In Speedrunner he discovers that, with impossible luck, you can overcome the feared screen of the death of the first Donkey Kong after 44 years

Almost half a centuryplayers of Donkey Kong They considered that level 22 is the absolute limit of the classic Nintendo arcade. At this point, a failure of the program causes the timer to reduce a few seconds, doing Mario dies irrelevant before he can complete the screen. However, Speedrunner Kosmic has shown that, in absurdly improbable circumstances, the game can continue further.

An almost impossible technical problem

The 1981 title takes place in four types of levels that are repeated in the loops of growing difficulties. From level five, the difficulty remains stable, with players looking for the biggest score as possible before meeting the notorious kill the screen At level 22. There, the Timer Bonus overflows e Mario does not have enough time to reach the top of the screendie without remedy.

Since 2013, some players have theorized that a broken staircase on the screen of the kill the screen It could be used to avoid the forced end of the game. But although the technical problem was real, the time available remained insufficient, even in the simulations controlled by tools (Thator Speeddruns assisted by tools). But the Kosmic, without knowing these previous attempts, reached in 2025 exceeded the feared level through its TAS.

What makes this discovery so fascinating is that It is not due to a modification of the gameBut to the original arcade programming. The timer in Donkey Kong It is not a fixed clock, but It is reduced every time Donkey Kong launches a barrel. Since these versions have a random interval, if a player had the extreme fortune to receive consecutive delays in the appearance of the barrels, the timer would extend enough to allow the completion of the level.

A challenge for the gods Speedrun

To be successful in this company, a player should not only perform perfectly The technical problem of the scale, but also to wait for a series of extremely improbable delays in the launch of Barils of Donkey Kong. Kosmic calculates him The probability that this happens is about 1 in 40 brassSuch a great figure that makes the lottery win several times in a row seems like a game of children.

But also assuming that someone has achieved this miracle, the real test would be to perform the technical problem of the stairs 90 times belowwith a precision that Requires 12 exact inputs per second No margin of error. This is technically impossible for a human beingAnd it could only be reached with an emulator to automatically play tickets.

The new deadly screen

Even with the help of tools, Kosmic found it Donkey Kong Yes, it has levels beyond the legendary level 22. However, the screen of the rivet, which appears after kill the screenIt has an even more severe timer and has no glitch problems that allow you to overcome it. That is, although level 22 has been defeated in a technical sense, the new limit of Donkey Kong It only seems levels later.

The protagonist of Donkey Kong, MarioIt was originally created as JumpmanA defined nameless character who made his debut in 1981. Its design was the product of technical limitations, which led to a whisper and a red bib to highlight his expression on the screen. Over the years, Mario has evolved to become Nintendo’s iconic pet, with countless renowned games and franchises. His relationship with Donkey Kong in this first game is the basis of a story of rivalry and rescue that would later become a more complex universe.

Compared to other classic arcade of the time, Kong He distinguished himself for his simple but effective narrative. While you play like Pac-man or Invaders of space They focused on repetitive action, Donkey Kong introduced a clear goal: Rescue Paulinewhich influenced the structure of many subsequent video games. This narrative element, combined for the innovative mechanics of the platform for the time, has consolidated its inheritance as one of the most influential games of all time.