The Super Nintendo game Super Punch-Out isn’t only a single-player game as originally believed. The Twitter account “Unlisted Cheats” discovered that the 28-year-old game contains a two-player mode, one that fully works on the game’s original hardware.
Prior to this news, the 2009 Punch-Out reboot was believed to be the first and only entry in the series with multiplayer. (Granted, in that version, a second player would only be a recolored clone of Little Mac.) It turns out its direct predecessor held that distinction all this time.
To access the mode, players using the second controller have to hold down the B and Y buttons at the character select screen. After pressing the A or Start buttons on the first controller, a second player can take over for the computer-controller opponent and select one of the game’s characters.
Super Punch-Out can be played on the Nintendo Switch as part of its online service, and IGN’s Kat Bailey discovered that the cheat code works there, as well. In the Switch version, the second player can also pull off the opponent’s special moves.
In 2016, Nintendo added the game to Virtual Console library of the Nintendo 3DS, but it’s unknown if it the same cheat code works on that version of the game.
Along with the two-player cheat, a separate cheat code allows players to have one free match with any of Super Punch-Out’s 16 fighters. Holding the Y and R buttons at the title screen, followed by A or Start, will unlock the free fight.
Why was the two-player mode hidden and only discovered now? It’s unclear, though Bailey speculated that it may have existed for the purposes of testing the game.
While Super Punch-Out probably won’t show up at EVO 2023, learning that it has a two-player mode after so long is a fun discovery. Maybe it’s interesting enough to make nostalgic players curious enough to try the Switch version.