LOCAL HERO SAVES GIRL FROM APE

By JC Fletcher

Tension gripped onlookers today at the construction site at the corner of A Street and Another Street, the location of a kidnapping, and of a daring rescue. The giant ape Donkey Kong, reported escaped from captivity yesterday, climbed onto the girders of the unfinished skyscraper. There he deposited his own captive, a young woman in a pink dress who was later identified only as "Pauline."

Police and rescue crews were unable to scale the structure due to Donkey Kong continuously rolling barrels down the girders, which were tilted during the ape's ascent. Any attempt to reach Pauline would have ended in collision.

To make matters worse, the first barrel to reach the bottom of the structure struck an oil drum, creating a small, but steady and mobile, flame.

When a carpenter arrived on the scene and insisted on risking his life to rescue Pauline, police attempted to restrain him. He easily evaded them by jumping entirely over the cluster of six-foot-plus officers and entered the building.

The carpenter, Mario, a short mustachioed man in a red shirt and cap and blue overalls, was able to evade every barrel the enraged ape threw, jumping and climbing ladders. He obtained a mallet left onsite and used this to smash a barrel that was too close to jump over. Amazingly, he reached the seventh row of girders and attempted to grab Pauline.

(The first level of Donkey Kong.)

Donkey Kong grabbed the woman and climbed higher, 50 meters above the ground. This area contained two elevators, with a small row of girders between them. Again, Mario braved the construction zone, escaping death from fire and falling, as well as large springs thrown by the ape, to reach Donkey Kong, even stopping to pick up Pauline's purse and umbrella along the way. Again Mario, whom the crowd had taken to calling "Jumpman" in honor of his incredible leaps, reached Pauline, and again the giant gorilla took her from his grip.

(The second level of Donkey Kong.)

(The second level of Donkey Kong.)

Before Mario was finally able to reach Pauline, at 100 meters, he had to scale a series of platforms with conveyer belts running on top of them, evidently due to become a pie factory in the near future, as hot pies were already on the conveyer belts, along with the building fire, adding to the heat and the danger.

(The third level of Donkey Kong.)


(The fourth level of Donkey Kong.)

At the top of the building, Mario kicked out the rivets on the girder upon which the ape stood, as well as a few girders under that, causing the ape to fall headfirst and pass out. At this point Mario grabbed Pauline and the two escaped, to the roaring applause of the entranced crowd.

(The end of the fourth level of Donkey Kong,
http://dkmegasite.retrogames.com/arcade/DKARCADE6.GIF)

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COMMENTARY 1981's Donkey Kong is important for a few reasons:

-It was the biggest hit since Pac-Man.

-It was the debut of possibly the greatest genius to date in the field: designer Shigeru Miyamoto, who would go on to create, among other things, the Mario and Zelda games.

-It was the debut of Mario, the only character who rivaled Pac-Man in popularity, and has now eclipsed him.

Donkey Kong is an epochal moment in videogame storytelling. Like Pac-Man, Mario did not seek to defeat his enemy, only to escape him. Unlike Pac-Man, however, Mario ("Jumpman" in Japan, named "Mario" in honor of the landlord of Nintendo of America's warehouse) is a hero with a special power, jumping, who has to rescue a "damsel in distress."
Donkey Kong's artwork goes in the same direction as Pac-Man, adding even more to its characters, such that the grinning ape is undoubtedly Donkey Kong, and not some awkward brown square meant to represent "ape." Where Pac-Man gained his unique characterization from the simplicity of his design,(rather than being a circle representing "a man," Pac-Man's simple design is meant to reflect pretty much exactly what the character is supposed to look like) Mario benefits from state- of-the-art graphical technology, with clearly discernable hands, feet, overalls, hat, and even moustache. The complexity of the graphics used to display Mario may have increased, but his appearance has changed remarkably little since 1981, showing how robust Miyamoto's character design has proven to be.
Due to this characterization, Donkey Kong is no longer simply a simulation of a fantastic event, like Pong ("two people play table tennis") or Space Invaders ("a gunner protects a base from alien invasion") but is in fact a very specific story of three very specific characters: Donkey Kong, Mario, and Pauline. It has a beginning, and it has an end (even though, due to trends in arcade gaming and for gameplay reasons, the levels repeat in Donkey Kong a number of times, each time more difficult than the last.)
Like Odysseus, neither Mario's nor Donkey Kong's adventures ended here. They have each had their own continuing series of games (and cartoon shows,) both on their own and together, even becoming somewhat of allies in recent years.

"Donkey Kong." Nintendo Database.
http://www.planetnintendo.com/nindb/arc-donkeykong.shtml
Source of Donkey Kong marquee art.

Coin-Op Museum: Donkey Kong.
http://www.klov.com/D/Donkey_Kong.html
The source of first four screenshots, and release date.

"Arcades & History." The Donkey Kong Megasite.
http://dkmegasite.retrogames.com/arcade.php
Used for reference about level structure, also final screenshot.