It has happened—that classic arcade game, Donkey Kong Junior, has seen a new high score and a new world record by 20,900 points… by someone new!
Mike Kasper, resident of Beaverton, Oregon, is enjoying his newfound fame after achieving 1,349,100 points on an original arcade cabinet during a live TV broadcast. Talk about “no pressure”, right?
The previous record was set around three years ago by Mark Kiehl, hitting 1,328,100 points. According to an interview with Patrick Scott Patterson, Kasper “didn’t really play arcade games again until about eight months ago.” When Kasper was younger, he apparently didn’t really bother with Donkey Kong Junior, either.
He was reintroduced to the game by a friend at a classic arcade tournament, and practiced hard to be able to beat the record. However, he’s now taking a step back from the game in order to let someone else have a go at the world record—much like Kiehl did after his win several years ago.
Kaspar said, “I am taking a break from the game for now, I have no doubt Mark Kiehl will break my score, and possibly someone else, too.”
This may mean we’ll see Kiehl and others back at the boards, giving the game another shot.
Regardless of how long it takes to beat this new record, isn’t the camaraderie in classic gaming a nice change of pace from the typically competitive nature of gaming?
