Beef Drop VE is a port of the popular arcade game Burgertime, which Ken Siders first ported to the Atari 5200 and 8-bit computers. 7800 owners are in for a special treat, as the 7800 version is even truer to the original arcade experience, and features better graphics than the 5200/8-bit version, making the 7800 version the definitive release of Beef Drop VE.

The object of Beef Drop VE is to score as many points as possible by making hamburgers. To do so, Chef Pete must completely walk over each ingredient (buns, patties, lettuce, and more) in order to drop it to the next level. When all of the ingredients reach the tray at the bottom of the screen, the hamburger is complete! Assemble all four hamburgers to advance to the next round.

But in this fast food joint, the food itself can be fatal. While Chef Pete is scrambling to make his burgers, his mortal foes, Frank, Mr. Yolk and Dr. Dill chase him relentlessly. If any of them catch Chef Pete, he loses a life. If Chef Pete loses all his lives, the game is over.

Pete is not without recourse, however. By pressing either fire button, he can sprinkle a dash of pepper on his foes. The spicy substance stuns his foes for a few seconds, giving Pete a chance to make a quick escape. But pepper is precious, and Pete only starts with five dashes of pepper. Collecting an ice cream cone, coffee cup or french fries earns Pete one additional dash of pepper.

Beef Drop VE began life as an April Fool's joke in our Atari 5200 Forum and quickly turned into a real homebrew development effort! For all you wanted to know about Burgertime and more, please visit burgertime.info. We held a Beef Drop Label Contest to design an original label for Beef Drop VE, and the contest was won by Henry Lee. Henry's label design graces the label and manual, with additional artwork featured inside the manual.

POKEY Audio

This version of Beef Drop VE uses an on-board Atari POKEY chip for improved sound effects and music that are much truer to the arcade version than the standard version of Beef Drop VE. Unfortunately, the POKEY is a custom chip produced by Atari. This means that the only POKEY chips in existence are those that were manufactured for Atari 8-bit computers (400/800, 800XL, 130XE, etc.), the Atari 5200, certain Atari arcade games, and the two Atari 7800 games Ballblazer and Commando. There are very few sources of new, unused POKEY chips. Many are removed from Ballblazer carts, as they are relatively common. These chips have not been produced in 30 years!

This means that we do not have many POKEY chips. If you want a copy of Beef Drop VE, you'll need to either send us a POKEY chip or send us a Ballblazer cartridge and we will remove the POKEY chip.

How to Get a POKEY version of Beef Drop VE

1. Add the game to your shopping cart (along with anything else you want to purchase) and checkout normally.
2. We'll send you an email with instructions on how to send us a POKEY or Ballblazer cartridge.
3. Once we receive the chip or cartridge, we'll test it to make sure it's working.
4. We'll then make your Beef Drop VE game and ship it to you!
5. If we do NOT receive your POKEY chip or Ballblazer cartridge within 30 days, we will cancel your order and refund your payment.
6. If you order other items with Beef Drop VE, everything will ship together!

If you have any questions about the above process, please contact us. Likewise, if you have a source of POKEY chips or Ballblazer carts, we'd love to hear from you if you'd like to sell or trade them to us.

Additional Information

Beef Drop VE includes the cartridge and 12-page, full-color manual. Supports both NTSC and PAL television standards.

The VE version of Beef Drop does not contain the POKEY audio chip that the earlier, numbered release of Beef Drop contains. This means the audio uses the internal 7800 TIA audio circuitry, just as nearly the entire 7800 library does. Because of this, we are able to sell Beef Drop VE at a lower price than the version with the POKEY chip and can produce this version in larger quantities.

You can read more about how the 7800 version of Beef Drop evolved by visiting our Atari 7800 forum:

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=59998