It is downright insulting that humanity continues to produce new art as though BurgerTime Deluxe for the GameBoy doesn't already exist.
In all seriousness though, this game is a cute faithful little handheld reimagining of the arcade classic. I've played both the 1982 arcade original and the NES port, but never got especially deep into either. It was pleasantly surprising to learn that this Deluxe version actually has many more stages and a proper ending, as opposed to the typical endless looping of arcade games.
The core gameplay is still the same, the player is tasked with navigating Peter Pepper around various levels, assembling burgers by walking over each layer, causing them to fall down and potentially crush enemies underneath. The villainous Mr. Hot Dog, Mr. Pickle, and Mr. Egg will try to stop him, while the player has only a limited supply of pepper and their quick wits at their disposal.
These enemies all have different AI, but many of these later levels suffer from excessive dead ends making them frustrating to play. The difficulty curve is inconsistent, 4-4 was probably the most difficult stage in the entire game, only for the following world 5 to be comparatively very easy.
The gameplay loop of luring enemies under burger buns to squash many at once is satisfying enough, and they did a good job at adding some more substance to an overly simple arcade game. There isn't much else to say, handheld versions of games on the wrong side of 40 are fortunate to get 2 stars. BurgerTime Deluxe will serve as a funny meme game when compared to certain games I have ranked below it in the future.
2.0/5.0
In all seriousness though, this game is a cute faithful little handheld reimagining of the arcade classic. I've played both the 1982 arcade original and the NES port, but never got especially deep into either. It was pleasantly surprising to learn that this Deluxe version actually has many more stages and a proper ending, as opposed to the typical endless looping of arcade games.
The core gameplay is still the same, the player is tasked with navigating Peter Pepper around various levels, assembling burgers by walking over each layer, causing them to fall down and potentially crush enemies underneath. The villainous Mr. Hot Dog, Mr. Pickle, and Mr. Egg will try to stop him, while the player has only a limited supply of pepper and their quick wits at their disposal.
These enemies all have different AI, but many of these later levels suffer from excessive dead ends making them frustrating to play. The difficulty curve is inconsistent, 4-4 was probably the most difficult stage in the entire game, only for the following world 5 to be comparatively very easy.
The gameplay loop of luring enemies under burger buns to squash many at once is satisfying enough, and they did a good job at adding some more substance to an overly simple arcade game. There isn't much else to say, handheld versions of games on the wrong side of 40 are fortunate to get 2 stars. BurgerTime Deluxe will serve as a funny meme game when compared to certain games I have ranked below it in the future.
2.0/5.0