The music from the ZX Spectrum version of Tapper was used heavily at Guantanamo Bay to psychologically break down prisoners, but it was deemed too cruel and they had to go back to waterboarding.
That added mirror in the Apple ][ version is a nice little touch, since it also serves to hint that the bartender is sneakily watching (cheating) during the bonus rounds. :)
D. J. Anderson, who coded the ZX Spectrum version said it's basically a synthesiser algorithm playing the music, with the game code runs the processor interrupts as a background process, most of the processor power and time is dedicated to oscillating the tweeter to make the sound
The original arcade cab was unique in that the control panel was stylized as a bar with a brass drink holder on the corners and controllers shaped like actual beer taps. It also had a brass rail at the base of the machine to put you foot up on.
I had this on the 2600, and I loved it. It's probably in my top 3 Atari VCS games, along with Phoenix and Warlords. Also, I always thought this had some of the best sound on the console: it's no Pitfall 2 sound-wise, but it's still great for the system. Strangely, I never really gave the arcade version much time, even though a local bowling alley had a Root Beer Tapper machine for a long time. Even with MAME and Midway's Arcade Treasures I never gave it much time compared to other games. It's probably been a decade since I've played Tapper; however, this BotP has really got me wanting to play this again, so I think I might just fire this up in MAME and waste a bit of my Saturday.
Thanks for the BOTP of a game I played a lot under the title Root Beer Tapper. ^_^ A lot of excellent ports, also your complaints about the Amstrad and ZX Spectrum (MY EARS!!!) versions couldn't be any better.
I played this wacky game at a Chicago arcade years ago. The stage clear animations & the bonus rounds crack me up. I didn't know there was an Atari 2600 version.
I played the DOS version before, it was a good version overall , and I think the game had support for composite colour which made things look a bit nicer . The Apple II port looks impressive given the machine was 6 years old at the time, then again , this is the machine that ran Prince of Persia eventually.......
Ah, probably due to the "wrong" setting I used on the mic. It sounds a bit shallow on my 7.1 set up. Still, as long as it sounds good on some set ups then I'm happy.
I love these old arcade games, they prove that gameplay is king and that you don’t need 3D graphics or ten layers of parallax to create something compelling to play. Nope, just a single screen is enough. I’ve not played Tapper myself on anything but arcade emulation, but the 2600 version looks fairly impressive so that gets my pick!
The MS-DOS version supports composite CGA output for additional color (at the expense of some sharpness), as well as 3-channel audio when played on an IBM PCjr/Tandy 1000.
If this game came out today, they'd have put Red Bull or some shit in place of the beer. 🤣 Gotta say, the BBC and PC ports are really nice, and I'm surprised the reflection in the Apple ][ bonus screen wasn't added to any other.
Yeah a lot of arcade games of the time were doing hi-res characters over low-res backgrounds like Popeye and Arch Rivals. Can't knock the Atari graphics in form but yeah the color choices could have been better, system palettes are decent but many didn't have an eye for color. Coleco version is really pushing the sprites per scanline limit of the system which was too low in the long run imo. C64 one is a fairly bland merely adequate port, I'm certain it could be better. Oh, that's supposed to be music in the ZX port heh. Not surprised the Coleco to MSX port turned out well, the computer line of this hardware branch has more RAM than the console. Well at least the Amstrad got C64 graphics rather than ZX graphics. Yeah the BBC Micro only has 8 colors, and not great ones at that. DOS port is another game with Composite Artifact Color option, much better than magenta I swear. ;) The Apple II one does seem quite snappy and responsive.
Well, as it turns out in most of the comments here, I also played this game the first time around on my system of choice, which was the ZX Spectrum. And I must admit, I love it! Although the sprite overlap can make it hard to tell how many customers you're serving, that was no big deal for me, as I was really used to playing the game ad nauseum. And, as nostalgia plays a big role in the way we enjoy things, I remember not enjoying the original arcade version the first time I played it, which was on MAME. It felt strange to me, as I was so accustomed to playing the Speccy version!
I had this on C64 as a kid, it was the only version I knew and I remember not filling up the glass as often as I liked which interruted the gameplay but I just assumed that's how it was suppoed to be. I really loved it actually despite it being simple, gameplay was intense only after a few stages.
I love this game. Back when I was in high school and enamored with Dance Dance Revolution like everyone else, I still budgeted some paper route money on Tapper. I think I was one of the few people that actually played it at my location, lol.
