A strange little side quest
Put Dark Power next to the history of platform games and a few unexpected connections appear. Donkey Kong arrived in 1981 with a character called Jumpman, who would later become one of gaming's most recognizable figures: Mario. The same trail leads to another fact: Games resembling checkers were being played thousands of years ago; evidence of related games reaches back to around 1600 BC. It is a good reminder that simple game mechanics can carry a surprising amount of history.
