Keystone Kapers 2 prototype
by Garry Kitchen (Activision)
One of my earliest memories from childhood was of a time that I threw a minor temper tantrum in the Boscov's department store at the Laurel Mall. I couldn't have been older than five years old at the time, We were shopping and I saw Keysone Kapers on the shelf. It was one of my favorite games for the 2600, but the one at the store was in a shiny new 5200 box and it showed different graphics that weren't in the game that I had back home. Dad patiently explained to an inconsolable young gamer that I already had this game, and that we didn't own a 5200. This may have been the first time I wanted the latest port of one of my favorite games, but it wouldn't be the last.
AtariAge and the National Video Game Museum announced earlier today that the unfinished sequel to Keysone Kapers 2 has been discovered. Activision programmer Dan Kitchen donated his brother's work to the museum, and some of the footage and facts about this lost game have been shared. It was to be called Keysone Cannonball, and the video above shows Keystone Kelly presumably chasing Harry Hooligan to prevent a train heist.
If this news isn't cool enough, Dan shared on AtariAge that he is rewriting this game from scratch, and that a physical cartridge of this long lost game will be released by Tiki Vision Games. He has a long history of fun games dating back to the dawn of the industry, including another of my Activision favorites, Crackpots. I'm looking forward to playing this!
