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 the new PokeyONE audio board for sound effects and music. The PokeyONE is a drop-in replacement for Atari's proprietary POKEY chip, at least for applications that only rely on audio (such as arcade games and 7800 games). Unfortunately, the POKEY is a custom chip produced by Atari. Therefore, 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 the POKEY chips in existence are drying up, and we'd prefer to not continue using Ballblazer cartridges as a source for POKEY chips. The higher price of Beef Drop VE with a PokeyONE reflects the price of the game and the inclusion of the PokeyONE (which retails for $40). We feel this is a fair price given the $40 retail cost of the PokeyONE alone. If this item is out of stock because we are currently out of PokeyONE boards (you cannot add the game to your shopping cart), we have an alternate option where you can send us a POKEY chip or Ballblazer cart and still obtain a copy of Beef Drop VE.

Additional Information

Beef Drop VE includes the cartridge with onboard PokeyONE board (see above) and 12-page, full-color manual. Supports both NTSC and PAL television standards.

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