Tuesday, April 08, 2014

Manual Stimulation: BurgerTime Deluxe (GameBoy)

Get ready for the return of the creepy BurgerTime Deluxe cover girl.

Thankfully, you're only going to have to look at her once in this post--as opposed to the numerous times readers were forced to look at her in my first write-up about this otherwise adorable GameBoy title.



To anyone who didn't believe me when I suggested a second ago that the rest of the Japanese BurgerTime Deluxe instruction manual was pretty darn cute: please check out the following pair of pages and then try to tell me that the illustrations of the game's protagonist are anything less than awww-inspiring.



The drawings that rest atop the next pair of pages--the first of which is dubbed the "Wonderland of BurgerTime Deluxe" and likely details the game's thrilling backstory--are even cuter, in my opinion.



Sorry, there are no cute illustrations to be found on the next couple of pages.



Don't worry, the designers responsible for this miniature manual are quick to bring back the drawings.



I don't know about you, but I find BurgerTime Deluxe's cast of enemies (shown on the left-hand page above) to be kind of bizarre. I mean, the "wiener" and pickle make sense, but the cracked egg and doughnut are questionable at best.



I'm sad to have to say that I'm not entirely sure what information the pages above and below are supposed to pass on to readers, although I'm pretty sure the left-hand page above explains BurgerTime Deluxe's password system and the pages below discuss its multi-player mode.





Regardless, there are a couple more adorable illustrations on the last few pages, so who really cares what all of the text around them is supposed to tell readers, right?

See also: previous 'Manual Stimulation' posts

8 comments:

TheGameroomBlitz said...

What's amazing to me is how much Peter Pepper (if he is indeed called that in this game) has changed over the last thirty years. Sometimes he's got hair, and sometimes he doesn't! Sometimes he's fat, and sometimes he's thin! He's been reinvented countless times, in contrast to Sonic the Hedgehog, who's only had one significant design revision (two if you count the upcoming Sonic Boom), and Mario, who hasn't changed since the early 1990s.

thegaygamer.com said...

Very true, Jess. I wonder if that's because it seems different companies have been responsible for creating BurgerTime games over the years--as opposed to, say, Mario and Sonic, who've generally been the responsibility of a single company?

Jeff's Wall of Beef said...

Wow, that's pretty charming character artwork in the book. Peter Pepper looks like "Jimmy Corrigan the Smartest Kid on Earth" (by Chris Ware) in this booklet. I like the Title graphic burger when its been reduced to two colors shown on the Table of Contents page.

thegaygamer.com said...

Hey there, Jeff! (I love your username, BTW.) I can't say I'd heard of Jimmy Corrigan the Smartest Kid on Earth before I read your comment, but after Googling him I have to agree with you. Hmmm, maybe Chris played this game way back when? Yeah, I doubt it, too. Also, yes, the title graphic is nice when reduced to two colors, isn't it?

TheGameroomBlitz said...

I think it's a factor. Data East has only been out of business for twelve years, after most of the Burgertime games were already released. However, the Peter Pepper in the latest Burgertime is a complete departure from the ones in previous games, sort of a cross between Robert Goulet and the purple pie man from Strawberry Shortcake. (It's an odd combination.)

I think that even when Data East was calling the shots, American game companies were taking artistic liberties with Burgertime. Heck, there was a sequel for the Intellivision designed exclusively in the United States. Diner was a bit of an oddball- you have more room to move than before and you kick balls of food into a tray to complete levels- but it wasn't a bad game even if Data East had nothing to do with it. Inty emulation is a bit of a kludge but I'd recommend at least watching some footage of it on YouTube. The

thegaygamer.com said...

Oh, yes, I know all about Diner -- and what little I've seen of it (in screenshots and videos) makes me wish I owned an Intellivision and a copy of the game :|

Marcus Estrada said...

I love, love, love BurgerTime and the art in this manual is so fun! The front of the manual (and cover image) are particularly awesome. Thanks for sharing this piece of BurgerTime history!

thegaygamer.com said...

Hello, Marcus! You're very welcome. I also love BurgerTime, by the way--all of its many iterations, not just this one--and I agree with you that the art packed inside BurgerTime Deluxe's Japanese manual is pretty sweet. I still think the blond is a bit creepy, though! ;)