The main character's sprite animation is highly detailed and smooth for its time, comparable to the level of Karateka and the early Prince of Persia games.

The player takes the role of Chelnov, a coal miner who miraculously survives the malfunction and explosion of a nuclear power plant.

Data East responded in a television program that the name "Chelnov" was merely a relative of Karnov, the title character of one of the company's games, and was not at all influenced by the events at Chernobyl.

After Data East became defunct due to bankruptcy in 2003, Paon bought the rights to Atomic Runner Chelnov.

The game's plot was changed completely, where Chelnov is not a coal miner caught in a nuclear meltdown, but a regular human being wearing a special combat suit who battles enemies to rescue his younger sister.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Atomic Runner Chelnov on their March 1, 1988 issue as being the thirteenth most-successful table arcade unit of the month.

[11] Chelnov also appears as an enemy character in Trio The Punch, Tumble Pop (1991), and Fighter's History: Mizoguchi Kiki Ippatsu!!