doesn't all come out at once so it's possible you may have to wait a half-second to throw that uppercut you wanted to. 25 arrows equal a full meter, i.e. KO potential. I believe the game keeps track of arrows past the KO in case you get a lot of punches blocked, but when you're hit you always lose KO capability. So you can get a few arrows on the knockout meter if you avoid a body blow. Also if a punch of yours is blocked, you lose knockout meter points, and whenever you're hit, you lose KO status instantly. This isn't always terrible. For Pizza Pasta and Mr. Sandman, you can only hit them with a knockout punch once, and Kid Quick and Bald Bull will usually hit you right back once you miss them. Glass Joe and Piston Hurricane just duck. Until the second round, when only Glass Joe ducks. When the KO lights up again, you can and should get another free shot in. There's also a knockout meter you aren't shown--one that states if you'll KO your opponent. It seems to go down if you use a hook or uppercut unless your opponent is totally dazed when you hit him. KO shots are more useful than jabs at the end of the combination but may cause an opponent to wake up a bit. After each subsequent knockdown the person who gets up has successively less maximum health. He can add to this by punching his opponent, which gives him some wind back. How much health you have when you get up depends on how many jabs you got hit with. But it also depends on the fight #--the later, the less favorable for you. Your opponents seem to have a knockout meter as well, with the difference being the computer sometimes gives them a boost after they've been knocked down. If this happens--you're getting slugged when stuff that worked very well before doesn't now--keep your fists up and duck when your opponent crouches for a body blow. Eventually you'll be able to get back down to business. You don't recharge health with time, but your opponents do. Also, your KO meter empties if you are knocked out. When a contestant gets up from a knockdown he regains 1/2 of his energy, then 1/4 the next time. If you must watch the clock, remember that it takes fewer hits between successive knockdowns, so knocking your opponent down for the first time at 1:30 is no cause for panic. The crowd noise also acts as an impromptu meter. The more combinations you get, the louder it is. Even if no punches have connected for a while, if someone's almost had it, there'll be a clear murmur. 2-3. GENERAL STRATEGIES Opponents usually wind up for body blows and sort of make a dinking movement for jabs. So you usually want to have your guard up, to defend against the quickest hits, and duck against the slower ones. You can also throw a punch when you come out of a ducking move, and in fact you need to do so. And if it ever seems like your opponent is too fast for you, stop sparring and try to duck him. The computer is doing this on purpose. Your opponent is in knockout mode. He seems to have an internal meter of his own in fact and sometimes you just need to duck when he starts whaling away. But the computer cheats for him internally. Watch out also for the yellows of your opponents' eyes. That means they are about to throw a punch. Depending on if they crouch, you can tell what sort of blow it will be. Leaning back--body blow. Duck. Staying there--jab. Ducking indiscriminately leaves you open, so you need to avoid doing so until your opponent's eyes light up. Random punching works OK in the first two rounds, but of course doing the same thing indiscriminately won't work when your opponent starts to block. Generally you want to provoke your opponent into an attack you know you can avoid. While you may feel clever being able to smack your opponent around with many different punches, you might just want to hone in on his weakness mercilessly instead. You can leave yourself open with a punch, and so does your opponent. In fact, you should block after throwing a punch if you don't want to throw another.. To avoid a combination, never punch without a purpose, and to get one of your own, learn how the opponent can be made to throw an obvious and avoidable punch. If a KO punch doesn't work(i.e. Glass Joe begins to duck,) give up and get back to jabbing. There are generally four count lengths before opponents get up: 3, 5, 7 and 10. How long the count is shows roughly how close you were to an absolute knockout. Also, note the announcer saying "Come on! Come on!" means your opponent is about to bust out his signature move. And the spoiler...when in doubt, lead with the right, duck if he responds, and throw a bunch of left jabs before you're fully back to where you were. --------Just for fun-------- To watch an opponent go flying, note if he is in the left or right corner(rope on left or right side comes at you) and hit him with that hand. He'll go flying into the opposite corner of the hand you hit him with. It doesn't really matter where you drop him but some guys can really hit the floor with flair. 3. POINTS 500 points for any punch that knocks an enemy down, otherwise: 40 points for the first punch 80/200 for the next ones in combo[2x as much damage] 300 points for a hook 500 points for uppercut [hook is better than an uppercut. It seems to do 2-2.5 as much damage as a combo punch and uppercut does 1.5-2. The main difference seems to be that the uppercut is tougher to execute. Don't worry about more points.] 