An NES game has been stealth-released, bringing anyone who picks it up on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, PS5, and Xbox Series X back to the 1980s. The game in question debuted all the way back in 1987, via the arcade, releasing in both Japan and the United States. A year later, it came to the NES in 1988. And this is the only console platform it came to. As a result, many associate the game with the arcade, but also with the NES.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Whatever the origin of your nostalgia is, those who played Data East’s 1987/1988 platformer, Karnov, can now play it on modern hardware, courtesy of Hamster, who has stealthily released the classic from yesteryear on all of the aforementioned hardware. On PS4 and Nintendo Switch, it notably costs $7.99, while on Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, and Xbox Series X it costs $9.99. Meanwhile, an upgrade path between the two versions will also be available going forward for $2.99.
A Forgotten Data East Game
For those unfamiliar with the game, Karnov was a fairly successful table arcade game, especially in Japan. On the NES, it failed to cultivate quite the same relevance. Overall, the critical and consumer reception was decent.
As for the game itself, it’s a pretty simplistic action platformer where you play a fighter who can breathe fire from his mouth and must defeat the Emperor of Darkness and reclaim the stolen treasures. Obviously, as you would expect from a 1980s arcade game, the story is very, very simplistic. The focus is gameplay, which is primitive by 2026 standards, but holds up if you have the nostalgia for this era of gaming to paper over the cracks. If you didn’t grow up on late 1980s and early 1990s games, it’s a hard revisit, even with the modern improvements and additions, which include: save slots, rewind functionality, difficulty setting, screen settings, rapid-fire toggle, leaderboards, and new modes. There is even variable refresh rate, which gets the experience closer to the original arcade experience than the NES version ever did.
As you would expect, nostalgics who yearn for this era of gaming are happy to see a gem like this return. To this end, the trailer above has 151 likes to just 4 dislikes, and many of the comments echo this sentiment.
“Karnov is classic. Haven’t played or seen this in ages,” reads the top comment. Another popular comment adds, “I’ve been waiting for this game for 39 years.”
A third comment further drives home the point: “In an era of unambiguously heroic, chiselled god-looking Conan types… here is a strong fat guy of highly dubious character fighting for redemption. And it’s awesome.”
If this new NES nostalgia doesn’t tickle your persona nostalgia, the good news is there isn’t a shortage of NES nostalgia in 2026. To this end, just recently, a collection of NES and SNES games was released on Nintendo Switch and PS5.
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Courtesy of Insomniac Games -
Courtesy of Hello Games
