Activision's Pressure Cooker: Pre-processed Perils

By Trenton Ray

The Atari 2600 is an amazing system. Video games were still new when the 2600 was around, and all sorts of interesting, humorous, or plain weird ideas were tried. Many of these games wouldn't make it in today's market, because modern consumers would judge them as, "too odd". Thankfully, the gaming public were more at ease to embrace the obscure back then.

We have all experienced our equal shares of oddness in society. From the caterpillar's evolution into a butterfly, to the seasonal migrations of many birds, there are quite a few things in our world that, although explainable, are quite amazing. One of these things is sure to pop into your mind when I mention fast food hamburger ads. We have all seen them. They show us huge, juicy, fresh burgers with crisp moist lettuce, crunchy onions, and fresh tomatoes. You think to yourself, "Yum, let's go to the burger joint!". When you get there, however, you are instantly force-fed reality. Those fresh juicy burgers become soggy tasteless balls of staleness and saltiness. Let's not forget the awful service either. After waiting in line to order a burger, it is inevitable to look up at the menu several times, and once again be greeted by those wonderful burgers you will never get to taste. After you order and receive your number, you wait at a seat, contemplating the burger's flavors. You wait and wait and wait. This goes on for eons. Finally, your number is called. You rush up to the counter and pick up your burger. Once you return to your seat, you unwrap your burger and realize they got your order wrong! This is an outrage, but you are hungry, so you eat it anyway. An hour of your life has been wasted, pursuing the holy grail of hamburgers.

Obviously, Garry Kitchen went through this ordeal one time too many. Mr Kitchen previously programmed Keystone Kapers for Activision, as well as Space Jockey for US Games, a subsidiary of Quaker Oats. Maybe this job experience directly correlated to his love of food in games, or maybe he was just plain sick of Oats. My guess is he was fed up with bad service, and must have decided the gamers of the world could do a better job at making hamburgers than the high school dropouts that were working. But then again, his game was such a treat, it undoubtedly caused a few high school dropouts, who later worked at a burger joint. Maybe it was a master plan, maybe it was a coincidence. Anyway, you will be hooked on this game at first byte. Many more hours of your life will be spent pursuing the holy grail of a Pressure Cooker high score.

Pressure Cooker is based in a hamburger joint called The Grille. As a chef at The Grille, your job is to assemble the hamburgers your customers order. This might not seem too hard, but the burger cooking machine has broken, and is going hay-wire. There is no way to stop it spitting burgers out, other than be the fastest chef The Grille has ever witnessed!

Once you pop Pressure Cooker in your 2600, get ready for some fun! After selecting your game, a pleasantly addictive jingle is presented for your listening pleasure. Don't get too into the music though, because once it's over the game begins. There is always a steady small tune in the background, adding atmosphere to the game much like the heartbeat in Asteroids.

The game may start out slow, but don't underestimate it. At the bottom of the screen, you see the order board. The color behind the checks indicates which bin to place it in. You run up and down, catching the condiments the guests want, and by pushing the ones no one wants back into the machine. Waste nothing, as it takes away from your quality score. Once that score goes to zero, the game is over. Making burgers and frantically rushing down to the wrapping room and placing them in a bin may not sound too  extreme, but the conveyor belt carrying the burgers is constantly moving, even when you are in the wrapping room. You need to be quick-witted to play Pressure Cooker, as well as have quick reflexes. Sometimes you will see, for example, a slice of cheese come out. The conveyor belt is chugging along, and you must think to yourself, "Should I return it and risk not getting cheese later when another customer wants it, or should I chuck it on a burger anyway to play it safe?" Snap decisions like this add to the joy of Pressure Cooker. You must also be quick on the logical side of things, calculating what burger needs what, what one's closest to the bottom, all while the belt keeps chugging along.

While playing the game, you may go into shock due to the graphics. You no longer have to play a guessing game with your 2600, all of the sprites look how they should. The lettuce comes out looking like a crisp head of lettuce. The onion looks just like an onion. The bread looks better than anything I've seen at Burger King lately, and the cheese looks just like a perfect square of cheese. For an Atari 2600 game, the attention to detail is great. You can even watch the raw burgers cook in the flame boiler, and roll onto the belt, if you are brave enough.

Nothing on the Atari 2600 makes me as happy, and hungry, as the hamburger-hurling adventures at The Grille. The best thing about the game, is no artery-clogging cholesterol, just mind-numbingly fun cooking action. It's mystery meat mayhem!

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MyAtari magazine - Feature #8, April 2002