Tapper
Encyclopedia
Tapper, also known as Root Beer Tapper, is a 1983 arcade game
released by Bally Midway
. The goal of the game is to serve beer
and collect empty mugs and tips.
. The player must serve eager, thirsty patrons before their patience expires.
The player serves customers by filling a mug at one of the four taps. Once the mug is full, the player releases the tap which automatically slides the mug towards the advancing customer. Customers catch mugs that are slid towards them, as long as they are not already drinking a beer, or otherwise distracted. If a mug is not caught by a customer (whether the customer is already drinking or distracted, or if there is no customer), then it falls off the bar on the other end, resulting in a loss of a life for the player. If a customer does catch the mug, though, then he or she is pushed back some amount towards the opposite end of the screen. The goal is to push the customer completely off the screen, but if they are not then they will stay and consume their drink in place. When a customer finishes his drink, he slides the empty mug back towards the player, after which the customer resumes his advance on the player. The player must collect the empty mugs before they reach the end of the bar and fall to the ground, as a mug falling to the ground costs a life.
Periodically, customers will leave tips on the bar for the player. These tips can be left at any place on the bar. The tip will appear after a specific number of empty mugs are released by the customers, and will appear wherever the customer who releases the required mug is standing. For example, in all levels, the first tip is left by the customer who returns the second empty mug, and will be left beside wherever this customer is standing. By collecting the tip, the player earns extra points and initiates "entertainment" for that level (dancing girls on the wild-west level, cheerleaders on the sports level, etc.). While the entertainment is active, some fraction of the customers will be distracted and stop advancing towards the player, but they will also stop catching mugs.
In order to complete a level, the player must clear the entire bar of customers. Once this is done, the player is presented with a short vignette in which the bartender draws a drink for himself, drinks it, then tosses the empty mug into the air with varying (usually humorous) results, such as kicking it and shattering it or having the mug fall atop his head and cover it.
As the game progresses, the customers appear more frequently, move faster along the bar, and are pushed back shorter distances when they catch their drinks. In addition, the maximum number of customers per bar gradually increases until every bar can have up to four customers at a time.
In between levels of different settings, the player is presented with a "challenge" round. In this segue, the player is presented with a single bar that has six cans of beer or root beer sitting on top of it. A masked villain shakes every can except one and then pounds on the bar, causing the cans to shuffle their positions. It is in essence a shell game
. If any other shaken can is picked, it explodes in the bartender/soda jerk's face, after which the right can is revealed. If the player selects the unshaken can, the hero is shown smiling and a message reads "This Bud's For You" (on the Budweiser version) or "This one's for you" (on Root Beer Tapper), and the player is rewarded with extra points.
There are four settings for the game, each setting lasting for two to four levels. The settings of the game are:
After completing all the levels, 13 in all, the player starts at the first again, harder than the first time through, and with some minor variations.
Originally sponsored by Anheuser-Busch, the first arcade versions sported a "Budweiser" motif (the Budweiser theme song was actually used in the arcade game), The machine was intended to be sold to bars with many of the cabinets designed to look like bars—complete with a brass rail footrest and drink holders. The very first machines had game controllers that were actual Budweiser beer tap handles, which were later replaced by smaller, cheaper, plastic "beer taps" with the Budweiser logo on them.
The sound effects themselves were modeled after cartoon sound effects and real-life sounds. All music was original and composed by Rick Hicaro, except for "Oh Suzanna" (old west bar, traditional American folk song), "Buffalo Gals" (traditional American folk song) heard in the barroom scenes when the cartoon gals danced in the background, and the Budweiser theme heard in the bonus round.
branding, followed in 1984 by Root Beer Tapper, which was developed specifically for arcades because the original version was construed as advertising alcohol to minors (since many of the games appeared in video game arcades
).
The Tom Mix Software Company made a clone
called Brewmaster for the TRS-80 Color Computer
.
In 1984, Coleco made versions of Root Beer Tapper for their proprietary ColecoVision
game console, as well as the Atari 2600
console and the Commodore 64
, Apple II
, and IBM PC
(DOS) computer systems, designed by David James Ritchie.
There are also some boards with Suntory
branding, supposedly made by Sega
, which they deny.
In July 2000, Midway
licensed Root Beer Tapper, along with other Williams Electronics games, to Macromedia
for use in an online applet to demonstrate the power of the Shockwave
web content platform, entitled Shockwave Arcade Collection. The conversion was created by Digital Eclipse. It is currently freely available to be played online.
Root Beer Tapper was included as one of the 24 games on Midway Arcade Treasures
for PlayStation 2
, Xbox
, GameCube
, and the PC
.
Root Beer Tapper is a leaderboard game on Gametap
.
Root Beer Tapper was released on Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade
service for the Xbox 360
on February 7, 2007 for 400 Microsoft Points
($5.00). This release adds high definition support, achievements, leaderboards, and new online and local co-op modes.
On February 3, 2011 , Warner Bros.
