Atomic Runner Chelnov - Nuclear Man, the Fighter (Arcade)

Super Adventures in Gaming Replay - Game 3

Today I’m playing the original arcade version of Genesis/Mega Drive game Atomic Runner, which I wrote about exactly one year ago today.

That title screen is very different to the one on the Mega Drive port, which had the hero standing in a city firing lightning from his hands. I’m going to make a wild guess and say the game might possibly have something to do with the Cold War in some way.

I can’t believe I totally ignored the intro when I talked about the game last time. Well I mean the Mega Drive intro, the original arcade game has a very different story to tell.

One windy, a disaster occuered. A nuclear power plant (definitely not Chernobyl, although if you write out Chelnov's name in katakana...) exploded with a horrifying BKON!, irradiating the nearby coal miners with radio-ation

Fortunately for Chelnov, unlike most real life nuclear disasters, this one was the type that creates superheroes.

Okay I think we’ve skipped a page here. Who’s Destarian? What was his enchanting solicitation? Where did Chelnov get the superhero outfit from? Why doesn’t the text have anything to do with what's happening in the picture?

Hell yeah, how can we lose? Even the narrator’s cheering us on.

Wait, is that his full name then? Chelnov ‘The Invincible Warrier’ Chelnov?

Anyway while he’s busy fighting the sinister forces of Destarian, I’ll have a look at what Mega Drive Chelnov’s up to. It seems that he’s a scientist working for his father, who just got himself blown up.

His dad explains with his dying breath that the Deathtarians are planning to conquer the world. He’s known of their plans for years, working in secret to make a super suit to stop them. Now Chelnov must wear the suit and save humanity.

P.S. His sister’s also been kidnapped.

Wow, that’s just amazing. He couldn’t make it even one paragraph into his war against the Deathtarians without being captured.

And so Chelnov became the Atomic Runner. It sounds like he’s swearing to fight for justice there, but all he’s really saying is they can’t stop him running.

There’s a port of the game for the Sharp X68000 too, but it's graphically identical to the arcade version, so there’s no much point showing it.

And so Chelnov breaks free of the… wait, why was he trapped in a tube in the arcade version?

The Mega Drive version has prettier graphics (and a reason for him to be trapped) but it’s still the exact same game as far as I can tell.

Atomic Runner just keeps running to the right, and no evil in the world can stop him. Well okay if I hold left he’ll pause just long enough for the screen to catch up, but as long as the screen keeps moving, the Atomic Runner must follow.

Oh crap… well I'm dead. In my defence, I’m still getting the hang of the controls. There’s a button to jump, a button to fire, and a button to spin around and start running backwards.

The Mega Drive version is set up differently by default, but there’s options to redefine the controls. In fact it’s full of options, I’m impressed.

Wow, that’s just embarrassing.

There’s no way I’m quitting this early though. Of course I want to bloody continue.

I can do backflips while jumping, letting me spray fire in all directions as I spin gracefully through the air! It’s fantastic for killing enemies sneaking up on me, not so fantastic for shooting down power ups. I can’t go backwards, so anything landing behind me is gone forever.

Wow, apparently when I played the game last year I couldn't even get a screenshot of him doing this. Well it's nice to know that even if I'm not getting better at games, I'm at least getting better at screenshots.

Is that a… boss? Whatever it is, I don’t like it.

In fact, I don’t get what’s going on with any of the creatures in this game. They put the Soviet logo on the title screen, so is this set in Russia? Were these things all mutated by the power plant explosion too?

The Mega Drive version’s more straightforward. These are Deathtarians, and they’re trying to take over. And they have a secret base with fire jets all over it. And somehow running from left to right is the key to defeating them (and rescuing his sister!)

Just made it! Damn, all these fire jets are starting to give me flashbacks to Kikstart II.

In the Mega Drive version I got across the chasm the sensible way, by jumping on the enemies. To be honest I found out I could jump on the things by accident, it would never have occurred to me to jump on enemies deliberately. Usually in games I can either shoot things or jump on things, but hardly ever both.

There’s something I’m still not clear on though. Where the FUCK am I? A secret ancient sci-fi Aztec pyramid base built under the Earth’s crust?

Oh shit, I’ve found the one thing that can stop the Runner from running. A dead end.

Plus being instakilled by a boss doesn’t help. Poor Chelnov doesn’t have a health bar, so anything can kill the guy in one hit. Except for nuclear explosions obviously.

It’s okay, I’ve got lives. I’ll reappear just down the corridor and jog right back for round two.


SOON.

Wow, that’s got to be the dopiest looking alphabet I’ve seen since… well since I was first taught the alphabet.

It’s funny, usually I’d be annoyed at thought of starting again from the start. But I’m sort of looking forward to it this time. Maybe this is actually a really good game, actually.

Meanwhile, in the Mayan lava pyramid super-fortress, Mega Drive Chelnov takes the same boss down with no effort. Not because there’s any difference in the games, I just know his pattern now.

KEEP RUNNING.

OBEY.

Hey, there’s the Statue of Liberty at the end. Is Chelnov trying to escape the USSR or something? I don't blame him if this is what it was like there.

The original logo makes a cameo appearance on the Mega Drive map screen. Hey look, there’s little pictures of the sphere I broke out of and that dragon I fought.

The Soviet Union was gone by the time this port was released, and so are all references to it. Which to be fair amounted to one small logo on the title screen as far as I can tell.

Damn, this level looks pretty messed up. I haven’t got a clue what any of this is meant to be any more.
If this is what the arcade version is like, how fucked up must the Mega Drive version of this level be?

It’s… exactly the same, more or less. Apparently they couldn’t think of a way to make it creepier.

I’m doing a little better now though, as I’ve learned that the torches in the background drop power ups Castlevania/Ninja Gaiden style. I’ve really got to try smashing these things in games more often.

Oh crap, it’s a giant lava… dog.

Oh crap, it’s a giant lava…dragon? Fortunately I’ve learned his weakness. Being shot at with lasers.

I gotta say that this seems like a pretty good port. They’ve taken the arcade version and given it a new coat of paint without fucking around with what worked. There’s some nice art in this, even the animation is good. Though I’m not sure why the hero has to turn his head while he runs.

Prepare for 90 degrees of hurt from my right angles of justice, ancient Atlantian statue boss!

I managed to kill this guy in the end, took two steps down the corridor, then got taken out by grunts. In both versions.


This definitely gets my gold star award, signifying that it’s a game I’d actually want to play some more. It’s harsh, but fair. Enemies can insta-kill me, I can insta-kill them. They can pour in from both sides, I can do spinning somersaults spraying laser fire and then jump on their heads. It's all good.

Oh right, and I like the music too.