Kickstart this: Jumpman Forever represents a modern-day renaissance for one of the original platformers

As you may or may not know, Mario made his video game debut in 1981's Donkey Kong as "Jumpman".

But that particular name isn't just synonymous with Nintendo's incredibly famous Italian plumber.

You see, Jumpman is also the name of a 1983 platformer that debuted on the Atari 400/800.

While Mario went on to become one of video gaming's most recognisable characters, Jumpman is only remembered by a dedicated few.

"Jumpman is one of those games that's remained unique enough that is still has a following," lead developer of Jumpman Forever Davis Ray Sickmon, Jr. says.

That's right, Mario: you should be quaking in your boots right now. Yep, Jumpman is making a comeback. Well, he will provided the Kickstarter campaign for Jumpman Forever is a success.

Sickmon is part of Midnight Ryder Technologies, a studio which tried to resurrect Jumpman back in 2000 with the official sequel, Jumpman 2049.

However, that game ended up being cancelled. That didn't please Jumpman's fans too much, apparently.

"I've been getting emails since 2001 from people who run across references to a new Jumpman game, wondering when we were going to release [one]," Sickmon tells us.

"With Ouya's Free The Games Fund matching what we raise during our Kickstarter phase, it seemed like it was the right time to re-investigate the idea of doing the game."

If Midnight Ryder's Kickstarter campaign for Jumpman Forever is successful, the game will surface on iPhone, iPad, Android, PC, and Mac next year. The Ouya version should be available in February 2014.