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Little Mac (リトル・マック, Ritoru Makku) is the protagonist in the NES classic Punch-Out‼. He is, as his name implies, a rather small character, though his dream is to become the best boxer in the Boxing circuit. During the game, he is trained by Jerome "Doc" Louis, another popular character in the series.
Little Mac is supposedly 17-years-old, and only 4 feet, 8 inches (5'7" in the Wii version of Punch-Out‼) and 107 pounds. He was born in The Bronx, New York, and wishes to one day be a member of the World Video Boxing Association. While in New York City, he traveled the area in search of a trainer, though was rejected at least 200 times. However, a previous boxing pro named Jerome "Doc" Louis decided to help him.
Ultimately it was up to the player to determine if Little Mac accomplished this goal of his, and if the player was good, he'd be required to go up against the toughest fighter of them all, Mr. Dream.
Punch Out series[]
Punch Out‼ (arcade)[]
Little Mac first appeared in the arcade video game Punch-Out‼ as an unnamed boxer.
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out‼[]
Little Mac (right) and his trainer Doc Louis as seen in the original NES game.
In 1987, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out‼ was released, and this marked the first game where the challenger whom the player controls gained an identity. This is the game where Little Mac gets his name and his background. Because this is the only Punch-Out game where the controlled boxer has a name, all Punch-Out‼ games onward have dubbed the main challenger the name of Little Mac.
Little Mac was no taller than 5 feet, and barely weighed over 100 pounds, but his ultimate dream was to become the heavyweight champion of the World Video Boxing Association (WVBA). Having Doc Louis, a retired pro boxer and former heavyweight champion, as his boxing coach, Little Mac trained day and night for the challenges in the ring. Boxers such as Glass Joe, Bald Bull, Mr. Sandman, and Super Macho Man make their appearances in this game.
Other notable boxers that challenged Little Mac were King Hippo and Japanese boxer Piston Honda. Little Mac worked his way up, earning titles from the Minor Circuit, the Major Circuit, and the World Circuit, until finally he made it to the Dream Fight, the fight which determined who would be the new heavyweight champion of the WVBA. Mike Tyson was a special character added to the game to be the last boxer. But when Nintendo's license to have Tyson as a special character expired in 1990, a new and official Nintendo character, Mr. Dream, replaced Tyson. So officially, it is Mr. Dream who Little Mac had to defeat in order to become champion.
Super Punch-Out‼[]
Super Punch-Out‼ for the SNES featured a new protagonist, a blond-haired boxer that is named by the player. When Fight Night: Round 2 was released in 2005, the GameCube version included Super Punch-Out‼ as a playable bonus, and that game's protagonist was also featured as an unlockable character. This game claims that this character is "Little Mac" (or simply "Mac" according to the boxers he wears), but as the Fight Night series was not made or released by Nintendo, this is not considered canon. Nintendo hasn't confirmed whether or not this is in fact a redesign of the original Little Mac, however, when the SNES version of Super Punch-Out‼ was released for the Virtual Console on the Wii, the official game details from the Wii Shop Channel referred to that blond boxer as "Little Mac". With Little Mac returning in his original shape in Punch-Out‼ for the Wii, it is unclear what Nintendo's stance in the subject is. This version of Mac is referred to as Birdy by fans.
Punch-Out‼ (Wii)[]
Little Mac, as seen in Punch-Out‼ for Wii.
Fans clammored for the return of Little Mac, and Nintendo thankfully honored their wish when Next Level Games and Nintendo announced a new Punch-Out for the Wii titled, simply, Punch-Out‼. The game would, once more, feature Little Mac as the game's protagonist. In this game he, and all the other characters, are represented in a 3-D cel-shaded manner (similar to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker). His goal is once again to climb to the top of the ranks, defeating all of the wacky opponents along the way. The game is generally considered to be a remake of the original NES games. Because of this the player will encounter many characters from those games.
Little Mac returns in his original NES appearance, but this time, it is modified. In this new version, he is taller than in the NES version, he has a tan, and he has a different hairdo, as seen on the right. However, in the game, he is mute and only makes a few sounds such as grunting and hollering.
Super Smash Bros. series[]
Appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Little Mac appears as one of the many Assist Trophies. In the game he is very small as his name suggests. After he appears out of an Assist Trophy, he'll rush towards the closest opponent, give a few jabs then send him or her soaring with an uppercut. On the Smash Bros. Dojo he was announced on October 18, 2007. The sounds Little Mac makes when he punches are taken directly from the NES games.
In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, he appears as a newcomer fighter. His design is mostly based on his Punch-Out Wii iteration. He starts off the game by throwing his pink sweat suit off (unless he is using that alternate color). Doc Louis appears in his victory animation. His fighting style is really powerful on the ground, with several of his attacks having super armor, but is terrible in the air and poor recovery.
