How to Knockout Mike Tyson Everytime!
Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! - copyright 1987 Nintendo of America
Date Written - May 9, 2002
Written By - Brian P.Sulpher
Version - 3.5
E-mail - briansulpher@hotmail.com
Well, before I begin, I am just writing this little dedication to Daniel T.
Without his inspiration to join his KO Tyson Journal, I never would have
discovered this strategy. Though you claim to be a rookie Daniel, you really
are a master in my book. I also want to add that at the time of this FAQ
being updated, A bunch of players have broken 2:20 on Tyson with the TKO!
Think you can do any better?
Also, I dedicate this walkthrough to both my brother Michael and my
girlfriend Jennifer Dixon, becuase without their patience with my yelling,
screaming, and cursing (as well as all the time I hogged the TV) that Mike
Tyson put me through in this game until I unlocked a surefire method of
KO'ing him. I love you both very much (just in different ways).
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Version 1.0
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-Submitted guide on May 9th, 2002
-This is my first FAQ ever!
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Version 2.0
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-Submitted guide on October 1st, 2003
-Added in the TKO strategy for Round One (invented by Redtom)
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Version 3.0
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-Submitted guide on February 4th, 2004
-Altered a few things
-Added in some new information on KO'ing Mike Tyson everytime (thanks to a
few GFAQs users for their contributions)
-Altered copyright somewhat
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Version 3.5
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-Submitted guide on July 1st, 2004
-Altered format to make it easier on the eyes
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-------------------------------Table of Contents-----------------------------
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1) Introduction
2) Basic Controls
3) General Tactics
a) The Most Important Thing
b) Quick-Dodge Technique
c) Proper Use of Punches
d) Different Punches Utilized by Mike Tyson
e) How to Read Tyson's Actions
f) Patterns Utilized by Tyson
4) Three Round KO Strategy
a) Round 1
i) first knockdown
ii) second knockdown
iii) remaining time
b) Round 2
i) first knockdown
ii) second knockdown
iii) remaining time
c) Round 3
i) first knockdown
ii) second knockdown
iii) after second knockdown
5) First Round TKO Strategy
6) Closing Statements
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----------------------------------Introduction-------------------------------
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1) Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! was released in 1987 for the Nintendo
Entertainment System. It quickly became very popular for its outrageous
characters, great difficulty challenge, and the underdog story of the main
character, Little Mac. This walkthrough is going to concentrate on the
final opponent in the game, Mike Tyson. It will have a section on how to
achieve the Round One TKO, and it will also go in-depth on how to beat Mike
Tyson in Round Three by KO 100% of the time.
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--------------------------------Basic Controls--------------------------------
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2) Although there probably will be no one who does not know the controls of
this game, I will review them anyway. This will assist you in getting your
skills up to snuff with the best of the best.
Directional Pad=>This controls where and how Little Mac moves. Pressing
left or right will cause Little Mac to dodge in the
direction pressed. Holding down will cause Little Mac to
put his hands on his head and try to block the incoming
punch. Pressing down twice in rapid succession will cause
Little Mac to duck. Pressing up allows Little Mac to have
punches be thrown at the head of opponents.
A Button========>Pressing this button will cause Little Mac to throw a
right-handed body blow, or (when up is pressed along with
the "A" button) a right jab.
B Button========>Pressing this button will cause Little Mac to throw a
left-handed body blow, or (when up is pressed along with the
"B" button) a left jab.
START Button====>Used to start the fight and rounds. It is also used in the
game when Little Mac has a Star (which allows him to throw
an uppercut).
SELECT Button===>When this is pressed in between rounds, it will regain some
of Little Mac's energy. If this is used when Little Mac has
yet to be hit at all, he will lose energy! The select button
is not needed for this walkthrough with either strategy.
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-------------------------------General Tactics--------------------------------
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3) This section will do a run down of the general ideas needed to perform
these feats against Kid Dynamite, Mike Tyson.
a) The most important thing to remember for the KO strategy to work is to not
to take ANY damage at all. This includes blocking any punches because
Little Mac still takes partial damage. Little Mac must not be damaged in
any way for the KO strategy to be assured of working (he could still be
KO'ed, but it is no longer a guarantee).
