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It's weird, it's wacky, it's wonderful. That's Karnov for you! After what seems like a *very* long wait, a decent coin-op conversion has appeared for the Spectrum. You'll be hooked as soon as you load it up - and you won't want to turn your machine off until you've completed the final level.

If you've played the original Data East arcade game you'll know what the concept owes a lot to Rastan Saga with a bit of Ghosts And Goblins thrown in for good measure. Both those are coin-op classics, and although Karnov can't claim the same reputation it's still an extremely playable game - and Mr. Micro should get a gold star for the conversions they've done for Electric Dreams.

The Spectrum version may have jerky scrolling and not-so-hot sounds, but the playability and big colourful graphics help capture the spirit of the original.

The plot is typically Japanese, although the action is supposed to be taking place in medieval Russia (?). An evil dragon, Ryu, has raided the small village where the legendary Lost Treasure of Babylon has been hidden for centuries. To punish the villagers, this nasty flying reptile has unleashed an army of mutated minions and deadly demons into the countryside around the village.

Returning to the village after years travelling as a circus strongman, our hero Karnov find himself called on to go on a quest to recover the treasure and bring peace and harmony back to the world. The most energetic thing Karnov wanted to do on his retirement from the circus was sit down at the local inn and swap tales of his exploits with his mates - but life often throws things at you you're not expecting, like rocks, spells, bombs, bats, you know the sort of thing.

You start the game on the outskirts of a ruined town. You have to run, jump and climb your way through to the end of the town - avoiding flying mosnters, rock-throwing Rock Men, scimitar-wielding arabs and other assorted nasties.

Along the way you can collect useful items, like ladders, extra firepower, magical seven-league jumping boots, bombs and so on. The screen scrolls left to right, and although you can turn around and go back a short way you are always forced to move forward. So watch out for objects which sometimes fall from the skies - it can be horribly frustrating to see an object you could really do with just out of reach.

Items you collect appear in an inventory at the bottom of the screen - and you keep them, even if you do lose one of your five lives. Some items must be used only at specific items during your fight to recover the treasure. Others, like bombs can be used anytime.

But be careful how you use the inventory. You flick through the objects as Karnov moves back and forward on the screen - so make sure the object you want to activate is the one highlighted *before* you hit the appropriate key. Many's the time I've hit the activate key with the bomb icon highlighted when I really wanted to use a ladder. And if you don't move fast enough, you *will* blow yourself up!

Talking of ladders, you'll need these to reach useful objects higher up the screen or to escape from difficult sitautions. The boots come in useful for making big jumps over obstacles, and other items will help you fly or swim underwater.

As you've probably guessed, there's a lot to this game. Discovering what does what and to whom is half the fun. The other half is actually beating a level guardian and making it to the next one! The end of each level is guarded by a boss monster which takes a bit of time and strategy to defeat.

Karnov is a game for map makers and tipsters as well as arcade addicts - it's one of those games which will spawn a thousand maps and a hundred hints.

The nasties who come at you are many and varied - I liked the skeletons on ostriches and the collapsing, fireball breathing, towers myself. But there's lots more to see as you venture deeper into Ryu's fortress...

The only criticisms are that it's a multi-load game, but how do you get all this action into a Spectrum without doing that? And the scrolling could do with being a bit smoother.

Those things accepted, Karnov should be a hit game if there's any justice in the world. You'll discover exciting action, colourful graphics and addictive gameplay. Join up with the rushin' Russian and you won't be disappointed.

Now check out our Karnov map with hints and tips in Playmasters.