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.

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.

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