135 points per second are taken off your bonus. You start with 30000. So 5700 is your minimum, barring a knockdown or two which would bring you down to 3270 minimum(18 seconds on the canvas.) You lose bonus when you're knocked down but not when your opponent is down, and you don't lose time when someone's on the canvas. Unless you can land a punch every second you probably want a knockdown as quickly as possible to maximize points. The default high score list reads as follows: 1. NOA 88700 2. QCB 87700 3. DIC 86700 4. BBS 85700 5. DBY 84700 6. MCE 83700 7. QBQ 82700 8. BBC 81700 9. DTB 80700 10. BIC 79700 11. SBM 78700 31. PIZ 58700 12. CQU 77700 32. GIH 57700 13. MBE 76700 33. HHG 56700 14. ABB 75700 34. HPG 55700 15. CBC 74700 35. QIH 54700 16. LCS 73700 36. IFX 53700 17. BQX 72700 37. MMQ 52700 18. KEA 71700 38. BZN 51700 19. AAD 70700 39. ASJ 50700 20. OFA 69700 40. XMW 49700 21. AAA 68700 41. NCL 48000 22. DBO 67700 42. QCB 47800 23. VDB 66700 43. DIC 47600 24. PGI 65700 44. BBS 47400 25. NNL 64700 45. DBV 47200 26. OQF 63700 46. MCE 47000 27. BVC 62700 47. QBQ 46800 28. RAA 61700 48. BBC 46600 29. EQA 60700 49. DTB 46400 30. OGV 59700 50. BIC 46200 Basically you need to get to Bald Bull--and quickly--to get in the top 50 with the scorelist un-reset. I calculate about 25000 per level for a good player in the first circuit, topping at 28000. 15000 is good on the next circuit with tops of 20000 maybe. So four wins should vault you to the head of the class--assuming anyone who can beat Kid Quick can win the easy rounds very early too. And they knock down Piston Hurricane ASAP. If you place with your first game and go for a rematch, your first-game score is deleted. The initials for your score are of course what you picked at the start of your game. 4. OPPONENTS 4-1. GLASS JOE Glass Joe is truly the easiest of the opponents. You can come out swinging and mix up punches a bit and eventually he'll go down, i.e. when he blocks down, go up, and vice versa. But his fighting strategy is so simplistic that you should be able to nail him without getting hit AND on the first knockdown. He generally keeps his hands up and then punches up with a right jab or two, which he follows with a heinously telegraphed left body blow. You can hit him with a few jabs after that, but when he dances around and starts moving his hands you can take a few shots too. A few small flurries should knock him down. You don't even need the KO punches, although you can get four or five in without penalty. Using too many before the final blow or two may force you to knock him down more than once. Lots of times he'll just sit there looking stunned as you ring him up. And that's when you can jab. Glass Joe's "move" consists of running at you and not doing much. You can't knock him down, but he's not going to hurt you either. You can go for a body blow after his first hop forward when he does this. But in general it's best to keep your guard up because he will either let his down or try for a low punch. Either one lets you smash him with a right jab. Glass Joe runs at you at 2:15, if he's actually able to last that long. I find that if you just let him try to punch you twice, and you're able to duck, then you can hit him with a left-bunch of rights-KO to finish the combo and take about 30 seconds to do him in(my best--2:32.) Beginning players may want to try other ways to get behind his defense just to get an idea of how Punch-Out works. Eventually Glass Joe just doesn't keep his guard up. The trickiest thing he does is to telegraph a right body blow without a few starting jabs. 4-2. PISTON HURRICANE Piston Hurricane is a good deal tougher. After playing this game many times I in fact find him the one most likely to defeat me if I'm not paying attention. He has a wicked rapid-punch sequence which is hard to defend. The higher note means a punch up, the lower note means a punch down, and I've seen people struggle to move up and down based on the notes and succeed. Usually it alternates but sometimes you get two of one, two of the other, etc. Vigorous bread and butter strategies should be enough to beat him(punch low until he blocks, then go upstairs, then down) but since there's an easy way to deflect his flurry of punches, why not? Piston Hurricane runs at you at 2:30, 2:00, 1:30 and 1:00. His punching combos get progressively weaker and shorter although he always pauses for the haymaker at the end. Fortunately the way to get to him is to punch after he lands from the first jump. That will knock him down. If you mistime things you may still be able to get a few body blows in and even stop him if you alternate and throw the next before the last is finished. But if this fails you'll need to learn to duck. If you can't master the up/down, then you can just duck right after blocking a punch(your body won't turn white) and keep ducking 'til he's done. This allows you to block every other punch and duck the rest. But no matter how often he hits you, don't breathe too deeply when he pauses. He's about to throw a haymaker with his right hand. So duck one last time. You should have a chance to smack him back a few times in the face after this. But with experience you should learn when he's about to jump at you. He jumps back quickly but when you hear the announcer say "Come on! Come on!" watch for the first hop and slug him in the gut before he gets close. If Piston Hurricane goes with a body blow at any other time, duck and respond with body blows of your own. This