The Game: As Chef Peter Pepper, you climb around a multi-level factory whose sole function is to make some really big burgers. We’re talking about some BIG burgers here. But your ingredients aren’t exactly cooperating with you… (Namco, 1985 [Japan] / Data East, 1987 [US])
Memories: A little bit of an oddity – a Data East-originated arcade game ported to the Famicom by arcade competitor Namco (and then sold in the US by Data East itself) – this version serves up a happy meal worth of authentic Burgertime action on the NES.
But if you’re planning on doing exactly what worked for you in the arcade, NES Burgertime has some surprises in store for you. Its enemy AI, and the arcade game‘s very specific rules of how enemy characters move, don’t necessarily apply here. In the arcade game, for example, hot dogs were limited to moving laterally until they reached a ladder, at which point they had to either ascend or descend that ladder. On the NES, the hot dogs have a bit more freedom to pursue Chef Peter Pepper. What’s their beef?
Since the game only uses four-directional movement, the D-pad is a near-perfect control setup, and audiovisually it’s as good a take-home Burgertime meal as anyone could get until ’90s arcade compilations brought real live emulation of the original arcade code home. The only real question left is: would you like a drink with your order?