@@RetroCore this arcade used to be a real jack-of-all-trades affair. They had Time Crisis 3, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Pac-Man, and a bunch of other classics scattered about. They even got Initial D Arcade Stage v3 at one point. Alas, it's no longer like that. The DDR Extreme machine that has been there for 15 years now has fallen into disrepair and is nigh unplayable now. All the classics they had from the early 2000's and before are gone. Barcades have been there to pick up the slack a bit, but it's just sad to see an arcade I dropped hundreds of dollars into just turn into a shadow of what it was.
Wow, I've never seen the Atari 2600 win a battle of the ports, but here we are. The rest all seem to have less smooth gameplay in comparison, proof that better graphics don't always make for a better game. It's the only instance besides Dig Dug where I could see owners of the system actually pleased even after playing the arcade original.
Most impressive ports should be seen as: What the machine can do and how the port is made. You have a kick ass machine with a crappy port although the graphics look better then on a 2600. It's also about the feel and the gameplay!
I often see (and hear) the Tapper cab in the background of John’s Arcade videos, but I’d never actually seen it being played. It actually looks like a lot of fun, it sort of reminds me of a lot of Game & Watch games like Oil Panic, Green House, Mario’s Cement Factory, etc; particularly the way the bartender instantly “jumps” from tap to tap like G&W games would animate stuff.
The composite-color version of Tapper for the PC looks amazing (yes, this is CGA): www.mobygames.com/game/pc-booter/tapper/screenshots/gameShotId,267528/
This game is ideal for play in a Game & Watch, that's a pity there isn't one port. A bit disappointed with the MS-DOS version, it could be arcade perfect. Good video Mark!
The Apple ][ version is the one I grew up playing, and you gave it a positive review! It was better than some other Apple ][ arcade ports. I do prefer the Budweiser Tapper arcade one
I first played this on an Apple II before I saw it in the arcades and it was loads of fun. I didn’t know what a tap was at the time, and when I saw the arcade machine with the beer tap controls (you press down to fill, releasing it will slide the beer to the customer) it was really neat. It’s funny what counts for controversy back in those days but I guess a game promoting alcohol consumption would still be frowned upon these days 😂 Excellent vid as always!
I had this for the c64 ...... it's still one of my favorite games ... although the arcade is a pain because it uses a tap like on sparklets cooler and just 4 buttons to move ..... I'm glad he's playing the bud version ... I only got to play root beer tapper ... one difference between the ports and arcade .... in the arcade the amount in the glass mattered the more the glass was filled the slower you had to give a refill ....one of the very few games that there's not a horrible port of,,,
Quite a number of the ports are pretty impressive! This game is such a simple idea, yet super addictive. I feel bad for the speccy owners... They always seem to get the short end of the stick when it comes to arcade ports.
I'll never forget that music on the Spectrum version. also if i made something like homebrew version of this game i would add the Lemon Stones logo cause that's my favourite kind of beer xD I do have fun memories of playing this game, and i also have a magazine from spain were they showed an interview with the people who made this game.
Is it sad I only know of this game because of Wreck it Ralph? Anyways, I know the Atari 2600 usually has great ports, but wow. I'm surprised it got the *best* port out of all of them. It looks amazing for an Atari 2600 too! Loads of colorful sprites and nice animation while retaining the smoothness.
The PS1 version is just standing at the back on the comments section, staring. Forgotten, and with his eyes full of tears, he flips the sign outside to open. He returns to his taps and remains motionless, knowing that when the impending drunken horde reaches the end of the bar, his feelings of loneliness and dejection will end. And as the angry, drunken patrons slide him across that counter and smash his face into oblivion, he smiles, for he knows today he will be remembered.
oh man, that Speccy version. I grew up playing the C64 port so I'm glad I had that one instead! I didn't play the 'real' thing until much later with MAME.
7:08 - Lol i grew up with Speccy (I love the system too) but in what plane of reality is this audio satisfactory? Did the developers just have their TV's muted when they made the Speccy version :D
Had the Root Beer Tapper version on the Midway collection for PS1... not a bad game at all. The Spectrum version's BGM is awful. The bouncer needs fired for letting the cicadas get into the bar.
The 2600 version is a technical marvel, but I'll always like the C64 one best, because of the smooth gameplay and awesome graphics and music. I also like the DOS and Apple ones a lot (quite surprised the Apple added extras like moose heads and the mirror. Beeb seems very impressive, but i guess the school didn't want games involved with mlt dew though. But dan dat Speecy port. That's so dang slow! And what the hecks going on with the customers?! Tapper looks very sad in that one too. Maybe that's because he has to listen to that "music". And BTW, i also find it funny that Japenese Sega ported most versions, (besides the Coleco one) and yes, that includes the Speecy one too, sadly.
Love this game Mark. In fact, one of my friends relatives had the arcade unit in he liquor store. I use to play it even though I was the only one most of the time making use of it. 8^) Anthony..
