A strange little side quest
Put Flash Runner 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. A second detail makes the picture even better: By 1987, fantasy role-playing had become a major computer-game direction, with Zelda, licensed Dungeons & Dragons games and other story-led adventures expanding the form. That long chain of experiments is part of why platform games still feels fresh when a game finds the right twist.
