Atomic Runner Chelnov

Atomic Runner Chelnov
Info
Platform:	Arcade - SEGA Genesis - Sharp X68000 - Virtual Console
Release Date:	1988 - 1992 - 1993 - 2007
Developer:	Data East
Unreleased Ports
Platform:	SEGA Saturn

The game was first ported to the SEGA Genesis in 1992, but many parts of the game were remade. The Japanese version kept the same name as its arcade counterpart, but the North American and European versions were simply titled Atomic Runner. 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. The game's enemies and background images were also changed to those reminiscent of an ancient civilization. This version was released for the Wii Virtual Console in Japan on September 11, 2007.

The game was also ported to the X68000 in 1993. This version is almost identical to the original arcade version. The release contained an adapter for the Mega Drive controller, commonly known in Japan as the Chelnov Adapter (チェルノブアダプタ), and allowed the player to use the Mega Drive controller for many other X68000 games besides Chelnov.

A port to the SEGA Saturn was planned and developed, but was never released to consumers. A version of it appeared in the Tokyo Game Show and several game stores in Akihabara around 1997, but its release was cancelled by Data East for unknown reasons. A fully playable prototype of the SEGA Saturn version was found in 2012. The Saturn prototype is a duplicate of the 1988 arcade game but lacks sound effects, though the music is still present. In 2021 ObscureGamers redumped the game from the original disc.

Chelnov also appears as an enemy character in Trio The Punch, Tumble Pop (1991), and Fighter's History: Mizoguchi Kiki Ippatsu!! (1995), and can be seen being transported in a frozen container on a freight train in Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja (1988). In Sly Spy (1989), a poster showing Chelnov can be seen at the beginning of Stage 4. He can also be seen in Windjammers 2 (2020), as a member of the crowd on the Ring stage.