10 Iconic Video Games You Had NO IDEA Were Originally Sequels
9. Donkey Kong
Originally: Popeye - The Video Game
Way back in 1981, Nintendo was not yet the video game powerhouse we know today. In fact, they were best known for making playing cards and novelty toys, and had spent much of the 1970s desperately trying to crack the arcade market with little success.
Then along came in-house developer Shigeru Miyamoto with something new. He landed the rights to the popular Popeye license and created a simple but clever concept: a level filled with stacked platforms, Bluto at the top throwing down rolling obstacles, Olive Oyl calling for help at the top, and Popeye climbing his way up to save her.
If that sounds familar, it should. When the Popeye licensing deal fell through, Nintendo reskinned the idea - replacing Popeye with Jumpman (later known as Mario), Olive Oyl with Pauline, and Bluto with a King Kong-like brute named Donkey Kong. The result was the classic arcade hit Donkey Kong - the game that saved Nintendo and launched their first true mascot.
Ironically, when Nintendo finally released an actual Popeye game soon after, critics dismissed it as a decent but unimaginative Donkey Kong rip-off. Little did they know, Donkey Kong itself had been the Popeye game all along.