PRESSURE COOKER

HIDDEN MESSAGE: The cook’s graphics were designed so that when he is facing left, you can make out the letter “k” on his body (for programmer Garry Kitchen, picture #1).  {Garry Kitchen}

The game automatically stops when one million points is reached - the score will turn to six chef hats at that point (Picture #2) and both the "extra performance points" sound and "game over" tune will play at the same time.  When the "game over" tune ends, the Activision logo will start rolling at the bottom of the screen.  {Gordon Taylor}

If the chef is facing up or down when you try to bounce a food item back into its dispenser, the chef will automatically turn to face right upon contact with the food item.

The difficulty of the game seems to go through a four round cycle, at least at first. The first level is pretty easy, the second is a little harder, the third harder still and the fourth being VERY hard. The cycle will repeat itself while the game subtly speeds up, eventually reaching a point where three or four ingredient burgers simply become impossible to make successfully (from the belt moving too fast) and the game will stop giving out those orders as a result.

Although the manual mentions "Efficiency Bonus Points" and "Burger Bonus Points" are given to the player at the end of each round, it doesn't explain how they're calculated! Here's how both of these work (on Games 1 and 2):

Efficiency Bonus Points -> 10 points times the round number for each "performance point" you have at the end of a round. Note that the "multiplier" in this case maxes at 16 instead of the 9 that is usual for Activision games. If you earn more "performance points" (by crossing a 10,000 point threshold) while this is being given out the bonus does NOT apply to what was just earned - the counter simply keeps ticking down from whatever value it was stopped at when the game gave out the extra performance points.

Burger Bonus Points -> 100 points for each successfully assembled and wrapped burger for Rounds 1-4. This is increased by 100 points on Rounds 5, 9, 13 and so forth (I believe the limit is 1,600 points for each burger but I'm not 100% sure about that).  {Gordon Taylor}

The same formulas for "Efficiency Bonus Points" and "Burger Bonus Points" also apply to the other game variations - the game essentially treats them as starting further ahead than Round 1 when doing the calculations. Particularly noteworthy is that the hardest game variation has a "multiplier" that's already maxed out at 16, meaning playing this variation is best for obtaining high scores once you've mastered the game!  {Gordon Taylor}

Normally if you stay on the wrapping-machine screen after dropping a burger, you would have to wait for a burger to completely fall down before being awarded the 100 points for a successful order. However, if you leave back to the main screen before the drop animation finishes and the drop is "good" (i.e. would pass through the hole) you get the 100 points instantly on entering the main screen! I would consider this a "feature" and not a bug because the hints at the back of the game manual encourage players to do this (to save time in a round).  {Gordon Taylor}

BUG: If you place your chef closer to the dispenser than the width of the item being dispensed, the item will automatically be added to the burger furthest down the belt upon being dispensed!  Note that the chef must be in position before the dispenser is activated or the glitch won't work. This was probably not caught in play-testing due to having no visual warning of what dispenser is going to be activated, making standing close to the dispensers a generally bad idea in real-time play.  {Gordon Taylor}

 

 

 


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