Karnov

Infobox VG
title = "Karnov"


developer = Data East
publisher = Data East
designer =
release = Arcade version
1987
NES version
^JPN December 18, 1987
^NAJanuary 1988
genre = Platform
modes = Up to 2 players, alternating turns
platforms = Arcade, NES, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum
cabinet = Upright
arcade system =
monitor = Raster, standard resolution (Used: 256 x 240), horizontal
input = Joystick; 3 buttonsnihongo|"Karnov"|カルノフ|Karunofu is an arcade game developed and published by Data East in 1987.

History

Karnov's full name is Jinborov Karnovski. He was originally based on a middle-age legend, Karnov the Firespitter. According to the myth, Scottish villagers would call forth Karnov to chase gypsies from the area. The legend stated that Karnov would use his fire breath to burn gypsy wagons and eat their babies as food.

Karnov attracted an unusual amount of interest in Bulgaria during the Cold War, where it was one of the few games that the authorities allowed (presumably due to Karnov's Russian heritage). The popularity of Karnov took some rather bizarre turns in late 80's Bulgarian culture - at one point, a rotund Bulgarian even had a low budget cooking show entitled "Cooking With Karnov!" Karnov, although popularly illustrated as an Eastern European or a Slav, is actually from the Far East of the former Soviet Union as shown on the original arcade flyer and again in 'Karnov's Revenge'.

Karnov later became Data East's mascot, and was reintroduced in many other Data East games, including "Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja" in which he played a boss in the first level. Karnov later appeared in 1994 in another one of his own games for the Neo-Geo hardware called "Karnov's Revenge". This game, also known as "Fighter's History Dynamite", is not a sequel to the original Karnov, but to "Fighter's History", a competitive one-on-one fighter in which Karnov was the final boss.

Gameplay

The game puts the bulging muscled, fire-breathing, ex-circus strongman east-Russian hero on a quest through 9 different levels to search for treasures. However, between him and the treasures were several horrendous monsters, including sword wielding monks, jinns, foot hopping giant fish and ostrich-riding skeleton warriors.

Players can make Karnov walk, jump and shoot his way through these levels and find special items that will help him on his way. He also can collect red orbs with which he can upgrade up to 3 fireballs at a time. Each level contains a variety of strange enemies, such as gargoyles, rock creatures, and strong men, which Karnov must destroy or avoid. When he reaches the end of a level he usually has to face one or more powerful enemies which he must defeat to beat the level and receive a new piece of a treasure map. At the end of the game he must face a powerful boss often called "The Wizard" and collect the treasure.

pecial Items

In each level Karnov can collect a variety of items along the way, which can be chosen right awayor only at certain times. The items Karnov can use at any time are:
*Jump Boots - Allow Karnov to run faster and jump much higher temporarily.
*Bomb - Destroys enemies and some floors and walls which can lead to hidden areas.
*Ladder - Used to reach high places.
*Boomerang - Powerful throwing weapon that destroys most enemies in one hit and can be retrieved after being thrown.
*Super Fireball - 30 fireballs that destroy most enemies in one hit.The items that are activated in special zones of levels are:
*Wings - Allow Karnov to fly for a limited amount of time.
*Scuba Helmet - Is used only in the fifth level (sea). Allows Karnov to swim faster in water.
*Mask - It will flash and a noise will sound where it can be used to receive a cache of hidden items.
*Trolley - Karnov can ride through and destroy ground enemies.Misc items:
*Red Orb - Increase the firepower of Karnov, letting him spit more than one fireball at a time, with a maximum of three.
*Letter K - Although not really a special item, if Karnov collects 50 of these, he will earn an extra life.

Ports

This game was later ported to numerous home consoles, such as the NES, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Tiger Electronics handheld and others.

Famicom/NES Version differences

Karnov was released for the Famicom on December 18, 1987 in Japan, and a year later on its North American equivalent, the NES, in 1988. Although it plays very similarly to the original arcade game there are some noticeable differences:

*Karnov takes 2 hits to die instead of just one. After being hit once he will turn a blue color in which he has one hit left or can gain an extra hit back by grabbing a blue fireball orb.
*The Super Fireball is replaced with the Spike Bomb which destroys every enemy on screen. The Trolley item is replaced with the Shield which is used to reflect an enemies fireballs.
*Levels 4 and 8 are completely different from the arcade levels.
*The final boss is no longer the Wizard, but a giant three-headed dragon by the name of Ryu. Both fights, however, take place in similar rooms.

Both the Famicom and NES versions are also slightly different from each other. The Famicom provides a story throughout the entire game, complete with images. The NES game does not have such a feature. The Famicom game is also considerably more difficult since it does not allow the player to continue after all lives are lost. The NES game, however, provides unlimited continues.

Other appearances in media

Video games

Aside from being featured in the various ports of the original "Karnov" game and the "Fighter's History" games, he has found his way in several other gaming titles, usually as an enemy:
*In "Garyo Retsuden", only released in Japan by Data East, Karnov is featured as a regular enemy.
*In "Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja" by Data East, he is featured as the first level's boss. A slightly different rendition of the boss music is used when fighting him, which contains the familiar melody from the original "Karnov" game. A grey version of Karnov appears later in the game. According to the credits sequence of DragonNinja (the Japanese version of Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja), this version of Karnov is called Kusamoci Karnov.
*In "Trio The Punch - Never Forget Me...", only released in Japan by Data East, features several different enemy renditions of Karnov. Some of these bizarre takes are of enormous stone statues and even mini versions of him.
*Although not a direct cameo, the guard boss from the Gaelco game, "Big Karnak", is almost identical to Karnov's and Kusamoci Karnov's sprites from "Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinja".
*Karnov appeared as an enemy in the Data East game "Tumblepop"
*Karnov appears in the alley background of the Neo-Geo game "Street Slam". He is shown wearing a shirt with a "K" on it.
*Karnov appears in the credits of the freeware game 'I wanna be the guy' in the 'Hall of former the guys'

Pop culture

*Robby Roadsteamer wrote a song called "Kathy Sucks At Karnov" for his 2008 release "This Album Syncs Up To Toejam And Earl"
*In 2005 Galaxy454 Productions released the 30 minute film KARNOV based on the post-video game adventures of Jinborov Karnovski. [http://www.galaxy454.com Karnov the movie]
*In a stranger vein, Karnov appeared as the protagonist of Something Awful's "Dance Dance Revolution" parody, "Dance Dance Karnov".
*In March and June 2006, Karnov once again appeared as the subject of Something Awful updates. "The Karnov Playsets" (1 and 2) included short clips featuring Karnov in a variety of surreal and nonsensical settings. [http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=3669] and [http://www.somethingawful.com/index.php?a=3867]
*He has also spawned a "Religion" with "services" being held at www.thechurchofkarnov.com.

ee also

*Chelnov

External links

*StrategyWiki|Karnov
* [http://www.galaxy454.com "Karnov" the movie by Galaxy454 Productions]
* [http://www.flip.com/people/flipbooks/76733 Karnov's motivational teen flip book]
*KLOV game|id=8283
*moby game|id=/karnov
* [http://www.arcade-history.com/index.php?page=detail&id=1263 Arcade-History.com entry]
* [http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=142 A "Fake" Sequel to the Karnov games done by Something Awful, includes many of the bad guys in the original game]
*WoS game|id=0002676