As a character created by Data East, Karnov was reintroduced in several other games from the company, including Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja in which he is a boss in the first level.

The game's hero, Karnov, a muscular fire-breathing ex-circus strongman, goes on a quest through nine different levels to search for the ultimate treasure.

The end of the game features a powerful boss called "The Wizard" who defends the last map piece that leads to the treasure.

[3] Like Quicksilver's other Data East ports, such as Commando, Ikari Warriors, and Guerrilla War, it was sold as a self-booting disk.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Karnov on their March 1, 1987 issue as being the fourth most-successful table arcade unit of the month.

[14] The IBM PC version of the game was reviewed in 1989 in Dragon #142 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column.

In Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, a ghostly silhouette who helps the titular character is highly similar to Karnov, and is even implied to be her long-lost father.