BurgerTime Arcade
It’s Burger Time!
Few arcade games of the 1980s have achieved the timeless charm and quirky appeal of BurgerTime, a classic by Data East that first hit arcades in 1982. Combining fast-paced action, strategic gameplay, and a (then) unique premise, BurgerTime puts players in the shoes of Chef Peter Pepper as he assembles towering burgers while dodging relentless enemies like Mr. Hot Dog, Mr. Pickle, and Mr. Egg. This innovative title introduced novel gameplay mechanics and colourful graphics, standing out in a golden age dominated by space shooters and maze games. In this blog, we’ll explore the history, gameplay, and enduring appeal of this iconic arcade game.
Data East and the development of BurgerTime
Data East, a prominent Japanese arcade game manufacturer, was founded in 1976 and quickly established itself as a key player in the booming video game industry of the 1980s. Known for its innovation and creative approach to game design, the company released BurgerTime in 1982, an arcade game that showcased their knack for combining quirky concepts with engaging gameplay.
“We were always encouraged to experiment and bring fresh concepts to the table, which led to some of our most memorable titles.” – anonymous Data East employee, 2004
Originally titled Hamburger in Japan, the game was rebranded for international markets via US distributor Midway, and became Data East’s first major international success. Following the popularity of BurgerTime, Data East continued to develop a diverse portfolio of games, including arcade classics like Karate Champ, Kung-Fu Master and Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinja. Despite their creativity and influence, the company struggled financially in the late 1990s and eventually declared bankruptcy in 2003, with many of their intellectual properties acquired by other developers.
The BurgerTime Arcade Cabinet
Data East’s originally released Hamburger in Japan as a DECO Cassette System game, a format that allowed arcade cabinets to be upgraded by replacing the tiny cassette tapes that loaded software directly onto the cabinet PCB. While some of these DECO Cassette versions of BurgerTime made it out of Japan, most people will recognise the version released in US and other markets by Midway.
To stand out in a crowded market the vibrant orange BurgerTime cabinet from Midway was designed around the title’s hero, Peter Pepper, with the cabinet shaped to mirror the chef’s hat. Released in 1982, the BurgerTime cabinet stood alongside several other unique arcade machines of the time, such as Q*Bert, with its isometric 3D perspective and iconic orange cabinet, and Robotron: 2084, which introduced a dual-stick control system. Meanwhile, Pole Position revolutionized racing cabinets by incorporating a steering wheel and pedals for a more immersive experience.
The control panel for BurgerTime, while colourful, was a more traditional arcade setup, with 4-way joystick for movement and a single action button for the pepper spray.
Burger Time Gameplay
Long before Gordon Ramsey and other so-called “celebrity” chefs, the hero of this game was burger tosser Peter Pepper. Transported to a massive kitchen with various levels, he has to climb ladders and cross platforms to assemble huge burgers, whilst being chased by angry foodstuffs. The burger components of bun, beef & lettuce must be walked across (very unhygienic) in order to make them fall to the plate at the bottom of the screen. The falling food item knocks each item below it down one level, meaning that the most effective method of creating your burger is to start at the top and work down.
Complicating matters are the evil ingredients Mr Hot Dog, Mr Pickle and Mr Egg, all of whom are out to stop you, possibly in some attempt to get themselves on the menu instead.
Fortunately you can stop the various menu items by trapping them between the burger components, or by spraying them with a limited supply of pepper (perhaps the inspiration for pepper spray) in order to stun them for a few moments. If you time your spray well you can take out more than one enemy at a time with a single spray, enabling you to walk straight through them whilst they writhe in agony. Not quite such how pepper hurts a sausage that has no eyes, but then Burger Time is a game about walking sausages..
As well as your burger components and enemy food items, there are also bonuses such as ice creams and french fries which appear pac-man style for extra points when collected. Assemble all the burgers and the level is complete, and you move to the next, with slightly angrier sausages, and platforms which provide access to bigger burgers including slices of cheese and tomato.
BurgerTime Stages
There were 6 levels or “Stages” to complete in BurgerTime, each with its own unique combination of ladders and platforms, which kept the game interesting, much like Donkey Kong before it. There is no actual ending to the game, after the sixth level is reached the game loops around to a Stage 1, only with faster and more numerous enemies.
Level 1
The first stage is designed to ease the player into the BurgerTime mechanics and learn the enemy movement patterns. Mr Sausage and Mr Egg make an appearance, and chase you round the plentiful ladders and platforms as you complete your first 4 burgers.
While enemies generally move towards you, they don’t change direction until they hit a junction, so you can use this to build some distance by changing your own direction. This includes following enemies up or down ladders!
Level 2
The second stage features a revised layout, with burgers positioned at different levels, and some platforms with dead-ends that make escape more difficult. The same egg and sausage enemies patrol the stage, where the player needs to spend most of the time at the top, so as not to get trapped.
Level 3
The third stage in BurgerTime really ramps up the difficulty, with 6 burgers to complete and the introduction of Mr Pickle, meaning up to 6 adversaries on screen at once. The layout of the ladders and platforms leave lots of dead-ends, and it’s easy to get trapped, so head to the top where you can attempt to control the movement of the enemy foodstuff. Leave the bottom burgers until last as this is a real no-man’s land.
Level 4
Back down to 4 burgers for this stage, but they are super-burgers with 6 fillings, and lots of climbing required to complete the stage. Due to the spread of the ladders you will need to zig-zag up and down to lead the enemies where you want them, and this leads to controller frustrations when you don’t hit the turn spot on. Focus as always on the top buns, and let gravity and falling ingredients do the work for you.
