The course of true love never did run smooth; watch out for those flaming onions, Pauline.
One daughter’s love for Donkey Kong inspired her dad to do a little benevolent modding, and the result is a tale of true love between a plumber and Pauline. Except that this time it’s Pauline out to save her little Italian buddy, and not the other way around.
“My three year old daughter and I play a lot of old games together,” says the dad, Mike Mika, who works for Other Ocean. “Her favorite is Donkey Kong,” he adds, and that’s where the trouble started, as that particular game doesn’t let you play as Pauline. Little Mika wasn’t happy about that – after all, she could play as the Princess in other games – and that inspired her dad’s midnight modding of the 2010 NES edition.
The hardest part, according to Mika, was the animation. “The technical aspect of the mod wasn’t too challenging, it was animating blind,” he says, “also, what should Pauline look like when moving?” But once these challenges were overcome, the rest was a snap. A downloadable Pauline patch is available via the YouTube video, should you wish to play the Mika version, though you will need the original ROM and XDELTA to use it.
Source: Donkey Kong: Pauline Edition