As featured in Retrogaming Times Monthly issue #37, June 2007.

After taking a look at the awesome NES port of Joust last month, let us continue in the same fashion with another true arcade classic from 1982.  While a game about making burgers may sound mundane, BurgerTime is in fact one of the most intense and hair-raising maze type games ever released.  The player controls Peter Pepper, a short order chef with a knack for stacking perfect burgers.  Buns, hamburger patties, lettuce, tomato, cheese - all Peter Pepper's specialty.  However Mr. Hot Dog, Mr. Egg, and Mr. Pickle are on the run to prevent Peter Pepper from assembling his burgers.  Armed with nothing but your wits and a pinch of pepper, it's up to you to guide Peter Pepper on his burger building escapades.

Each stage begins with a series of unassembled burgers spread apart on a series of platforms, linked together by a network of ladders.  Walking completely across a burger fixing will cause it to slip down to the level below.  If there is another fixing on the level below, the falling fixing will knock it down a level as well.  This domino effect will continue until there is at least a one level gap between the lowest fixing effected in the chain, or the lowest fixing bottoms out.  These chain reactions can be exploited however, if one or more Food Foes are standing on a burger fixing being dropped then the fixing will fall further than a single level.  This tactic is essential both because it builds the burgers quicker than dropping fixings one level at a time and because it wipes foes out in the process.  Foes can also be stopped by dropping a burger fixing down atop them however this does not increase the number of levels the fixings will fall.  Peter Pepper's only active defense against the Food Foes is a pinch of pepper, of which he has a limited supply.  Throwing a pinch of pepper on a foe will temporarily stun them and allow Peter Pepper to walk by them without being hurt.  Picking up bonus food items that appear at the center of the screen replenish one pinch of pepper as well as award bonus points.  Once all burgers are assembled then the next stage begins, six different layouts in all with various types of burgers.

A game like BurgerTime, with simple graphics and straightforward gameplay, seems like a perfect title for recreation on the NES.  In fact the only real possible hurdle is that BurgerTime was a vertically orientated game in the arcade, so no matter what one would assume a few things would need to be reworked in terms of scale.  What's cool about the NES version is this really isn't the case.  Sure there are some very slight distance tweaks, but all the burger fixing heights are accurate to how they were in the arcade.  Each stage is recreated wonderfully and one can tell that a real attention to detail was paid to get the basics carried over as true as possible.  Peter Pepper and the Food Foes are animated well and resemble their arcade counterparts perfectly outside of resolution and color differences.  Over all colors are a little dark compared to the original but the game is still very colorful and nicely presented.  The only real compromise are the ladder graphics, which have been drastically simplified but still do their job.  Directional controls work perfectly with the directional pad and both buttons B and A are used to throw pepper.  Background music and sound effects are perfect and the familiar tune of BurgerTime will bring back memories to any 1980's arcade patron.

Once again the NES proves that with a little time and care these arcade classics can arrive at home in style.  I will bring something up concerning the packaging however.  Disappointingly the screen shots on the back of the BurgerTime box are from the attract screen of the arcade version, not the NES port.  This unsavory practice was somewhat common of the era but still irritates me a little every time I come across it.  While the graphics of the NES version reproduce the stages to fit properly on a horizontal display, the vertical arcade screen shots simply aren't what you see in the game due to the orientation and graphical reworks for the NES hardware.  The game looks great, Data East did a wonderful job on the conversion, that work should have been reflected on the box.  A minor complaint but when the game is as well done as it is, finding faults is a difficult task.  All the fun and excitement of the arcade original right in your home, you can't go wrong with BurgerTime on the NES.  It is by far my favorite port of this game and will provide hours of arcade enjoyment to all who give it a play.
 

"InsaneDavid" also runs a slowly growing gaming site at http://www.classicplastic.net/dvgi

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