Punch-Out!!/YMMV


 * Base-Breaking Character:
 * Narcis Prince. While he does have quite a few fans, and is a common subject for fan artwork, he also has something of a Hate Dom, mostly from fans of Aran Ryan, who feel that Narcis tries too hard to be a pretty boy by comparison.
 * Heike Kagero. With the Bishōnen archetype being itself so divisive among western gamers, Heike correspondingly has just as many people who love him as those who consider him to be just creepy and weird.
 * Catharsis Factor: These games are all incredibly difficult to win and take enormous amounts of practice to even just barely eke out a victory against the later challengers let alone delivering a Curb-Stomp Battle against them. But when you do win, you will feel like a champion! Aww, yeah!
 * Fanon Discontinuity: Nobody expected the SNES player character to be Little Mac, with many assuming him being labeled such in his guest appearance in Fight Night Round 2 just being EA taking artistic liberties. For some fans, this has been partially rectified with the Super NES recolor for Little Mac in Super Smash Bros., which made the two playable boxers easier to associate with each other in their eyes, but not all.
 * Good Bad Bugs: It's unknown whether the strategy of blocking Soda's uppercuts on the NES was intentional or a glitch, but it makes beating him insanely easy.
 * Harsher in Hindsight: The Wii game was rereleased on the Wii U eShop immediately after a surprise announcement that Club Nintendo would be shutting down in mid-2015, and that no newly-released titles – effective starting the rerelease week of Punch-Out!! Wii – would be eligible for registration. Kind of makes the order to "join Club Nintendo today, Mac" feel like the game's mocking you, huh?
 * Heartwarming in Hindsight: One of the things Doc Louis says in Doc Louis's Punch Out!! is, "Thanks for joining Club Nintendo, Mac!" Originally, it was simply congratulatory. With the game returning as part of Club Nintendo's closing sale, however, it can be seen as Nintendo thanking you for registering with and using Club Nintendo as a final farewell.
 * Ho Yay:
 * Frank Jr. looks positively elated to lose the match. Flushed cheeks, drooling smile, the works.
 * In the fandom, Little Mac and Narcis Prince seem to be paired up the most.
 * It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: What some people claim about the Wii version compared to the NES version, especially those who have seen but haven't actually played the Wii version. It's even mistakenly called a remake quite often.
 * Jerkass Woobie: It's not hard to view Super Macho Man in Title Defense this way. It's clear how frustrated and bitter he is over losing all his fans to Little Mac and doesn't seem to have any fans of his own anymore, while being booed and subjected to Produce Pelting throughout the fight. Sure, he's still a cocky asshole, but it's not hard to see him as sympathetic.
 * Mexicans Love Speedy Gonzales: It's a testament to how good the character writing is that, while Punch-Out!! Wii has stereotypical characters, they are beloved by fans in their countries of origin (like Super Macho Man, for American audiences) for being portrayed stereotypically, yet Played for Laughs. It also helps that the Canadian devs and the Japanese publisher of the game also took a jab at themselves with Bear Hugger and Piston Hondo respectively.
 * Replacement Scrappy: Quite a few people feel Mr. Dream is a poor substitute for Iron Mike. Doesn't help that Mr. Dream seems generic and not a lot of originality went into him (same body type Tyson had, same exact dialogue, same exact moves, 99-0-99 record, comes from "Dreamland", etc). At least Nick Bruiser was fairly memorable.
 * The Scrappy: Mad Clown is perhaps the least popular character from the series (not counting Mr. Dream), and is seen as a lazy re-skin of Bear Hugger. While there are many other Palette Swaps in the series, Mad Clown is easily the most blatant of them all.
 * Ships That Pass in the Night: Almost all ships as, despite presumably fighting each other off-screen, none of the boxers interact with anyone but Mac. Punch Joe and Von Kaiser are commonly shipped together.
 * Spiritual Licensee: Stereotypes aside, these are the best Rocky games ever made.
 * Surprise Difficulty: You wouldn't expect Glass Joe to put up a fight, but once you get to Title Defense...