is important because a left or right jab will over-reach him. It may take one time or two to move your fists down but he will try several of these over-reaches across and your second or third should connect. As for the normal course of fighting I like to come out with my guard up and quickly switch to body blows. Alternate left/right/left/right and then pull up to attack his head, then pull quickly down when he blocks. It's possible to sit around and let him punch you, as he'll start with the left and then throw an awkward right. Duck this and then hit him with body blows-- a left or right jab will overreach him. Basically if you time his approach right and spread out the up/down punches, you should be ok. A blocked up/down punch often lets you in for a body blow. I've also found throwing a body blow as Piston Hurricane gets up is effective too. But sometimes I don't need to. I'm able to knock him down in thirty seconds just nailing him with body blows and switching to jabs when he blocks--for one punch. The knockout punches don't really come in handy here if you're going for speed, but if the fight drags on, use them when necessary. Eventually you should be able to gauge his jumps and not worry about keeping an eye on the clock. Still, his defense is pretty lousy and often he'll leave himself open to a jab when he crouches to throw a big punch. There are lots of ways to beat him, and once you get control of the flurry of punches he is much less of a threat. 4-3. BALD BULL Bald Bull gives you a big chance to go up early on him. His defensive stance is dubious, a caricature of the general dancing around you see in boxing. He'll bob his head and move his hands up and down, and when he does this you can jab him either way. You might not be able to get several shots in at once, but if you wait a half-pace between them it can be very effective. Of course when he gets that stunned look you can just flat out clobber him. He also telegraphs his body blows, and avoiding them and jabbing is very effective. You can usually get 2-3 jabs in afterwards. But the best way to knock Bald Bull down is when he jumps at you, at 2:40 and 2:15 left. After he lands the second time, fire a left or right jab--body blows don't seem to work. There's a nice window of time here. Err on the side AFTER he lands, if you must. He'll go spinning and then crash to the canvas. You only get two shots at this, and if you're timid, you can duck his big punch and get in one jab, but that'll be it. Once Bald Bull has been knocked down twice, you can lead with the right, duck his wind-up body blows, and nail him with a bunch of jabs. He may get on a roll where you throw a jab and he lambastes you. In that case have your guard up and wait for him to jab. Then you can fight back: right, duck, more jabs 'til he gets ready, duck, jab, repeat, knockdown. I've won in a minute with a bit of luck after the second knockdown. Bald Bull requires a lot of patience to defeat without the trick of smacking him as he runs up. I take at least two minutes. I also would advise ducking a lot until the second knockdown; clobbering him with a hook to start off his second trip off the canvas shortens the odds considerably. With his episodes of jumping at you, I've gotten it so he goes down after your second knock down. The key is not to throw any punches that aren't sure to connect, except when you paste him after a body blow. And always to hit him when he moves his fists up and down. He usually goes in for a body blow after the second, which makes things predictable. I usually land a hook before his second run up. I've even made him miss one jump because I was battering him so heavily. If you time your punches for when he lets his guard down, you can get the flashing KO and knock him out pretty swiftly. 4-4. KID QUICK Kid Quick doesn't have a big move, but he does seem to be able to zap you and you're not sure why. He also has a favorite trap he likes to fall into. If you start hitting him up with a right, he will eventually counter with a right body blow of his own. Duck left, and before you're back standing, throw a left. Then another. Throw a right and often he gets in a cycle where you can keep doing this until he's knocked down. You can shorten things slightly by throwing a hook at your first chance and making your final combo left- left-HOOK. I find it's very rare that he breaks out of his reflexive lashing out. Again, if you find he's too quick for you in this after the second knockdown, keep your guard up and be prepared to duck any unprovoked body blows, but don't duck until then. Remember--don't duck/punch 'til you see the yellows of their eyes. But with correct play Kid Quick can be very quick--to hit the canvas for good. I've tried regular sparring with him and it's not easy, but once I found his weakness I found him to be almost as easy as Glass Joe. I've polished him off in just over thirty seconds, too. 4-5. PIZZA PASTA This guy lets you beat him up early, but he can come back with a vengeance to nail you if you're not careful. At 2:26 or 1:56, after you've thrown the next punch, he clenches with you. You need to hold the controls right and when he misses with his big punch, you can jab him left and right. There's no way I can find to knock him down early. Even not hitting him for the first half minute, so you can build up KO power jabbing him as he is stunned, doesn't help--note that he is completely stunned and you can