THE LOCALIZATION OF
The localization of Punch Out!!
It's 1987 and Nintendo decides to adapt to its NES a version of its two 1984 arcades, Punch Out!! And Super Punch Out!! With a brilliant novelty: the incorporation of Mike Tyson as the final boss of the game.
Punch Out!! Originally debuted in Japan with a golden cartridge that was part of the prize given to players for participating in the Family Computer Golf U.S Course and that had Super Macho Man as final boss, same as in the arcades. Only 10,000 copies were made of this cartridge.
The title was later baptized as Mike Tyson’s Punch Out although later it would only be known as "Punch out!!" when the contract with the heavyweight champion ended and -many say- after his defeat with Buster Douglas. Fun fact: it is interesting to note that Nintendo signed the agreement with the boxer even before Tyson became a champion, and the contract would have been closed for a sum of $50,000 for a period of 3 years.
When Tyson's contract expired, the last opponent of the game in new versions became Mr. Dream and the title was Punch Out!! again.
Outside the Japanese borders, the title underwent some modifications that are worth noting.
Language
The first versions of Mike Tyson's Punch Out several spelling errors in English, for example, the word "trainer" has another extra "n". Additionally, the phrase "It's you to fight!!" was also corrected being somewhat strange.
Another rather peculiar instance that was modified in the last version of the game is the phrase that appeared on the Game Over screen that originally read "After Training, Mac, Coming Back" and that was altered without further changes in the number of characters by "Start training make a comeback!"
The continue screen also had its tweaks, the first version spoke to the protagonist although then it referred to him again in the third person and omitted the "the" in the final question. The latest version of the game corrected these two items and also added the information of the player's descent in the ranking.
Colors
Other changes between the versions are the different color palettes between regions. Some are seen on the canvases of the different rings, in the player's own interface or even in the skin tone of King Hippo, which looks whiter in the West than in the East.
Offensive references
Nintendo's obsession with not getting into any kind of conflic is well known, and in Punch Out!! this possibility, no matter how tiny it may seem, was represented in the Russian boxer Soda Popinski. In clear allusion to the Russian stereotype of compulsive vodka drinkers, the character was called in the arcade version “Vodka Drunkenski”, but when he arrived on the NES, the fighter was renamed Soda Popinski, despite the fact that the dialogues between rounds made a clear reference to his passion for strong drinks.
