[dankhank]

ok mike tyson's punchout vs contra is very difficult, i need to think out loud on this one. lets go to the tale of the tape:

replay value ... well punchout is a unique game with a celebrity end boss, so even today it is an interesting game to people ... but with thirty lives you can team up with just about anyone and beat contra... advantage: contra

storyline ... little mac's journey from weak newbie to world champion mirrors the real life growth of many of us who played the game, and his bruises along the way are a metaphor for the hassles of daily life ... in contra all you know is you're fighting an abstract alien force ... advantage: punchout

enemies ... in contra you fight aliens and alien-controlled stationary weaponry, and only a few of the bosses have unique moves ... in punchout the villains are all colorful characters with devastating techniques ranging from bald bull's bull charge to super macho man's deadly uppercut ... advantage: punchout

weapons... in contra you are able to use guns such as a flame thrower, various high powered machine guns, and a lazer - all with unlimited ammo ... punchout keeps it simple with only mac's little fists and guile being employed in the fight ... advantage: contra

clothing ... pink jumpsuit versus no shirt and blue pants ... advantage: punchout

graphics: in both cases we're talking about 8-bit graphics, although let me tell you at the time this was a big step up from colecovision ... punchout was more colorful while contra was more immersive ... push

movement: in punchout you could move left and right, dodge, and you could fall to the mat ... in contra you could move forward, back, up, down, and most importantly, flip through the air so as to avoid streams of bullets headed your way ... advantage: contra

endgame: if i remember there is a satisfying end screen to punchout, however it is a slight letdown to discover tyson himself is not as hard to beat as the second super macho man ... contra's ending is so fast that before you know it you're back at the start screen, putting in the thirty lives code yet again ... advantage: contra

winner: contra