I have beaten Tyson once in my life. Every time I replay this I can fairly easily get to Tyson but I’ve only ever managed to take him out once. My heart was pounding out of my chest.

What I almost always do is just sit and wait for a punch. Dodge it, then wail. Do left-right-left-right to get more punches in before they un-stun.

Some of them have more specific things you’ll have to do. I think it’s Bald Bull’s second fight for instance that requires you to gut punch him at just the right time if you want to win the fight. And King Hippo is all gut punches— if you punch him in the face he’ll just brush it off. But generally, wait for the punch then left-right in the face until they recover.

Yeah, learning the tells is key. I'm going through it and wow, it's been too long. I'm having more trouble than I used to. I've been compiling notes.

• Glass Joe: So this guy is a pushover. Easy tells. Just dodge and wail on him


• Von Kaiser: You'll start to notice variety with Kaiser. He has a few different moves with different tells, but it's the same basic idea.


• Piston Honda: The tells start getting a little quicker here. If he backs off and revs up a punch you can nail him in the stomach to knock him down but if you miss that window be ready to block or dodge.


• Don Flamenco: Easiest fight in the game. Punch him in the gloves to piss him off, then immediately dodge, then left-right-left-right to the face until he's down and out. He'll only ever throw that one punch and will never un-stun as long as you keep the left-right to the face going.


• King Hippo: Just keep dodging his punches and don't bother countering until he throws his hand up in the air and opens his mouth. Hit him in the face while his mouth is open and then punch him in the stomach repeatedly until he can get his pants up. Once you knock him down, he won't get back up.


• Great Tiger: The jab tell is tricky if you don't know what you're looking for. The gem in his turban starts flashing. The other tells are easy. When he starts his teleport punches, just hold in block until it connects, then quickly release and hold block again until he's done. It's not enough to hold in block the whole time, you have to release and re-press.


• Bald Bull: THIS is where the game gets hard. It's similar to the past few, three moves with different tells, but this guy is fast and hits hard. His special move is the bull charge and you CAN wait until he punches at the end of his charge and counter but I've never really been able to get that to work. You can hit him at just the right moment of his charge to knock him down.

• Piston Honda (rematch): This one is easier than the Bald Bull fight but Honda has learned a few tricks since you last faced him. Mostly he's faster now.


• Soda Popinski: Oof... this guy is rough. His tells are easy to spot but quick, and he hits hard. It's just a matter of getting your dodges in. He has a three jab move that you should probably block-- you'll know it's coming when he starts shuffling his feet. A little trivia: he was originally named Vodka Drunkinski. He's always swigging soda in the NES game but he preferred more adult beverages in the arcade version.


• Bald Bull (rematch): This match is cheap. You can't knock him down just by emptying his health. The only way to knock him down is to knock him out of his bull charge or hit him with a star punch. Otherwise the strategy is basically the same.


• Don Flamenco (rematch): The strategy is the same as his first appearance but he DOES recover, which mostly just makes this match annoying rather than difficult.


• Mr. Sandman: You gotta use body shots on this guy when he's stunned. He'll block face shots. When he flashes get ready to dodge three quick uppercuts. It's not easy.


This is where I am right now, the rest from memory:

• Super Macho Man: Basically the same as Popinski except he has a spin attack you have to worry about. I've always thought he was wasted here because he's easier than Sandman by a mile.


• Tyson/Mr. Dream: Yeah you're... you're on your own. The tells are clear but his punches come fast and the window to counterattack is so short... it's brutal.