really batter him after he clenches and mis-punches, even using KO punches for extra points. The only way to wake him up seems to be to wait around or throw a body blow, which really isn't very sensible. After two of these knockdowns, the potential challenge begins. But until then you have a nice way to keep him busy. The same formula for Kid Quick works for Pizza Pasta, although the price for failure is more obvious. It may take a few right jabs to provoke a body blow, but once you do, right-duck-left-left works to keep him occupied before he grabs you. You can also sit around and wait before the first two clenches as he tends to get up after a three-count regardless of what you do. Yet some times he may wind up going off on you after his knockdown. If, after the second knockdown, you throw a right and can't duck his response, sit there until you block some jabs from him. Then try again. If he throws a right body blow before you can do so, you will be able to duck and proceed as before. Remember you have three tries to get one more knockdown, but on the third you may want to wait for him to punch as one punch will send you down. Throwing a hook to greet Pizza Pasta as he gets up the second time is not a bad choice. It's a powerful shot, and if he hits you back, well, he would have done so anyway at your first jab. A success here makes things a bit easier, and to do this you should hit him continually with left and right jabs when he's stunned, after he grabs you and throws his big punch. If you want a few more points, hit him with an uppercut/hook while he's stunned, but then the hook may be totally inoperative. Another problem I've had in fighting Pizza Pasta is that he starts to block your left jabs after the right-duck-left-left. I find that I like to go with body blows and going back to right jabs after that. It's a sort of overextension like Piston Hurricane's and the same remedy seems to work here. Remember there's a lot of room for error here--three knockdowns, although on the last one he can sock you with one punch--so don't get too panicky if he hits you once. Just whale on him after he jabs and throws a body blow. Pizza Pasta also likes to throw three quick jabs, and the fourth one connects. So beware of that move. He may also do the same with three quick body blows. He'll crouch slightly before that but it won't be a huge duck. Basically if he starts throwing short punches that connect, switch the way you block. I can't find a way to beat Pizza Pasta super-quickly, because when he grabs you, he brings the KO counter down to halfway. Various combinations of hooks, uppercuts and jabs don't seem to knock him out conclusively enough. Mixing things up with a few body blows seems to work well. 1:30 is a very good time, though. And now having said that I'm pleased to announce I've found a way to sock Pizza Pasta in just over one minute. It involves knocking him down before his second clench. This requires a bit of luck so I can't place it in the main strategy, but basically you need to proceed as usual but when the KO button flashes hit him with a right hook. Usually this will be just after the second punch in one of your combinations. Continue throwing punches at him and it's possible he might not be baited once. In that case throw another left until he goes back to regular mode. Use a hook to smash him to the canvas after the clench and missed punch. Of course you need to preempt your punches and take a few chances in order to get this quick finisk but it's fun and worth it. Observations: I'm rarely able to knock him down in the first :34. He always seems to pause a bit once. Usually he'll reflexively punch back but sometimes he'll just sit there and you'll need to goad him again. Do so quickly. If he doesn't pause you can get him at 2:28 or so. But the important thing here is- -you can gain TIME so that you can knock Pizza Pasta out before the 2:00 mark. Then he will clench you and the second time out of the clench is the third knockdown--i.e. a TKO. In fact if you knock him out before the 1:56 mark that will still actually save a bit of time as the clench, etc. take a bit of time. If Pizza Pasta does not pause, I'm able to knock him down in 2:02, only once out of the clench. Usually I settle for a knockdown at 1:58 and a knockout 10 seconds later although if I knock him down before 2:00 the second time I can get things done around 1:52. This all seems a bit random but it is possible to lay him low quickly. I just don't see a way to get him without three knockdowns, though. The clench is a stupid move on his part as he'd be tough without it when he switched to quick punches, but it does preclude a super quick knockout. 