We know traveling to Rochester, NY is quite the hike–just under a 6 hour drive to be exact–but what if we told you Rochester is home to The Strong National Museum of Play where you can find the World Video Game Hall of Fame? Even better–the hall of fame has brand new addition last summer, and you’re going to want to listen up.
The Strong National Museum of Play is home to the world’s largest, playable Donkey Kong arcade game, and it’s honestly bananas how big it is.
The game stands nearly 20-feet tall, 370% bigger than the arcade game’s original version, and is the museum’s main attraction. Players stand at a pedestal besides the larger-than-life screen and play on a regular-sized control panel that replicates the game’s original joystick and buttons.
And don’t worry, the game isn’t a remake–which we all know are never as good as the original–rather it runs on a motherboard from an original Donkey Kong game, so it mirrors the original gameplay and experience as closely as possible.
The game is part of the museum’s 90,000 square-foot-expansion, which is dedicated to the history of video games. It’s visible from the first floor welcome atrium and playable outside the ESL Digital Worlds gallery on the second floor.
The Strong National Museum of Play is the only collections-based museum in the world devoted solely to the history and exploration of play. It’s home to the International Center for the History of Electronic Games, the National Toy Hall of Fame, the World Video Game Hall of Fame, and more, and it houses the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of play-related historical materials.
Jon-Paul Dyson, PhD, vice president for exhibits at The Strong stated:
Donkey Kong is a true titan in the video game world—both in terms of character size and the iconic status of the game—so it lends itself perfectly to this playful, whimsical installation…We’re thankful to Nintendo of America for providing guidance as we create this unique game feature as authentically and true to the original game as possible.
The museum is located at One Manhattan Square, Rochester, New York, and you can learn more about the museum and the world’s largest Donkey Kong arcade game on their website.
So, what do you say? Do you have what it takes to jump over barrels and save the princess?