However, if you get hit and take some damage against Mike Tyson, you can
perform a somewhat risky feat to allow for it and still get your 100%
chance of a KO. If Little Mac takes damage, fight into the third round
while getting your two knockdowns in each of the first two rounds, then
knock Tyson down again in Round 3. After he gets up, let him knock Little
Mac down, then get up at a count of 9. If done correctly, Little Mac will
return with NO damage on his stamina meter, so knock Tyson down with the
clean slate and he will remain down! However, I still reccomend you try
to be perfect as it has less risk involved.
The TKO strategy will require no hits from Tyson at first until you become
more proficient, and then you could take a hit or two while still picking
up the Round One TKO.
b) The quick-dodge technique is a must for anyone to be any good at MTPO!!
This is when a player presses left or right to dodge out of the way of a
punch, but but by pressing the opposite direction of the direction dodged
will cause Little Mac to come back to a ready punching position. When this
technique is used properly, it allows the player to land more punches in a
shorter amount of time. this can be very important in Round 1 (this will
be explained later).
c) Another important technique is the proper use of counter punches. The
general rule is if a right-handed punch is thrown at you, answer with a
left-handed punch. The same hold true for a left-handed punch thrown at
you, answer with a right-handed punch. This will sometimes cause extra
damage if countered properly, and consequently on the same type of punches
if countered improperly, it will cause less damage.
d) Mike Tyson has four different punches available to him.
i) His uppercuts pack quite a punch, and is his second most used punch.
ii) His hooks are the most common punch thrown, and it removes a small
amount of energy.
iii) Tyson throws visciously quick jabs that remove a fair amount of
energy (just slightly more then the hooks). this punch is quite
rare, but he does throw them in groups of two.
iv) A slightly altered hook that is thrown in groups of four. If not
blocked, Little Mac will recieve substancial damage.
e) How does Little Mac go about dodging these deadly punches? He just does
as he has with all of the other boxers in the game, which is find the
movements of the opponent so he can dodge at the correct time.
i) Tyson will flash which indicates this hard punch is coming.
ii) Tyson will wink, and if he winks his right eye, he will throw a
right. If Tyson winks his left eye, he will throw a left.
iii) Unfortunately, these punches have no warning movement, so the only
defence is the knowledge of when he will throw these punches, and
luck to dodge them. I will cover when Tyson can throw these annoying
punches.
iv) These punches are telegraphed by Tyson when he will suddenly start
blinking rapidly. He can be punched when he is blinking, and if it is
timed right, he will fall down or yeild a star.
f) Although Tyson does not have a set punching order, he does follow some
set patterns.
i) When Mike Tyson throws his uppercuts for the first 90 seconds of Round
1, he has a few patterns. One is he always starts with a left, right,
left every fight. When he throws two lefts in a row, he will then
throw a right, followed immediately by another right, and then a left.
ii) His first hook after the opening ninety seconds will be a right,
followed by a left. He will then usually throw two more lefts,
followed by three rights. he will continue on a three left, three
right pattern, but he can throw a left, right, left, right combo until
he goes back to three left, three right combo. You must be aware of a
possible switch in tactics.
iii) Tyson always starts Round 2 with 10 jabs (in quick sets of 2).
iv) When Tyson pauses in Round 2 after throwing some hooks, he will throw
a left uppercut, followed by a right uppercut. This pattern can be
pre-empted by the next pattern.
v) At 1:30 and 2:30 of Round 2, Tyson will blink, and if he is not
knocked down (as described above), he will throw 4 punches. In Round
3 at 1:30 he blinks and again he will start with the altered hook
combo. This time however, he will throw more than four if Little Mac
does not block them successfully.
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---------------------------Three Round KO Strategy----------------------------
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4)This section will look at KO strategy, using the approach of not getting
touched in any way what so ever. Refer back to Section 3 a) to see how to
salvage your bout if you take a hit (still giving a chance of a 100% KO).
o---------o
| Round 1 |
o---------o
a) This round is the easiest round in terms of difficulty, and the easiest
round in terms of Tyson's predictability.
i) Tyson will open with his deadly Dynamite Uppercuts, which are the super
charged version of his uppercut. If he throws a right, hit him with
two lefts, and he throws left, you throw two rights.Using the patterns
outlined in 3)f), he will throw anywhere from 14 to 16 uppercuts. If
he throws 14 Dynamite Uppercuts, you will need to hit him six times on
his hooks. The normal time his first knockdown will be 1:43 to 1:46.
