Chapter 13. Using arrays and simulating gravity in a single-screen platformer
Before Donkey Kong, games had goals, but the player didn’t know their motivation or how they had ended up in the situation. Donkey Kong changed that by giving the player a story with a beginning, middle, and end that unfolded as the player moved from level to level, usually in the form of cutscenes, videos that occur before or after a level to pause the gameplay and give information. That story starred a little plumber known as Mario.
Yes, our friend, Mario, that you know from Super Mario Bros, started out as a carpenter at a construction site, climbing ladders in Donkey Kong to save his girlfriend who was stolen by a giant gorilla. Nintendo brought back Mario for Mario Bros and then Super Mario Bros, turning him into a plumber who needs to jump up on brick platforms or slide down pipes in order to save Princess Toadstool from the evil Bowser. Mario can only run to the right. That’s because Super Mario Bros is a single-screen platformer.