THE MANY FACES OF......BURGERTIME
The specimen for this month's issue of Retro-Times is
Burgertime. The title of the game says it all: It's time to make burgers, big
burgers! And if you wait around too long, you're dead. This game has one of the
most interesting cast of nasties I've ever seen in a classic game. Sausages (or
are they hot Dogs?), eggs, and pickles, but they aren't too bright. You tiptoe
onto a hamburger bun, they follow you on, you step off and "poof," you drop 'em
for bonus points. Burgertime. can be found on three different classic systems:
Atari 2600, Intellivision, and Colecovision.
Bronze Medal: Atari 2600
OK, this is just plain sad. I don't think this version is
even worthy of a bronze medal! It's true that a good game doesn't need to have
good graphics and sound, but you have to draw the line somewhere. Instead of
pickles, sausages, and eggs, this version has a white flag, a brown flag, a
yellow stick, and a sausage chasing you around...pretty scary huh? Play is very
slow and I emphasize slow. This is one of the rarer M-network Atari 2600 games,
I wonder why? :)
Silver Medal: Colecovision
This version is ALOT better than the previous version. Out
of all three, the Colecovision version has the best graphics which is no
surprise considering it's the latest system. But the play on this version is
slightly flawed. Perhaps it's a problem with my system or cartridge, but
regardless, what I play suffers from lag. You know, when you're playing a game
at a constant speed, and all of a sudden it slows down for awhile (happens on
the NES all the time), especially when there are alot of objects moving at one
time. Doesn't that drive you crazy? It drives me insane. Don't get me wrong,
this version is good, very good, but not the best.
Gold Medal: Intellivision
The Intellivision version is my favorite. There really
aren't any flaws in this game. One could say the graphics are subpar, but
they're ALOT better than the Atari 2600 version, and not too far behind the
Colecovision. What I really like about this is how BIG everything is and how
much SPACE there is. In the other versions, particularly the Colecovision, all
action is crammed into 60% of the screen. Everything is so small that you die
because you can't discern the direction of the sausage or can't tell how close
the egg is to your behind. Anyway, try playing the other versions and then play
this one and you'll see what I mean.
(Doug Saxon is an engineering student at the
University of Cincinnati. He's mainly into 2600, 5200, Colecovision, and
Intellivision. He's also a proud owner of a mint Chase the Chuckwagon cartridge
which set him back $1. He can be reached via email at saxondj@email.uc.edu. Doug
is also looking to complete the Atari 5200 set and needs these games. Bounty
Bob, K-Razy Shootout, Quest for Quintana Roo, Star Wars:ROTJ-DSB, and Zenji. If
you have any for sale or trade give him an e-mail.")