The Punisher (1990 NES video game)


The Punisher is a 1990 video game developed by Beam Software and released by LJN, which stars the Marvel Comics anti-hero, the Punisher. It is one of the few NES rail shooters.
In the same year, there was also The Punisher video game for Amiga and DOS systems, unrelated to this one and released by MicroProse.

Premise

The Punisher's origin has been slightly altered from that of the original comic books, in the game The Punisher is a former detective instead of a US Marine who served in the Vietnam War.

Gameplay

The player controls the Punisher character from an over-the-shoulder third-person perspective through various New York City locations, shooting thugs and battling supervillains Hitman, Jigsaw, Colonel Kliegg, Sijo Kanaka, and Assassin as bosses. The final boss is the Kingpin. Power-ups can be obtained by shooting them onscreen and include extra ammunition, a med kit, Kevlar, a bazooka, a machine gun, and grenades.
At times Daily Bugle newspapers appear and gives the player tips.

Reception

Fred Rojas of Gamminghistory101 expressed that he was quite impressed with the game's graphical prowess and also praised what he considered to be an interesting addition to the traditional light gun format and the brawler element, which is key to completing two of the boss battles, that requires the player to have more than crack shot skills. Conversely he did criticize the lack of music in the game and stated:
Rojas also criticized the boss battle with the Kingpin for being frustratingly difficult but finished with that he considered the game to be as impressive today as it was when it first came out and that it is a gem among Nintendo's initial console.
Videogamechoochoo.com's reviewer Ryan expressed disappointment at the developers' decision to lock Frank Castle into the bottom of the screen and let the player slide him around, ending up as "one of the few" rail shooters for NES. He also stated:
Ryan also criticized the game for its lack of soundtrack:
He goes on to applaud the game for its accurate portrayal of the Punisher, the violence he commits and his antagonists. Likewise he also complimented the graphics and stated that he was surprised at how much action took place on the screen at the same time and added that Beam Software put a lot of effort into the spritework.
Blair Farrell of Comic Gamers Assemble stated that the game would have benefited from being able to use the NES Zapper but added that the game's design added more depth to the simple shooting mechanics.

Game Boy port

In 1991 the game was ported to the Game Boy. The Game Boy version, titled The Punisher: The Ultimate Payback, had several differences, including an appearance from Spider-Man.