The C64 version is the one I'm most familiar with. I liked it, except that it often seemed to have the double-press to fill and throw a beer that you mention with the Amstrad version. Or sometimes it seemed like you need to hold the button down for a second then release it to throw the glass. Whichever it was, it definitely felt sluggish at times and gave me the impression that the game just wasn't responding like it should.
im was also played this game to death or something on my C64 as a quite little kid.... Im wasent aware what they was doing in that game, hihi. The main issue here is there is a lots of slowdowns throught, but got to level 8-9 or such that here. Im do really liked the PC sound in the MS Dos game with a nice use of the PC Speaker and does not sound hash at all, why could Spectrum not do the same?
@@lkskun It might, but they may not have had international rights to use the name outside the US or such for the game, but I don't know the details there.
Looks like a fun game, I will have to find the arcade ROM and give it a try. Makes me laugh that even back when this game was released the “we have to shield the kids from the real world” brigade was already around, so the beer gets replaced with pop, which is way worse for you. Disclaimer: this is just the opinion of an old fogey who was already of drinking age when the game came out, and who enjoys beer 🍺😀😀.
I think people have long known that alcohol is horrible for kids. IIRC, root beer was invented because Samuel Adams wanted to make a drink for his kids.
Jesus Zamora. My comment was meant to be light hearted, and I certainly wasn’t suggesting that kids be allowed to drink alcohol. However, why change the drink from beer to pop in a video game when the same kids who were playing the game were also seeing beer, liquor and cigarette commercials on TV, as well as the cowboy movies in which the drinks were actually slid down the bar? Root beer was not invented by Samuel Adams, but by a pharmacist whose last name was Hires.
The arcade cabinet had a tap instead of a button so you could feel like you were really filling a cup with beer :D I READ your disclaimer about emulation at the start so please don' take it at me :D But regarding less flicker on the MSX version... MSX emulators do have an option to turn off sprite flicker, so maybe that's what happened if you were using an emulator? If the guys who ported that actually managed to remove flicker by the way the sprites move there, they've made a small miracle there. And the Spectrum version, how the HECK does someone releases a game sounding like that? You must believe the programmer was deaf or something.
I think fhe guy who ported the Colecovision game to the MSX must have improved the code since this was being played on real hardware via a rom cartridge. It was also being played on an MSX 2 but I don't think that would make any difference. Playing regular MSX games on an MSX2 doesn't offer any benefits for what I know.
I don't drink (alchohol) so i do not know if the bar tender ever actually slides the glasses down the bar or if that is just something in games and movies
Couldn't agree more with the disclaimer, original hardware is not going to improve any stinker. I actually think that emulation can offer a better experience than the original hardware in some aspects (eg. remapping bad controls in computer games, cutting loading times, using save states instead of tedious passwords).
I only put that there because I'm sick of Amiga and PlayStation fanboys always blaming emulation for when a game on those platforms gets complaints. Funny how they don't comment when a game is praised.. It's always the same groups. You never see PC Engine, Mega Drive, Neo Geo, Atari St and so on fanboys blaming emulation.
@@RetroCore Yeah. It's strange, especially since Mega Drive emulation suffers the most... And even then, you can turn on a "Filter" setting in KEGA Fusion to easily fix that.
@@solarflare9078 Kega Fusion is outdated, Regen and Genesis Plus GX use an improved version of the filter you're describing. That being said, there are a few instances where emulation may cause a problem, such as excessive sprite flicker not present on real hardware. It's not often, but it does happen since it's impossible for 100% accurate emulation, even if some are very close.
Zane Gandini It depends kinda. I got a ROM of a Cave Story homebrew on the Genesis and it ran fine with no graphical glitches. When I ran it on real hardware, I kept getting a strange graphical glitch where occasionally, some animation frames would be replaced with a white square. Rarely, the menu screens can get affected too. It's an easy fix, as all you have to do is pause and wait before unpausing, but it's so strange....
The Speccy music was about as good as it was possible to achieve on the 48k hardware (the sound "hardware" was just a TTL line direct to the speaker, bit-banged in software). The XORd customer sprites were just lazy though, no excuse for that.
@@RetroCore Yup. You have to wonder if the reason the graphics of the punters was so crap, was they were wasting so many processor cycles on the duff music.
I figured out why the C64 port is sluggish It's constantly facing slowdown throughout the entire game, notice how the music speeds up and slows down at parts
He doesn't use collections unless it was programmed for the platform. I always wondered why they didn't try to get an A&W or Barq's sponsorship for Root Beer Tapper...
@@ChristopherSobieniak And while I'm at it, why Mountain Dew and Pepsi for the home versions? Who the fuck drinks Mountain Dew or Pepsi in mugs? At least it makes sense with root beer.
