Fans of the classic Punch-Out!! series may be disappointed to hear that Nintendo has no plans to revive the franchise.
The popular arcade boxing game, which first launched in 1984, hasn’t seen a new release since the Nintendo Wii in 2009.
The Punch-Out!! series has had a long history, with the most famous entry being Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! for the NES in 1987.
After the 1994 release of Super Punch-Out!!, the series went quiet for many years before returning on the Wii.
Despite the Wii version’s popularity, it seems Nintendo is not planning to bring the game back for the Nintendo Switch.
According to reporter Imran Khan, who spoke with a source close to the development of the Wii version, there was significant backlash against the characters in the game.
This negative response led to the decision to move away from the series. The team behind Punch-Out!!, Next Level Games, shifted their focus to other projects like Luigi’s Mansion 3.
Khan shared that the development team had worked hard to avoid using harmful stereotypes in the Wii version of Punch-Out!!, but the backlash was more than they anticipated.
With other projects having better sales potential, the team decided to leave the series behind.
While this news may be disappointing, there’s always a chance Nintendo could change its mind in the future.
With the upcoming release of the Nintendo Switch 2 in 2025, fans may still be surprised by some classic titles making a return.
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