Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong doesn't have cheat codes. The tips and secrets below are the next best thing.

1. Mario can't fall more than a short distance, so never drop off a girder you can't step down from.
2. Jumping a barrel scores 100 points, and smashing one with the hammer scores more.
3. You can't climb ladders while holding the hammer, so only grab it when you have a reason to wait.
4. Barrels sometimes roll down ladders, so don't stand at the bottom of one when Kong is throwing.
5. Grab Pauline's hat, purse and umbrella on the later stages for big bonus points.
6. On the rivets stage, pull out the rivets on one side first so the fireballs can't box you in.
7. The bonus timer is also your clock, and when it hits zero Mario dies.

Tap a secret to reveal it.

• Mario was called Jumpman in the arcade original and was a carpenter, not a plumber.
• Nintendo of America named Mario after Mario Segale, the landlord of its warehouse.
• Many cabinets were converted from unsold Radar Scope machines.
• Universal sued Nintendo, claiming it copied King Kong, and lost in 1984.
• The 2007 documentary The King of Kong turned its high-score race into a pop culture story.