The Punisher on the NES is one of those games that I feel is an underrated gem of a game. Some people may already be familiar with The Punisher, who originally was a Marvel Comics comic book hero. That is what this game is based on, which I think is appealing because right now we are seeing an explosion in comic book heroes in movies and video games , well this game was doing just that nearly 30 years ago!

   The game is primarily a shooting game, with you playing as The Punisher. This game is one of the earliest quality shooting games you can find. The Punisher stands at the bottom front of the screen and strafes side to side while the screen scrolls to the side and your primary goal is to shoot all of the bad guys. I would not recommend this game to a younger audience because it is a very violent and adult themed game. Anyone who is familiar with The Punisher knows this is fitting to the game because The Punisher was always one of Marvels more 'edgy' comics.

Graphics: 7
   I gave this game a 7 for the graphics. For me a 7 rating is right around average which is where I feel this game would stand in the graphics department. One of the good things this game does in the graphics is having the environment respond correctly when you shoot things in the background. If you shoot a wall , you will leave a bullet hole, if you shoot a car , it will continuously take more damage , until you leave it a pile of rubble. You are also rewarded for these sorts of things , as you will quickly find, a lot of this games 'secrets' come by way of shooting things in the games background.

Sound: 8
   I gave this game an 8 for sound because I think it is one of the things this game does very well. From the sound of your gun as you upgrade it from a hand gun to a machine gun to the ultimate super gun, or the sound of your grenades as they fly through the air and hit your enemy's, to the unforgettable tune of the local saxophone player. (game tip: the saxophone player is the only person in the entire game you don't want to shoot) The boss battles also have a unique soundtrack that adds a lot of intensity to the fights.

Addictiveness: 8
   I also scored highly on this game for addictiveness because my family had a cartridge of this game since I was a young child and I've gone back to play this game more times than I can remember. The game nearly requires you to play it over a few times just so you can get a good feel for each stages layout so you are able to beat the entire game eventually. After that , the game contains so many secrets and such a challenge for highscore that it continues to be fun after you've beaten the last boss. One great aspect of this game, is that it has a tremendous amount of potential for highscore competitions on vizzed.
 
Story: 4
   This is where the game suffers a lot in my overall rating of the game. The plot for this game is very brief and only a few paragraphs long. What you do get from those few paragraphs is not all to original either and is a pretty overall bland story. Basically , I'm The Punisher and I must Punish criminals, that's the story! I'm not sure though , that it is fair the games overall score is dropped by the lacking story because it is one of those types of games that is not played for the story. ( like most shooting games)

Depth: 7
   I rated this game a 7 for depth because once you beat the last boss , the biggest thing to do after is play for highscore. Once you are pretty good at the game and know the layout of the stages, the entire game doesn't actually take very long to complete , right around 1 hour.

Difficulty: 7
   The difficulty of this game is a good balance of not too hard not too easy. If you have never played this game before you probably wont have much trouble beating the first boss or maybe the 2nd but you also probably wont get much further than that. It is a good balance that its not too hard that it is frustrating , but its not so easy that their is no sense of reward or accomplishment for completing it.

Overall: 6.8
   The 6.8 overall score is an average from all the above category's. I think the 6.8 overall score is a good indicator that this is a fun game but it's not the end all be all of games. I think most people who enjoy NES and retro games could enjoy this game but it probably would not be very many peoples all time favorite game which is why I score it a 6.8/10

I have played this game a little. Its ok at points but a little bland overall.

I did have a question about the review itself goes. In the opening sentance you state that it's "An underrated gem of a game" but then you continue to give the game a 6.8 out of 10. Now I know everyone has their own rating system but it seems weird that you would call it underrated but then basically give it a D+ score. That leads me to believe the game is bad. I guess it kinda depends on your rating system. Still though it could mislead people into thinking it's a horrible game.

Jordanv78 : I had hoped to clarify my overall rating a bit in that last paragraph. It's an average of the other subcategory's. The fact the game has a nearly non-existent plot didn't help it. I also will admit, when it comes to ranking games I'm a stickler and a 6.8 from me might be like an 8 from someone else. Like I said I think I explained my intent for the overall rating in the last paragraph of the review.

Like I said I understand that everyone has their own ranking system and I saw your last paragraph. I also understand averages. Do you give most NES games a 4 for story? Because most platformers and Shooters on NES have almost no story.

That being said in my opinion I still believe it's kinda contradictory to say "hidden gem" then give it a D (in most peoples rankings) that's all I'm saying. That seems more of a "Mixed bag" than a "hidden gem" to me but to each their own.

I meant no offense btw I was just pointing that out.

Jordanv78 : Well I will take your criticism to heart, and I for sure see your point. I plan on submitting as many game reviews as I can , but I do want to focus more on quality than quantity. You are for sure right though, once I think about it , 90% of NES games have no plot , so I can't really take away from those games for that. I think in my further reviews you will see in my ratings etc, I wont take away from a games score for the plot etc. unless it's necessary.