Karnov (1987)

Data East

Amstrad CPC · Arcade · Commodore C64/128/MAX · DOS · Mac · ZX Spectrum

2.67 from 66 ratings

164 members have it in their collection · 26 backlogged · 8 wish listed

How long? Main story 1h · 100% 1h (from 2 logged playthroughs)

Karnov is a 1987 platform arcade game. It is the debut of Data East's mascot of the same name. After Data East became defunct due to bankruptcy in 2003, Paon, a company comprising former Data East staff, acquired the rights to Karnov, along with multiple other Data East games. In the game, players take control of the title character Jinborov … Read more
Karnov is a 1987 platform arcade game. It is the debut of Data East's mascot of the same name. After Data East became defunct due to bankruptcy in 2003, Paon, a company comprising former Data East staff, acquired the rights to Karnov, along with multiple other Data East games. In the game, players take control of the title character Jinborov Karnovski, or "Karnov" for short. Karnov is a strongman popularly illustrated as being from an unspecified part of the Soviet Union's Central Asian republics as shown on the original arcade flyer and again in Karnov's Revenge. Read less

Release dates

  • Jan 01, 1987 (Japan) Arcade
  • 1987 (North_America) DOS
  • 1987 (Europe) ZX Spectrum
  • 1988 (Europe) Amstrad CPC
  • 1988 (North_America) Commodore C64/128/MAX
  • 1989 (North_America) Mac

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Rating distribution

5 stars
1
4 stars
7
3 stars
30
2 stars
25
1 star
3

Community All Reviews Statuses

GigaDeathNullGolem

Review GigaDeathNullGolem 2/5 · Nov 13, 2023

Nasty Quarter Stealer by Data East

Didn't much like this arcade version. I had played the NES and remember it being okay. I gave up on the arcade of this in a few minute seeing that it was one of those that gave you three tries per quarter, resetting your progress each failure until you have to... spend another quarter, ugh.

Many Data East games were …

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Didn't much like this arcade version. I had played the NES and remember it being okay. I gave up on the arcade of this in a few minute seeing that it was one of those that gave you three tries per quarter, resetting your progress each failure until you have to... spend another quarter, ugh.

Many Data East games were like this and had the same kinda mediocre platform shooting elements, tinny music and palette to the point they feel somewhat recycled. Robocop and Bad Dudes certainly come to mind in seconds of playing. And even the better titles that I tended to like by Data East (Such as Rampage and Heavy Barrel) seem to play just as well if not better on the later released NES console ports. It could be a matter of personal preference or could be that the later releases had the benefit of improving subsequent programming and design.

Your mileage may vary, but I recommend checking out the available ports on any of Data East's "Arcade Hits" from this era as this seems to be a recurring pattern in their older games, (NES ports are better or more player friendly)

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