Mario speedrunner Kosmic reaches new Donkey Kong kill screen
Speedrunner Kosmic allegedly discovered a way to beat the original Donkey Kong Arcade's infamous kill screen using a ladder glitch.
For about as long as the Donkey Kong arcade game has been around, high-skill players have known about the kill screen on the first board of Level 22 that kills Jumpman (Mario) shortly after you start the level. It was thought to be the impassable wall of the game that put a cap on exactly how many points players could score before the game ended. That is, until recently when speedrunner Kosmic discovered a unique glitch that allowed him to play a few levels further to a new and currently impassable kill screen.
Kosmic shared a video detailing the original Donkey Kong arcade kill screen, how to achieve it, and the method he used to finally get past the level for the first time in its 44-year history. The kill screen in the competitive version of Donkey Kong comes as a result of the game’s mathematics regarding the bonus values on each stage. When that value hits zero, Jumpman dies. Unfortunately, the game’s math wraps around at a certain point, glitching and looking like it’s giving the player a count of 4000 to beat the level when really they only have 400… or four counts before Mario dies.
Kosmic beat this kill screen by using a special glitch discovered in the Japanese ROMs of the game. On the broken ladders, players discovered a method were you could climb to the top, and then tap down and then back up to glitch the ladder and climb infinitely. It also seems to keep Jumpman invincible while he’s still climbing. By combining this with another glitch where the board counts it as a win if you reach a certain height, Kosmic beats the board before the kill screen Bonus counter can end him. He even manages to beat a couple more levels, but eventually he comes to another kill screen that he’s not sure how to get past at this time.
It's an incredible feat of classic gaming and world records that should allow players to achieve new records with the information gathered by Kosmic. With the doors open to new possibilities on this four-decade old game, stay tuned for more updates in classic Donkey Kong as they come out.
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TJ Denzer posted a new article, Mario speedrunner Kosmic reaches new Donkey Kong kill screen