Keystone Kapers
Encyclopedia
Keystone Kapers was a 1983 game published by Activision
for the Atari 2600
, and later ported to Atari 5200
, Atari 8-bit family
, ColecoVision
and MSX
. Inspired by Mack Sennett
's slapstick Keystone Kops
series of silent film
s, the object of the game is for Officer Keystone Kelly (the user) to catch Harry Hooligan before he can escape from the department store.
door. When the 50 second countdown begins, Kelly will run to the left, toward the elevators at the center of the store, the player controlling Kelly has to catch Harry before the countdown ends, and before Harry can escape off the roof of the store (Once Kelly takes the escalator to the roof, he can't go down until the round ends). Each time Kelly suceeds or fails, the round ends and a new round begins if Kelly manages to catch the thief or at the expense of one extra life. Extra lifes are awarded every 10,000 points; however, the maximum number of lives that can be held in reserve is three. The game is over once all of Kelly's lives are lost.
The player will use a joystick to move Kelly. Moving the joystick
to the left or the right will move Kelly in the direction selected on the screen. Kelly can jump to avoid obstacles, and the user pushes the fire button to perform that action. He can also duck, which is accomplished by the user pressing down on the joystick. The obstacles include cathedral radios, which are stationary. There are also bouncing beach balls, as well as shopping carts. Touching any of the these objects will cause the user to suffer a 9 second penalty. The aforementioned biplanes, however, are deadly to the touch.
Both Harry and Kelly can make use of the escalators to take them up to the next floor. Harry will then typically run toward the next escalator, on the opposite end of the floor. Kelly can make use of the elevators at the center of the store; however, if he takes the elevator to a floor that is ahead of the one on which Harry currently is, Harry will reverse direction. When he is being pursued, the latter--unlike Kelly--can also go down an escalator to the lower floor.
Once Kelly catches Harry, the player will score points based upon the amount of time they have left. On levels 1 - 9, the user will score what's left on the clock times 100 points, on levels 10 - 15 the amount left on the clock times 200 points, and afterwards the amount left times 300 points. Kelly can also pick up bags and suitcases of money for 50 points each.
As with most early video games, there is no end to the game; each level gets progressively harder, adding more and/or faster hazards until Kelly loses all of his lives.
There is a map of the store at the bottom of the screen. This map shows where both Kelly and Harry are, which direction they are going, what floor the elevator is on, and which direction the elevator is moving.
Game Room
service for its Xbox 360
console and for Windows-based
PC
s.
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
for the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
, and later ported to Atari 5200
Atari 5200
The Atari 5200 SuperSystem, commonly known as the Atari 5200, is a video game console that was introduced in 1982 by Atari Inc. as a higher end complementary console for the popular Atari 2600...
, Atari 8-bit family
Atari 8-bit family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips...
, ColecoVision
ColecoVision
The ColecoVision is Coleco Industries' second generation home video game console which was released in August 1982. The ColecoVision offered arcade-quality graphics and gaming style, and the means to expand the system's basic hardware...
and MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
. Inspired by Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett was a Canadian-born American director and was known as the innovator of slapstick comedy in film. During his lifetime he was known at times as the "King of Comedy"...
's slapstick Keystone Kops
Keystone Kops
The Keystone Kops were incompetent fictional policemen, featured in silent film comedies in the early 20th century. The movies were produced by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company between 1912 and 1917. The idea came from Hank Mann who also played police chief Tehiezel in the first film...
series of silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
s, the object of the game is for Officer Keystone Kelly (the user) to catch Harry Hooligan before he can escape from the department store.
Gameplay
In this game, Officer Kelly and Harry are in a four story department store. Each round Kelly starts out at the first floor entrance at the lower right hand corner of the screen, while Harry starts out at the second floor elevatorElevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
door. When the 50 second countdown begins, Kelly will run to the left, toward the elevators at the center of the store, the player controlling Kelly has to catch Harry before the countdown ends, and before Harry can escape off the roof of the store (Once Kelly takes the escalator to the roof, he can't go down until the round ends). Each time Kelly suceeds or fails, the round ends and a new round begins if Kelly manages to catch the thief or at the expense of one extra life. Extra lifes are awarded every 10,000 points; however, the maximum number of lives that can be held in reserve is three. The game is over once all of Kelly's lives are lost.
The player will use a joystick to move Kelly. Moving the joystick
Joystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
to the left or the right will move Kelly in the direction selected on the screen. Kelly can jump to avoid obstacles, and the user pushes the fire button to perform that action. He can also duck, which is accomplished by the user pressing down on the joystick. The obstacles include cathedral radios, which are stationary. There are also bouncing beach balls, as well as shopping carts. Touching any of the these objects will cause the user to suffer a 9 second penalty. The aforementioned biplanes, however, are deadly to the touch.
Both Harry and Kelly can make use of the escalators to take them up to the next floor. Harry will then typically run toward the next escalator, on the opposite end of the floor. Kelly can make use of the elevators at the center of the store; however, if he takes the elevator to a floor that is ahead of the one on which Harry currently is, Harry will reverse direction. When he is being pursued, the latter--unlike Kelly--can also go down an escalator to the lower floor.
Once Kelly catches Harry, the player will score points based upon the amount of time they have left. On levels 1 - 9, the user will score what's left on the clock times 100 points, on levels 10 - 15 the amount left on the clock times 200 points, and afterwards the amount left times 300 points. Kelly can also pick up bags and suitcases of money for 50 points each.
As with most early video games, there is no end to the game; each level gets progressively harder, adding more and/or faster hazards until Kelly loses all of his lives.
There is a map of the store at the bottom of the screen. This map shows where both Kelly and Harry are, which direction they are going, what floor the elevator is on, and which direction the elevator is moving.
Ports
On May 12th, the Atari 2600 version of Keystone Kapers was released on Microsoft'sMicrosoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Game Room
Game Room
Game Room is a gaming service for the Xbox 360 video game system, Microsoft Windows PCs, and Windows Phone 7. Launched on March 24, 2010, Game Room lets players download classic video games and compete against each other for high scores...
service for its Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
console and for Windows-based
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
s.
External links
- AtariAge entry for Keystone Kapers
- Game of the Week: Keystone Kapers at Classic Gaming