The Great Gaymathon Review #69: BurgerTime Deluxe (GameBoy)

Game: BurgerTime Deluxe

Genre: Arcade

Developer: Data East

Publisher: Data East

System: GameBoy

Release date: 1991

As much as I've always loved the unique-to-this-day arcade classic that is BurgerTime, I'd be hard pressed to describe it as "accessible" thanks to the daunting challenge it presents anyone who dares approach it.

Thankfully, the folks at Data East--the now-defunct, Tokyo-based company was both the developer and publisher of the 1982 original--decided in the early 1990s to take another stab at the avoid-food-themed-baddies-while-piecing-together-gigantic-burgers formula that proved so appealing (if not accessible) in their earlier effort, with the result being this far more enjoyable sequel.

Now, that isn't to suggest BurgerTime Deluxe is some sort of pushover. In fact, by the time you reach the game's fourth "world," you'll likely be pulling your hair out as you attempt to complete at least a few of its final handful of stages. You won't be doing that because the stages in question are "cheap," though, and that's definitely a key takeaway here.

Another key takeaway related to this portable platformer (of sorts): despite its obvious lack of color, it looks great on the GameBoy's (or 3DS', if that's how you roll) small screen, with well-drawn sprites that easily put to shame those found in, say, the Famicom port of the arcade original. Sure, it would've been nice if the developers had done more to change up the backdrops that support this quirky title's burger-making, condiment-escaping action, but at least they throw in a new enemy or ingredient every now and then.

The team responsible for putting BurgerTime Deluxe together was a bit more creatively on the ball when it came to producing the game's soundtrack, thankfully, as three different tunes are divvied up amongst its 24 levels. My favorite is the lilting, peppy one that kicks things off, although the others have their charms, too.

Add all of the above together and you've got a GameBoy title that's well worth exploring, especially if you're like me and you liked the idea, but not the execution, of the arcade original.

It's nowhere near as deep or exhilarating as, say, Nintendo's splendid Donkey Kong revamp that was released in 1994, of course, but it holds its own against pretty much every other platformer produced for this iconic portable, and for that reason alone I'd say it deserves a look.

See also: previous 'Great Gaymathon' reviews

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

If nothing else, BurgerTime Deluxe's Japanese packaging is cheerful and bright

I say the above because, well, the design that graces the cover of the Japanese version of BurgerTime Deluxe looks like it was made using cheap clipart in about five minutes.

So, why'd I buy it? Because I'm a big fan of this BurgerTime iteration's gameplay, which I consider to be far, far, more enjoyable than what's present in the arcade original.

I'll chat about all of that further in this game's upcoming "Great Gaymathon" review (because you know I'm going to publish one--and soon). For the time being, let's focus on this version's packaging.

Speaking of which, I have to say that I much prefer the cover art that was created for the North American release of BurgerTime Deluxe, which can be seen here.

The Japanese copy seen above and below actually was cheaper than the complete-in-box copies of its North American counterpart I came across, though, so I went with the slightly less-desirable option.

Anyway, the game's cartridge and manual also sport the same cheesy image that appears on the box cover, which is kind of creepy when you see them all sitting next to each other like you do in the photo above.

Thankfully, that overly cheerful blond is nowhere to be found on the backside of the box. That said, I almost wish she were present, as it's kind of bland as is, don't you think?

Even better would have been the addition of a few of the cute illustrations that can be found within BurgerTime Deluxe's instruction manual.

Now, don't get too excited, as the illustrations I'm talking about aren't quite up to the standard of those included in, say, Painter Momopie's manual, but they're nice enough and they're certainly more interesting than a couple of green-and-white screenshots and a slew of text.

Do any of you have any experience with this game? If so, what do you think about it?

See also: a few more photos of this copy of BurgerTime Deluxe can be found on my Flickr photostream

Handre De Jager's BurgerTime

When Data East's BurgerTime was ported to the NES in 1985, its box art looked like this:

South African illustrator, animator, 3D modeler and digital music composer Handre De Jager thinks it should have looked more like the image below, given "the [often] inaccurate nature of 80's and early 90's video game cover art."

Although I can't say I agree entirely--mainly because I'm pretty fond of the box art we ended up with--I also can't say I dislike De Jager's illustration.

That said, it is a bit frightening, isn't it? Honestly, I'm not sure which aspect scares me more: The hot dog, the pickle or the egg.

(Thanks to Twitter user Alchemlx for turning me on to this creation.)

The Great Gaymathon Review #59: BurgerTime (Famicom)

Game: BurgerTime

Genre: Arcade/Action

Developer: Data East

Publisher: Namcot

System: Famicom

Release date: 1985

This is one of those ancient arcade games that probably only appeals to folks who were around when it was first released. For everyone else, the premise--create hamburgers while walking over ingredients and avoiding similarly munchable enemies--is unlikely to make much sense and the old-school difficulty of the gameplay is sure to prove more than a bit daunting.

So, where do I sit on this BurgerTime continuum? If you'd asked me back when it was first ported to Nintendo's 8-bit systems, my 9-year-old self would have told you I was located firmly on the "hell no" side of things--in small part because of the game's cruelly challenging nature but in larger part because it's far from "arcade perfect" (something I pointlessly put a lot of stock into in those days). How would my 35-year-old self respond if asked today? I'd say that I'm now on the opposite end of the spectrum and that I'm pretty darn fond of this iteration of Data East's admittedly brutal quarter-muncher.

