Donkey Kong high score competition

On November 7, 1982, Billy Mitchell set the first widely recognized Donkey Kong world record of 874,300 points.^[1][2] The record stood until August 17, 2000, when it was surpassed by Tim Sczerby's score of 879,200.^[3][4] The competition became more prominent after it was covered in the 2007 documentary The King of Kong, which follows the rivalry between Mitchell and Steve Wiebe.^[5]

Wiebe began to compete with Hank Chien, a plastic surgeon from New York.^[5] In March 2010, Chien surpassed Wiebe's record score.^[6] Wiebe achieved a new record score on August 30,^[7] but Chien, who became known as Dr. Kong, reclaimed the world record and held it for four years.^[5] Chien improved his record four times, before withdrawing from competitive play.^[8]

On March 30, 2010, the American rapper Eminem reported a score of 465,800 with photo proof, which would have put him within the top 30 worldwide at the time. As of March 2023, with increasing competition, this score would now sit in 191st place; the score was never officially submitted.^[9][10][11]

In September 2014, Robbie Lakeman overtook Chien's score.^[5][a] Lakeman had practiced for two and a half years^[5] and was spurred by a bet that he could earn a score within the game's top twenty.^[9] He would often stream his attempts live on Twitch, a streaming service, though his initial world record game was performed offline.^[5] At the time, a higher record had been set by Dean Saglio, but on an emulated version of the game rather than a physical arcade cabinet.^[9][b] Lakeman overtook his own record in December and again in June 2015.^[8]

In September 2015, Wes Copeland bested Lakeman for the high score. Lakeman reclaimed the record within six hours.^[12] Copeland retook the record in January 2016. Shortly after, Lakeman announced his withdrawal from competitive play,^[13] though he regained the record in December 2017,^[14] and surpassed it in February 2018.

In 2018, Twin Galaxies, which officiates high-score designations, vacated Mitchell's Donkey Kong high scores and banned his future participation after stating that three of his Donkey Kong million-point high scores had not been made on original, unmodified circuit boards. A frame-by-frame analysis of Mitchell's games suggested they were played on an emulator.^[15] However, in 2020, Guinness World Records reversed their decision and reinstated Mitchell's previous records, based on new evidence including eyewitness reports and expert testimonials.^[16] Twin Galaxies did not reinstate Mitchell's scores.^[17] Billy Mitchell and Twin Galaxies sued each other.^[18] In September 2022, Tanner Fokkens published a report comparing Billy Mitchell's recorded video to the game emulator MAME and the original video game. He found the video matches the emulator.^[19] In February 2023, photos were published of Billy Mitchell next to a Donkey Kong machine with a modified joystick. The report raised doubts about records by Billy Mitchell from 2004 and 2007.^[20] In 2024 Billy Mitchell and Twin Galaxies reached a settlement in the lawsuit whereby Twin Galaxies stated it would reinstate Billy Mitchell's scores as a part of a historic database on the site, which is an archive of Twin Galaxies leader boards prior to its change in ownership in 2014 (during which more modern adjudication processes were adopted on the site). Despite the settlement, Billy Mitchell is still not listed on the current Twin Galaxies leader boards, and remains banned from Twin Galaxies.^[21][22][23] In addition, Billy Mitchell's score of 1,062,800 achieved on July 31, 2011 and verified by a referee is his only score currently listed in the historic database.^[24]

There are many other categories for Donkey Kong besides highest score. One of the most popular is the "No Hammer Challenge" where competitors attempt to get the highest score without any use of the game's hammer item.^[34] The current world record in this category was set by Jeff Wolfe on July 8, 2008, with a score of 735,100.^[34] Some other categories include most points for different levels, fewest points, and most wall jumps on a rivet board.^[35]

This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: These tournaments have already passed. No information about tournaments after the ones listed. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (August 2021)

The Kong-Off is an annual competitive Donkey Kong tournament,^[8] held from 2010. The inaugural Kong-Off was won by Hank Chien in New Jersey. Jeff Willms won a small cash prize at the 2013 Kong-Off 3 tournament,^[9] which was held in Denver between 22 competitors.^[36] Willms, a professional Software Engineer, had previously won the Kong-Off 2.^[36] Kong-Offs 4 & 5 were held in Pittsburgh, with Hank Chien winning his 2nd title, followed by Robbie Lakeman's first victory the following year.^[8] Kong-Offs 6 & 7 were held in Banning, California. Robbie Lakeman won his 2nd consecutive title at Kong-Off 6, followed by Jeff Wolfe's first win at Kong-Off 7.