It's really annoying that so far none of the ports let the music reach it's melodic conclusion...'Oh Susanna don't you cry for me'...dammit...not even the c64...:)
LOL I never knew this game exist, I always thought this is Original game for Wreck it Ralph, before give me hate comment for note my country probably won't let this game release at public coz it's have relationship with Alcohol drink and my country don't really like Alcohol drink heck you can say Alcohol drink is "almost" illegal in my country well there some can get legally but it's hard, only select few shop who have right to sell it (manly for tourist), and there no commercial of it at TV, but there few exception at certain place like Bali where you can get Alcohol drink coz many tourist there who prefer drink beer than tea.
@@RetroCore well we do have Ice tea, soft drink, ice cream and cold traditional drink, yes soft drinks is legal but if there Alcohol when test by government it's will get stricter rule and can only be sell at certain place most of it for tourist.
The music from the ZX Spectrum version of Tapper was used heavily at Guantanamo Bay to psychologically break down prisoners, but it was deemed too cruel and they had to go back to waterboarding.
I love Speccy but you're right :D
The music in the Spectrum version sounds like your speakers are broken.
That added mirror in the Apple ][ version is a nice little touch, since it also serves to hint that the bartender is sneakily watching (cheating) during the bonus rounds. :)
D. J. Anderson, who coded the ZX Spectrum version said it's basically a synthesiser algorithm playing the music, with the game code runs the processor interrupts as a background process, most of the processor power and time is dedicated to oscillating the tweeter to make the sound
The Budweiser logo is still recognizable on the glasses in the arcade root beer tapper. The power of shape association in advertising lol.
The original arcade cab was unique in that the control panel was stylized as a bar with a brass drink holder on the corners and controllers shaped like actual beer taps. It also had a brass rail at the base of the machine to put you foot up on.
ZX Spectrum -- BEES!!
These ports look quite nice! I like the looks on all of 'em.
Agreed on the Atari 2600 port. It's my favorite. I don't mind the Colecovision port but I can see how others might have issues with it
I had this on the 2600, and I loved it. It's probably in my top 3 Atari VCS games, along with Phoenix and Warlords. Also, I always thought this had some of the best sound on the console: it's no Pitfall 2 sound-wise, but it's still great for the system.
Strangely, I never really gave the arcade version much time, even though a local bowling alley had a Root Beer Tapper machine for a long time. Even with MAME and Midway's Arcade Treasures I never gave it much time compared to other games. It's probably been a decade since I've played Tapper; however, this BotP has really got me wanting to play this again, so I think I might just fire this up in MAME and waste a bit of my Saturday.
Thanks for the BOTP of a game I played a lot under the title Root Beer Tapper. ^_^ A lot of excellent ports, also your complaints about the Amstrad and ZX Spectrum (MY EARS!!!) versions couldn't be any better.
As a guy who drinks, I enjoyed playing Tapper.
Nothing wrong with that 👍
I played this wacky game at a Chicago arcade years ago. The stage clear animations & the bonus rounds crack me up.
I didn't know there was an Atari 2600 version.
I played the DOS version before, it was a good version overall , and I think the game had support for composite colour which made things look a bit nicer .
The Apple II port looks impressive given the machine was 6 years old at the time, then again , this is the machine that ran Prince of Persia eventually.......
Why am I feeling funny after drinking this ‘Mountain Dew’?
Your audio mix this ep owns. My tablet has quad speakers and it's coming out amazingly.
Ah, probably due to the "wrong" setting I used on the mic. It sounds a bit shallow on my 7.1 set up. Still, as long as it sounds good on some set ups then I'm happy.
I love these old arcade games, they prove that gameplay is king and that you don’t need 3D graphics or ten layers of parallax to create something compelling to play. Nope, just a single screen is enough.
I’ve not played Tapper myself on anything but arcade emulation, but the 2600 version looks fairly impressive so that gets my pick!
I remember the Apple II version fondly. I had it and enjoyed it.
The MS-DOS version supports composite CGA output for additional color (at the expense of some sharpness), as well as 3-channel audio when played on an IBM PCjr/Tandy 1000.
If this game came out today, they'd have put Red Bull or some shit in place of the beer. 🤣
Gotta say, the BBC and PC ports are really nice, and I'm surprised the reflection in the Apple ][ bonus screen wasn't added to any other.
Yeah a lot of arcade games of the time were doing hi-res characters over low-res backgrounds like Popeye and Arch Rivals. Can't knock the Atari graphics in form but yeah the color choices could have been better, system palettes are decent but many didn't have an eye for color.
