Games of the 8-, 16- & 32-bit era

Karnov

Title	Karnov
First release	1987
Developer	Data East
Publisher	Namco
Platforms	Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, NES / Famicom, ZX Spectrum, Arcade ADB
Genre	platformer
Players	1 player
Co-op	No
Releases	NES / Famicom: 1987-12-18 Amstrad CPC: 1988-01-01 Commodore 64: 1988-07-01
Wikidata ID	Q1982008

Jinborov Karnovski navigates nine different levels to recover treasure map pieces while battling monsters like sword-wielding monks and ostrich-riding skeleton warriors. Players control this fire-breathing strongman to jump, shoot, and collect red orbs to progress through the scrolling platform stages in either single-player or two-player modes.

Description: REG-Vault, CC BY-SA 4.0

View on Wikidata Read on Wikipedia

Facts from Wikidata (CC0), gaps filled from REG-Vault and TheGamesDB and Arcade Database (ADB). Only retro platforms tracked by this site are listed; the year is the earliest release date recorded on Wikidata.

Sources

Wikidata (Q1982008) · last updated 2026-09-27 · CC0

REG-Vault (c64/karnov) · last updated 2026-09-30 · descriptions CC BY-SA 4.0

REG-Vault (nes/karnov) · last updated 2026-10-25 · descriptions CC BY-SA 4.0

REG-Vault (zxspectrum/karnov) · last updated 2026-10-06 · descriptions CC BY-SA 4.0

REG-Vault (amstradcpc/karnov-2) · last updated 2026-10-18 · descriptions CC BY-SA 4.0

TheGamesDB (1472) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (39105) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (7133) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

Arcade Database (ADB) (karnov) · last updated 2026-10-02 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 · internal use only

Arcade Database ADB

MAME romset	`karnov`
Title at ADB	Karnov (US, rev 6)
Manufacturer	Data East USA
Year	1987
Genre	Platform / Shooter Scrolling
Players	2
MAME driver status	GOOD

Artwork: ADB (Arcade Database); artwork © original manufacturer (Data East USA); snaps by ProgettoSnaps via ADB. Non-free, internal use only (hotlinked, not downloaded).

Scraping using Arcade Database by motoschifo · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 · romset via Wikidata P2451 (wikidata-qid) · fetched 2026-10-02 16:18 UTC · filled here: platform

Source: REG-Vault (upstream not stated) · © Namco · internal use only

1 / 22 Box art Box art (front) 1

Image credits

Box art, Screenshots, Logos, Artwork (15): Source: REG-Vault (upstream not stated) · © Namco · internal use only. REG-Vault page

Box art, Logos (3): Source: TheGamesDB (user-uploaded) · © Namco · internal use only. TheGamesDB page

Screenshots (4): Source: libretro-thumbnails (upstream libretro-thumbnails (art by developers/publishers; see repo README)) · © Namco · internal use only.

Sprites

No sprite sheets yet. Find sprites on The Spriters Resource ↗ /

Videos

NES Longplay [537] Karnov (JP)

World-of-Longplays · NES / Famicom version · longplay · 27:31auto-matched
Watch on YouTube ↗ · auto:channel-harvest, checked 2026-10-25 18:42 UTC

Karnov (NES) Playthrough

NintendoComplete · NES / Famicom version · longplay · 24:01auto-matched
Watch on YouTube ↗ · auto:channel-harvest, checked 2026-10-25 18:41 UTC

"Auto-matched" videos were found automatically (title + platform match via the YouTube Data API) and may occasionally be wrong. Videos are hosted by YouTube (embedded via youtube-nocookie.com; nothing loads from YouTube until you press play) and belong to their channels.