A strange little side quest
Put Rooney on the Rampage next to the history of role-playing games and a few unexpected connections appear. 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 old idea kept changing rather than disappearing. Nintendo's Donkey Kong arrived in 1981 and introduced the character first known as Jumpman, who later became Mario. The screen is modern; the urge to test skill, pattern and timing definitely is not.
