Since when was BurgerTime a series?! The arcade game was a 1982 classic, without a doubt, but I’ve rarely ever heard of sequels following up on the game’s legacy. The closest one I can recall is this one BurgerTime game for WiiWare that was poorly received by critics and is no longer available since the service shut down. Well as it turns out, the folks at Flying Tiger Entertainment dug up this apparent arcade sequel to BurgerTime, appropriately titled Super BurgerTime.
Graphics
Given the game’s 1990 date, you can expect Super BurgerTime to be where the series got its 16-Bit makeover. The pixel art does look very nice and detailed; the backgrounds are pleasing to the eye as well. It’s generally a much busier, more colorful game in comparison to the 1982 original. Whether or not it’s as iconic is up for debate; there’s a lot less focus, rendering some enemies or elements to seem more chaotic. Still, I think the style has charm to it.
Audio
Super BurgerTime also has a 16-Bit soundtrack, and it’s okay-ish. The songs themselves are fitting for a game about a chef frantically trying to get some giant burgers ready. The quantity, however, is more on the abysmal side. Only two of them play in the entire game, one of which is playing for about 80% of the time! This is a game with varied worlds made of a series of levels; you’d think there would be more to the score than this.
Gameplay
For those unfamiliar with BurgerTime, the premise of the game is to knock ingredients down the platforms so they stack neatly onto each other as a delicious burger. You climb up and down floors to get to them, and weird enemies roam around like Pac-Man ghosts to stop you from making the burgers. You can defend yourself with pepper but there’s only so much you can use before it runs out.
Super BurgerTime doesn’t mess with the formula much. You have a jump button this time, as stomping on the ingredients is how you knock them off in this game (instead of running across them like in the original). Jumping is also useful for hopping over enemies, albeit certain ones are taller than your jump height. Also, enemies are everywhere in these levels.
Yep, this is another game made with the arcade mentality of artificially messing with difficulty for the sake of nabbing quarters. Super BurgerTime is not as affected by this as Bad Dudes, but there are still plenty of times where the sheer amount of enemies onscreen can screw you over. It makes the game feel awfully cramped at times, and you only have two very temporary solutions to get away from them. The boss battles at the end of each world, on the other hand, are easy. In fact, the final boss is actually the easiest level in the entire game. Lack of difficulty balance, thy name is Data East.
Verdict
I imagine anyone familiar with the BurgerTime games can find this title to be a fairly worthy purchase. I had my share of fun with it, negatives aside. You just have to be aware that they’re there, though. Super BurgerTime is fun, but the title’s balance issues can be a significant turnoff for some.
Review copy provided by Flying Tiger Entertainment
