Nintendo Super Punchout: Secret Code for 2 Player Mode Discovered After 28 Years

A piece of paper with cheat codes: This tool is used to have a permanent place on many gaming tables. Now it turns out that the list of useful secret tricks in a 28-year-old cult game can be expanded with a key combination that went undiscovered before.

Two new cheats, one changes the game completely

When it comes to boxing games, Super Punch-Out!! a true classic. After its first appearance on the NES in 1987, it was continued in 1994 with a sequel to the SNES, now thanks to the Arcade Archives also available for the Switch. For nearly 30 years, the character Little Mac has been fighting his way through the boxing ring in single-player mode.

But now the retro experts at Unlisted Cheats have discovered that the game comes with a secret extra mode. There are already some cheats for Super Punch-Out!! are known, all of which depend on a specific combination of two keys. Now, while playing with the old title, Unlisted Cheats “accidentally found some new cheats.” The first of these newly discovered codes makes it possible to battle against all available opponents – including those from the so-called “Special Circuit”. A nice feature that you would expect after the playthrough.

Hidden mode for two players

But the second code that was discovered here is even more exciting and practically brings with it a whole new game. After the correct key combination, it is possible to Super Punch-Out!! to play with two players. To do this, a second joypad is first plugged in, then you need to hold B+Y on the character info screen and then press A or START. “After that, the CPU opponent can be controlled via the JOYPAD2, so you can fight against a real person.”

As kotaku writes in his analysis, it’s very intriguing that such a massive expansion has been hidden behind such a simple cheat code for so long – or at least never publicly revealed until today. Super Punch-Out!! is available on all Nintendo platforms. still clearly listed as a single-player game, so the 28-year-old secret hasn’t been revealed yet.