Coleco version is really pushing the sprites per scanline limit of the system which was too low in the long run imo. C64 one is a fairly bland merely adequate port, I'm certain it could be better. Oh, that's supposed to be music in the ZX port heh.
Not surprised the Coleco to MSX port turned out well, the computer line of this hardware branch has more RAM than the console. Well at least the Amstrad got C64 graphics rather than ZX graphics. Yeah the BBC Micro only has 8 colors, and not great ones at that. DOS port is another game with Composite Artifact Color option, much better than magenta I swear. ;) The Apple II one does seem quite snappy and responsive.
Great stuff young lad. Brilliant! I remember this manic game in the arcade and the locals as a young man in the very early eighties.
I wish I was a young lad. I turn 46 next month 😢
@@RetroCore Dear Lord. That's the new 36. Buck up man! Try being 60 and wishing for now faint arcade times. My memory is as faded as the old CRTs.
Well, as it turns out in most of the comments here, I also played this game the first time around on my system of choice, which was the ZX Spectrum. And I must admit, I love it! Although the sprite overlap can make it hard to tell how many customers you're serving, that was no big deal for me, as I was really used to playing the game ad nauseum. And, as nostalgia plays a big role in the way we enjoy things, I remember not enjoying the original arcade version the first time I played it, which was on MAME. It felt strange to me, as I was so accustomed to playing the Speccy version!
They just don’t make ‘em like this anymore. Such an awesome game. Thanks Mark!
I am blessed to personally know the arcade score world record holder on this game :)
Nice!
I had this on C64 as a kid, it was the only version I knew and I remember not filling up the glass as often as I liked which interruted the gameplay but I just assumed that's how it was suppoed to be. I really loved it actually despite it being simple, gameplay was intense only after a few stages.
Ah, try the Arcade version in MAME. I think you'll really like that one.
One of the few games I played for Amstrad originally !
Judge me if you want, but for many years I thought that this game is called "Fapper" 😂
That would have been a very different game.
I believe that was also released for the 2600.
I love this game. Back when I was in high school and enamored with Dance Dance Revolution like everyone else, I still budgeted some paper route money on Tapper. I think I was one of the few people that actually played it at my location, lol.
I'm surprised they actually had it in an age when DDR was out.
@@RetroCore this arcade used to be a real jack-of-all-trades affair. They had Time Crisis 3, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Pac-Man, and a bunch of other classics scattered about. They even got Initial D Arcade Stage v3 at one point.
Alas, it's no longer like that. The DDR Extreme machine that has been there for 15 years now has fallen into disrepair and is nigh unplayable now. All the classics they had from the early 2000's and before are gone. Barcades have been there to pick up the slack a bit, but it's just sad to see an arcade I dropped hundreds of dollars into just turn into a shadow of what it was.
Wow, I've never seen the Atari 2600 win a battle of the ports, but here we are. The rest all seem to have less smooth gameplay in comparison, proof that better graphics don't always make for a better game. It's the only instance besides Dig Dug where I could see owners of the system actually pleased even after playing the arcade original.
Root Tapper guy made a cameo appearance as a bartender in Wreck It Ralph, which was a very fitting role for him.
Yep, that's right. A very fitting cameo. 👍
The 2600 and the BBC micro have the most impressive ports? What kind of crazy reality is this?
Most impressive ports should be seen as: What the machine can do and how the port is made. You have a kick ass machine with a crappy port although the graphics look better then on a 2600. It's also about the feel and the gameplay!
I often see (and hear) the Tapper cab in the background of John’s Arcade videos, but I’d never actually seen it being played. It actually looks like a lot of fun, it sort of reminds me of a lot of Game & Watch games like Oil Panic, Green House, Mario’s Cement Factory, etc; particularly the way the bartender instantly “jumps” from tap to tap like G&W games would animate stuff.
This would have made a great game and watch. Sadly it never did.
Very few good ports of this classic as we see here
The composite-color version of Tapper for the PC looks amazing (yes, this is CGA): www.mobygames.com/game/pc-booter/tapper/screenshots/gameShotId,267528/
I've only played the version for the 2600. It actually plays fairly well. :)
This game is ideal for play in a Game & Watch, that's a pity there isn't one port. A bit disappointed with the MS-DOS version, it could be arcade perfect. Good video Mark!
Maybe if it came out a little later with VGA graphics it would have feared better?
Looks like it plays the part, though.
The Apple ][ version is the one I grew up playing, and you gave it a positive review! It was better than some other Apple ][ arcade ports. I do prefer the Budweiser Tapper arcade one
I first played this on an Apple II before I saw it in the arcades and it was loads of fun. I didn’t know what a tap was at the time, and when I saw the arcade machine with the beer tap controls (you press down to fill, releasing it will slide the beer to the customer) it was really neat. It’s funny what counts for controversy back in those days but I guess a game promoting alcohol consumption would still be frowned upon these days 😂 Excellent vid as always!
