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CAKEWALK by CommaVid
Yeah, I know. The gist of the play mechanics is strikingly similar to Bally/Midway's Tapper. Cakewalk does add a few frills, however, although some of the good points of Tapper are also abscent. You can stop one conveyer belt at any given time by pressing the fire button while on that conveyer. The suspended conveyer belt will turn pink while frozen, to help you remember which one it was. The sixteen play variations are impressive, although they feature fairly predictable modifications of the theme. One of the cooler modes is "All Gingerbread Men," where all of the pastries are replaced in favor of the erratic and unpredictable gingerbread figures. Unfortunately, two of the play features which made Tapper so addictive -- the ability to flip to the top of the screen by going all the way down, and the ability to move toward the customers (cakes in Cakewalk's case) greatly add to the strategy and fun, and they're missing from this cart.
The graphics are simple, but colorful and appealing. Pastries are multi-colored and reasonably decorated, some even sporting candles all aflame. The best representations are figures of the baker and janitor, tiny but finely detailed. A good deal of the fun of the game, at least initially, is in watching the little janitor rush onscreen with his broom and quickly dispense with the mess. He does take awhile to clean up and move on, however, during which time the game play grinds to a halt. For those reasons, I tend to believe that younger players and novice gamers might be more inclined to play this game several times. Veteran gaming enthusiasts will probably stick with Tapper.
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