Soda Popinski
| Soda Popinski | |
|---|---|
| Punch-Out!! character | |
Soda Popinski as depicted in promotional artwork. | |
| First game | Super Punch-Out!! (arcades) |
| Designed by | Makoto Wada (Punch-Out!!, 1987) Eddie Viser (Punch-Out!!, 2009) |
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Soda Popinski[lower-alpha 1] is a fictional Russian boxer from Nintendo's Punch-Out!! series. He first appeared in the 1984 arcade game Super Punch-Out!!, where he was known as Vodka Drunkenski.[lower-alpha 2] He was permanently renamed to Soda Popinski in 1987's Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! to avoid controversy. Despite this he still makes alcoholic references and his voice lines in the 2009 Punch-Out!! for the Wii have a drunken slur. His country of origin was originally the USSR, but this was changed to Russia in the 2009 Punch-Out!! for the Wii due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Concept and appearances[edit]
The character debuted with the name Vodka Drunkenski in the 1984 arcade game Super Punch-Out!!. To revise the stereotype of the alcoholic Russian, Nintendo of America permanently changed the character's name to the more family oriented Soda Popinski in 1987's NES home console game Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!.[citation needed] An unlicensed version of the game titled Frank Bruno's Boxing was released for home computers, where he is unofficially named "Andra Puncharedov".[citation needed] His most recent appearance is in the 2009 Wii game Punch-Out!!, with designer Eddie Viser and voice actor Ihor Mota.[citation needed] He lives in Moscow, Russia, which was renamed from the USSR upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Soda Popinski is characterized by his baldness, height, muscular frame, mustache, and his clothing. In the NES game, he makes alcoholic references but drinks soda between fights.[citation needed] In the Wii game, he is dressed for severe blizzard conditions and drinks many bottles of soda. During matches, he will attempt to take a drink from a bottle in order to recover from being knocked down, or sometimes in the middle of the fight to regain health. If players prevent him from doing the latter, he goes into a rage.
Reception[edit]
Since debuting in 1984's Super Punch-Out!!, Soda Popinski has received mostly positive reception. He has been referred to by many sources as both a notable character to the series and a fan favorite.[1][2] He is the favorite character of the producers of Punch-Out!! for the Wii.[3] Complex ranked him as the eighteenth most annoying character in video games and called him an "unholy collection of racial stereotypes".[4] MTV's Shaheem Reid suggested that rapper Papoose may be a cross between Clubber Lang, Ivan Drago, and Soda Popinski.[5]
He has been a component of racial discussion in video games since his 1984 debut in Super Punch-Out!!. The Guardian called his name change one of Nintendo's "most dramatic" alterations.[6] and a "shamelessly politically incorrect character".[7] The Escapist suggested that although now nostalgic, the cast is offensive relative to racial sensitivity today, and that it becomes more offensive once players learn of his original name.[8] 1UP.com listed Punch-Out!! as the fourth most racist video game due in part to Soda's "Soviet roughneck" stereotype.[9] GamesRadar called him one of the "top seven biggest drunks in games", specifically calling him the "drink to feel invincible" type and a "true pioneer of 8-bit drunks".[10] GamesRadar later discussed the vodka consumption, said that the resistance to cold weather seemed intentional due to the conflicts between the United States and the USSR in 1984, and noted that Russians were considered "anti-American villains".[11] GamesRadar later listed an example of Nintendo's censorship of alcohol in video games but noted that the character's mid-fight quotes still reference drinking.[12]
A bar located in San Francisco, California was named after him. The name was chosen so it would "feel like a USSR-era Siberian hunting lodge". A drink described as a "double shot of Russian vodka served neat" was named after his original name.[13]
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Punch-Out!! Review for Wii". GameSpot. May 18, 2009. Archived from the original on October 7, 2011. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
- ↑ Thomas, Lucas M. (April 18, 2007). "Punch-Out!! - Wii Review at IGN". Wii.ign.com. Archived from the original on December 13, 2010. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
- ↑ Harris, Craig. "Punch-Out!! Hands-on - Wii Preview at IGN". Wii.ign.com. Archived from the original on March 28, 2009. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
- ↑ "The 50 Most Annoying Characters In Video Games". Complex. May 24, 2011. Archived from the original on January 11, 2013. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
- ↑ Reid, Shaheem (March 3, 2008). "Fat Joe Laughs Off Black-Eye Photos After Rumble With 50 Cent Ally Papoose". MTV. Archived from the original on January 17, 2015. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
- ↑ Krotoski, Aleks (July 27, 2006). "Cultural differences in gameland | Technology | guardian.co.uk". Guardian. Archived from the original on August 10, 2014. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
- ↑ "Joy of Six: Retro Sports Games | Sport | guardian.co.uk". Guardian. November 2, 2007. Archived from the original on May 30, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
- ↑ Lahiri, Sumantra (January 13, 2009). "The Escapist : Punch-Out!!'s Black Eye". Escapistmagazine.com. Archived from the original on November 26, 2009. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
- ↑ "Top 5 Racist Videogames". 1up.com. November 15, 2007. Archived from the original on April 2, 2008. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
- ↑ "The Top 7... Biggest drunks in games". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
- ↑ "Fun with stereotypes: starring Punch-Out!!, Punch-Out!! Wii Features". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
- ↑ "Nintendo: Banned in the USA". GamesRadar. July 22, 2009. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
- ↑ Goszkowski, Rob (February 7, 2013). "Soda Popinski's enters the San Francisco bar ring". The San Francisco Examiner. Archived from the original on May 31, 2014. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
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