4-6. MR. SANDMAN Mr. Sandman follows in the same vein as the other opponents, except he's a lot stronger, more accurate and nimble. There's no way to fake him out and get a punch in. Also, when he's knocked down, he can get back up with a vengeance. Basically you have to wait for an opening and then reach in there. He also manages to find unstoppable combinations you just have to duck before you can start hitting him. One combination works repeatedly, and I'll emphasize that. The key loop is to get in three lefts, a right, duck his haymaker, duck, and try again. Often he can be goaded into trying another haymaker. Throw a hook afterwards when you get to KO, but none more, unless he hits you and bumps you back below KO level. Your final punch you know will connect also works as a hook against him. Also remember, when you throw the punch, to do so before you're stationed. Otherwise he wil block it. He's very quick, if potentially predictable. You usually want to start this process with a right. It may take a couple of times before he swats at you, but once he does, you can get to him. Mr. Sandman also has other moves that leave him vulnerable. One of my favorites is when he gives two left body blows followed by a right haymaker you can duck and then start the standard pummeling. If you are quick you can catch him with a right as he comes in for a left body blow and then a couple more, but there are safer ways to do things. Hold your ground if his eyes yellow and he keeps his fists up. Be ready to duck if he crouches and smack him on the rebound. Sometimes you may have to let Mr. Sandman smack you once before starting things off. That just happens. Eventually after an initial right jab, before he's been knocked down, you'll be able to get close to him and whale away. Also, I duck indiscriminately after throwing a right. Sometimes he won't go in for it, but he almost never socks you on the rebound. Also sometimes he'll hit you with an uppercut and the best thing to do is duck that way as he often combos another one from the other side. The avergae time for knocking Mr. Sandman down, with some practice, is 1:30. If he is playing extra stupid(i.e. I throw four punches, he throws the overextended one back) I can nail him at 2:23. And I rarely go below 1:00 with efficient experienced play. On beating Mr. Sandman, your boxer turns around and becomes a real boxer, not just a mesh of green neon wiring, and he joyously jumps up and down with his WVBA belt that looks like an oversized fancy gold watch. "Ladies and gentlemen, we've got a new champion!" 4-7. THE NEXT GENERATION I've had terrible trouble with all this. Your new opponents are all "top ranked" and fight like it. First of all, there's no yellows in their eyes, so you have to rely on body language. Second of all, the mistakes they make are either long winded or very minimal. So you need to be exact or you'll run out of time. At the same time you can't go throwing punches to provoke them as they often have unstoppable counters. It's important to learn when in a combination you can punch back. Also, if you're getting your butt kicked, then you may get knocked out after two trips to the canvas. The game can turn very quickly against you in this respect, since you get almost NO health when you come back up and your opponent gets a ton of it. As the round goes on, leading lefts are harshly punished against Glass Joe, Bald Bull and Mr. Sandman. So avoid them. In a combo, hit them with a left and then batter them with rights. Point totals are still the same, but gloves and shoes are blue. You're yellow mesh but still with red gloves and green hair. If you lose and make a rematch here or in the next fight sequence, your enemy is introduced as the champion of the world. You are the challenger. And at the end of the fight, you jump up and down with your regained belt. The order of fights is as follows: Glass Joe Piston Hurricane Bald Bull Pizza Pasta Mr. Sandman Basically, Kid Quick, who had no special moves anyway, is gone. The next time through shakes things up a bit more and then repeats eternally: Piston Hurricane Bald Bull Glass Joe Mr. Sandman 4-7-1. GLASS JOE Glass Joe here comes out very tough compared to his original reincarnation. He still looks like a drip but he can now punish you if you do something wrong. His moves aren't really more refined, but he can defend better after making them. You need to watch his signature move: left, left, right body blow. Duck pre-emptively and smack him with a left and then don't let up on the rights. I've gotten nine punch combinations. You can sometimes switch up to a body blow, but if you can batter him with a few shots after he misses you that's pretty good, and although there will be some awkward waiting around, eventually he'll take a shot at you. He may also bob his fists up and down, and that's a good time to jab him to. Use KO punches mercilessly once you have the ability. He may duck once, in which case you go back to jabbing. Once you knock him down though you can really start whaling away with an uppercut as he gets back up. The announcer will say "Come on! Come on!" and when he jumps at you(he doesn't actually DO anything after his run-up,) bash him with all the uppercuts you can throw. The hard part can be knocking him down once. After 1:20 or so he will come back with a vicious punch if you lead with a left, so don't. In fact, don't lead at all. He walks into a trap where you can batter him easily enough. If you want to try to knock him down on the second count, then go with straight jabs to counter everything he does. You can throw one body blow after "come on! Come on!" to quicken things up a bit. Then one more dodge, left/rights should do for him. End with a hook if you wish. I've won in 2:18. 