Punch-Out!! Coming To Nintendo Switch Next Week
The original arcade version of Punch-Out!! is finally coming to a home console! It’s arriving on the Nintendo Switch next week (March 30) in Japan via the eShop from Hamster. Previous releases have seen the U.S. get the game the same week, so we’re expecting to see it show up over here on Thursday.
For many people, their introduction to the series began with Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! on the NES, which was based on the arcade version with some key differences. Besides reduced visuals, the biggest difference came in the form of Little Mac, who appeared as a small sprite on the NES. The arcade version featured a more life-size fighter with a holographic body so you could see the opponent.
The arcade cabinet featured two screens. The top showed the score, timer, round, and status. The bottom screen was where the gameplay took place. For the Switch port, there are multiple options to choose from. You can have the screens side by side to take better advantage of the screen real estate on an HDTV. You can display the screens as they were in the arcade, one on top of another, but that creates a much reduced view. Probably the coolest way to play is in tabletop mode, where you can set the Switch screen upright vertically, giving the game an authentic look. This is shown off in the Japanese video below. Start it off at about the 29 minute mark to see some of the options.
Craig has been covering the video game industry since 1995. His work has been published across a wide spectrum of media sites. He’s currently the Editor-In-Chief of Nintendo Times and contributes to Gaming Age.