This is late, but he can still be knocked down again (it requires
little time to be wasted after he throws a punch or to use late
punches). If he throws 15 Dynamite Uppercuts, he will still need three
punches on his hooks to go down. This will occur from 1:38 to 1:41.
If he throws 16 Dynamite Uppercuts, he will go down somewhere between
1:25:51 to 1:33. He will get up and and throw hooks. This leaves a
little more room for error. If tyson throws 17 Dynamite Uppercuts,
this means he falls around 1:21 to 1:25:50. He will get up and throw
one more Dynamite Uppercut, and then go into his hook sets.
ii) The second knockdown in Round 1 is dependent on the player being able
to read Tyson's movements, being able to quick dodge, and to not get
hit. If Tyson threw 14 Dynamite Uppercuts, his second knockdown time
will be in the range of 2:56 to 2:59. Also, if the punches are not all
dodged, and quickly countered, the second knockdown will not occur
(unless you can use awesome late punching ability). If he threw 15
Dynamite Uppercuts, his second knockdown time will be from 2:49 to
2:54. This means a player could dodge a couple of punches, not get
hits, but still get the second knockdown. This allows some breathing
room, but with a bit of practice, there should be little need for it.
The 16 Dynamite Uppercuts means a second knockdown time of 2:44 to
2:47. A lot of extra time to work with, so do not panic if Tyson
blocks a couple of your punches. If he threw 17 Dynamite Uppercuts,
his second knockdown should occur around 2:36 to 2:40. Lots of free
time to work with, so you should have little trouble getting him down
twice.
iii) With whatever times remains in the round after the second knockdown,
just dodge and punch till the bell rings. Congratulations, you are one
third of the way there!
o---------o
| Round 2 |
o---------o
b) This round is the hardest round in terms of difficulty, but the second
easiest in terms of Tyson's predictability.
i) Tyson always opens this round with ten jabs in sets of two.
Immediately dodge to start the round, and when you come back in, dodge
again. Now is the tricky part, you must stand there for about a
second, then dodge out, come back in, and then dodge again. repeat
this three more times, and he will be done with those evil jabs for
this round (phew). Now you have a primary goal, and a secondary goal
to achieve. The primary must be acheived before 1:30 of the round, but
the secondary does not have to be done until 2:30 of the round, so it
can wait for after the first knockdown of this round. The primary goal
is to get Tyson's energy down so one more punch will knock him down.
The secondary goal is to get a star by landing a punch extremely late
after he has punched at you. If you have accomplished the primary
goal, you have to wait to do the secondary goal. Now, when he is at
this stage do NOT knock him down until 1:30 comes and he starts his
blinking. Then you punch him, which will knock him down (and will not
allow him to throw his four jab combo, which is undodgable). He will
fall and then promptly get up at 1. this means that a star uppercut
will knock him down no matter his energy level. However, remember that
he can still be knocked down on his blinking if he has more energy than
a single punch may remove, but it must be done at the right moment.
ii) Now the secondary goal from earlier becomes your primary goal. you
must avoid his punches, and land a punch so late that the game gives
you a star. Then you dodge his punches, and you can return punches if
you wish (it does not matter). Continue to do this until he blinks at
2:30, at which point you must press START as quickly as you can because
it take some time to throw the punch (he blinks only for a short
period). Now, what happens if you have arrived at the blinking without
a star? You have one option available (if you still would like to have
the assured KO), and that is to land a punch on him at the proper time
during his blinking. If timed correctly, he will land on the mat. If
this does not work, then this strategy will no longer work.
iii) When the fight resumes, he will have very little energy remaining. you
must be careful not to knock him down again, or he will be TKO'ed.
