Back in the 80s, the game & watch consoles were a big hit. They were simple mobile devices with a segmented LCD screen. The game elements were basically segments on the LCD screen which could lite up. It was highly addictive game play, but the major advantage was you could bring it with you since it ran on batteries.
The one I got was Donkey Kong (pictured above). I could play it for hours on long car trips. The most annoying thing was the button cell battery. They lasted for a while but they were expensive. Not that I ever paid for them, but the parental units were always
This is how it looked like:
You play Mario and your girlfriend Pauline is abducted by Donkey Kong. Donkey Kong throws barrels at you which roll down the platform to keep you away. The goal is to get to Pauline and rescue her.
Here is a long play of the game:
There are definite some King Kong elements in there. It also interesting that characters like Mario and Donkey Kong are still major characters in Nintendo games today.
You can play the original arcade version from 1981 online. Have fun!
Notes
- SHIFT = insert coin
- ENTER = start
- S = jump
- ARROWs = move