These days we're living in an oversensitive world.
@@RetroCore Outside of social media, not really. People just LOVE to bitch on social media.
Ya because it’s easier saying something behind a screen than saying it to someone face 😂😂😂
Mountain Dew is funny because not only is it a soda, it's slang for moonshine.
Maybe when Mountain Due came out, they were trying to be edgy?
@@RetroCore Could be. The original Mountain Dew's formula was developed in Tennessee. The formula was changed in the 50s. It's now owned by Pepsi.
I had this for the c64 ...... it's still one of my favorite games ... although the arcade is a pain because it uses a tap like on sparklets cooler and just 4 buttons to move ..... I'm glad he's playing the bud version ... I only got to play root beer tapper ... one difference between the ports and arcade .... in the arcade the amount in the glass mattered the more the glass was filled the slower you had to give a refill ....one of the very few games that there's not a horrible port of,,,
I wasn't aware that the amount of beer in a glass made a difference.
Quite a number of the ports are pretty impressive! This game is such a simple idea, yet super addictive. I feel bad for the speccy owners... They always seem to get the short end of the stick when it comes to arcade ports.
That they do but I guess many speccy owners didn't mind.
I'll never forget that music on the Spectrum version. also if i made something like homebrew version of this game i would add the Lemon Stones logo cause that's my favourite kind of beer xD I do have fun memories of playing this game, and i also have a magazine from spain were they showed an interview with the people who made this game.
Did they ever mention why the Spectrum's music was so bad? I think they would have been better not having any.
@@RetroCore I guess they couldn't afford at least a little beep to play the music.
there's Palm OS release and unofficial Amiga port release last year as well
Is it sad I only know of this game because of Wreck it Ralph?
Anyways, I know the Atari 2600 usually has great ports, but wow. I'm surprised it got the *best* port out of all of them. It looks amazing for an Atari 2600 too! Loads of colorful sprites and nice animation while retaining the smoothness.
Yep, the 2600 version is really nice to play.
Solar Flare, me too and I know it
The PS1 version is just standing at the back on the comments section, staring. Forgotten, and with his eyes full of tears, he flips the sign outside to open. He returns to his taps and remains motionless, knowing that when the impending drunken horde reaches the end of the bar, his feelings of loneliness and dejection will end. And as the angry, drunken patrons slide him across that counter and smash his face into oblivion, he smiles, for he knows today he will be remembered.
I remembered playing this on the Atari 2600. I regret getting rid of it. It's expensive now.
It's a great game on the 2600. It's another of those games which just works so well on the system.
I suppose the use of Pepsi in the UK computer ports was due to Mountain Dew not having been sold domestically there yet.
Yep, that's 100% correct. But what is odd is the BBC version actually does have Mountain Dew in it.
oh man, that Speccy version. I grew up playing the C64 port so I'm glad I had that one instead! I didn't play the 'real' thing until much later with MAME.
I have a sweet spot for the 2600
I played this game to death in my C64 but getting the tips was near impossible.
I agree. Most of the time it's best just not to bother.
watching a video about a game where you’re slinging drinks, while i’m having a drink!
👍🏻
Nice. Funny thing, I was at a bar last night (hence why today's show was late) but not once did the bar tender slide over my drink 🍻🙄
@@RetroCore To be fair, he probably only had the one counter to worry about instead of four. 🤣
The game also saw a updated release for iOS some years back featuring animation produced by Don Bluth.
That's right. I couldn't show that though. I don't have any ios equipment.
Why does ZX spectrum, amstrad cpc, & BBC Micro have "official SEGA arcade" on the title screen?
Sega were the distributor of the game for those platforms. Not sure why.
7:08 - Lol i grew up with Speccy (I love the system too) but in what plane of reality is this audio satisfactory? Did the developers just have their TV's muted when they made the Speccy version :D
lol, hey were probably developing on an old Ferguson black & white TV without any speaker.
@@RetroCore lol fair point
The dos version might work with the 16 colour mode of cga (albeit with blurry text)
Had the Root Beer Tapper version on the Midway collection for PS1... not a bad game at all.
The Spectrum version's BGM is awful. The bouncer needs fired for letting the cicadas get into the bar.