4-7-2. PISTON HURRICANE The first thing to do with Piston Hurricane the second time around is to whack him twice with a right as he ducks to slug you. These are pretty much free shots. Then you can move up/down to try to get a few shots in. He pretty much just reacts. Piston Hurricane jumps at you at 2:30 and right after the first "C'mon"(err on the early side here as he may take a step back and require you to slug him again) you can slug him to knock him down to the canvas. If you don't time it right you have a long way to go and may be better off just getting knocked down to save the time, because Piston Hurricane can really take time off the clock. Also if he just hit you, you generally have to duck before you can start throwing punches again, and that includes even if you have a knockdown in between. On the bright side, he can be knocked out at the second turn as long as you only let yourself get hit once. The exchange generally is: you jab, he comes back with an overextended punch, you throw a left jab and a right jab, he overextends. If you're lucky he will give a wild uppercut which allows two punches. You can always poke him with a right jab if you'd like, too. Throwing a hook whenever you can is a good policy as well. You can wait around and see if he ducks for a left body blow as well while you wait--you get two free punches for that too. Another strategy is to let him hit you once you've gotten to KO and been able to use the hook. Then feint a bit, fill up the KO, and hit him with another hook. That will get his health down a bit quicker and avoid running out of time. 4-7-3. BALD BULL Bald Bull gets a lot tougher after the first knockdown but there does seem to be a way to grind him down without too much trouble. He also only has one run-up--at 2:30. It's more difficult, too. Watch his shoes. He'll take one jump forward but the second won't always continue. As soon as you see him jump forward instead of back, throw a left jab. This will send him spinning down. His main weakness is that he bobs his fists up and down. Hit him with a right jab, wait a half second, and jab again for two hits. Bald Bull will probably come in with a body blow after that and if you can duck and go left/right that will work too. If it's before his first knockdown you can get two more jabs in and in fact it's possible to get a hook before his rush up. After that he becomes a tougher customer. Two or four jabs are often followed by a vicious uppercut at what seems to be a random delay. He'll still come with the bobbing fists, though, and when that happens you can get four shots in. Being hit isn't so bad as you can frequently get back up to KO strength and get a hook in. In fact sometimes if he just dances around you may want to throw a right just so he socks you and gets back to his normal routine. You do have to watch the clock a bit. I can win in 1:30 with good play. If you know his body blows are coming and can time the run down he's not that tough to defeat. 4-7-4. PIZZA PASTA I've knocked Pizza Pasta out with two knockdowns(1:47) but it seemed to take perfect play--and a lucky anticipation of that flurry of punches. Basically it's luck to get that. You can get him into his little rut where he just punches wildly and you avoid him but you're more likely to have to perform a block, and you don't have that many chances. The first part of the fight is still terribly easy. Provoke him into a punch with a right and then go left-right. Throw a hook when you get KO capability(L-R-hook) and then go with left/hook until he clinches. After that paste him 'til he's down. Before the second knockdown you should be able to go right-duck-left-right- etc. and knock him down a second time. If he does wise up before then, just check the next paragraph for what to do next. You've seen the basic idea before but I'll try to fill in a few details. Basically it's worth a chance to try to slug Pizza Pasta with a left/right/right/ Sometimes he'll duck after the second right and give a vicious uppercut but a lot of the time he will give away that he is about to hit you with a flurry of low punches by...getting hit with the second right. This can give you a big jump and as the flurry is more likely it's the strategy you should choose. Just remember to guard down right away and step out of the way at the end. Also if he seems to crouch a little--but not to either side--get ready for the flurry of punches. Guard down. You can even afford to get hit by the first one if you realize--a short quick punch that hits you is a body blow. However the best way to nail Pizza Pasta quickly is, once he punches across, to see if his fist is too far right of his body. If it is, try for a body blow. You probably won't succeed but he'll try again and this time it should connect. Once your body blow connects keep alternating hands until it doesn't. Pizza Pasta appears a bit vulnerable here and besides if you rely on ducking and the mistake he loved to make in the first go round you'll probably run out of time. Often he prefaces this cross-punch with two left jabs leaving him totally open, but you do have to be able to judge when he does a regular right cross you can take advantage of immediately(punch near your head, left jab) and one that might take some time(punch right of his head, use body blows.) The number of body blows you get is random but this is an important maneuver as otherwise you and he can get stuck in this a bit. One of the big problems with Pizza Pasta is that he'll get down to next to nothing and beat the stuffing out of you. You can't afford overconfidence or allowing 'just one hit.' Because you only get four or so. Remember he gives dual right jabs or none at all and then ducks. So hopefully it's arrividerci to Pizza Pasta(who I think looks like Paolo di Canio, late of West Ham, and who had a knockdown of his own for Sheffield Wednesday on a referee) and onto Mr. Sandman. 