In 1981 a reddish brown, grinning gorilla turned up in arcades around the world. His name was Kong… Donkey Kong. His aim? To foil the plans of one Italian plumber – a certain Mario, who wanted to rescue... erm Pauline, from the hairy clutches of Kong. What the game lacked in story it made up for in addictiveness. This is the story of a group of men who had to keep feeding the machine until they could prove they were the best.

Dad, is it my turn yet?

This documentary shines a light on the dim corner of arcades where pale-skinned types stood next to arcade machines in attempt to record the highest score. We meet Billy Mitchell, who in 1982 set the highest score in the world for Donkey Kong. In the film Mitchell unfortunately encapsulates the weird and creepy tag often associated with arcade players. If you missed the beginning of the DVD, you might be forgiven for thinking you put a film about a serial killer in your machine instead.

Thankfully though, we soon meet all-American hero type Steve Wiebe, who despite his woeful on-screen parenting skills, comes across as a real life George Bailey type from It’s A Wonderful Life. The scene is soon set then for a battle of the joysticks as new kid on the block attempts to take on the dark lord of Kong.

Anyone who has a soft spot for arcades (usually attributed to moist carpets around the cabinets) and classic games will enjoy this battle of the geeks. It manages to capture the highs and lows, the rivalry and passion for games almost long forgotten. For those that were never fans of arcades, this will only confirm why you never liked them in the first place; for the rest of us though, it’s a trip down memory lane (jump, jump, left) with a pocketful of silver change.