BurgerTime is a platformer that originally released at arcades in 1982 followed by home console ports for Apple II, Atari 2600, NES and more besides. Rarer sequels were released at arcades including Peter Pepper’s Ice Cream Factory and Super BurgerTime that released in 1984 and 1990 respectively. Further BurgerTime games were released on consoles including BurgerTime Deluxe on Game Boy in 1991 and a 3D remake titled BurgerTime World Tour on PS3 and Wii in 2011 and 2012, alongside multiple BurgerTime games being included on multiple compilations. Can BurgerTime’s My Arcade Micro Player capture the gameplay of the original BurgerTime, albeit within a portable arcade cabinet?
BurgerTime features challenging gameplay as the player controls Peter Pepper; a chef that must construct ingredients such as meat, tomato or lettuce within buns of four burgers on a single screen, while avoiding enemies named Mr. Egg, Mr. Hot Dog and Mr. Pickle during the exploration of the level along platforms and up or down ladders. Peter Pepper’s pepper shaker provides a power-up that is available in limited quantity to prevent enemies from getting any closer to him, while enemies can also be squashed by ingredients.
As is the case with other My Arcade cabinets; BurgerTime has responsive controls including pressing A or B to utilise the pepper shaker power-up; pressing start to begin gameplay from the main menu or pause during gameplay; pressing reset returns to the main menu; and moving Peter Pepper to the right or left on the current platform or climbing ladders using the joystick or d-pad. The joystick comfortably sits above the centre of the d-pad, but can easily be gently unscrewed by hand to utilise the d-pad instead with the joystick also being simple to reattach by hand.
Graphically, BurgerTime preserves the charming retro aesthetics of the original 1982 arcade release; presented on a screen of around 2.5 inches or so in size. Environments are colourful as they include blue and green ladders and various colours of the burger layers, alongside multiple enemies and Peter Pepper in his chef’s uniform.
BurgerTime’s presentation is exceptional as the display box and arcade cabinet both contains amazing artwork inspired by the original BurgerTime arcade cabinet complete with the Peter Pepper character and enemies Mr. Hot Dog and Mr. Pickle, game logo and Data East logo, while a further clever touch is a sticker covering the screen that clearly depicts the anticipated graphics and gameplay. BurgerTime’s box contains the excellently constructed 6.75 inches tall arcade cabinet accompanied by respectable internal packaging to keep everything stable when in the packaging and a manual supporting a multitude of languages. The arcade cabinet can be powered by a 5 volts micro USB cable plug that is situated towards the bottom on the back or for genuine portability; four AA batteries, although the micro USB lead or plug and batteries are not included.
BurgerTime’s audio is really good with retro arcade music and sound effects such as when layers of the burger are moved into the bun, using a power-up and when the pepper shaker power-up hits an enemy. BurgerTime’s arcade machine also features volume control allowing the player to increase or reduce the volume, while a 3.5mm headphone jack simultaneously provides greater immersion and portability.
BurgerTime’s value is significant, especially to fans of BurgerTime and arcade cabinets, alongside as always with the My Arcade Micro Player range; taking pride of place on display in a gaming room as the artwork for the arcade cabinet and its outer packaging is superb. Meanwhile, BurgerTime’s replayability is of a high quality due to the challenging yet simultaneously addictively entertaining gameplay in the sense of wanting one more try to progress further into constructing all four burgers. When factoring in the price point of only $34.99 in American regions or around £25 to £35 in the UK for a portable arcade cabinet of a classic retro platformer is pretty good.
Analysis – Title: BurgerTime My Arcade Micro Player – Game Developer: Data East/G-Mode – Arcade Cabinet Manufacturer: My Arcade/DreamGear – Publisher: MyArcade/DreamGear – Players: 1
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Jason
Jason plays all genres of games and enjoys all different kinds of experiences that the games industry has to offer. Jason's favourite PlayStation exclusive franchises throughout various eras include: Crash Bandicoot, God of War, Gran Turismo, inFamous, Killzone, Little Big Planet, MotorStorm, Resistance, Spyro the Dragon, Uncharted, Wipeout and various games that never became big name franchises. A special mention goes to Black Rock's superb Split Second: Velocity as it is rather unbelievable that it will never receive a sequel.
Jason now mainly plays modern PlayStation games on home console and portably, but occasionally returns to the old retro classics on the 3DO, PS1 and PS2 such as discovering Cool Spot Goes to Hollywood 20 years after its original release on PS1. Jason is happy to see gaming coming full circle with updates for retro classics such as Alien Breed, Superfrog and Crash Bandicoot.
