Overall 6.7 Graphics 6 Sound 5.5 Addictive 4.5 Story 3.5 Depth 4.5 Difficulty 6
6.3
Karnov-NES Review EarthboundFTW
Alright, here's a review for Karnov on the NES, I'm just
JUMPING for joy. Well, the box says "
KARNOV, the fire-breathing Russian, is seeking the Lost Treasure of Babylon. He runs, swims, jumps, climbs and flies through nine levels of game play". Sounds simple enough, let's start. After hitting start, Karnov is sent flying to the ground on a... lightning bolt? What the...? Okay, I won't question it. Now, the main controls are jumping and shooting projectiles that look like your own skin. OH wait! He's supposed to be a fire-breathing Russian! He certainly looks like the stereotypical tough Russian guy, with the mustache, the big, bulging muscles, and a bald head. And I guess he's breathing fireballs. The main goal of the game, it seems, is to collect items and get through the level. There are objects such as K's that give you points, bombs that... I don't know what they do (I guess they're a special attack?), and ladder icons that allow you to shoot two projectiles. I don't understand... why does a ladder icon make you shoot two fireballs as opposed to one? And why is it that if he collects K's, he gets points? Since my name starts with M, if I was walking down the street, and I saw a letter M and picked it up, I'd gain imaginary "points"? Well, I won't argue with gaming logic. Most of the enemies are weird rock-monster-looking-guys that throw boulders and shiver as if they're cold, imps, and at one point I swear two soldiers wearing green came from
underground and attacked me with swords. If you get hit by any of these numbskulls once, you turn blue, and so do your projectiles. Two hits and you're dead, by the way. But you can save yourself, for if you see a little orange orb in the air and you touch it, you'll turn orange again and you can survive until you're hit twice again. The controls aren't that bad, I mean, they're all responsive, the physics are fine, not much to complain about. It's kind of hard, I couldn't get past the first level, but maybe I just suck at these side-scrolling shooters. So, seven on difficulty. The story, what little there is, is pretty generic. Trying to find the mysterious
Lost Treasure, ooh boy, how exciting. Four for the story. The game is a nice length, with nine levels, but the game is basically the same thing throughout, go shoot enemies and get objects. The game doesn't have much for you to do, and most NES gamers will be able to finish it pretty quickly. The depth of the game is a six. Addictiveness isn't very high. I probably won't play this game again for awhile, because it's simply not fun enough for me. I think I'll give the addictiveness a rating of five. The sound and graphics are nice. The music's not bad, the sound effects are fine, Karnov looks well-done, with nice detail. (One funny thing about the music, the game over music is not fitting at all. It's a nice, upbeat, happy tune. It's like "Yay, I died! That game was so horrible I wanted to die!") Seven each for graphics and sound. My overall rating of this not-so-great classic is a 6.3. If you want to waste time on a rainy day and there's nothing else to do for a few hours, it's one of the games that could entertain you for a bit before you put it on your shelf and forget about it.
Graphics 7 Sound 7 Addictive 5 Story 4 Depth 6 Difficulty 7
Review Rating: 3/5
Submitted: 07-30-12
Review Replies: 0
4.5
Karnov, the subpar platformer with the infamous ending endings
Usually I review nostalgic gems from my childhood. Ones that stood out as something fun and engaging I would play for hours. Karnov is not that kind of game. It stands out in my memory, but for the wrong reasons. Not to say the game is bad, I'm sure the developer meant well. After all, Karnov was I think a mascot for DATA EAST for a bit, and was even an enemy boss in another game. Wait, isn't he a hero in this? Maybe a Wario-type greedy bad guy? Well its hard to tell, because there is not a lot of info here.Karnov was a hard to find arcade game, and this port does pretty good justice to the graphics. It even added some small touches to the home console, as some ports?were known to do at the time. In this case, its a small life bar, a lot like Ghosts N Goblins. A very good move! So decent port of graphics, and a life bar are added, so far so good. But lets talk about the graphic art for a bit. ?
If the things you fight make you question 'what is that??', well the arcade wasn't any better. The first flaw is character design. You are a short, squat dude who is supposed to be a strongman, but Karnov looks pretty portly. The enemies you fight almost defy description. One is perhaps an orc woman on top of a birds nest (!?!) and the first boss is a giant fish man that is either holding his stubbed toe, or a bag that happens to match his skin color. Why are we fighting these strange things??The game does not make it clear. Only an instruction manual will give you any back story at all, making lack of any reason to care for why we are here, or our hero. The game seems to be a treasure hunt for relics that you never see, even upon beating a boss. You are a short guy with a sweet mustache, the titular Karnov, and he breathes fire and is apparently some kind of strongman. You do not get to see him lift anything or fight in a circus, but you do see him shoot fire. By the hundreds. Fire ball spitting is his main weapon, and boy, he can really lay it down. Rapid fire, and with power ups shooting sometimes 3 or more bullets, he can tear up the opponents quickly. He also can withstand two hits, turning blue if he takes one point of damage - but this can be restored via red orbs that hang about in the sky. Touching one with full health will give you extra fireballs and make him a beast for combat. Karnov can also use a lot of different items and duck and fire, which easily dodges most enemy bullets.Speaking of those different items he can equip, lets talk about those. He can use small bombs, jumping shoes, a shield, boomerang, some scuba gear, wings for flight, and more. The catch is items like the wings and ladder you just can't use anytime you want. You have to look at the icon flashing below. If its flashing, you can press select and use it there. The ladder is by far the most useful, and climbing up and then down it will let you take it back in your inventory! Very handy. The bombs are an acquired touch, they are less for hurting enemies- the explosion is tiny (but does not hurt Karnov), and more for busting open secret paths through rocks. This is optional, but adds some variety that is sorely needed in this game.Lacking in any variety is the choice of music, which sadly is composed of one Russian sounding song for the entire game. The most alarming sound issue I found is a loud alarm sound for a few seconds. It kept making me think an enemy was coming or I was running out of time on the stage. However its used to try and help you, letting you know an item can be used at this moment. The alarm noise is more distracting than anything.Also missing variety is the bosses. There are 9 stages, and several of the bosses get a retread. Not a palette swap, its 'here is that green fish guy again' kind of deal. Some bosses are big and kind of imposing, although I was disappointed in most, as they do not offer much challenge and have a limited strategy of attack. I would not say this is a hard game if you know what the red orbs do, and have a limited understanding of the ladder/bombs/wings power ups. The rest is fluff.I will leave this review with talk of the best feature, and the worst feature of Karnov.The best feature I think is right at the beginning of a stage. Karnov comes down from lightning for some reason. Its a dramatic effect, like he's made from it. This entrance looks pretty cool, although he's a fire guy and has no lightning attacks.The worst feature is the ending. This definitely in the running for the worst NES ending ever. I won't spoil it for you, but its pretty hilarious. Even years and years later, I remember getting that ending and the closest I can think of the disappointment is Christmas Story movie with the decoder ring. If that reference makes no sense to you, reader, just know well it sucks. Its a downright downer of an ending.
Karnov is not a bad game, it functions, but its not up to par with any Mario or better platformer out there. In the sense DATA EAST had to take a moldy sandwich of a game and just added some great plating. Its as nice as they could get it, but they really should have just worked on porting over a better game than Karnov in the first place.
Graphics 5 Sound 4 Addictive 4 Story 3 Depth 3 Difficulty 5
Review Rating: 3/5
Submitted: 07-06-14
Updated: 07-06-14
Review Replies: 3
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