Power Punch II [NES - Prototype]

Power Punch II was an NES boxing game released in 1992. Originally conceived as a sequel to the 1987 NES game Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! (with the title “Mike Tyson’s Intergalactic Power Punch”), the game was developed by Beam Software under supervision from Nintendo.

However, while the game was in production Tyson was tried for the rape of Desiree Washington and the project started to fall apart. In order to not promote Tyson’s questionable character, the designers changed the name of the boxer in the game to “Tough Guy” Mark Tyler and slightly altered his appearance, even though his face is still distinctly styled after Tyson. His attire in the game was also changed from Tyson’s traditional all black with red gloves gear to an all pink motif. Any references to Don King were also cut from the game. There is a manager bearing resemblance to King in the game, but Don King’s infamous hairstyle was removed from the character to try to dispel the association. [Infos from Wikipedia]

When Nintendo disowned the production of the game, it was published as “Power Punch II” by American Softworks Corp.

The original “”Mike Tyson’s Intergalactic Power Punch”" prototype conceived by Nintendo was later released thanks to the Nintendo Age Community (that raised $1500 for the owner of the proto to dump it) as a download or you can own the original reproduction of the prototype by Retro Zone to play it on your NES!.

Thanks to Ducky Wensel for the contribution!

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