Power Punch II

Training sessions between opponents allow the player to improve stats prior to an upcoming bout. Initially developed as a Mike Tyson game called Mike Tyson's Intergalactic Power Punch. Prototypes were shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in 1991, however after Tyson was arrested in July 1991, Beam Software quickly removed all mentions of Tyson and released the game as Power Punch II in June 1992. There is a popular rumour that Power Punch II was developed to be a sequel to Punch-Out!! Before Nintendo rejected it, however this information is false. The rights to the game were later acquired by Piko Interactive who published the game on Microsoft Windows via Steam. Critical reception for Power Punch II has been negative to average with complaints mostly directed at its graphics, gameplay, and play control. Beam Software would use Power Punch IIs engine again with George Foreman's KO Boxing on multiple systems the same year.

• Developer — Beam Software • Publisher — American Softworks (NES) Piko Interactive (Windows) • Producer — Sue Anderson • Programmer — Andrew Bailey • Artist — Greg Holland • Composer — Marshall Parker Gavan Anderson • Released — NESJune 1992WindowsAugust 22, 2019 • Genre — Sports (boxing) • Modes — Single-player • Platforms — Nintendo Entertainment System, Windows

Mark "Tough Guy" Tyler is the undefeated heavyweight champion of the world, with an Olympic gold medal and a 33-0 (30 KO) record to his claim. After knocking out another opponent with ease, Tyler and his manager taunt the world by saying that nobody can stop him. However, the broadcast is picked up far from Earth in the outer reaches of the universe by an alien boxing promoter for the Intergalactic Boxing Federation (IGBF). The promoter decides to accept Tyler's challenge that he can beat "anybody". Thus Tyler is brought into the throes of the universe to compete against the best fighters in the universe and defend his earthly title.

The game includes a scoring system based on punch percentages as well as knockdowns. Rounds are only one minute long.

Power Punch II was developed by Melbourne-based Beam Software. The game was allegedly intended as a sequel to Nintendo's 1987 NES release Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, which featured the likeness of former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson as its final boss. Similar to Punch-Out!!, Beam Software's project, originally titled Mike Tyson's Intergalactic Power Punch, was to star the eponymous boxer, this time as the player-controlled protagonist. This version of the game was showcased at the Winter 1991 Consumer Electronics Show. However, possibly due to Tyson's rape conviction that same year, the developer modified the game by removing all references to Tyson including changing the player character's name to Mark Tyler. It was picked up and released in North America by publisher American Softworks as Power Punch II despite the game not being an actual sequel. There has been conflicting information and confusion regarding Nintendo's involvement in the game. While most sources state that it was originally a co-production between Beam Software and Nintendo only for the latter to distance themselves from the project due to Tyson's legal issues, others such as Destructoid dispute this, opining that it made little sense for Nintendo to maintain the licence when they re-released Punch-Out!! without Tyson's likeness in 1990 when their deal with the boxer expired. They did note the mention of Nintendo supposedly owning the trademark to Power Punch II in the game's legal screen, though programmer and character designer Andrew Bailey does not recall having been contracted by Nintendo to develop a Punch Out!! sequel. He stated, "I don't remember it being commissioned by Nintendo. We were working for LJN (from memory) a small US publisher. Of course, Nintendo needed to approve every game, and they would have probably not liked [Mike Tyson's] involvement once the issues came out." In 2009, a playable prototype ROM of Mike Tyson's Intergalactic Power Punch was released online by a collector after funds were raised from users of a popular Nintendo forum. Piko Interactive eventually acquired the rights to Power Punch II and in 2019 released the game digitally on Steam for PCs that use Microsoft Windows. Piko Interactive also included the game on a multicart released for the handheld Evercade console the following year.