The Punisher

From Sega Retro

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Punisher title.png

The Punisher
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Capcom USA (US), Capcom Europe (EU)
Developer:
Distributor: Sega-Ozisoft (AU)
Licensor: Marvel Entertainment Group
Sound driver: GEMS
Genre: Action

















Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
US 		T-12026
ESRB: Teen
Sega Mega Drive
US ▼
(Sega Channel) 		SUBsub
Sega Mega Drive
EU 		T-12026-50
Sega Mega Drive
UK 		T-12026-50
Sega Mega Drive
AU 		$89.9589.95[2] FPUN00SMC
Sega Mega Drive
CA ▼
(Sega Channel) 		SUBsub

The Punisher is a beat-'em-up game for the Sega Mega Drive, based on the comic book series with the same name. It is a port of the 1993 arcade game of the same title by Capcom, and stars the Punisher and Nick Fury attempting to defeat the Kingpin (also the antagonist of Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin).

Story

U.S. Marine Captain Frank Castle enjoys a picnic with his family in Central Park. The Castle family accidentally discovered a mob killing. Fearing any witnesses, the killers gunned down the family. To avenge them and all others like them, Frank becomes the vigilante the Punisher.

The game begins in an illegal casino and the streets of the New York City, with the Punisher (optionally partnered with Nick Fury, the Public Director of espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D.) in pursuit of the Mafia enforcer Bruno Costa, who ordered the killing of Castle's family. The chase eventually leads the Punisher on a mission to kill the crime lord the Kingpin and bring down his organization.

Gameplay

The game is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up similar to Final Fight. The game can be played as either the Punisher or Nick Fury and with one or two players. Characters walk with Left or Right and move backwards or forwards in the plane with Up or Down. They can roll by pressing any direction twice. They punch and kick enemies with A, which can be chained into combos. They jump with B. They can attack while in the air. They can grab opponents by holding A while in close range and throw them by pressing A again. Opponents can be thrown in the air after jumping, and characters can perform a piledriver after grabbing an opponent by jumping then pressing Down+A. Characters can perform a special attack with A+B that attacks multiple enemies around the character at the cost of a small amount of health, which is useful when surrounded. Characters are also equipped with a limited supply of grenades, which can be dropped with Down+A+B while in the air to damage all the enemies on the ground.

Various weapons can be picked up during regular combat by standing over them and pressing A, including firearms, baseball bats, swords, lead pipes, and a crude flamethrower. Weapons can be dropped by defeated enemies or obtained from smashing various containers throughout the stages. When the player is armed with a weapon, its durability is displayed at the bottom of the screen, showing how much it can be used until it breaks apart or runs out of ammunition.

Characters have a health bar that shows their vitality, which is diminished by enemy attacks. The character is defeated when he runs out of life, but the game can be continued as long as the player has credits remaining. Health can be replenished by picking up food, which can also give bonus points.

Stages

Punisher, Stage 1-1.png

Punisher, Stage 1-2.png

Punisher, Stage 1-3.png

  • Punisher, Stage 1-1.png

  • Punisher, Stage 1-2.png

  • Punisher, Stage 1-3.png

Back to the War

Punisher, Stage 2-1.png

Punisher, Stage 2-2.png

Punisher, Stage 2-3.png

  • Punisher, Stage 2-1.png

  • Punisher, Stage 2-2.png

  • Punisher, Stage 2-3.png

Raid on Pantaberde

Punisher, Stage 3-1.png

Punisher, Stage 3-2.png

Punisher, Stage 3-3.png

  • Punisher, Stage 3-1.png

  • Punisher, Stage 3-2.png

  • Punisher, Stage 3-3.png

Waterfront Warfare

Punisher, Bonus Stage.png

Bonus Stage
Shoot all of the barrels that fall to earn an extra life.