The 2600 version is a technical marvel, but I'll always like the C64 one best, because of the smooth gameplay and awesome graphics and music. I also like the DOS and Apple ones a lot (quite surprised the Apple added extras like moose heads and the mirror. Beeb seems very impressive, but i guess the school didn't want games involved with mlt dew though. But dan dat Speecy port. That's so dang slow! And what the hecks going on with the customers?! Tapper looks very sad in that one too. Maybe that's because he has to listen to that "music". And BTW, i also find it funny that Japenese Sega ported most versions, (besides the Coleco one) and yes, that includes the Speecy one too, sadly.
for ms dos owners: the IBM pc compatible version of tapper looks better with composite cga colors
Love this game Mark. In fact, one of my friends relatives had the arcade unit in he liquor store. I use to play it even though I was the only one most of the time making use of it. 8^)
Anthony..
It is a classic game. I would imaging the actual arcade cabinet being quite rare these days.
many kids today know about Tapper thanks to Wreck it Ralph!
That's right but sadly they probably think it's an original character for Wreck it Ralph.
The C64 version is the one I'm most familiar with. I liked it, except that it often seemed to have the double-press to fill and throw a beer that you mention with the Amstrad version. Or sometimes it seemed like you need to hold the button down for a second then release it to throw the glass. Whichever it was, it definitely felt sluggish at times and gave me the impression that the game just wasn't responding like it should.
Surprised there was no NES version or early Sega versions.
Especially since SEGA published this in Japan and Nintendo themselves have done ports of some Midway (published) arcade games
I played the 2600 game to death. I wanted the Atari 8bit version for my computer, but I never bought it. :) Great game...
im was also played this game to death or something on my C64 as a quite little kid.... Im wasent aware what they was doing in that game, hihi. The main issue here is there is a lots of slowdowns throught, but got to level 8-9 or such that here. Im do really liked the PC sound in the MS Dos game with a nice use of the PC Speaker and does not sound hash at all, why could Spectrum not do the same?
I think the Spectrum version was very poorly made. The system could do much better.
"Here in Japan". Wait, does that mean...
The game did see a release in Japan with "Suntory" taking over for Budweiser in the ads.
He lives in Japan, yeah.
@@ChristopherSobieniak Doesn't Budweiser exist in Japan too?
@@lkskun It might, but they may not have had international rights to use the name outside the US or such for the game, but I don't know the details there.
Only as an import.
Looks like a fun game, I will have to find the arcade ROM and give it a try. Makes me laugh that even back when this game was released the “we have to shield the kids from the real world” brigade was already around, so the beer gets replaced with pop, which is way worse for you. Disclaimer: this is just the opinion of an old fogey who was already of drinking age when the game came out, and who enjoys beer 🍺😀😀.
I think people have long known that alcohol is horrible for kids. IIRC, root beer was invented because Samuel Adams wanted to make a drink for his kids.
Jesus Zamora. My comment was meant to be light hearted, and I certainly wasn’t suggesting that kids be allowed to drink alcohol. However, why change the drink from beer to pop in a video game when the same kids who were playing the game were also seeing beer, liquor and cigarette commercials on TV, as well as the cowboy movies in which the drinks were actually slid down the bar?
Root beer was not invented by Samuel Adams, but by a pharmacist whose last name was Hires.
The arcade cabinet had a tap instead of a button so you could feel like you were really filling a cup with beer :D
I READ your disclaimer about emulation at the start so please don' take it at me :D But regarding less flicker on the MSX version... MSX emulators do have an option to turn off sprite flicker, so maybe that's what happened if you were using an emulator? If the guys who ported that actually managed to remove flicker by the way the sprites move there, they've made a small miracle there.
And the Spectrum version, how the HECK does someone releases a game sounding like that? You must believe the programmer was deaf or something.
I think fhe guy who ported the Colecovision game to the MSX must have improved the code since this was being played on real hardware via a rom cartridge. It was also being played on an MSX 2 but I don't think that would make any difference. Playing regular MSX games on an MSX2 doesn't offer any benefits for what I know.
No, it makes no difference at all.
Amazing work then.
I don't drink (alchohol) so i do not know if the bar tender ever actually slides the glasses down the bar or if that is just something in games and movies
Hehe, it's just something they do in movies and games. I've never been to a real bar that slides drinks.
it's a thing that started in American westerns in the 20s and 30s
@@MrNightshade2010 That sounds about right.
Never heard of this game.
It's a classic. The original Arcade cabinet looks great.
If you like this you should try Overcooked
Can't say I've heard of that one. Thanks for the heads up.
Couldn't agree more with the disclaimer, original hardware is not going to improve any stinker. I actually think that emulation can offer a better experience than the original hardware in some aspects (eg. remapping bad controls in computer games, cutting loading times, using save states instead of tedious passwords).
