 "GameFan" reviewer wrote "The Punisher" "proved to be everything I dreamed of in a traditional "Final Fight"-style game", having previously described it as "definitely the greatest side scrolling fighting game ever" as well as "the bloodiest, goriest fighting game since "Mortal Kombat"" in his preview.Reviewing the Genesis conversion, "VideoGames" called it "a decent exercise in vigilante mayhem" that is "surprisingly fun, yet fairly standard game".A preview by "Mean Machines Sega" opined it "looks good" and features "fantastic weaponry", but "EGM" criticized the characters for being too small on the screen, also stating that there was little to no skill involved in defeating the bosses.