Aswald
08-21-2007, 02:36 PM
Graphics= 8
Sound= 8
Gameplay= 8
Overall= 8
Bally/Midway’s Tapper was one of the most talked-about arcade games of 1984, not so much because of the game itself, but because of several things surrounding it. First and foremost, of course, was the alcohol-based (beer) theme in the game; as hard as it may be to believe for younger gamers who grew up in the era of the Grand Theft Auto series, back in those days a comical video game involving beer was controversial. No, really, it’s true- I was there! The other thing was the design of the arcade cabinet itself: the joysticks looked like beer taps, and it even had a brass rail in front!
Most interestingly, though, was the fact that it didn’t involve some generic beer, but an actual, existing brand: Budweiser. The game company had entered into a licensing agreement with the beer company, so the Bud logo was featured prominently throughout the game.
Bally/Midway deflected the BREW-ha-ha by announcing that that version was intended only for bars and taverns; another version- Root Beer Tapper- was intended for the arcades. It was the same game, except for somewhat different graphics. The root beer, by the way, was generic; no brand, even a make-believe brand, was ever mentioned. There was also supposed to have been a version involving Mountain Dew, but I have never actually seen it.
Both versions (all?) play the same way. In this game, you are a bartender/soda jerk who must serve four horizontal counters filled with thirsty (and VERY demanding) customers. You must fill the glass mugs with the drink in question from taps at the end of the counters, and then slide them to the customers, who promptly start drinking faster than Benny Hill. As they do so they move back; if they go back far enough they are gone, and you don’t have to worry about them- but if not, they demand more, and then slide the empty mug back down the counter. You must catch these before they fall off the ends of the counters. You must also never slide a mug of drink over a counter if there is no customer there ready to receive it (a drinking customer is NOT ready).
As the customers demand their drinks, bashing the counters with their fists, they move closer and closer to the end of the counter. This not only makes it more likely that they will not finish their mugs before backing out, in which case you must serve more and contend with empty mugs, but, if one reaches the end of the counter, he (or she) will become furious at the lack of service, at which point you- looking truly pathetic- will be slid down the counter and out the door with a very audible CRASH! Apparently customers, be they male or female, drinkers of alcohol or root beer, are very unpleasant individuals!
Once you have managed to get all of the customers out of the place, you finish the screen and move on to the next.
Movement is achieved by moving the joystick in four directions: up or down will instantly move you to the end of the counter above or below you. There is wrap-around, so if you move down from the lowest counter, you will appear at the end of the top one, and moving up from there will make you appear at the lowest one. Moving left or right will move you in front of the counter you are at, so you can grab empty mugs or tips.
Tips? As with any game from 1984, there was a bit more to it than just serving drinks and grabbing empty mugs. For example, someone who does not finish his or her drink before moving back and out will sometimes, after demanding more, leave a tip. If you grab this money then a floor show will start, and at least some of the customers will watch, giving you a chance to catch up. That’s the good; the bad is that you cannot get rid of a customer so occupied, thus giving more customers a chance to come in. So you may want to AVOID this; it depends on the situation. What’s more, there are the counters’ lengths to consider: the higher the counter the shorter it is, but this is not just to create the illusion of depth: they are, in fact, shorter. Therefore, the “further back” (and thus, shorter) the counter, the more quickly a customer or mug will reach the end, and then- CRASH! What’s more, some customers drink more quickly than others, though they don’t look any different.
You lose a turn by missing an empty mug, failing to serve a customer before the obnoxious boor reaches the end of the counter, or sliding a mug down a counter if nobody is there or ready to receive it.
There were four scenes in this game: the Country Bar, the outdoor Sports Bar, the rough Punk Bar, and finally- proving that certain drinks are universal- the Alien Bar, peopled with actual aliens. Clearly, our bartender/soda jerk is one very hard-working and open-minded individual! The game did not go through the scenes as did Donkey Kong- you would play the first scene twice, then the second scene three times, and then both Punk and Alien bars four times.
Between the scenes was a playable intermission. Here, while you weren’t looking, a goofy Bandit would shake up five of six cans on a counter, after which they’d be moved about. You then had to choose the one that wouldn’t fizz in your face. If you did, you received a hefty bonus…if not…WHOOOOSHH! And then the proper can would flash.
What made this game popular were the goofy, cartoonish graphics, and light-hearted, simple (but not simplistic!) game play. The protagonist was funny, with various expressions on his face when he lost. What’s more, it was a real laugh to see him ejected from the Alien Bar by a sore alien.
This is an intriguing ColecoVision game, in part because it is one of a minority to have been brought home in the same year that the arcade version came out. Although the game mechanics are actually quite simple (akin to an Atari 2600 home game called Ram It), the graphics made it quite a challenge. How did it come out? Surprisingly well. This is a really good game.