My younger self was right, of course, that the stages in the Famicom/NES version aren't as colorful as those in the coin-op original, nor are the enemies in the former as well crafted as those in the latter, but who cares? Both releases more than get the job done in the looks department, and both feature the same brilliant, can't-get-it-out-of-my-head backing track. Most importantly, though, both also evoke a rather thrilling sense of panic in the player that calls to mind other classic titles--like Mappy and Pac-Man--from the same era.

Combine all of the above with the Famicom port's tight-as-can-be controls and completely adorable cover art and you've got yourself a great little pick-up--assuming you don't have a short fuse (see the comments above about this game's difficulty) and you can find it on the cheap.

See also: Previous 'Great Gaymathon' posts

Does this mean I'm going to have to get an Intellivision?

While working on yesterday's "five favorites" column about cooking-themed games, I became aware of a console-only sequel to BurgerTime that was released way back when (1984, to be exact) for Mattel's Intellivision.

The game, called Diner, isn't set in a nightmarish hamburger factory like its predecessor, by the way; rather, it's set in a M.C. Escher-esque restaurant. (Don't worry, BurgerTime fans: Peter Pepper's still the star. Those hateful hot dogs are back, too, and they've brought a few friends along with them--including some murderous mugs of root beer.)

So, what's the point of this odd little plate-former--which was programmed by Ray Kaestner (who also programmed Burger Time)? The game's intro text does a pretty bang-up job of explaining things:

Avoid enemy food!
Kick food balls to bottom plate!
Roll food balls over enemies!
Freeze enemies with pepper!
Collect prizes for extra pepper!
Amaze your friends!

Check out these two video reviews--here and here--of this Realtime Associates-developed title if the above text doesn't make much sense (or if you just want to know more about the game) or check out the Diner entry on the Church of BurgerTime website.

Sadly, I've yet to play Diner myself--I can't get the darn Intellivision emulator I downloaded over the weekend to work--but you can bet I'll do so as soon as possible.

See also: 'Five favorites: cooking-themed games'

Five favorites: cooking-themed games

It should be obvious to anyone who stumbles upon this blog that I love gaming. Likely not as obvious is my similar love of cooking.

Anyway, once in a great while those two interests collide in a cooking-themed video game. I've played a number of such games over the years, with the following being my favorites:

1. BurgerTime (Arcade, 1982)--As far as I can tell, this is the original cooking-themed video game. To say it's still one of the best wouldn't be an understatement, in my opinion. OK, so the cooking here involves assembling giant hamburgers by running over each ingredient--bottom bun, burger, lettuce and top bun--in order while avoiding crazed eggs, hot dogs and other food items, but that's still cooking in my book, so I'm including it on this list.

2. Panic Restaurant (NES, 1992)--I'd like to give a good pat on the back to the person who came up with the idea for this game--which focuses on a Chef Boyardee-esque protagonist who races through a cursed restaurant in pursuit of his chief rival--and another to the publishing exec who gave it the green light, as it is, sadly, one of the very few cooking-themed platformers to hit store shelves over the years. Thankfully, it's a delicious, if a tad difficult (and expensive), gem of a game.

3. Cooking Fighter Hao (PlayStation, 1998)--Nippon Ichi may be best known for its tactical RPGs (like Disgaea and Phantom Brave), but one of its very first releases seemingly took its cues from that campy Food Network mainstay, Iron Chef. Unfortunately, this sometimes-annoying, button-mashing arena battler--which, admittedly, features some nice spritework--fails to evoke any of the fun that's a hallmark of its boob-tube-based inspiration.

4. Ore No Ryouri (PlayStation, 1999)--The folks who made Cooking Mama and its ilk--which includes the following entry on this list--owe a lot to those who made Ore No Ryouri. The protagonist in each of these games is a wet-behind-the-ears chef who has to work his (or her) way up the proverbial ladder of the restaurant world, after all. In Ore No Ryouri, that means chopping a lot of onions, frying a lot of meat and pouring a lot of beer--all while utilizing the pair of analog sticks on the original DualShock controller, of course.

5. Order Up! (Wii, 2008)--Take Ore No Ryouri, replace the Japanese setting with an American one, change the art style so the characters look like Weeble Wobbles (in a good way--honestly!) and alter the controls so it works with the Wii Remote and, basically, you have this charming, Supervillain Studios-developed title. Read this review (part of "The Great Gaymathon" series) for more information on this criminally overlooked release.

See also: Previous 'five favorites' posts

I'm a bit horrified by BurgerTime HD

When it was revealed a few weeks ago that an HD revamp of the arcade classic, BurgerTime, would soon be released (digitally) for the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii, I was intrigued. After all, the Data East-developed original was one of my favorite games as a kid, and I still play both the arcade and Famicom/NES versions with some regularity.

Anyway, as I just said, initially I was intrigued by this so-called BurgerTime HD, which is being developed by Monkey Paw Games. After seeing it action, however, it probably would be more accurate to describe my feelings as horrified.

More BurgerTime HD Videos

My main beef with what's displayed in the video above is the game's setting. Why does it appear to be set in space? Granted, it's difficult to image an acceptable setting for a game in which players are tasked with assembling giant hamburgers, but surely the developers could ape the original's "burger factory" theme a bit more closely?

Despite my overall lack of interest in this title at the moment, I'm still planning to keep an eye on it between now and whenever it's released. Who knows, maybe the final product will be far more appetizing than what's shown in this teaser?