4-7-5. MR. SANDMAN Mr. Sandman can still be taken down as he was the first time--if you're lucky. If you're not he'll start throwing impossible punches to counter your sallies. Here's how to take him out. --the big one is if he starts to dance around and throw jabs every now and then. He'll just sit there and wait all day if you let him, so you need to find a chink in his armor. You need to throw a right before he throws the second of his punches. With your guard up, listen for the noise that says you blocked the first punch. Wait a half-second and throw a right jab. Then quickly throw two more. They can be hooks if you had the KO box to start, or you can throw a hook on at the end if you went KO during this combination. It may seem like it might take too much time, but a right-right-right-hook after the second knockdown should do for him. You also have to be quick with the punches, throwing the next before the previous connected, or you may not get them all in. He's quick to block. --right body blow, right body blow, left uppercut. 3 left ducks, 3 punches as above. If he nails you at first he may not go through with the big punch, which is too bad. --left uppercut, right uppercut, or reverse. Even if the first one hits you can duck the next and come back with 3 punches but 2 ducks/3 punches is optimal. If you see it coming, which is rare, you can get 3 punches, duck the second uppercut, and get 3 more punches in to get to KO status immediately. Sometimes Mr. Sandman adds a big uppercut to this, and that actually is not so bad. Because then you get another shot at him. If he seems to be winding way up above the belt, be ready to duck. I've found that if I get knocked down Mr Sandman may throw another punch right away when I get back up and there's no way to anticipate it. So I focus on getting him on the first knockdown. I can usually win with a minute left with correct play. I've used provocateur tactics before to get by him, and while they can work with save states(eventually he'll randomly walk into where you slug him L-R-R-R(blocked)-etc.) it's not a guaranteed way to win. 4-8. THE FINAL RECURRING NIGHTMARE 4-8-1. PISTON HURRICANE Piston Hurricane's very tricky to avoid here when he does his big run up, which you have to deflect for a realistic chance at winning. Again, watch the shoes, but he may rock back and forth several times before moving in. If you don't get the timing right it's not so bad because you don't have to KO him right away, and in fact I've come to grief trying to. This bit seems to be random the body blows because he moves so quickly, but with the right timing you can still knock him down anyway. The trick is to go with left jabs instead of a body blow--and a well timed jab can knock him down in one blow too. Here you just have to delay fractionally between left jabs once you two are clinched and you'll actually start hitting him with good effect. You can even knock him down. It's easier than learning to duck and if you do get hit, just wait and duck right after you are able to block a punch. Then whack him with lefts until he gives up. At the start you can pause, two quick rights, and punch right to provoke a wild uppercut where you can try left/right/right and of course duck when he blocks. You may even be able to get a hook in if you're lucky. Then comes the rush. Sadly this is the only time you can get a lot of punches in a row in. The rest of the time you will probably be concerned with trying to get him to put his guard down. To do this I generally just throw a right and sometimes he'll come with a straight-up uppercut. That allows a left/right and sometimes both punches connect for me. Eventually there's enough power for a hook but you can't really switch to body blows to catch him off guard unless he gets the one punch to the right of his own face--and sometimes he mixes it up with a straight up uppercut next anyway. Sometimes when he ducks and is about to throw a right body blow you can duck and hit him with a left/right/right/right but you do have to spar a lot with rights and this may give him a chance to nail you with something unhittable. Whatever you do though don't dawdle. There is progress to be made even if it is only a punch at a time and once you have the KO lit(and used) you can afford to take risks, as taking a punch brings you back to where you can throw another gratuitous uppercut. When jabbing don't throw another punch after you got blocked--this game sems to look for perfection this round. My best time is 0:48 left. And I think I've won with a few seconds left without knocking him out on the rush. So that is necessary. My timing for the rush punches goes hold-and-up-and-PUNCH repeatedly and if I get out of time I just duck and go back to the pugilism later. This is by far the toughest of all the fights. 