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The Punisher: The Ultimate Payback! released in 1991 by Acclaim Entertainment is the Game Boy version of the 1990 NES game The Punisher about the Marvel comics vigilante Frank Castle, also known as the Punisher. It contains several changes from the original. It features cameo appearances of Spider-Man in the first level rescuing hostages and the final boss was switched from Kingpin to Jigsaw.
Gameplay[]
The player controls Frank Castle (the Punisher) from an over-the-shoulder third-person perspective through various New York City locations, shooting thugs and battling enemies such as Hitman, Colonel Kliegg, Sijo Kanaka, and Assassin as bosses. The final boss is Jigsaw. Power-ups can be obtained by shooting them onscreen and include extra ammunition, a med kit, kevlar, a machine gun, a bazooka and grenades.
Plot[]
Just like the NES version The Punisher's origin has been slightly altered from that of the comic books, in the games he is a former police detective instead of a US Marine. The game follows Frank Castle after the death of his wife and children at the hands of the mafia after which he decided to become a vigilante who hunts down and kills every criminal he believes deserves it.
The game begins with Spider-Man telling Punisher that a drug lord is hiding in a mall and that he has to get him. With Frank Castle shooting villains while protecting the innocent. Spider-Man appears between the action to offer advice on how to beat upcoming levels and swings in to rescue hostages once their captors have been shot.
At the end of the game when Jigsaw realises that The Punisher is going to kill him, Castle says, "Penance is good for the soul, but punishment is good for the guilty".
Reception[]
Blair Farrell of Comic Gamers Assemble criticized the game for removing the players ability to move the Punisher across the screen but stated that he understood why it was done considering the size of the screen. He also stated that the game is relatively short as well as difficult and that Spider-Man's appearances did not make sense for the character considering that Spider-Man would never aid the Punisher in killing his enemies. He finished by stating that the game is overall much inferior to the NES version but that The Ultimate Payback has the advantage of having separate soundtracks for each level.
External links[]
- The Punisher: The Ultimate Payback! at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- The Punisher: The Ultimate Payback! at GameFAQs
| Marvel Comics video games | |
|---|---|
| Crossover | Captain America and the Avengers • Arcade's Revenge • War of the Gems • Marvel Nemesis • Ultimate Alliance Marvel Super Hero Squad • Ultimate Alliance 2 • The Infinity Gauntlet • Marvel Pinball • Comic Combat • Battle for Earth Marvel Disk Wars • Ultimate Alliance 3 |
| Fantastic Four | Fantastic Four • Fantastic Four: Flame On • Rise of the Silver Surfer |
| The Incredible Hulk | Incredible Hulk (SNES) • Hulk • Incredible Hulk (GBA) • Ultimate Destruction • Incredible Hulk (2008) |
| Iron Man | Iron Man and X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal • The Invincible Iron Man • Iron Man • Iron Man 2 |
| The Punisher | The Punisher • The Punisher: The Ultimate Payback! |
| Lego games | Lego Marvel Super Heroes (Universe in Peril) • Lego Marvel's Avengers • Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 |
| Other games | Blade • Captain America • Daredevil • Ghost Rider • Guardians of the Galaxy • Silver Surfer • Thor |
| Related | Spider-Man • X-Men |