The Punisher is one of the darker comics published by Marvel. Somewhat of an antihero, The Punisher made his first appearance during a 1974 edition of a Spiderman comic and was given his own series not long after that. The Punisher is still going strong to this day and offers comic book fans something a little different than the cape-clad superheroes such as Superman and Batman.
The Punisher is the alter-ego of Frank Castle, and although he is generally a good guy who does his best to save the day and the girl, as all heroes should, the methods he uses make him a dangerous and dark comic book hero. He doesn’t draw the line at kidnapping, murder or even torture to get what he wants, which are three things that you can’t imagine characters like Superman ever doing.
The Punisher was created by Gerry Conway and was purported to be based on a name given to him by Marvel co-creator Stan Lee. Along with his most recent appearance in a 2008 film, The Punisher has appeared on TV two other times, first in 1989 and then in 2004.
The Punisher slot machine game was created by Playtech, who own the license for many of the Marvel characters. The game uses items that fans of the series will recognize (concentrating on the comic itself as opposed to the film) and also comes with a sizable Progressive Jackpot and fun bonus game.
Game Symbols
The symbols used on the reels include the Punisher logo, which acts as a scatter symbol, the game’s logo, which serves as a wild symbol, and a variety of other symbols that tie in with the theme of the game, including weapons, amour and ammunition. There are also other characters from the Punisher universe.
Bet Sizes
The minimum bet is $0.05 for a single coin, with the amount increasing in increments of five cents up to $0.50, after which it jumps to $0.75, $1 and then increases in single dollar increments. The more you bet the higher the Progressive Jackpot that you can win. There are four jackpots in total and they are awarded completely randomly during the spin, irrespective of the symbols that you line up or how your perform in the bonus game.
Game Features
The Punisher has just 9 pay lines, which is a little on the short side. There are still five reels, but only three rows. This does make it easier to understand, but it decreases the enjoyment of seeing a winning line pop up that you never spotted yourself. The top level of the Progressive Jackpot is only rewarded to those who bet big, often around $45 per spin, but the lower jackpots can be won by those who don’t have that much money to risk.
The bonus game is great fun, and the rewards are plentiful. The graphics are not spectacular and it is still somewhat a simple method of choosing and winning, but that is the case with many superhero slot machines. It is not a difficult game to win and the bonus game also seems to appear quite a lot, making the game very generous on the whole.
Summary
Overall we give this game a score of 3.5 out of 5. It does leave a little to be desired in places, but overall it is fun and it is an accurate representation of The Punisher universe and character, which is all that we ask as comic book fans. As gamblers, however, we ask a lot more, but The Punisher slot machine game delivers on most of those fronts.