Donkey Kong Classics (1988) bundles two pieces of living history: the original Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. The first is the 1981 arcade game that introduced the world to a carpenter named Jumpman — soon renamed Mario — climbing girders to rescue a captive while a big ape hurls barrels.
Donkey Kong Jr. flips the script: you play DK's son trying to rescue his dad from Mario (briefly the villain!). Together they're the foundation the entire Nintendo empire was built on.
Having the arcade origins on a home cartridge felt like owning a piece of the museum. It still does.




