THE MAKING OF
KEYSTONE KAPERS
IN CREATING HIS CLASSIC CRAZY CAPER INSPIRED BY THE KEYSTONE KOPS AND DONKEY KONG, GARRY KITCHEN STOLE THE HEARTS OF GAMERS, SEIZED THEIR ATTENTION AND MADE THEM CHUCKLE WITH A FUN TAKE ON A CHAOTIC COPS AND ROBBERS CHASE
WORDS BY DAVID CROOKES
IN THE KNOW
» PUBLISHER: ACTIVISION
» DEVELOPER: ACTIVISION
» PLATFORM: ATARI 2600, VARIOUS
» RELEASED: 1983
» GENRE: PLATFORM
For many years, Mack Sennett’s silent film comedy series Keystone Kops inspired many a homage. After emerging in 1912, the hapless fictional policemen supported the likes of Charlie Chaplin, starred in films involving Abbott and Costello and Mel Brooks, and even featured in 1981’s The Muppets Go To The Movies and episodes of Sesame Street. But their slapstick shenanigans also influenced one of the greatest Atari 2600 games, Garry Kitchen’s classic Keystone Kapers. Fresh from making Space Jockey and a port of Donkey Kong for the console, Garry decided to draw upon this most incompetent of police forces. Hence a starring role for Officer Keystone Kelly in a madcap game that saw the character in hot pursuit of “blunderous hoodlum” Harry Hooligan.
» [Atari 2600] When in hot pursuit of Harry, you could feel the adrenaline pumping.
VID CROOKES
Garry, who joined Activision shortly after completing his Donkey Kong adaptation, had been looking to create another game with a small character. “I was predisposed to doing another ‘little running man’ game and I wanted it to be humorous,” he explains. His first step was to identify a character easily recognisable to players. “I have always had a ‘rule’ that I’ve followed when developing for the Atari 2600,” he continues. “I won’t put an object in the game if a player can’t immediately tell what it is which, honestly, is a problem with many 2600 games given the console’s limited graphics capabilities.”
Garry experimented with different characters before landing upon the Keystone Kapers theme. “With the iconic ‘bowler hat’ and billy club, the character was instantly recognisable,” he adds. Development of the game effectively grew from there. “With a cop, you have a natural adversary in the crook who, by the way, was also instantly recognisable in his striped prison garb,” Garry explains. “So once I had the main characters, what choice did I have but to have the cop chase the crook?”