Thursday, October 23, 2014

Throwback Thursday 10/23/2014

Image from Arcade Retro Lounge
For this week's Throwback Thursday, we'd like to talk about one of Mario's oldest nemesis, Donkey Kong.  That's right: IT'S OFFICIALLY ON LIKE DONKEY KONG!

Some of you may only know of Kong from his 2D or 3D outings, or possibly as fighting with/against him in Super Smash Bros.  But Donkey and Mario have a long history.

Image from tvtropes
A lot of people may not remember, since he is as old as he is, that the Mario Bros. are not originally from the Mushroom Kingdom.  They are actually from Brooklyn, New York.  A lot of people may also not realize that back in the day, the story behind video games would be vague at best.  The story of Donkey Kong is that Mario's girlfriend at the time, Paulina (NOT Peach) was an unwilling volunteer in a reenactment of King Kong by her capture, the giant ape Donkey Kong.  Mario gave chase to a construction site, where Donkey Kong tried to fight him off by tossing barrels at him, having bouncing bouncing pads (you read that right), and flames that give chase to keep him from reaching his beloved.  Barrels could be lept over, but could not be touched unless Mario had grabbed a hammer, which allowed him to smash through barrels and kill the flame enemies for a short period of time.

After a few rounds, Mario would go head to head in the final match with Donkey.  After besting him, the game would repeat all over again, but at a faster pace, much like other arcade games at the time like Pac Man.

This game is a great slice of nostalgia, and if you don't believe that it's serious business, please watch the documentary Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.

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