Dodge whatever he might throw at you, and take some more of his energy
if you like. the bell will ring, and that means just one more round to
go! If you have made it this far, you have almost done it.
o---------o
| Round 3 |
o---------o
c) This is the second hardest round in terms of difficulty, but the hardest
round in terms of predictability.
i) This round opens with one of the two predictable actions of Tyson: he
will throw a punch. He might throw an Uppercut, he might throw a Hook,
but either way be ready to dodge in and out quickly. If you drained
his energy before the end of the last round, he will fall quickly
(inside of 10 seconds). He will get up somewhere from a 2 to a 6
count.
ii) When he gets up, he will do predictable action number two: he will
throw a punch. The same rules apply as above, since he can throw
either type of punch. if he throws a couple of hooks to start, your
KO may be in jeopardy because as the round goes on, he will become
totally unpredictable. He is not too hard to figure out if you watch
for his movements indicating the type of punch to be thrown, but he
does have an ace up his sleeve: the quick jabs in sets of two. He will
pause for a bit (this is the only indicator of the punches), but it
takes luck to dodge out twice on these fast punches. If you somehow
dodge these punches, he will immediately follow them with a hook, or
an uppercut (usually an uppercut). If you have knocked him down, and
you have not been hit, and/or blocked a punch at any time then no
matter what he does he will be down for the 10 count!
CONGRATULATIONS, you have KO'ed Mike Tyson.
iii) Well either he is knocked out on the mat, or he has got up. Either
way, your attempt to KO him is over. So try again, or go do something
else.
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---------------------------First Round TKO Strategy---------------------------
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5) This strategy was originally developed by Redtom from Germany, so he is the
one who deserves the credit for it! Check otu his site of
http://www.tomspunchout.tk/ for some unbelievale strategies and other neat
things on the game of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (also for Punch-Out!!, but
MTPO is undeniably cooler!).
o-----------------o
| First Knockdown |
o-----------------o
For the first 1:30 Tyson does his Dynamite Punches. You need to use proper
punching to cause maximum damage. Use the Quick Dodge technique to get out
and back in quickly, and then throw a jab to stun Tyson. After the stunning
punch, you have to wait just a little (only for about half a second tops) so
you can use the Late Punch technique to cause a little extra damage. When
you wait too long, Tyson will block the punch, but too early will cause the
regular damage. If you have done this correctly (and you want to have a
chance of the Round One strategy to work), Tyson should fall for the first
time around 1:05 (reportedly as early as 0:55 and as late as 1:09 on
successful TKO fights).
o------------------o
| Second Knockdown |
o------------------o
When Tyson returns, you should land another three to five Late Punches on
Dynamite Punches, but he will switch to the Blinking Hooks at 1:30 R1. Now
you need to use Late Punches as well, but with the twist of just landing one
and one punch only. He will take a lot of damage from this (as opposed to
two jabs). If you do well, he should go down around 2:05 or less. Remember
that if you were awesome against the Dynamite Uppercuts in the first half of
the round, doing regular counters the whole time will still knock him down in
plenty of time for the TKO.
o-----------------o
| Third Knockdown |
o-----------------o
On your attempt to get the third knockdown you can use more of the two punch
on his blinking hooks, and get the TKO, or you can try to use the Late Punch
for an earlier time. Either way, getting the first two knockdowns is the
toughest part, but with practice this will get you a Round 1 TKO. I have done
this a few times, but I am nowhere near the world record time. I have been
assured that under 2:20 seconds is quite possible, maybe even sub 2:10 for the
truly talented/lucky.
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-----------------------------Closing Statements-------------------------------
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6) As is the usual, this walkthrough is copyright property of Brian P.
Sulpher, 2003. The only website, group, person, etc. to have access to
post it is www.gamefaqs.com and www.ign.com. You must ask for permission
before posting this, as doing so without consent is a violation of
international copyright law.
If you have anything you would like to add to this walkthrough, just drop
me an e-mail or instant messsage me on MSN (briansulpher@hotmail.com).
Once I discovered the KO strategy, I KO'ed Tyson 20 times in the span of
four hours. It has never failed me yet, only I have failed the strategy by
getting hit (of course, that has been changed thanks to some new
information from the board at GameFAQs). If you do take a hit and get
knocked down, get up on 9 to completely regain your energy, making your
stamina completely refill.
I have to thank Redtom for letting me use his Round One TKO strategy for
Mike Tyson in this guide. Thanks a million buddy, you and your site rock
the clock like it was on a dock!
Do not give up if you do get hit; you never know when Tyson might remain
down. It is just much less likely than the no-hit method however. The
same goes for the TKO route, but you need to be awesome on the second half
of Round One!
Practice, practice, practice! Practice is the greatest advice I can give
you. You must first master all the tricks Tyson has to offer, then try to
do these two fancy schamncy performances!
"KO King" Brian P Sulpher signing off!
Current KO Count: 337 KO's
