The first few boxers in the Punch-Out!! games have techniques that teach you how to play the game better.

Like Don Flamenco, for example.

The first time you fight him, you have to throw a punch (which he'll block), so he can counter it (he's kind of a showoff)

Dodge that and he'll be vulnerable to taking punches (like everyone else in the game).

But, unlike everyone else in the game, if you keep alternating left and right punches Don will never recover, letting you pummel him until he runs out of stamina and crashes to the mat.

Even better is that each time he gets up he gets a little more aggressive and throws the first punch, which you dodge, and then you can immediately start with the alternating jabs again.

Which means that you're going to win in record time.

Just be aware that this doesn't work the second time you have to face him.

When you're playing the Punch-Out!! games and you haven't yet learned how to bob and weave properly, you're going to get punched a lot.

Which means that you're going to be knocked out pretty quickly unless you do something.

But what?

You do have one secret weapon.

Once every match, when Doc's giving you his pep-talk, you can hit Select. His fist will start pumping faster, and when you get back into the match:

Boom! Health Boost!

The amount of health you get appears to be random, sometimes you get a little sliver back and sometimes you get nearly the whole bar back. It's less reliable than I'd like it to be.

And if you do it before the match starts? Then your health gets halved. Good for a challenge, I guess.

And this does work on the Wii version. Plus the amount of health you get back has been normalized, making it well worth your while to do this trick every chance you get.

In the NES Punch-Out!! the password entry allows for some interesting hidden tidbits.

Take this set of numbers for example:

Put that code in and the game gives you a busy signal.

Why?

Apparently that used to be Nintendo's Customer Service number, which was notorious for being difficult to get through.

What fun!

If you're tired of the normal progression of fighters in the NES Punch-Out!! game, you can try fighting the guys completely out of order for an interesting experience.

First, start putting in this password:

Now, when you get to the zero at the end, press A + B + Select all at the same time to confirm the password. It's kind of tough to get the presses right, but if you do

You start out with all the titles, and fighting King Hippo instead of Glass Joe, and the opponents only get harder from here, too. Can you handle it?

Mike Tyson (or Mr. Dream in later versions) is waiting for you at the end of Punch-Out!!

You have to fight a gaggle of other boxers to even get to him. You have passwords to save your progress, but the best one you can get will still stick you with several guys to go through before facing the champ.

That's why I like to put in this password:

This will take you straight to whoever's at the end of your cartridge, Tyson or Dream.

Unfortunately, he's kind of tough. Way tougher than anyone else in the game.

And if you lose, you don't get another chance, you get booted to the game over screen.

Which boots you to the title screen, where you can put the password in again, so no big setback.