Time Extension ran this story past multiple employees from Next Level Games, and no one they spoke to could remember any specific controversy surrounding the game’s characters, with one source saying “I don’t recall any negative feedback from the public around stereotypes after launch nor have I seen anything since so I don’t believe that is a valid reason to prevent another version being made.” Another source stated the only controversy was due to the Sailor Moon manga issue, and not due to stereotypes or cultural depictions.
According to the developers, there were simply no immediate plans to do any kind of sequel or follow-up to the 2009 Punch-Out except the Club Nintendo game Doc Louis’ Punch Out!!, with the team simply moved on to other projects. In fact, the developers seemed to be of the opinion that the hiatus was simply due to needing to find a new original pitch for a new game, with one stating. “There needs to be new gameplay hook to make another. The Wii controls combined with how old the game was made a perfect fit to make Wii Punch-Out!!”
One part of Khan’s story was verified though and that was about the difficulties with getting certain characters approved by Nintendo.
“We faced quite a few challenges on the Wii version in regards to avoiding or perpetuating cultural stereotypes. Things like Great Tiger’s mysticism or Aran Ryan’s brusque Irish mannerisms just made the cut after a lengthy debate. Previous characters like Kid Quick were cut due to their dated representation and instead replaced with more modern original characters like Disco Kid.”
The source would go on to note:
“Some stereotypes we actually leaned in to, like Bear Hugger, since we were a Canadian developer and felt comfortable with doing so.”
So it seems Punch-Out is not gone for good, it just needs a new gameplay hook or mechanic for a new entry to be made.
