10 Video Game Underdogs That Defied All Odds

Video games don't have to be built using the latest technology to tell a great story. In what can be considered to be the consummate underdog story, Punch-Out!! protagonist Little Mac can be summed up as the journey of an 8-bit Rocky Balboa.

The old saying of it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog, perfectly encapsulates Little Mac's journey in gaming.

Most of his opponents very clearly outmatch him, in terms of sheer size and overall stature. Adding to this predetermined disadvantage, most of their hits in-game can knock off a sizeable amount of health from the player, while the protagonist is barely able to make incremental dents in their own health bar.

Through sheer persistence, and a will to win, Little Mac is able to trounce all of his opponents, even the final boss in boxing legend Mike Tyson. It's as underdog-esque as you can get in video games, and showcases how brawn doesn't always necessarily result in a win, as compared to willpower and brains.

Throughout boxing's history, there have been many instances of a severely outmatched combatant supposedly being sacrificed to an innate powerhouse. In the case of one of the most iconic boxing video games, that combatant in Little Mac etched his place in history as one of gaming's foremost underdogs. Paulie would be proud.