Donkey Kong and Mario Turn 40!

Forty years ago today, the original Donkey Kong game made its way into arcades! That’s a big milestone for the game itself, but even more important is that it marked the debut of both its titular ape Donkey Kong and the character who would become known as Super Mario!

Why Nintendo isn’t celebrating this themselves, I’ll never know. It’s only their two oldest and iconic characters celebrating their 40th anniversary! And no, Mr. Game & Watch isn’t older because he wasn’t an actual character, just a placeholder graphic given the limitations of the Game & Watch handhelds (the name “Mr. Game & Watch” only dates back to 2001 with Super Smash Bros. Melee). So Mario and DK are the oldest.

Donkey Kong and Mario would eventually branch out on their own, and star in a number of their own series. They still meet up in some of Mario’s spinoff games, but I don’t think DK should simply be classified as a “Mario character.” I think of it like when Iron Man and Thor meet up in the Avengers films. You wouldn’t call Thor an “Iron Man character” would you?

Mario would go on to have a stronger resume than any other character in gaming, and DK isn’t too far behind. And they both got their start in a little arcade game that – had licensing not fallen through – would have starred Popeye and Bluto! Hard to imagine what video games would look like if Shigeru Miyamoto’s original classic didn’t have its own original characters. I shudder to think.

Nintendo may be mysteriously silent on the occasion, but don’t worry Mario and Donkey Kong, we remember!

Happy anniversary to an arcade great! And happy 40th birthday to Mario and Donkey Kong! Video games wouldn’t be the same without them!