4-8-2. BALD BULL Bald Bull is probably the second-easiest of the last lot, the easiest being Glass Joe(of course.) He follows the same pattern he had before and as long as you don't get too greedy you should be able to ring him up early. Again he has a charge at 2:30 and again you need to wait and watch his shoes to see when they go forward after the first jump instead of rocking back. It may take a few times. When he bobs his fists, throw a right, wait a split second, and throw another right. His next move should be a body blow and you will want to evade that and then throw two more punches. Don't try another one unless he looks stupefied. This pattern can continue although if he goes in for jabs beware the huge right uppercut he may throw. Avoid that and whack him twice. Use the hook after he misses with a body blow or uppercut if you have KO ability. I can win with 1:30 or so left. It is not too hard to avoid getting hit. Bald Bull's attacks are a bit slow but he doesn't go in for that silly dancing around. Basically he may surprise you with a crouch/uppercut if you're lazy but there shouldn't be any reason to deviate from waiting around and doing jab- pause-jab and ducking his body blow with two punches after. Repeat, etc., win. 4-8-3. GLASS JOE Again Glass Joe isn't too bad but he has a few more moves which may surprise you a bit. You can wait for the old two left jabs and right body blow and paste him just after you duck but before your feet are set--left, rights. He always seems to start with that. But now you might only get five punches in before he gets his guard up--no penalty for getting blocked though. His new moves are: --crouch, right body blow. You can duck right and hit him with a left before you're in position and two rights, whereupon he tries for an encore. You can knock him out this way. --fists down, up, down, left body blow. Again you can duck right and paste him a couple of times, but more than that can be trouble for you. He may retaliate. --one punch, right body blow. This is a bit tricky to judge and in general I don't bother with it but I try to notice which way he leans after the first punch. This is his last option, though. --also if he hits you with one 'straight' body blow after a crouch, another one is coming. This is easy to duck and then you can paste him with a left/rights. So if you want to win quickly you may want to try this sacrifice as you get another KO punch on the table. I can get Glass Joe at 1:43 if luck is on my side. I'm not sure why he was moved to the third fight in this circuit. He has few beguiling moves and a terrible vulnerability to right jabs after he misses. And he STILL telegraphs his moves! 4-8-4. MR. SANDMAN While for other opponents it's risky to throw punches to provoke them, with Mr. Sandman it's downright bad. He has some really heinous counters. But you always have a way to counter his punches if you're careful and vigilant. I've found that Mr. Sandman likes to come out with a duck--right uppercut. You can duck and hit him with a left and two rights. Then there are his other moves. He seems to go in for grand combos here which works to your advantage once you know them. Remember to tack on a KO punch at the end--the 4th if you just went KO and the 3rd if you started that way. It actually isn't hard to get to KO status here. You just need to avoid two flurries and respond in kind. The main thing to overcome is impatience once you understand the move-- and you need to note the timing on the jab sequence is different. --duck, right uppercut, either fast or slow. Left/two rights. --left body blow, left body blow, right uppercut with windup. Duck left 
twice, then duck, then three punches.
--two quick uppercuts and a long one. Duck twice quickly and then a third 
time. Then three punches.

--if Mr. Sandman comes at you by dancing around and throwing jabs, throw a 
right right after his second left jab in a row. Throw three, in fact. He 
won't stop them. If the KO is flashing after this you can throw a hook--
whether it was before or not. You can also go right/hook/hook. I don't see a 
way to get him after that, and this can really drain time--so you need to 
make sure you get things right here. If you do it is an easy way to nail him 
as he tends to get in the doldrums and not snap out of this nonsense. And if 
you manage to get hit the game has a chance of going back to regular play.

  Incidentally with the above 'big' move Mr. Sandman will throw a jab at you 
if you do manage to connect. His move is three jabs, which seems harmless, 
but remember, you got in after the second. If you try for an uppercut while 
he's paralyzed you may get shocked.

  I find I often win with Mr. Sandman going under one minute but actually 
there's really very little danger here. The delays are pretty much set in 
stone, and if you get off to a good start you should have no problem beating 
him up enough.

    4-9. OR AT LEAST I HOPE SO

  Maybe there are differences in the fourth circuit but initial inspection 
seems to indicate not. I am just too exhausted after save-stating to get past 
Mr. Sandman # 3 to do any more, though.

End of FAQ proper

================================

  5. VERSIONS

1.5.0: submitted to GameFAQs 8/22/2004. A taker is me! Second and third go 
rounds have strategies that worked for me but I may be missing certain enemy 
counters.
1.0.0: submitted to GameFAQs 8/4/2004. First go through complete. Any takers 
on the second, which has been started?

  6. CREDITS

The usual GameFAQs gang. They know who they are, and you should, too, because 
they get some SERIOUS writing done. Good people too--bloomer, falsehead, 
Masters, RetroFreak, Snow Dragon/Brui5ed Ego, ZoopSoul, and others I forgot.
klov.com for having screenshots and basic tips which helped me work my way 
through.
War Doc for giving me something to make a futile attempt to catch up to--# of 
arcade guides.
Brian Sulpher and Guitarfreak86 on GameFAQs for showing how to do a REAL 
Punch-Out!! FAQ. I only had six guys to beat, you know. They had many more.