As you might have guessed, it was the generic root beer version of this game Coleco brought home. I also knew that one of the scenes- the Punk Bar scene- was not included, so I expected a “three-screen” version. I was wrong, and here is where it gets really interesting.
The Punk Bar scene was not so much dropped as replaced with one similar to the Country Bar scene, with certain differences (the counters and taps are arranged in a zig-zag fashion, and there is a moose head on the right wall). Therefore, this version does have four scenes; one of them is just different. But here’s the odd part: unlike Roc `N Rope, Time Pilot, Donkey Kong, or Congo Bongo, here leaving out a scene- or even two or three- does not actually matter very much!
The reason for this is that the game’s mechanics are absolutely the same in every scene. If you look at images of the game you will see that the counters may have the taps on different sides, but again, this does not matter: it is neither easier nor more difficult than if they are all on one side or the other. This- along with the sort of place you are in- is merely appearance, nothing more. The Commodore 64 version only had two scenes. Still, the fact that the ColecoVision version does have four scenes, three of them like the arcade, is refreshing.
Graphics are great, a real delight. Your soda jerk is NES-quality in both appearance and animation; the way he runs is absolutely delightful. The playfields are all detailed, bright, and beautifully drawn. Even the customers are multi-colored; in the first three scenes, you have Cowboy Hat Guy, Bald Guy (a cousin of mine?), Eighties-Looking Girl, and Not-Bald Guy. In the fourth scene (Alien Bar) you have two kinds of characters: exceedingly nifty Green aliens with eyes at the end of stalks, and a sort with Domes Which Flash Purple and Yellow (or yellow and purple). They are all very actively animated, and although not as detailed or varied as the arcade version, they still look great. You actually pull down on a tap when filling a mug (which fills!), and it is nicely detailed when full. The backgrounds are varied and detailed: you have stages, a "soda" window, clouds and a blimp, or a spaceship (with animated exhaust!). The counters are arcade quality, and they too are varied: one kind for the Country Bars, one for the Sports Bar, and one for the Alien Bar! It’s obvious that plenty of work went into the look of this game. In the Alien Bar, the entryways even have moving purple stripes! The intermission scene is very much NES quality, and when the root beer fizzes in our hero’s face, the fizz and resulting frown are a riot. The only thing keeping the graphics from scoring higher is the fact that while your character moves very smoothly, customers and full mugs move somewhat choppily; this is because custom characters were used (the only practical way). It is a minor complaint, however. When you grab a tip and the floor show activates, it comes in three varieties: for both Country Bars, you get a Mario-type organ grinder with a dancing monkey (the favorite act of country bars across America); for the outdoor Sport Bar, cheerleaders; and for the Alien Bar, weird-looking female aliens dancing a jig. All look good, but…an organ grinder in a country bar?
Flickering is very minor in this game.
Sound is excellent, and in this game, useful. When a customer finishes his/her/its (?) drink before exiting the place, that customer will make a very distinct sound, warning you. Music is good; you get a bit of "Oh, Suzannah" in the Country Bars, and different ones for the Sports and Alien bars. The intermission features its own theme, too. Still, a bit more of these during gameplay would have been nice.
I do enjoy the sound of someone sliding the hapless soda jerk out of the bar; I haven’t enjoyed losing a turn so much since Circus Atari on the 2600.
The game play is very much like the arcade version, as near as I can remember. I haven’t played this game in over 20 years, and not often even back then, so it is hard to remember details, but this game seems to have it down. There are the usual four skill levels, with the fourth being very difficult indeed. It takes a little time to become familiar with the subtle aspects of the control scheme- for example, when you are running in front of a bar, pushing the fire button will instantly put you back at the tap-end of it, BUT- and this is important to remember- you will also slide a full mug back down. So you cannot do this unless a ready customer is there. Still, with a game like this, it’s well worth the effort, and not hard to learn in any case. This game does have the frantic- but fun- action of many such games from that era.
As you might expect, the game grows more difficult by increasing the speed of the customers. They drink faster, move down the counters more swiftly, they appear more often, and the empty mugs move back more quickly. During the intermissions, the cans soon rearrange themselves VERY quickly. Sometimes, it may be just a matter of making a lucky guess. It all becomes very, very difficult, especially in skill level four.
So, overall, this is a terrific ColecoVision cartridge. It is lighthearted, bright, frequently funny, and a much better arcade-to-home translation than I was expecting, especially because it does have four scenes. Besides, where else can you get thrown out of an outer space root beer bar by an angry alien with a flashing head?
Helpful Hint: There are never more than four customers at a counter at any one time. Keep your ears open- sound is a valuable aid in this game.
