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"This game is nothing to sneeze at."

Burger Time was a fun little classic back in the day. As an unnamed chef, your task was to assemble giant hamburgers. However, evil walking eggs and sausages would enjoy nothing more than to witness your complete failure at that task. Fortunately, our hero can fight off these dreadful creatures with... pepper. It's a completely goofy premise, but it was turned into a pretty fun arcade game. The folks at Hudson and (the now defunct) Data East decided to port the game over to DOS in 1982 with somewhat mixed results. While all of the fun and addictiveness of the arcade version is here, the game has issues which prevent it from ascending to the levels of greatness found in the other versions of this game.

As far as gameplay is concerned, everything great about Burger Time remains completely intact. Your goal is still the same: create giant hamburgers for absolutely no reason. Evil sausages and eggs will again attempt to kill you for fun. You only have two defenses against these horrible creatures. If you drop part of a hamburger onto an enemy, or if they are on a giant hamburger when it falls (you push the hamburgers and their condiments down floor by floor until they reach a giant tray), they will die. You can make this easier with the use of your chef's pepper, which stuns the evil beasts and allows him to harmlessly pass by them. All of the action occurs on the game's many platforms and ladders. It is very easy to get stuck in a corner or otherwise trapped by the enemies, causing many cheap and frustrating deaths. However, the sense of urgency caused by this cheapness only adds to the arcade-style fun.

The graphics of Burger Time, however, didn't transfer to the DOS nearly as well as the gameplay did. By default, the game uses a mere four colors that aren't very pleasant to look at: white, black, purple, and teal. Also by default, the sprites in the game have odd black lines going through them, giving everything an odd look not seen in the other versions of the game. I understand that this game came out in 1982, but they surely could have done a better job in this department for those unable to buy an advanced computer. I will give the creators of the game's graphics this: the game animates well. There are no missing or otherwise choppy animations to be found, and the pepper effect actually looks kind of cool. If you're running the game on DOSBox or an otherwise modern computer, you can adjust the settings to make the game display in actual colors. This looks far better than the default settings, but everything looks oddly blurry.

That's about all that can be said about the Burger Time. As an early, DOS title, there is very little else to expect. There is no multiplayer and realistically nothing to keep you playing the game, though its addictive qualities make up for this somewhat. The game has almost no music. The few tracks that exist are okay, but they get old quick. The sound effects are nothing to write home about either. While playing the game, none of this really matters. Focus on anything but the excellent gameplay, and you'll die. If you run across a copy of Burger Time for a reasonable price, pick it up. You won't be disappointed.

Grading Scales:
GAMEPLAY- 10/10
GRAPHICS- 6/10
SOUND/MUSIC- 3/10
REPLAYABILITY: 10/10
LENGTH: N/A (Arcade-Style Game)
VALUE: N/A
CONTROLS: 10/10
MULTIPLAYER: N/A
STORY (Not factored into average): N/A
FINAL SCORE: 7.8/10 => 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/12/10, Updated 02/16/10

Game Release: BurgerTime (US, 1982)

"This game is nothing to sneeze at."

Burger Time was a fun little classic back in the day. As an unnamed chef, your task was to assemble giant hamburgers. However, evil walking eggs and sausages would enjoy nothing more than to witness your complete failure at that task. Fortunately, our hero can fight off these dreadful creatures with... pepper. It's a completely goofy premise, but it was turned into a pretty fun arcade game. The folks at Hudson and (the now defunct) Data East decided to port the game over to DOS in 1982 with somewhat mixed results. While all of the fun and addictiveness of the arcade version is here, the game has issues which prevent it from ascending to the levels of greatness found in the other versions of this game.

As far as gameplay is concerned, everything great about Burger Time remains completely intact. Your goal is still the same: create giant hamburgers for absolutely no reason. Evil sausages and eggs will again attempt to kill you for fun. You only have two defenses against these horrible creatures. If you drop part of a hamburger onto an enemy, or if they are on a giant hamburger when it falls (you push the hamburgers and their condiments down floor by floor until they reach a giant tray), they will die. You can make this easier with the use of your chef's pepper, which stuns the evil beasts and allows him to harmlessly pass by them. All of the action occurs on the game's many platforms and ladders. It is very easy to get stuck in a corner or otherwise trapped by the enemies, causing many cheap and frustrating deaths. However, the sense of urgency caused by this cheapness only adds to the arcade-style fun.

The graphics of Burger Time, however, didn't transfer to the DOS nearly as well as the gameplay did. By default, the game uses a mere four colors that aren't very pleasant to look at: white, black, purple, and teal. Also by default, the sprites in the game have odd black lines going through them, giving everything an odd look not seen in the other versions of the game. I understand that this game came out in 1982, but they surely could have done a better job in this department for those unable to buy an advanced computer. I will give the creators of the game's graphics this: the game animates well. There are no missing or otherwise choppy animations to be found, and the pepper effect actually looks kind of cool. If you're running the game on DOSBox or an otherwise modern computer, you can adjust the settings to make the game display in actual colors. This looks far better than the default settings, but everything looks oddly blurry.

That's about all that can be said about the Burger Time. As an early, DOS title, there is very little else to expect. There is no multiplayer and realistically nothing to keep you playing the game, though its addictive qualities make up for this somewhat. The game has almost no music. The few tracks that exist are okay, but they get old quick. The sound effects are nothing to write home about either. While playing the game, none of this really matters. Focus on anything but the excellent gameplay, and you'll die. If you run across a copy of Burger Time for a reasonable price, pick it up. You won't be disappointed.

Grading Scales:
GAMEPLAY- 10/10
GRAPHICS- 6/10
SOUND/MUSIC- 3/10
REPLAYABILITY: 10/10
LENGTH: N/A (Arcade-Style Game)
VALUE: N/A
CONTROLS: 10/10
MULTIPLAYER: N/A
STORY (Not factored into average): N/A
FINAL SCORE: 7.8/10 => 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/12/10, Updated 02/16/10

Game Release: BurgerTime (US, 1982)