Karnov

Developer: Data East     Publisher: Data East     Released: 1988     Genre: Platformer

During the NES era nearly every publisher had their own mascot.  The mascot phenomenon will always be a strange point in video game history; how and why the industry decided each company’s corporate ideals needed to be embodied in a smarmy furry animal will forever remain a mystery.  Namco had Pac-Man, Capcom had Mega Man, and Data East had…..Karnov, a fat, fire breathing Russian.  I shouldn’t harp on him too much; I mean it’s not like Mario is a distinguished gentleman in comparison.  But even with that in mind it was a strange choice.  At least his starring role is a decent if flawed adventure.

I always found Karnov to be weird.  Considering everything I knew about Russia came from Rocky IV (let that sink in) even though I took it in stride I still thought it was a strange title.  Data East got a lot of mileage out of the character.  In addition to being a boss in Bad Dudes he was also the final boss in Fighter’s History Dynamite.  The NES game is a port of the 1987 arcade game and is pretty faithful to the source material.  It makes a few changes for the better but still contains the main flaws of its arcade big brother in that it is a short and easy game that had potential to be more.

Although it would be easy to call Karnov a platformer it is actually not.  There is surprisingly little platforming to be found.  That’s a good thing as his jumping controls are not the best.  Karnov is more of a side scrolling action title.  Except instead of guns he breathes fire.  His initial stream of fire can be upgraded to three, which is pretty potent.  Unlike the arcade game Karnov can take two hits before death.  Curiously he turns blue after the first hit, which the game never explains.  The double hit system makes the game a lot more tolerable but not overwhelmingly easy.

While it isn’t a platformer Karnov does have many of the trappings of one.  You can amass a large inventory of items or “options” for later use.  These come in a range of flavors.  Some are utility like the ladder which sees the most use.  There are jump boots, a mask to breathe underwater and even wings for flight.  There are plenty of weapons in the bunch like the boomerang, shield, and screen clearing bombs.  The interface is not the most intuitive unfortunately as it scrolls through as you move.  Luckily you can pause and scroll through your items and use one which helps tremendously, even if it is tedious.

The NES version improves on the arcade game in a number of additional ways.  Put simply this is a better playing game.  In addition to surviving two hits the number of enemies has been paired back significantly.  Not so much that the game is a walk in the park but enough that it is tolerable.  The arcade game was the work of a masochist who hated children.  No more.  The game is more generous with power-ups as well.  So much so that you will be hard pressed to use it all.  Two of the later levels were redesigned so that they focus on specific items for the better as well.

What is there in Karnov is fun but at the same time there is also the feeling that it could use more.  The level design is both decent and disappointing.  Most stages feature at least one branching path which is cool.  But the levels are so short that it almost doesn’t matter.  There are a ridiculous number of items but most won’t see any use during the game.  The really interesting ones like the wings are so rare you’ll only use them once.  While the pacing has been improved it can be repetitive.  This becomes incredibly obvious when you start to face prior end level bosses as regular enemies.  There is nothing wrong with that but sometimes it happens four or five times in a row!  That seems to be the ebb and flow of Karnov; for every one interesting element there is another that is lackluster.

In Closing

Ultimately Karnov a fun yet flawed adventure.  Karnov has problems but nothing that makes it a waste of time. Fun while it lasts but could have used more. This is Karnov’s only heroic role; from here on out he becomes a right bastard in other Data East titles.