Thursday, March 24, 2011

Does this mean I'm going to have to get an Intellivision?

While working on yesterday's "five favorites" column about cooking-themed games, I became aware of a console-only sequel to BurgerTime that was released way back when (1984, to be exact) for Mattel's Intellivision.

The game, called Diner, isn't set in a nightmarish hamburger factory like its predecessor, by the way; rather, it's set in a M.C. Escher-esque restaurant. (Don't worry, BurgerTime fans: Peter Pepper's still the star. Those hateful hot dogs are back, too, and they've brought a few friends along with them--including some murderous mugs of root beer.)

So, what's the point of this odd little plate-former--which was programmed by Ray Kaestner (who also programmed Burger Time)? The game's intro text does a pretty bang-up job of explaining things:

Avoid enemy food!
Kick food balls to bottom plate!
Roll food balls over enemies!
Freeze enemies with pepper!
Collect prizes for extra pepper!
Amaze your friends!

Check out these two video reviews--here and here--of this Realtime Associates-developed title if the above text doesn't make much sense (or if you just want to know more about the game) or check out the Diner entry on the Church of BurgerTime website.

Sadly, I've yet to play Diner myself--I can't get the darn Intellivision emulator I downloaded over the weekend to work--but you can bet I'll do so as soon as possible.

See also: 'Five favorites: cooking-themed games'

8 comments:

RetroKingSimon said...

Haha, look at the expression on that cabbages face :)

That intro text is awesome too :P

Bryan Ochalla said...

The hot dog has a rather weird expression on his face, too :)

Marcus said...

"Amaze your friends!", huh? I'll have to pick this up and then start playing it when they come over. I'm sure they'll be in such awe.

Hmm, I wonder why your emulator isn't working though... Are you on a PC or Mac? :o

Bryan Ochalla said...

Are you telling me you don't believe that particular bullet point, Marcus? I can't believe you!!

:P

Oh, and the emulator I'm trying to use -- on the Wii -- works for some games, but not when I go to play Diner. I think I need a .cfg file for it, but I can't find one on the 'net and I absolutely can't figure out how to make one either.

Marcus said...

Haha, it just seems weird that while all the other points deal with playing the game the final one is like "oh man this game is so awesome!". Actually, maybe each point was trying to convey that...

Ah, I see! That's unfortunate :(. It's always that one game you want to play that'll give you the most trouble. What's funny is I downloaded a bunch of emulators for my Wii too but have yet to use them. This must be rectified over the weekend!

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh, I agree with you, Marcus -- that last bullet point is both funny and strange. Hopefully the person who wrote that copy had his/her tongue planted firmly in cheek at the time :)

I'm going to try a PC Intellivision emulator this weekend and see if I can get the game running that way. Otherwise, I'll just continue to surf the web and see if I can find any more info about the .cfg file needed for this game and emulator.

BTW, you definitely should give your Wii emulators a try. Most of them work really well (if not perfectly) and I don't know about you, but I much prefer to play games on my TV (as opposed to playing them on my computer).

Viewtiful_Justin said...

You'll have to let us know how you feel about it after you play it. Sounds like it could be a new favorite! Who doesn't want to kick some balls?!

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh, I'll definitely let you know, Justin! I'm not sure it'll become a new favorite, but it certainly seems interesting -- esp. if you're a BurgerTime/retro fan like me :)