Punch Out!! is a boxing series released exclusively on Nintendo consoles. In recent weeks there has been talk of the fact that this series is essentially dead and buried following the criticism aimed at the characters of the last chapter of 2009 for Wii by Next Level Games.
Apparently, as reported by the Time Extension portal, not all seems lost for the franchise yet. Some developers from Next Level Games who worked on the latest chapter for Wii have argued that recent statements regarding criticism of the excessive use of stereotypes in the representation of the characters of the latest Punch-Out!! they don’t seem to be entirely accurate.
A source who worked on the game says he doesn’t recall any negative feedback from audiences around the stereotypes, nor that he’s seen anything since. Which is why this source does not believe that there is an imposition to create a new dedicated project.
Meanwhile, another source added that the only major controversy he remembers is the issue of the Sailor Moon manga, but nothing related to stereotypes or cultural representations of the characters. Other Next Level Games employees (who remained deliberately anonymous) also confirmed that they do not remember any controversies related to the characters.
In other words, a possibility of a return of Punch-Out!! in the future there could be, but only if there is a valid reason to propose it again, perhaps through new innovative game mechanics. Let’s remember that the boxing series was born in 1984 with the first arcade chapter, then continued on Nintendo consoles with Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! on NES and Super Punch-Out!! on SNES, then closing with the 2009 chapter.
