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Burgertime in Bedrock
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Graphics & Sound:
If you played videogames in the 80's and don't know about Burgertime it may not mean you're totally lame, but maybe that it just wasn't your kind of game. Although it certainly can be counted now among the classic retro games, Burgertime was far from the prime cabinet real estate we associate with games like Pac-Man or Donkey Kong. It fell into the same slot - for me - as games that looked fun but didn't turn out to be that enduring after some heavy playtime. Joust was like this for me, and you don't see many Joust revivals, do you? But, is Burgertime in Bedrock true to the game it's modeled on? Sure it is. Is it as fun? Probably not. Sometimes the hurdle of retro games is just making a new audience appreciate the coolness of being out of date. If you never played text-based games, it's hard to communicate to you the thrill of seeing graphics. And, if you never played flat, 2D games, it's sometimes hard to pull you away from Tekken to go look at Yie-Ar Kung Fu. But, Burgertime in Bedrock manages to put a new face on an old game, hopefully pulling in gamers who like the Flintstones a lot and may never realize they're playing a retro revival. And, while the characters have their time to shine, such as the intro animations and the stills between levels, Burgertime in Bedrock doesn't show off the Flintstones to such a great degree that kids will flock around or even recognize the characters in mid-game. So, we're left with the concept behind the original Burgertime of clambering up and down platforms by way of ladders to pile up ingredients and make burgers. It's fun to watch for a few levels, but gets old quickly. A lack of variety in the design of the monsters chasing you and also a lack of interesting animations really hurts the visuals. Plenty of cool music and sound effects do a lot to help make the level come alive, but slowdown and uninspired gameplay push Burgertime in Bedrock back to the dead center of mediocrity, teetering on the brink of just 'bad.' |
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Gameplay:
The idea behind Burgertime in Bedrock is true to its 80's roots. Playing as either Fred or Barney, you don a chef's hat and try to build up burgers, hoping to appease Mr. Slate after yet another on-the-job screw-up. The little movie in the beginning of the game really sparked my interest, and the levels are fun to solve, but depth is noticeably lacking once the main game gets under way. 'Solve' is really the right word and attitude, because more than a platformer or action game, Burgertime in Bedrock is a puzzler. You can count on every monster that comes out to prevent you from building burgers to move predictably, or at the very least you learn canny avoidance tactics that take the wind out of a monster's sails. Mostly, you move around between platforms on ladders, some of which are exposed while others remain hidden until you clear an area. The idea is that each level has a number of layers you need to form a burger, like buns or cheese or meat. Walking across one of these (it happens in burger shops all the time, I'm sure ;) causes the layer to drop. If another ingredient is below, it falls and can create a domino effect. If a monster is below, the layer doubles as a weapon, dazing or KO'ing the monster for you. As the final layer drops off the bottom platform, your burger is complete. It sounds simple, but consider that you'll be working on at least three burgers if not more in any given level. The layout and access to platforms makes for most of the challenge, along with swarms of monsters intent on disrupting delivery to Mr. Slate's good customers. Each monster is roughly modeled on one of the prehistoric creatures Fred and Barney might encounter in the 'real' Bedrock, and you'll find more ways to foil them than just dropping slices of cheese. Power-ups can be gathered that freeze monsters, change their shape or do away with them entirely. Picking up clubs lets you get Neanderthal on them, but only once per club. So, what happens when you get cornered without a club or Power-up nearby? You croak, that's what. It's a puzzle game at heart, so good strategy and planning helps keep you out of harms way, since the monsters aren't that smart. If you want a smart opponent, try the Link Cable Vs. Mode. In this neat little feature, you and a friend (that makes for two Game Boys and two Burgertime in Bedrock cartridges, Grasshopper) try to clear levels in the least time and with only a few clubs. Fun to have available, but only a little more entertaining than the main game. Play for long enough, and you'll notice a few things. Levels aren't hugely different, and both Fred and Barney move like a slo-mo replay. If this was somebody's attempt at 'arcade perfect,' we need to sit them down and explain the difference between Electronics Boutique and the Smithsonian. If it ain't fun, it ain't good. And, Burgertime in Bedrock pokes along at a rate that tends to drain all the fun right out of what could be a nice little retro revival.
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Difficulty:
It's been such a long time since I tackled the original Burgertime that I'm not a reliable source on how difficult it was to beat. Burgertime in Bedrock takes some effort, but comes off a medium-grade puzzle game, compared to others out there. It never reaches a fast pace, so difficulty is measured by how tricky the platforms are to reach, and how restrictive the solution to each level is. An example is one level that has a platform with only one way on and off. Guess what? You have to visit it last or you'll be trapped by monsters every time. Little things like this evolve as you play, and only the youngest crowd will have trouble putting the pieces together after several tries. A password system that lets you 'save' every fourth level keeps frustration down to a minimum, and even with performance problems and overly simple gameplay, I felt compelled to perfect my burger building on more than a few stages.
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Game Mechanics:
Somehow, it seems totally wrong to complain about the 'engine' of a GBC game, but Burgertime in Bedrock has serious performance issues. I get the feeling that if this were on GBA or any of the big platforms, someone would have noticed and fixed the terribly slow speed everything moves at. Also, climbing a ladder to get away from monsters highlights a problem in the way graphics are drawn, as you learn that climbing 'on' a ladder isn't enough. If the monster goes under the ladder and happens to go near you, you lose a life. Some kind of health gauge would have been nice so that nudges and bumps like this didn't mean instantly forfeiting a life. The speed is a far bigger problem, but luckily monsters seem equally affected and no herky-jerky starts and stops show up. It's constantly draggy and more annoying as you progress through to the higher levels. Playing more complex areas tends to make navigation even more of an issue, and slow, hard-to-control characters cause no end of frustration. Generally, this was easily forgiven in the arcade, and who didn't learn to work with the speed of games like Donkey Kong? It was about timing, and it always paid off. Maybe the payoff isn't quite as great for Burgertime in Bedrock but the slowdown mostly highlights the lack of depth in the game. In a time when arcades seem reserved for wall after wall of lifesize motorcycle racing games or lightgun games that cost more than you make in a week, I'm all for bringing back the inventive, spare genius of the games I grew up on. GBC and GBA make great platforms to enjoy retro gaming, but I wish development dollars had been directed at something other than Burgertime in Bedrock. It doesn't feel bad, but it doesn't impress or entertain past the first few minutes. Real fans will see the levels of their old Burgertime reproduced here, but has the new face and Flintstone characters really done anything to make this a better game? If it weren't for retro value, this one would completely tank. |
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-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock |
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