Level 5
The penultimate stage of BurgerTime is particularly challenging due to the limited number of pathways around the screen. This make it easy to get trapped by one of the 6 enemies, so you have to have a strategy to either lure them out of the way for a while to give yourself space or use pepper to subdue them.
There are only 2 burgers but they have 6-fillings, including 2 beef patties, so technically this is the only “double whopper” in the game.
Level 6
BurgerTime is not a forgiving game, and few people will make it to stage 6, which is less a maze a more a series of loosely interconnected dead-ends. Completing the stage requires you to lead or drop the enemies far enough away from you that you can make a dash down a dead-end to drop a burger piece without getting trapped. The outside burgers have the only one way on and off the platform so be patient and wait for the right moment to cross.
Complete level 6 and the game loops back to the start, this time with all 6 enemies.
BurgerTime Sequels
There were no direct arcade sequels to BurgerTime, at least none involving Burgers,
Peter Pepper’s IceCream Factory (1984)
Data East release 2 further arcade games featuring Peter Pepper, including Peter Pepper’s IceCream Factory in 1984. This game was only released on the DECO Cassette System, one of the last using this unreliable format, and therefore very few people got to play it in period. Peter Pepper’s IceCream Factory uses the platform formula of BurgerTime, but instead of burgers you have to make (you guessed it) IceCream. Other changes include the ability to jump to avoid enemies (Donut, Scales, Strawberry, Milk Jug), and the scoops of ice cream can be kicked around to destroy them.
Super BurgerTime Deluxe (1990)
It took 8 years for Data East to release a true sequel to BurgerTime, albeit a graphically enhanced remake of the original on modern (at the time) hardware. The objective is the same, build burgers, but this time by jumping on the components, spread across scrolling horizontal levels larger than the screen. Mr Egg, Sausage and Pickle return, along with new enemies like Onion, Carrot and Celery. The game also features novel boss levels, requiring you to fling donuts at various giant characters.
Super BurgerTime Deluxe was not released in a dedicated cabinet but via a PCB, which would work in any generic 8-way joystick JAMMA cabinet. While not as popular as the original BurgerTime, it was converted for a number of consoles including the Nintendo Gameboy (BurgerTime Deluxe), and is also available for the Nintendo Switch.
BurgerTime World Tour (2011)
In 2011 a remake of the game was released as a downloadable title across XBOX 360 PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii, titled BurgerTime World Tour – a comprehensive revision in full 3D which sticks to the original burger building recipe (sorry). Unfortunately for anyone looking to play it, it has been deleted from online stores due to the licence expiring and there are no physical copies left.
Burger Time Home Conversions
BurgerTime had no direct sequels on period, but did have a number of home conversions for both 80’s videogame consoles as well as early home computers and dedicated handheld games. There have also I’ve highlighted my favourite versions below, but the game was officially release for the following platforms:
- Atari 2600 (1983)
- Atari 7800 (1987)
- Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) (1988)
- Sega Master System (1987)
- Intellivision (1983)
- ColecoVision (1983)
- Commodore 64 (1984)
- Amiga (1990)
- Game Boy (1990)
- Virtual Console (Wii, 2007)
- Apple II (1983)
- Commodore 64 (1984)
- ZX Spectrum (1984)
- Amstrad CPC (1984)
- MSX (1985)
Colecovision BurgerTime (1983)
Burger Time was released on a number of consoles, including a classic for the Colecovision, which was host to some great arcade game conversions including Donkey Kong and Zaxxon. The Colecovision version was very faithful to the original arcade, featuring all of the levels and features, but suffers slightly due to the poor design of the standard joysticks which made timing of Chef Peter’s movements difficult compared to other platforms. There were also complaints regarding the screen size, which was compacted to retain the horizontal arcade format on a standard TV screen.
BurgerTime Handheld Games
The BurgerTime game was released at a time when handheld games such as the Nintendo Game & Watch were very popular, and every arcade hit had its own releases on dedicated hardware.
Bandai BurgerTime LCD Handheld
The handheld featured a simplistic LCD screen and button controls typical of the era’s portable games, albeit with a novel joystick harking back to the arcade version. Notably, Bandai was the manufacturer behind this handheld, which was also distributed by companies like Mattel and Radio Shack (Tandy) under their branding outside Japan. Like all LCD based games, the limited graphics could only approximate the original arcade gameplay, but this game managed to replicate most of the game features including the burger building, the egg and sausage enemies and the use of pepper spray.
Bandai BurgerTime VFD Handheld
BurgerTime was released during a period in the early 80’s when a number of handheld games were produced using Vacuum Flouresecent Display (VFD) technology, providing a more colourful arcade feel. Bandai released BurgerTime in Japan in 1983 as part of their FL range of games (where FL refers to Fluorescent Lamp), with very similar gameplay to the LCD version, albeit with more vibrant red, blue and green graphics on an arcade-like black background.
The game was also released on the Nintendo Entertainment System and Atari 2600, as well as a later release on Nintendo’s Gameboy.
My personal favourite was a conversion by Ocean for the ZX Spectrum known as Mr Wimpy, in honour of the mascot of Wimpy burger restaurants in the UK.
Birmingham residents will also note the connection with late night fast food restaurant “Mr Egg”, which presumably was named in honour of this great game.
References and Further Reading
Full shmuplations.com interview with Data East employees in 2004 https://shmuplations.com/deco/