Punisher, Stage 4-1.png

Punisher, Stage 4-2.png

Punisher, Stage 4-3.png

Punisher, Stage 4-4.png

  • Punisher, Stage 4-1.png

  • Punisher, Stage 4-2.png

  • Punisher, Stage 4-3.png

  • Punisher, Stage 4-4.png

Death on Rails

Punisher, Stage 5-1.png

Punisher, Stage 5-2.png

Punisher, Stage 5-3.png

Punisher, Stage 5-4.png

  • Punisher, Stage 5-1.png

  • Punisher, Stage 5-2.png

  • Punisher, Stage 5-3.png

  • Punisher, Stage 5-4.png

Kingpin's Wrath

Punisher, Stage 6-1.png

Punisher, Stage 6-2.png

Punisher, Stage 6-3.png

Punisher, Stage 6-4.png

  • Punisher, Stage 6-1.png

  • Punisher, Stage 6-2.png

  • Punisher, Stage 6-3.png

  • Punisher, Stage 6-4.png

Final Punishment

History

The Punisher was the fourth game published by Capcom on the Mega Drive (following Street Fighter II': Special Champion Edition, Super Street Fighter II and Mega Man: The Wily Wars) after a history of licensing porting rights to Sega themselves, although the actual development of this game was outsourced to Sculptured Software. Several heavy cuts had to be made to fit the game onto the (still generous) 16 Megabit cartridge, with most sprites and background redrawn to fit a smaller scale.

Until the 2024 release of Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics (which featured an emulated version of the original CP Dash game), this Mega Drive conversion was notably the only home release of The Punisher arcade game ever produced as despite Capcom's prominent support for Nintendo platforms at the time, no Super NES version was made.

Production credits

Uncredited

  • Cover artwork: Lou Harrison

Magazine articles

Main article: The Punisher/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

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Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #70: "May 1995" (1995-0x-xx)
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Print advert in Velikiy Drakon (RU) #60: "xxxx xxxx" (2002-09-05)
also published in:
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Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
77 [4]
Sega Mega Drive
 77
Based on
1 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
50
[5]
Cool Gamer (RU)
50
[6]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
60
[7]
FLUX (US) NTSC-U
25
[8]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
53
[9]
Game Informer (US) NTSC-U
58
[10]
MAN!AC (DE) NTSC-U
58
[11]
MAN!AC (DE) PAL
58
[12]
Mega Fun (DE) PAL
61
[13]
Mega Play (US) NTSC-U
69
[14]
Next Generation (US) NTSC-U
0
[15]
Player One (FR)
60
[16]
Play Time (DE)
58
[17]
Sega Mega Drive Review (RU)
60
[18]
Todo Sega (ES)
84
[19]
Top Consoles (FR)
65
[20]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
70
[21]
Video Games (DE) NTSC-U
69
[22]
VideoGames (US) NTSC-U
70
[23]
Sega Mega Drive
 57
Based on
19 reviews

The Punisher

Mega Drive, US
ThePunisher MD US Box.jpg
Cover
Punisher MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Thepunisher md us manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, EU
ThePunisher MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
ThePunisher MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
The Punisher MD EU Manual.jpg
Manual
Mega Drive, AU
Punisher MD AU cover.jpg
Cover

Technical information

Main article: The Punisher/Technical information.

References

  1. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "March 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 116
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 File:NewReleasesCatalogueApril-May1995AU.pdf, page 11
  3. ↑ Velikiy Drakon, "xxxx xxxx" (RU; 2003-02-07), page 68
  4. ↑ Sega Pro, "June 1995" (UK; 1995-05-11), page 62
  5. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 182
  6. ↑ Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 165
  7. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "March 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 36
  8. ↑ FLUX, "Issue #4" (US; 1995-xx-xx), page 38
  9. ↑ GamePro, "April 1995" (US; 1995-xx-xx), page 49
  10. ↑ Game Informer, "June 2000" (US; 2000-0x-xx), page 104
  11. ↑ MAN!AC, "06/95" (DE; 1995-05-10), page 52
  12. ↑ MAN!AC, "07/95" (DE; 1995-06-14), page 69
  13. ↑ Mega Fun, "06/95" (DE; 1995-05-24), page 78
  14. ↑ Mega Play, "June/July 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 47
  15. ↑ Next Generation, "July 1995" (US; 1995-06-20), page 79
  16. ↑ Player One, "Juillet/Août 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 116
  17. ↑ Play Time, "7/95" (DE; 1995-06-07), page 107
  18. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Review, "2" (RU; 1996-01-03), page 104
  19. ↑ Todo Sega, "Mayo 1995" (ES; 1995-0x-xx), page 36
  20. ↑ Top Consoles, "Julliet/Août 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 98
  21. ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 21
  22. ↑ Video Games, "6/95" (DE; 1995-05-17), page 97
  23. ↑ VideoGames, "June 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 92


The Punisher

Punisher title.png

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