Paper by Erik D. Demaine

Reference:
Greg Aloupis, Erik D. Demaine, Alan Guo, and Giovanni Viglietta, “Classic Nintendo Games are (Computationally) Hard”, Theoretical Computer Science, volume 586, 2015, pages 135–160.
BibTeX
@Article{Nintendo_TCS,
  AUTHOR        = {Greg Aloupis and Erik D. Demaine and Alan Guo and Giovanni Viglietta},
  TITLE         = {Classic {Nintendo} Games are (Computationally) Hard},
  JOURNAL       = {Theoretical Computer Science},
  journalurl    = {https://www.journals.elsevier.com/theoretical-computer-science},
  VOLUME        = 586,
  YEAR          = 2015,
  PAGES         = {135--160},

  replaces      = {Nintendo_FUN2014},
  papers        = {Nintendo_FUN2014},
  dblp          = {https://dblp.org/rec/journals/tcs/AloupisDGV15},
  comments      = {This paper is also available from <A HREF="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tcs.2015.02.037">ScienceDirect</A> and as <A HREF="http://arXiv.org/abs/1203.1895">arXiv:1203.1895</A>.},
}

Abstract:
We prove NP-hardness results for five of Nintendo's largest video game franchises: Mario, Donkey Kong, Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Pokémon. Our results apply to generalized versions of Super Mario Bros. 1–3, The Lost Levels, and Super Mario World; Donkey Kong Country 1–3; all Legend of Zelda games; all Metroid games; and all Pokémon role-playing games. In addition, we prove PSPACE-completeness of the Donkey Kong Country games and several Legend of Zelda games.

Comments:
This paper is also available from ScienceDirect and as arXiv:1203.1895.

Availability:
The paper is available in PDF (3487k).
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Related papers:
Nintendo_FUN2014 (Classic Nintendo Games are (Computationally) Hard)


See also other papers by Erik Demaine.
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Last updated January 20, 2026 by Erik Demaine.