Donkey Kong’s famed kill screen has been cleared for the first time
1 min read
Summary
Mario speedrunner Kosmic has become the first person to pass the Donkey Kong ‘kill screen’ without modifying the game code.
The level 22-1 kill screen had remained unbeaten for more than 40 years due to a glitch that caused protagonist Mario to die before he could reach the top of the level’s girders.
Kosmic employed a combination of emulator inputs, joystick manipulation and luck to pass the level.
While the methods he used are not repeatable on the original hardware or by human hands, the achievement shows that the ‘kill screen’ is not insurmountable.
Kosmic’s new technique takes advantage of another well-known glitch, the ‘broken ladder’, which lets Mario climb indefinitely by performing a precise sequence of inputs.