There is probably relatively little to say about the arcade hit Donkey Kong that has not been said or written by 1,000 other people. In a nutshell, anyone who has never played Donkey Kong or who has never heard of Donkey Kong should change this fact if possible. Not only because Super Mario aka Jumpman in Donkey Kong and a few other video game legends made their debut in the game, but also because it was one of Nintendo's milestones that also brought the company into a legal battle over the name. The game has also been ported to a variety of consoles, computers, and handhelds for a reason.

Originally released in 1981, the game was one of the first in the platform genre, where gameplay is generally focused on controlling the character through a number of platforms while avoiding objects. Here was Donkey Kong at the same time to take the supposedly last attempt by Nintendo in the North American market. Nintendo's President Hiroshi Yamauchi handed over the project management to a young inexperienced game designer named Shigeru Miyamoto. Using a series of drawings from King Kong to Popeye as a template, Miyamoto designed the scenario and designed the game together with Nintendo's chief developer Gunpei Yokoi.

The plot of the game revolves around the character Jumpman, who will later be renamed Mario and make his career. Jumpman has to rescue a young lady - simply called "Lady" in the game - who was kidnapped by a gorilla named Donkey Kong . Jumpman's girlfriend, who, as I said, was actually only called a "lady", is later renamed Pauline.

The game was shaped by the limited technical possibilities at that time. For example, due to the limited graphic design space, it was too difficult to display Jumpman mouth, which is why they decided to use a beard instead of the mouth. Because it was not possible to animate the hair or to animate it while Jumpman jumps, he wears a hat. To make the arm movements visible, Jumpman white gloves were given. Short cut scenes explain to the player what happens between the individual levels.