And yet, 22 years after our first encounter with the tubby moustachioed plumber Nintendo is still capable of flushing out cynicism, eradicating boredom and making us believe in the possibilities of gaming again.

The transition from a fanatical comic reading pre-teen youth hung up on Dennis The Menace and Bananaman to hopelessly addicted Crash-reading computer gaming aficionado was all but assured from the moment Donkey Kong took its arcade bow.