The game’s full name is Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie, but we didn’t dare put that in the title.

How could director Peter Jackson follow up on the success of The Lord of the Rings? The answer was a giant gorilla. Jackson’s three-hour-and-seven-minute remake of King Kong was released in December 2005 and ultimately grossed $556 million worldwide. This paved the way for Ubisoft Montpellier’s decent game adaptation, Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie, which was well-received everywhere except on the DS.

Surprisingly entertaining in an era when movie-based games were mediocre at best, it alternated perspectives between first-person shooters, spear-throwing at predators, and Kong’s third-person kaiju combat scenes. However, it did not receive the years of official support necessary to keep it playable on current hardware.

This week, modder Sergey P. released a new version of his Widescreen Fix mod to celebrate the 20^(th) anniversary of the game. The update fixes display issues, glitches, and input implementations that would otherwise prevent players from enjoying quality time with Kong. However, Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie is not easy to obtain for PC. It is not available on Steam or Ubisoft’s store. Obtaining it through other methods requires bypassing the outdated, machine-overloading StarForce DRM protection of the Signature Edition or doing additional work to run the Gamer’s Edition.

This raises the problem that excellent games released in the past are no longer legally available today. Not everyone has a DVD drive, and it’s uncertain whether the game can be found on disc at a reasonable price. In such cases, GOG or at least the concept of game preservation could be a lifesaver.

Source: PCGamer, FusionFix