This week’s free game: ‘BurgerTime’
Are you a gamer? Do you like free things? Of course you do!
We here at the Tech Deck are just like you: poor gamers looking for cheap entertainment. And nothing's cheaper than cost-free gaming. Each week, we'll bring you a title (or two or three) you can legally play at home without plopping down a single dollar. If you see games you think we should be featuring on the blog, email us at dang@spokesman.com or kiph@spokesman.com.
This week, don your short-order cook hat and make sure your pepper shaker is full. You're wearing the big shoes of Peter Pepper, protagonist of the arcade classic "BurgerTime" in which you attempt to construct delicious hamburgers before dastardly hot dogs, pickles and eggs dash your dreams. Yeah, it doesn't make a ton of sense, but let's not pretend most Japanese games released at the time seemed to be the fever dreams of computer programmers interested in stealing all the quarters from your pockets. The Internet Archive hosts Mattel's Intellivision version of the game, released in 1982, for free through in-browser emulation. Click below to play!
The color palette is restricted on the Intellvision port compared to the vibrant greens and oranges of Data East's smash arcade hit, which was also released in 1982. But the game is very function on keyboards and even boasts joystick support, if that's your preference. Go inside the blog to learn more about BurgerTime and Data East, its now-defunct Japanese creator.
1982 was a crowded year in the burgeoning arcade industry. Ms. Pac Man took the world by storm with more intricate stage designs than its predecessor, Q-Bert debuted on Dec. 31 and Pole Position, arguably the most influential racing game of all time, was released by Namco.
BurgerTime was arguably Data East's biggest arcade release, though they did develop a competent beat-em-up based on Captain America and the Avengers in 1991. Data East also developed the wildly popular Simpsons Pinball, which released in 1990. The company declared bankruptcy in 2003, and its properties were snatched up by G-Mode, a mobile games company. Mattel, who released the Intellivision home console in 1979, says that BurgerTime was its biggest hit on the machine, which died with the video game crash of 1983 (thanks, E.T.).
BurgerTime released at perhaps the worst possible time in video game history, just months before the crash. A sequel was released but was not widely distributed. A 3D version of the game, titled BurgerTime World Tour, was released for the Wii, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in 2011. Metacritic gave the 360 version of the game, published by Konami, a craptastic 55.
Did BurgerTime suck up your quarters in the 1980s? Do you remember the Intellivision? Let us know in the comments below, and stay tuned next week for another free game!