He returns as an unlockable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Little Mac has also lost eight of his sixteen alternate costumes from SSB4, to have eight costumes like the entirety of the playable cast. Despite being a lower mid-tier character in SSB4, Little Mac received a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition to Ultimate that resulted in him generally being viewed as being nerfed overall. While he has received useful direct buffs, he received heavy nerfs to his damage output and combo potential. In addition, the universal engine changes in Ultimate hinder him more so than help him, which is noticeable by how most of the cast benefits from said changes in comparison to him. While balance changes have improved his perception and he has dedicated mains who have achieved impressive results in both regional and national tournaments, Little Mac's struggles in competitive play have resulted in him having extremely low representation overall, with most players considering him a bottom 5 character, and resulting in him being one of the worst characters in the game.
Attacks[]
- his standard neutral special, Straight Lunge
- his neutral special with a full KO meter, KO Uppercut
- his side special, Jolt Haymaker
- his up special, Rising Uppercut
- his down special, Slip Counter
- his final smash, Giga Mac
His appearance from Captain Rainbow is also in the game as a trophy.
Other appearances[]
- WarioWare: Smooth Moves: Little Mac appears in one of 9-Volt's microgames.
- Captain Rainbow: Little Mac appears in the Wii game, Captain Rainbow, as a supporting character. In the game, he travels to Minmin Island to once again become World Champion. However, he has gained a lot of weight over the years, and the protagonist, Nick (a.k.a. "Captain Rainbow") helps whip him back into shape. In the game, Little Mac was considered a forgotten character, or rather one who hadn't appeared in a video game in quite some time. Months later, Nintendo announced Punch-Out‼ for the Wii.
Appearances in other media[]
Little Mac was featured as the protagonist in the Punch-Out‼ stories featured in Valiant Comics' Nintendo Comics System, appearing in the stories "The First Fight", "Outsiders", and "Fox and Hounds". In addition, he also had a cameo in "Welcome to Videoland", the prologue short for the Captain N: The Game Master comic books, suggesting that his stories are set in the Captain N continuity, although he never showed up in any of the actual Captain N stories (nor did King Hippo, a Captain N regular, appear in the Punch-Out‼ stories).
In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, a photo of Little Mac and Doc Louis can be seen on the wall in the Punch-Out‼ Pizzeria.
Trophy description[]
A lightweight scrapper from the Bronx. After meeting with a former boxing great named Doc Louis who fell from glory, Mac takes Doc on as his coach, and together the pair try for the championship belt in the WVBA. Little Mac works his way up the ranks of the WVBA, taking out foes several times his size. By landing multiple blows, Little Mac gains a "★" uppercut.
Gallery[]
| Main article: Little Mac/gallery |
External Links[]
| Characters in Punch-Out‼ | |
|---|---|
| Main Characters | Little Mac • Doc Louis |
| Punch-Out‼ | Glass Joe • Piston Hurricane • Bald Bull • Kid Quick • Pizza Pasta • Mr. Sandman • Von Kaiser • Piston Honda • Don Flamenco • King Hippo • Mike Tyson • Mr. Dream |
| Super Punch-Out‼ | Bear Hugger • Dragon Chan • Soda Popinski • Great Tiger • Super Macho Man • Gabby Jay • Bob Charlie • Masked Muscle • Aran Ryan • Heike Kagero • Mad Clown • Narcis Prince • Hoy Quarlow • Rick Bruiser • Nick Bruiser |
| Punch-Out‼ Wii | Disco Kid • Donkey Kong |
| Arm Wrestling | Texas Mac • Kabuki • Mask X • Alice & Ape III • Frank Jr. |
| Classic Nintendo characters | |
|---|---|
| Arcade | Donkey Kong Jr. • Little Mac • Pauline • Sheriff • Stanley |
| NES | Balloon Fighter • Bubbles • Devil • Duck Hunt Duo • Excitebiker • Fighter Hayabusa • Foreman Spike • Ice Climbers • Mach Rider • Medusa • Mike Jones • Mr. Stevenson • Palutena • Pit • Professor Hector • Professor Vector • R.O.B. • Tamagon • Wart |
| Famicom and Famicom Disk System |
Ayumi Tachibana • Chao • Donbe • Goku • Hikari • Protagonist (Famicom Detective Club) • Sukapon • Takamaru |
| Game Boy | Alice • Captain Syrup • Muddy Mole • Prince Richard • Prince of Sablé • Tatanga |
| Other | Balloon Man • Mr. Game & Watch • John Solver • Oiram Repus |