Donkey Kong (NES version)

I’d like to say this version’s “Donkey Kong” doesn’t hold up due to this being an imperfect version of the game (it’s missing a level as well as most of its cutscenes), but I doubt the bigger issues are fixed in the best versions. “Space Invaders” challenges you with wave after wave, sure, but its absurd challenge combined with a lack of explicit context results in conveyed nihilism, which is at least a feeling. What happens when you save the princess on three unique levels? Rinse, repeat, only faster. “A product of its time,” some might say in its defense.

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