BurgerTime is a classic Data East arcade game from the early 1980s – 1982 to be precise – and it is one that is held in high respect, probably for its high level of difficulty (arcade games that are generally considered to be ‘hard to master’ are often quite revered).

On the face of it, BurgerTime looks quite simple, and it is – simple to understand, that is. Not to beat.

You play a chef (called Peter Pepper) who must traverse various levels of platforms and ladders, running over the layers of a hamburger in order to make them fall to lower levels. You run over them, again and again, until they collect on plates at the bottom. When you’ve constructed all the burgers on one screen you then move onto the next.

Of course it’s not as easy as simply running free – you’ve got fairly determined opponents chasing you. Notably: a pickle, an egg, and a hot dog. If they touch you: you’re dead. You’ve got a limited number of pepper ‘sprays’ which you can use to stun them.

At times BurgerTime seems almost impossible to beat. The number of enemies you have to contend with means coming up with tactics such as peppering three at once, while they are stood on a piece of burger, then making that burger piece drop, killing all three enemies at once. Burger pieces will also fall two extra levels if an opponent is caught in them, so you must use that to your advantage as well.

With practise (and maybe quicksaves) you might be able to make it to level three. After that: the levels are reserved for arcade professionals only… 🙂

In spite of its difficulty BurgerTime is still great fun to play now. I rarely pass the opportunity to play it, regardless of the platform it’s on. And it has been converted to most.

BurgerTime versions on The King of Grabs:
Arcade, Apple II, Intellivision, PC, Atari 2600, ColecoVision,
MSX, Famicom Disk System

More: BurgerTime on Wikipedia