Billy Mitchell’s controversial Donkey Kong high scores have been partially reinstated

17.01.2024 - 10:41 / videogameschronicle.com / Chris Scullion

Retro video game high score chaser Billy Mitchell has had his Donkey Kong scores reinstated to an extent on the Twin Galaxies website, six years after they were removed.

Mitchell, who has been known for his high scoring abilities since the 1980s, found renewed fame when he appeared in the documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, where he was portrayed as a scheming rival to the the film’s main focus, high score newcomer Steve Wiebe.

In 2018, Mitchell’s high scores were removed from Twin Galaxies, which was considered to be one of the foremost high score leaderboards online, after claims were made that his submissions were questionable.

It was suggested that the evidence submitted for Mitchell’s high scores showed images that could not have been generated by unmodified original Donkey Kong arcade hardware, which players must use.

Following the removal of the scores, Mitchell threatened legal action against Twin Galaxies, claiming defamation. In statements released by both parties, however, the issue has now seemingly been resolved.

According to Twin Galaxies’ statement, computer scientist Dr Michael Zyda submitted a document on behalf of Mitchell, suggesting the tapes could in fact have been played on original hardware if it had been malfuctioning due to its components degrading over time.

“Twin Galaxies’ mandate is to verify that submissions meet verification guidelines, not to investigate how they are produced,” it said. “This latter area remains available to experts such as Dr Zyda and other interested parties, who may examine and assess these matters for their individual purposes.

“Twin Galaxies takes no official stance on the creation of submitted content but can recognize and acknowledge Dr Zyda’s expert opinion.”

Twin Galaxies has now agreed to reinstate Mitchell’s high scores – including his highest score of 1,062,800 – but only in its ‘historical database’ section, which lists all the scores on the site up until its acquisition in 2014 (at which point new adjudication protocols were set up).

As such, Mitchell’s scores are still not listed on the current Twin Galaxies leaderboard for Donkey Kong.

In his own statement on the matter, Mitchell wrote: “Today, January 16, 2024, Twin Galaxies has reinstated all of the videogame world records that I achieved in my career, effective immediately.

“I am relieved and satisfied to reach this resolution after an almost six year ordeal and look forward to pursuing my unfinished business elsewhere.”

While the saga with Mitchell has been ongoing, the Donkey Kong high score has continued to rise. The current high score is now 1,272,800, which was achieved by Robbie Lakeman in 2021.