It's a fast food nightmare, and this food can be fast indeed. It's Burger Time released by Data East in 1982. At first glance what appears to be standard platform fare this game's unique game play elements keep people playing it to this day, Characters have also appeared in Wreck-it-Ralph and Pixels.

   The object of Burger Time is simple: assemble your ingredients to make sandwiches. Either Peter Pepper is having a bad dream or else he works in some sort of experimental kitchen gone wrong because the hot dogs, eggs, and pickles are now intent on his demise. You must navigate the scaffolding that contains your toppings to step on them and send them down a level until the sandwich is ready to serve. If an unfriendly kitchen guest touches you in the process however, you will lose a life. These pests can only be thwarted by dropping a topping on them and squishing them, or by timing it so that they are standing on a topping when you drop it. This also has the effect of sending the topping down more than one level at a time. To make a quick escape, Peter Pepper also has a limited supply of pepper to toss in the enemies faces to stun them. These peppers can be replaced by collecting bonus items that appear from time to time. Regardless, the enemies will continue to re-spawn until all four sandwiches on the level are ready to serve.

GRAPHICS for Burger Time are pretty standard for the time it was released. The enemies aren't extremely detailed but they're more than just barrels or fireballs(Donkey Kong). The protagonist, Peter Pepper really resembles Mario with a chef's hat on his head. For the rest you have a sort of scaffolding with ladders against a black back-drop. I score them a high 7.

SOUND effects in Burger Time are limited to the sound of ingredients being stepped on, your pepper being used, and a few other bells and whistles. Not much there really. There is a soundtrack that loops endlessly and isn't really to annoying. It seems to fit the gameplay to me. Another 7.

ADDICTIVENESS is what games like Burger Time strive for. If it's fun, you'll play it again. Burger Time is fun. I play it again and again. I give it an 8. If you have no desire to even compete with yourself for a high score, maybe a 6. It's still fun, but game play is limited somewhat.

STORY for Burger Time is pretty much left up to your imagination. Experimental microwave oven gone bad? Funny mushrooms in the salad bar? Since no explanation for this scenario is presented, we go with a blank.

DEPTH for Burger Time isn't really the best. There are six levels of increasing difficulty. Then it loops with faster and more numerous enemies. Hoard your peppers if you can, you'll need them in the later rounds. Just a 5 from me on this.

DIFFICULTY in Burger Time is a matter of practice. You can learn to anticipate the enemies movements(mostly) and plan strategies to optimize your peppers and score the most points by grouping enemies together when they fall. Points are important. With no cap on extra lives you need as many as you can get. An 8 from this reviewer.

OVERALL the sum is greater than it's parts and for a game that looks at first glance like a boring Donkey Kong clone the fact that it has stood the test of time is itself a testament to the excellence of this title. Burger Time gets the 9 from me. 

Thanks for reading,... now get that kitchen back in order!

Ah, another good ol' game down nostalgia lane! The PC version I played had the same levels that ended up repeating, and I believe the original loop was more than 6 levels...

Anyway, you gave your review good details, better than Lady Bug. You also gave it a touch a humor you should keep for your next review. "Microwave experiment gone bad"; that made my day!

janus : Thanks for the input again. There are only six levels in this version however. I think I played the PC version too way back.