BurgerTime Quarter Arcade might be Numskull’s tastiest retro cabinet yet

Before the days of ‘health and safety gone mad’, fast food orders were made by chefs stomping on giant ingredients, all while being pursued up and down ladders by hostile fried eggs and sausages. At least, that’s how classic 1982 arcade cab BurgerTime depicts what chefs get up to in the kitchen. And now it’s being remade in ‘gone through a hot wash’ fashion by Numskull as a BurgerTime Quarter Arcade.

This is far from the company’s first adventure in this space. It kicked things off with Pac-Man and has since added such giants as Bubble Bobble and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to its range. But this is the first Data East game Numskull has tackled – an exciting development, when you consider RoboCop is in that company‘s back catalogue…

Anyway, back to the BurgerTime Quarter Arcade. As ever, everything about this quarter-scale arcade cabinet/culinary adventure has been painstakingly recreated from the source material. The cab itself is a wooden replica, with perfectly restored artwork, a tiny (but usable) four-way joystick, and an illuminated marquee. It’s as close to a shelf-friendly BurgerTime as you can get without access to a time machine and a shrink-o-ray.

Top bun

When it comes to playing, there are concessions to the modern world. Sure, you still direct chef Peter Pepper about the screen, to build colossal burgers and occasionally hurl salt in the faces of your food-based foes. And in another nod to authenticity, you can fiddle with DIP switches, to alter ROM settings that Numskull suggests can “enhance your gaming experience”. (Which means cheating by giving Peter Pepper more lives.)

But even the folks at Numskull aren’t mad enough to make quarter-scale CRTs in 2024. And no quarter-sized mains plug will work in a full-sized socket. So you instead get a pin-sharp 5in TFT display and an internal battery that’s charged via USB-C. Purists might grumble, but the latter of those things makes this unit portable – very much unlike a full-size BurgerTime cabinet. That said, you’ll get strange looks playing with one on the train instead of a Switch. Especially if you do so while tucking into a giant burger.

Worked up an appetite? BurgerTime Quarter Arcade is available to preorder for $229.99/£199.99.

• Related: Beyond Space Invaders: why preserving forgotten arcade games matters

Craig Grannell Contributor

About

I’m a regular contributor to Stuff magazine and Stuff.tv, covering apps, games, Apple kit, Android, Lego, retro gaming and other interesting oddities. I also pen opinion pieces when the editor lets me, getting all serious about accessibility and predicting when sentient AI smart cookware will take over the world, in a terrifying mix of Bake Off and Terminator.

Areas of expertise

Mobile apps and games, Macs, iOS and tvOS devices, Android, retro games, crowdfunding, design, how to fight off an enraged smart saucepan with a massive stick.