Sound= 8
Gameplay= 8
Overall= 8
Bally/Midway’s Tapper was one of the most talked-about arcade games of 1984, not so much because of the game itself, but because of several things surrounding it. First and foremost, of course, was the alcohol-based (beer) theme in the game; as hard as it may be to believe for younger gamers who grew up in the era of the Grand Theft Auto series, back in those days a comical video game involving beer was controversial. No, really, it’s true- I was there! The other thing was the design of the arcade cabinet itself: the joysticks looked like beer taps, and it even had a brass rail in front!
Most interestingly, though, was the fact that it didn’t involve some generic beer, but an actual, existing brand: Budweiser. The game company had entered into a licensing agreement with the beer company, so the Bud logo was featured prominently throughout the game.
Bally/Midway deflected the BREW-ha-ha by announcing that that version was intended only for bars and taverns; another version- Root Beer Tapper- was intended for the arcades. It was the same game, except for somewhat different graphics. The root beer, by the way, was generic; no brand, even a make-believe brand, was ever mentioned. There was also supposed to have been a version involving Mountain Dew, but I have never actually seen it.
Both versions (all?) play the same way. In this game, you are a bartender/soda jerk who must serve four horizontal counters filled with thirsty (and VERY demanding) customers. You must fill the glass mugs with the drink in question from taps at the end of the counters, and then slide them to the customers, who promptly start drinking faster than Benny Hill. As they do so they move back; if they go back far enough they are gone, and you don’t have to worry about them- but if not, they demand more, and then slide the empty mug back down the counter. You must catch these before they fall off the ends of the counters. You must also never slide a mug of drink over a counter if there is no customer there ready to receive it (a drinking customer is NOT ready).
As the customers demand their drinks, bashing the counters with their fists, they move closer and closer to the end of the counter. This not only makes it more likely that they will not finish their mugs before backing out, in which case you must serve more and contend with empty mugs, but, if one reaches the end of the counter, he (or she) will become furious at the lack of service, at which point you- looking truly pathetic- will be slid down the counter and out the door with a very audible CRASH! Apparently customers, be they male or female, drinkers of alcohol or root beer, are very unpleasant individuals!
Once you have managed to get all of the customers out of the place, you finish the screen and move on to the next.
Movement is achieved by moving the joystick in four directions: up or down will instantly move you to the end of the counter above or below you. There is wrap-around, so if you move down from the lowest counter, you will appear at the end of the top one, and moving up from there will make you appear at the lowest one. Moving left or right will move you in front of the counter you are at, so you can grab empty mugs or tips.
Tips? As with any game from 1984, there was a bit more to it than just serving drinks and grabbing empty mugs. For example, someone who does not finish his or her drink before moving back and out will sometimes, after demanding more, leave a tip. If you grab this money then a floor show will start, and at least some of the customers will watch, giving you a chance to catch up. That’s the good; the bad is that you cannot get rid of a customer so occupied, thus giving more customers a chance to come in. So you may want to AVOID this; it depends on the situation. What’s more, there are the counters’ lengths to consider: the higher the counter the shorter it is, but this is not just to create the illusion of depth: they are, in fact, shorter. Therefore, the “further back” (and thus, shorter) the counter, the more quickly a customer or mug will reach the end, and then- CRASH! What’s more, some customers drink more quickly than others, though they don’t look any different.
You lose a turn by missing an empty mug, failing to serve a customer before the obnoxious boor reaches the end of the counter, or sliding a mug down a counter if nobody is there or ready to receive it.
There were four scenes in this game: the Country Bar, the outdoor Sports Bar, the rough Punk Bar, and finally- proving that certain drinks are universal- the Alien Bar, peopled with actual aliens. Clearly, our bartender/soda jerk is one very hard-working and open-minded individual! The game did not go through the scenes as did Donkey Kong- you would play the first scene twice, then the second scene three times, and then both Punk and Alien bars four times.
Between the scenes was a playable intermission. Here, while you weren’t looking, a goofy Bandit would shake up five of six cans on a counter, after which they’d be moved about. You then had to choose the one that wouldn’t fizz in your face. If you did, you received a hefty bonus…if not…WHOOOOSHH! And then the proper can would flash.
What made this game popular were the goofy, cartoonish graphics, and light-hearted, simple (but not simplistic!) game play. The protagonist was funny, with various expressions on his face when he lost. What’s more, it was a real laugh to see him ejected from the Alien Bar by a sore alien.
This is an intriguing ColecoVision game, in part because it is one of a minority to have been brought home in the same year that the arcade version came out. Although the game mechanics are actually quite simple (akin to an Atari 2600 home game called Ram It), the graphics made it quite a challenge. How did it come out? Surprisingly well. This is a really good game.
