The NES Series:
Donkey Kong Jr. Math
Olimar wiped his helmet as he and Villager hacked their way through a seemingly endless jungle. He looked up at the blazing sun glaring down on them through the canopy.
"Are you sure we're going the right way?" he asked, looking back at Villager. "I thought we were doing Ice Climber next. This isn't exactly Icicle Mountain here."
"Of course," Villager replied, holding up his map. "Infinite Glacier's just on the other side of this jungle."
"Uh-huh. I may not have aced geography in school, but I'm pretty sure that shouldn't be right."
"Well, we're in the video game world. Since when does geography matter?"
"Good point."
The two travelers came to a small river where they could cross. Small white symbols sat on the rocks that jutted up out of the stream, and long vines hung down from the trees above. Olimar shivered as he put a foot out onto the first rock.
"What is it?" Villager asked.
"I'm not sure," Olimar replied. "It feels like I've just stepped into one of the NES's worst launch titles or something. It's weird."
Olimar shook off the sensation as he stepped across to the next rock. Villager followed behind and felt the same chill. He glanced up at the vines and notices that there were numbers trapped in little pods along them.
"This seems familiar somehow," Villager said. He checked his book of NES titles. "Oh, no," he said, stopping on an early page. "I know where we are."
He looked up to see Olimar inquisitively bending down to pick up one of the symbols on the rocks.
"Don't touch that!"
A large brown ball of fur dropped from the vines above and slammed into Olimar, knocking him into the river below. The assailant flipped around and growled at Villager, pounding its chest. It was a small pudgy baby gorilla wearing a white onesie emblazoned with a large red J.
"Hey, it's Donkey Kong Junior."
Olimar sputtered and sat up. "Donkey Kong Junior?" he asked. "Wasn't that an arcade game?"
Donkey Kong Junior spun toward Olimar and let out a warning screech.
"Yeah," Villager said, "But they made a spinoff for it and turned it into an educational game for the NES's launch. It, um, wasn't very successful."
Donkey Kong Junior pounded his chest again, eyeing both strangers.
"Educational game? Like Popeye's English Class?"
"Yeah," Villager said. "Except this one taught math. Or at least tried to. It's been criticized just as much as an educational game as a regular game."
"Huh," Olimar said, getting to his feet. Donkey Kong Junior recoiled at his movements and screeched again.
"What's this guy's problem?" Olimar asked.
"I think he's scared," Villager said. "I don't think he's seen another video game character in years. As a character, he dropped off the map a long time ago."
"Isn't he Donkey Kong's son though? Did DK just abandon him out here?"
"Well, technically, he's the original DK's son, who now goes by Cranky Kong. That means that this little guy will either grow up to be our Donkey Kong's father or Donkey Kong himself, depending on how you see DK and Cranky's relationship."
Villager held out his hand to Donkey Kong Junior. "It's okay, little guy, we won't hurt you."
Donkey Kong Junior backed away slowly from Villager's hand. "Hang on," Villager said, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a banana. He held it out to the baby ape. "Here you go."
The monkey tentatively reached out a hand and took the banana. It glanced suspiciously at Olimar and hopped up into the vines overhead.
"So, list? Yes or no?" Olimar asked, climbing up onto the rocks beside Villager.
"Well, as poorly received as this game was, the original arcade game is still one of the most important games in Nintendo's history, so yeah, I'd say Donkey Kong Junior is a definite candidate for the list."
"Cool," Olimar said, pulling out his pad of paper and opening it up. Just as he was about to start writing, a slimy wet banana peel splattered across the paper. Olimar looked up to see the small ape laughing at him from above. He recapped his pen, removed the banana peel, and put the paper away. "You know what, I think I'm going to mull it over for a little while."