TAPPER
HIDDEN MESSAGE: At the title screen (while the name is filling up with beer), hold down 1P+2P+SERVE BUTTON+DOWN to reveal the full design team credits (picture #1). This also works on all versions of Tapper.
There are two common versions of this game: one with Budweiser beer and another with root beer (Root Beer Tapper). In the late 1990s, a couple of boards made by SEGA featuring the Suntory logo were discovered. Sega denies they ever produced the board and it is not listed in any of their databases. The Suntory Tapper board is a complete re-engineering of the MCR/III hardware. Suntory is a defunct brand of Japanese beer.
Around 3300 Tapper uprights were made and maybe the first 100 or so were released with color side art. About 300 cocktail machines were also made.
BUG: The stage counter becomes corrupt at #100. Stages 100-109 seem normal enough although there is no hundreds-digits on display. Stages 110-119 have in place of a tens-digit a sort of "L-shaped" character that points downward. Stages 120 through 169 have a "white box" as the tens-digit, making it important for the player and referee to keep very careful track of what wave has been reached. But at stage 170, a familiar presence appears, especially to players of "Donkey Kong" and "Donkey Kong Junior" - the tens-digit becomes the letter "A" for stages 170 through 179, and then "B" for stages 180 through 189. 190-199 are C, 200-209 are D, 210-219 are E, 220-229 are F, 230-239 are G, 240-249 are H, 250-255 are I. At stage 256, instead of I6 it shows 0 (rollover). When the wave is cleared, you see the same graphics associated with putting a coin into the machine and pressing the start button. After the short graphics display, the stage counter indicates "1", and the game play is exactly the same as if you started at stage 1...much slower and easier.
BUG: Every time you roll the score (at a million), the graphics get scrambled for a moment, you lose a life, and the game continues (picture #2).
RUMOR: Some Root Beer Tapper machines dont roll over until 10 million, instead of 1 million.
RUMOR: The main character in this game is very similar (if not the same) as the guy in Domino Man and one of the Timber lumberjacks. Rumor has it that his likeness was based upon that of one of the Midway employees.