Digital Distribution announced that they are working with Don Bluth
and his game development company Square One Studios
to release a modern reinterpretation of the game titled Tapper World Tour
.
Included in the Neopets website's annual Altador Cup is a game called Slushie Slinger which bears striking similarities to Tapper.
, and the following game Timber
. In fact, the main character in Timber is a rework of the main character in Tapper. The art is based on Mike Ferris, an artist who taught ScottMorrison art. The game was also an inspiration for the programmers on Plants Vs. Zombies which presents several rows of characters to defend against.
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
released by Bally Midway
Midway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
. The goal of the game is to serve beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
and collect empty mugs and tips.
Overview
Tapper puts the player in the shoes of a bartenderBartender
A bartender is a person who serves beverages behind a counter in a bar, pub, tavern, or similar establishment. A bartender, in short, "tends the bar". The term barkeeper may carry a connotation of being the bar's owner...
. The player must serve eager, thirsty patrons before their patience expires.
Description
The Tapper game screen features four bars. Patrons arrive periodically at the end of the bar opposite the player and demand drinks. The player must draw and serve drinks to the patrons as they slowly advance towards the player. If any customers reach the player's end of the bar, they grab the player-as-bartender and toss him out the far end of the bar, costing the player a life.Periodically, customers will leave tips on the bar for the player. These tips can be left at any place on the bar. The tip will appear after a specific number of empty mugs are released by the customers, and will appear wherever the customer who releases the required mug is standing. For example, in all levels, the first tip is left by the customer who returns the second empty mug, and will be left beside wherever this customer is standing. By collecting the tip, the player earns extra points and initiates "entertainment" for that level (dancing girls on the wild-west level, cheerleaders on the sports level, etc.). While the entertainment is active, some fraction of the customers will be distracted and stop advancing towards the player, but they will also stop catching mugs.
In order to complete a level, the player must clear the entire bar of customers. Once this is done, the player is presented with a short vignette in which the bartender draws a drink for himself, drinks it, then tosses the empty mug into the air with varying (usually humorous) results, such as kicking it and shattering it or having the mug fall atop his head and cover it.
As the game progresses, the customers appear more frequently, move faster along the bar, and are pushed back shorter distances when they catch their drinks. In addition, the maximum number of customers per bar gradually increases until every bar can have up to four customers at a time.
In between levels of different settings, the player is presented with a "challenge" round. In this segue, the player is presented with a single bar that has six cans of beer or root beer sitting on top of it. A masked villain shakes every can except one and then pounds on the bar, causing the cans to shuffle their positions. It is in essence a shell game
Shell game
The shell game is portrayed as a gambling game, but in reality, when a wager for money is made, it is a confidence trick used to perpetrate fraud...
. If any other shaken can is picked, it explodes in the bartender/soda jerk's face, after which the right can is revealed. If the player selects the unshaken can, the hero is shown smiling and a message reads "This Bud's For You" (on the Budweiser version) or "This one's for you" (on Root Beer Tapper), and the player is rewarded with extra points.
There are four settings for the game, each setting lasting for two to four levels. The settings of the game are:
- A country-western bar with cowboys (2 levels)
- A sporting event with athletes (3 levels)
- A punk rock bar with rockers (4 levels)
- A space bar with aliens (4 levels)
After completing all the levels, 13 in all, the player starts at the first again, harder than the first time through, and with some minor variations.
Music
Music and sound effects on the original arcade version of "Tapper" were created by the game's sound designer, Rick Hicaro, an electronic game developer at Marvin Glass & Associates (MG&A) who also happened to be a musician. He used a proprietary sound synthesizer system developed at Marvin Glass & Associates to create all the sound effects and music. The system consisted of a "Synclavier II" sound synthesizer (a sophisticated, professional synthesizer consisting of a 16-bit mini-computer and synthesizer keyboard/sound manager), running custom sound development software written by Richard Ditton, a software engineer and video game developer at MG&A. The system interfaced directly to the actual arcade game system so that sounds were true to the capabilities of the hardware. It also allowed for rapid prototyping and testing of gameplay with full sound and music during the development of video games. Also, unlike other gaming development systems where the music was created note-by-note in programming code, music (and even sound effects) on the MG&A system could be played on the Synclavier's keyboard, recorded directly into memory, then burned directly into the gaming ROMs.The sound effects themselves were modeled after cartoon sound effects and real-life sounds. All music was original and composed by Rick Hicaro, except for "Oh Suzanna" (old west bar, traditional American folk song), "Buffalo Gals" (traditional American folk song) heard in the barroom scenes when the cartoon gals danced in the background, and the Budweiser theme heard in the bonus round.