As you might have guessed, it was the generic root beer version of this game Coleco brought home. I also knew that one of the scenes- the Punk Bar scene- was not included, so I expected a “three-screen” version. I was wrong, and here is where it gets really interesting.
The Punk Bar scene was not so much dropped as replaced with one similar to the Country Bar scene, with certain differences (the counters and taps are arranged in a zig-zag fashion, and there is a moose head on the right wall). Therefore, this version does have four scenes; one of them is just different. But here’s the odd part: unlike Roc `N Rope, Time Pilot, Donkey Kong, or Congo Bongo, here leaving out a scene- or even two or three- does not actually matter very much!
The reason for this is that the game’s mechanics are absolutely the same in every scene. If you look at images of the game you will see that the counters may have the taps on different sides, but again, this does not matter: it is neither easier nor more difficult than if they are all on one side or the other. This- along with the sort of place you are in- is merely appearance, nothing more. The Commodore 64 version only had two scenes. Still, the fact that the ColecoVision version does have four scenes, three of them like the arcade, is refreshing.
Graphics are great, a real delight. Your soda jerk is NES-quality in both appearance and animation; the way he runs is absolutely delightful. The playfields are all detailed, bright, and beautifully drawn. Even the customers are multi-colored; in the first three scenes, you have Cowboy Hat Guy, Bald Guy (a cousin of mine?), Eighties-Looking Girl, and Not-Bald Guy. In the fourth scene (Alien Bar) you have two kinds of characters: exceedingly nifty Green aliens with eyes at the end of stalks, and a sort with Domes Which Flash Purple and Yellow (or yellow and purple). They are all very actively animated, and although not as detailed or varied as the arcade version, they still look great. You actually pull down on a tap when filling a mug (which fills!), and it is nicely detailed when full. The backgrounds are varied and detailed: you have stages, a "soda" window, clouds and a blimp, or a spaceship (with animated exhaust!). The counters are arcade quality, and they too are varied: one kind for the Country Bars, one for the Sports Bar, and one for the Alien Bar! It’s obvious that plenty of work went into the look of this game. In the Alien Bar, the entryways even have moving purple stripes! The intermission scene is very much NES quality, and when the root beer fizzes in our hero’s face, the fizz and resulting frown are a riot. The only thing keeping the graphics from scoring higher is the fact that while your character moves very smoothly, customers and full mugs move somewhat choppily; this is because custom characters were used (the only practical way). It is a minor complaint, however. When you grab a tip and the floor show activates, it comes in three varieties: for both Country Bars, you get a Mario-type organ grinder with a dancing monkey (the favorite act of country bars across America); for the outdoor Sport Bar, cheerleaders; and for the Alien Bar, weird-looking female aliens dancing a jig. All look good, but…an organ grinder in a country bar?
Flickering is very minor in this game.
Sound is excellent, and in this game, useful. When a customer finishes his/her/its (?) drink before exiting the place, that customer will make a very distinct sound, warning you. Music is good; you get a bit of "Oh, Suzannah" in the Country Bars, and different ones for the Sports and Alien bars. The intermission features its own theme, too. Still, a bit more of these during gameplay would have been nice.
I do enjoy the sound of someone sliding the hapless soda jerk out of the bar; I haven’t enjoyed losing a turn so much since Circus Atari on the 2600.
The game play is very much like the arcade version, as near as I can remember. I haven’t played this game in over 20 years, and not often even back then, so it is hard to remember details, but this game seems to have it down. There are the usual four skill levels, with the fourth being very difficult indeed. It takes a little time to become familiar with the subtle aspects of the control scheme- for example, when you are running in front of a bar, pushing the fire button will instantly put you back at the tap-end of it, BUT- and this is important to remember- you will also slide a full mug back down. So you cannot do this unless a ready customer is there. Still, with a game like this, it’s well worth the effort, and not hard to learn in any case. This game does have the frantic- but fun- action of many such games from that era.
As you might expect, the game grows more difficult by increasing the speed of the customers. They drink faster, move down the counters more swiftly, they appear more often, and the empty mugs move back more quickly. During the intermissions, the cans soon rearrange themselves VERY quickly. Sometimes, it may be just a matter of making a lucky guess. It all becomes very, very difficult, especially in skill level four.
So, overall, this is a terrific ColecoVision cartridge. It is lighthearted, bright, frequently funny, and a much better arcade-to-home translation than I was expecting, especially because it does have four scenes. Besides, where else can you get thrown out of an outer space root beer bar by an angry alien with a flashing head?
Helpful Hint: There are never more than four customers at a counter at any one time. Keep your ears open- sound is a valuable aid in this game.