Fans of King of Kong Steve Wiebe might want to cover their eyes at this news. Everyone’s favorite schoolteacher finally achieved the top score in Donkey Kong last September with a score of 1,064,500, finally besting the infamous Billy Mitchell. But there was a story no one was talking about.While everyone was watching Wiebe and Mitchell’s rivalry a man named Hank Chien (aka Doctor Kong) snuck his way into the record-books last March with a top score. Mitchell soon beat it before Wiebe took it back for the sake of good but Chien wasn’t about to give up.
Just last weekend at The Kong-Off Chien achieved a high score of 1,090,400 points, and top place in the Twin Galaxies record-books.
But who is this Doctor Kong and what made him try for this ridiculous record? Well, the irony here is that Chien was inspired by King of Kong to play the game in the first place. See what you have wrought! He wasn’t the only one inspired by the film- a rush of new records for the newly-popular game has dropped Billy Mitchell’s high score into 7th place.
Chien’s a plastic surgeon (hence the moniker) from NYCÂ who got hooked on the classic battle of man and beast and shirked a social life in order to become the best. In keeping with his origin story there’s a documentary being made about the man called Doctor Kong: Cutting Up The Competition.
Check out the trailer for an idea of what to expect and wonder how the hell he managed to cram an arcade cabinet into a NYC apartment. Check out the film’s official site here for screening info.
Wiebe fans, my condolences. But this war isn’t over yet…