Versions
Several variants of the game were released, with similar gameplay but different graphics and music. The first was with BudweiserBudweiser (Anheuser-Busch)
Budweiser is a 5.0% abv American-style lager introduced in 1876 by Adolphus Busch and one of the highest selling beers in the United States. It is made with up to 30% rice in addition to hops and barley malt. Budweiser is produced in various breweries located around the world...
branding, followed in 1984 by Root Beer Tapper, which was developed specifically for arcades because the original version was construed as advertising alcohol to minors (since many of the games appeared in video game arcades
Video arcade
An amusement arcade or video arcade is a venue where people play arcade games such as video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers , or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables...
).
The Tom Mix Software Company made a clone
Clone (computer and video games)
A video game clone is a video game or game series which is very similar to or heavily inspired by a previous popular game or game series. Some video game genres are founded by such archetypal games that all subsequent similar games are thought of as derivatives.The term is sometimes derogatory,...
called Brewmaster for the TRS-80 Color Computer
TRS-80 Color Computer
The Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer was a home computer launched in 1980. It was one of the earliest of the first generation of computers marketed for home use in English-speaking markets...
.
In 1984, Coleco made versions of Root Beer Tapper for their proprietary ColecoVision
ColecoVision
The ColecoVision is Coleco Industries' second generation home video game console which was released in August 1982. The ColecoVision offered arcade-quality graphics and gaming style, and the means to expand the system's basic hardware...
game console, as well as the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
console and the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
, and IBM PC
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
(DOS) computer systems, designed by David James Ritchie.
There are also some boards with Suntory
Suntory
is a Japanese brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan. Its business has expanded to other fields, and the company now offers everything from soft drinks to sandwich chains...
branding, supposedly made by Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
, which they deny.
In July 2000, Midway
Midway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
licensed Root Beer Tapper, along with other Williams Electronics games, to Macromedia
Macromedia
Macromedia was an American graphics and web development software company headquartered in San Francisco, California that produced such products as Flash and Dreamweaver. Its rival, Adobe Systems, acquired Macromedia on December 3, 2005 and controls the line of Macromedia...
for use in an online applet to demonstrate the power of the Shockwave
Macromedia Shockwave
Adobe Shockwave is a multimedia platform used to add animation and interactivity to web pages. It allows Adobe Director applications to be published on the Internet and viewed in a web browser on any computer which has the Shockwave plug-in installed...
web content platform, entitled Shockwave Arcade Collection. The conversion was created by Digital Eclipse. It is currently freely available to be played online.
Root Beer Tapper was included as one of the 24 games on Midway Arcade Treasures
Midway Arcade Treasures
Midway Arcade Treasures is a collection of 24 arcade games developed by Digital Eclipse and released by Midway for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC....
for PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
, GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, and the PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
.
Root Beer Tapper is a leaderboard game on Gametap
GameTap
GameTap is an American online video game service established by Turner Broadcasting System . Dubbed by TBS as a "first of its kind broadband gaming network", the service provides users with classic arcade video games and game-related video content...
.
Root Beer Tapper was released on Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
service for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
on February 7, 2007 for 400 Microsoft Points
Microsoft Points
Microsoft Points are the currency of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Games for Windows - Live Marketplace, Windows Live Gallery, and Zune online stores. The points allow users to purchase content without a credit card and to reduce the number of small credit card transaction fees, which Microsoft would...
($5.00). This release adds high definition support, achievements, leaderboards, and new online and local co-op modes.
On February 3, 2011 , Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
Digital Distribution announced that they are working with Don Bluth
Don Bluth
Donald Virgil "Don" Bluth is an American animator and independent studio owner. He is best known for his departure from The Walt Disney Company in 1979 and his subsequent directing of animated films such as The Secret of NIMH , An American Tail ,The Land Before Time , and All Dogs Go to Heaven ,...
and his game development company Square One Studios
Square One Studios
Square One Studios is a US-based video game developer and publisher, located in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It was founded in 2010 by Michelle Bizzarro, Don Bluth and Gary Goldman and currently employs about 10 people....
to release a modern reinterpretation of the game titled Tapper World Tour
Tapper World Tour
Tapper World Tour is an arcade game for Apple's iOS and is a modern reinterpretation of the classic arcade game Tapper, released in 1983 by Bally Midway. Players take the role of a bartender with the goal of serving drinks and collecting empty glasses and tips from a demanding group of...
.
Included in the Neopets website's annual Altador Cup is a game called Slushie Slinger which bears striking similarities to Tapper.
Legacy
The programming and art style are almost identical to a previous game called Domino ManDomino Man
Domino Man is a 1983 arcade video game released by Bally Midway. It is one of the few video games that features the ragtime piece, Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin as the game background music.- Gameplay :...
, and the following game Timber
Timber (arcade game)
Timber is an arcade game that was manufactured by Midway Games in 1984. The object of the game is to amass points by chopping down trees or by balancing atop a floating, rotating log....
. In fact, the main character in Timber is a rework of the main character in Tapper. The art is based on Mike Ferris, an artist who taught ScottMorrison art. The game was also an inspiration for the programmers on Plants Vs. Zombies which presents several rows of characters to defend against.
External links
- Video of the complete game
- Screenshots of a Tapper arcade machine at BasementArcade