A strange little side quest
Berzerk Ball belongs to a much longer story of play than a browser tab might suggest. Donkey Kong arrived in 1981 with a character called Jumpman, who would later become one of gaming's most recognizable figures: Mario. A second detail makes the picture even better: Basketball became an Olympic medal sport in 1936, while women’s basketball joined the Olympic programme in 1976. That long chain of experiments is part of why platform games still feels fresh when a game finds the right twist.
