Donkey Kong High Score Competition
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Players have competed for the highest score for the video game ''
Donkey Kong is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo. It follows the adventures of Donkey Kong (character), Donkey Kong, a large, powerful gorilla, and other members of the List of Don ...
'' since its release in 1981. The competition became more prominent after it was covered in the 2007 documentary ''
The King of Kong ''The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters'' is a 2007 American documentary film about competitive arcade gaming directed by Seth Gordon. It follows Steve Wiebe in his attempts to take the high score record for the 1981 arcade game ''Donkey Kon ...
''.


History

On November 7, 1982,
Billy Mitchell William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who had a major role in the creation of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, ...
set the first widely recognized ''Donkey Kong'' world record of 874,300 points. The record stood until August 17, 2000, when it was surpassed by Tim Sczerby's score of 879,200. The competition became more prominent after it was covered in the 2007 documentary ''
The King of Kong ''The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters'' is a 2007 American documentary film about competitive arcade gaming directed by Seth Gordon. It follows Steve Wiebe in his attempts to take the high score record for the 1981 arcade game ''Donkey Kon ...
'', which follows the rivalry between Mitchell and Steve Wiebe. Wiebe began to compete with Hank Chien, a plastic surgeon from New York. In March 2010, Chien surpassed Wiebe's record score. Wiebe achieved a new record score on August 30, but Chien, who became known as Dr. Kong, reclaimed the world record and held it for four years. Chien improved his record four times, before withdrawing from competitive play. In September 2014, Robbie Lakeman overtook Chien's score. Lakeman had practiced for two and a half years and was spurred by a bet that he could earn a score within the game's top twenty. He would often stream his attempts live on
Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...
, a streaming service, though his initial world record game was performed offline. At the time, a higher record had been set by Dean Saglio, but on an
emulated In computing, an emulator is hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run software or use perip ...
version of the game rather than a physical arcade cabinet. Lakeman overtook his own record in December and again in June 2015. In September 2015, Wes Copeland bested Lakeman for the high score. Lakeman reclaimed the record within six hours. Copeland retook the record in January 2016. Shortly after, Lakeman announced his withdrawal from competitive play, though he regained the record in December 2017, and surpassed it in February 2018. On March 30, 2010, the American rapper
Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...
reported a score of 465,800 with photo proof, which would have put him within the top 30 worldwide at the time. As of March 2023, with increasing competition, this score would now sit in 191st place; the score was never officially submitted. In 2018,
Twin Galaxies Twin Galaxies is a social media platform and video game database. Twin Galaxies is the official supplier of video game records to ''Guinness World Records''. History In mid-1981, Walter Day, founder of Twin Galaxies, Inc., visited more than 1 ...
, which officiates high-score designations, vacated Mitchell's ''Donkey Kong'' high scores and banned his future participation after stating that three of his ''Donkey Kong'' million-point high scores had not been made on original, unmodified circuit boards. A frame-by-frame analysis of Mitchell's games suggested they were played on an
emulator In computing, an emulator is Computer hardware, hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run sof ...
. However, in 2020,
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...
reversed their decision and reinstated Mitchell's previous records, based on new evidence including eyewitness reports and expert testimonials. Twin Galaxies did not reinstate Mitchell's scores. Billy Mitchell and Twin Galaxies sued each other. In September 2022, Tanner Fokkens published a report comparing Billy Mitchell's recorded video to the game emulator
MAME MAME (formerly an acronym of Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is a free and open-source emulator designed to emulate the hardware of arcade games, video game consoles, old computers and other systems in software on modern personal computers and ...
and the original video game. He found the video matches the emulator. In February 2023, photos were published of Billy Mitchell next to a Donkey Kong machine with a modified joystick. The report raised doubts about records by Billy Mitchell from 2004 and 2007. In 2024 Billy Mitchell and Twin Galaxies reached a settlement in the lawsuit whereby Twin Galaxies stated it would reinstate Billy Mitchell's scores as a part of a historic database on the site, which is an archive of Twin Galaxies leader boards prior to its change in ownership in 2014 (during which more modern adjudication processes were adopted on the site). Despite the settlement, Billy Mitchell is still not listed on the current Twin Galaxies leader boards, and remains banned from Twin Galaxies. In addition, Billy Mitchell's score of 1,062,800 achieved on July 31, 2011 and verified by a referee is his only score currently listed in the historic database.


Timeline


Other World Record categories

There are many other categories for ''Donkey Kong'' besides highest score. One of the most popular is the "No Hammer Challenge" where competitors attempt to get the highest score without any use of the game's hammer item. The current world record in this category was set by Jeff Wolfe on July 8, 2008, with a score of 735,100. Some other categories include most points for different levels, fewest points, and most wall jumps on a rivet board.


Events

The Kong-Off is an annual competitive ''Donkey Kong'' tournament, held from 2010. The inaugural Kong-Off was won by Hank Chien in New Jersey. Jeff Willms won a small cash prize at the 2013 Kong-Off 3 tournament, which was held in
Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
between 22 competitors. Willms, a professional Software Engineer, had previously won the Kong-Off 2. Kong-Offs 4 & 5 were held in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, with Hank Chien winning his 2nd title, followed by Robbie Lakeman's first victory the following year. Kong-Offs 6 & 7 were held in
Banning, California Banning is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. Its population was 29,505 as of the 2020 census, down from 29,603 at the 2010 census. It is situated in the San Gorgonio Pass, also known as ''Banning Pass''. It is named for ...
. Robbie Lakeman won his 2nd consecutive title at Kong-Off 6, followed by Jeff Wolfe's first win at Kong-Off 7.


Notes


References

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Donkey Kong'' high score competition Donkey Kong Esports competitions Games and sports introduced in 1981 Video game culture