I only put that there because I'm sick of Amiga and PlayStation fanboys always blaming emulation for when a game on those platforms gets complaints. Funny how they don't comment when a game is praised.. It's always the same groups. You never see PC Engine, Mega Drive, Neo Geo, Atari St and so on fanboys blaming emulation.
@@RetroCore Yeah. It's strange, especially since Mega Drive emulation suffers the most... And even then, you can turn on a "Filter" setting in KEGA Fusion to easily fix that.
@@solarflare9078 Kega Fusion is outdated, Regen and Genesis Plus GX use an improved version of the filter you're describing. That being said, there are a few instances where emulation may cause a problem, such as excessive sprite flicker not present on real hardware. It's not often, but it does happen since it's impossible for 100% accurate emulation, even if some are very close.
Zane Gandini It depends kinda. I got a ROM of a Cave Story homebrew on the Genesis and it ran fine with no graphical glitches. When I ran it on real hardware, I kept getting a strange graphical glitch where occasionally, some animation frames would be replaced with a white square. Rarely, the menu screens can get affected too. It's an easy fix, as all you have to do is pause and wait before unpausing, but it's so strange....
NukaTapper for the win
Didn't presented on Amiga?
No, it's not one the Amiga. There is a copy of it though.
@@RetroCore yeah, I've checked this as well ) Really weird because this game was a best seller of that time!
I feel sorry for owners of early ZX Spectrum models. Also, is it just me, or 8 bit Atari computer version had worse sound than 2600 version?
I'd would agree with you. I find most Atrai 5200 /8 bit home computer ports to be worse than the 2600 versions. Strange that.
There's so many versions of tapper that it never was made for the Famicom/NES :(
Yeah, which is surprising considering the Famicom was released on the same year. It would have made for a nice launch title.
@@zanegandini5350 Agreed. I could EASILY see this as a black box title.
The Speccy music was about as good as it was possible to achieve on the 48k hardware (the sound "hardware" was just a TTL line direct to the speaker, bit-banged in software). The XORd customer sprites were just lazy though, no excuse for that.
They shod have not bothered with the "music" and just used sound effects.
@@RetroCore Yup. You have to wonder if the reason the graphics of the punters was so crap, was they were wasting so many processor cycles on the duff music.
I just think it's because the developer didn't know what they were doing.
@@RetroCore Possible. It was US Gold after all. Their ports to UK-based systems were, for the most part, complete crap in the early days.
I figured out why the C64 port is sluggish
It's constantly facing slowdown throughout the entire game, notice how the music speeds up and slows down at parts
Initial mesage to the haters XDD Let's gooo
No collection versions? None can beat arcade strictly because of the Budweiser ads.
Most compilations went with the "Root Beer" variant.
He doesn't use collections unless it was programmed for the platform.
I always wondered why they didn't try to get an A&W or Barq's sponsorship for Root Beer Tapper...
@@jesuszamora6949 A&W certainly would've been perfect there.
@@ChristopherSobieniak And while I'm at it, why Mountain Dew and Pepsi for the home versions? Who the fuck drinks Mountain Dew or Pepsi in mugs? At least it makes sense with root beer.
It's really annoying that so far none of the ports let the music reach it's melodic conclusion...'Oh Susanna don't you cry for me'...dammit...not even the c64...:)
Lazy practice perhaps?
Loved this as a kid, but nowadays, I just can't get into it anymore. After just 1 or 2 minutes it gets incredibly tedious.
Eh, it's an arcade game. They're not built to be your focus for hours on end. Drop a quarter, kill some time.
LOL I never knew this game exist, I always thought this is Original game for Wreck it Ralph, before give me hate comment for note my country probably won't let this game release at public coz it's have relationship with Alcohol drink and my country don't really like Alcohol drink heck you can say Alcohol drink is "almost" illegal in my country well there some can get legally but it's hard, only select few shop who have right to sell it (manly for tourist), and there no commercial of it at TV, but there few exception at certain place like Bali where you can get Alcohol drink coz many tourist there who prefer drink beer than tea.
Anyone gives you crap it's cause they are just dickheads.
No Alcohol? I could not live in a country that didn't sell refreshing beer on a hot sunny day.
Indeed!
@@RetroCore well we do have Ice tea, soft drink, ice cream and cold traditional drink, yes soft drinks is legal but if there Alcohol when test by government it's will get stricter rule and can only be sell at certain place most of it for tourist.
they made a safe for kids version called "root beet tapper" that might pass ....
Atari 8-bit wins again...
I have vague memories of Tapper on ZX Spectrum but I don't remember that awful "music".
Lucky you. It's awful.
Wrong timecodes DOS/Apple :-)
Bugger. I'll have to fix those when I'm by a PC. Thanks for the info.