REVIEW BY:  KEITH JEFFERSON of ST.LOUIS AUG.
     Keith writes for SLAUG newsletter & BBS.

Title: Root Beer TAPPER from Coleco
Format: Cartridge

Interest Level: Fun at first but fails to maintain the same
intensity with each play.

Difficulty Level:  Easy to understand and play although the
action can get rather frantic.


Poor Sam the soda jerk, he's all alone working the taps in a
soda fountain full of thirsty customers.  Play begins in the
Westerm soda fountain where you must hustle to make him fill
mugs from his taps and slide them down to incoming customers
demanding to be served at four counters.  Lucky for you and
for Sam that there are also four root beer taps nearby.  Sam
must hop from one counter to the next in order to keep up
with the thirsty crowd.  Don't allow any customer to go
without a drink and reach the end of the counter or else
your Sam will be dragged over the counter and tossed out of
the bar.  The faster you make Sam serve that root beer, the
better are the chances of closing up and moving on but in
your haste you must be careful not to slide extra mugs to a
counter that has sbeen cleared of customers.

Sounds refreshing doesn't it?  For the drinkers maybe but
not for poor old Sam who must also retrieve the returning
empty mugs before they fall off the counters.  But his hard
work does not go unnoticed by his clientele as he is
rewarded with tips.  When you make Sam pick up his tip which
although desirable is not always possible, entertainment
starts and you must then be extra careful not to slide a mug
to anyone whose back is turned and is enjoying the show.
Additional screens include a Stadium soda fountain, a new
version of the Western soda fountain and a futuristic Space
soda fountain.  Sam must reach down for that little extra
effort as business activity really takes off with each
successive soda fountain screen.  When the bonus root beer
screen appears Sam takes a bit of a breather.  Here Sneaky
Pete shakes up five of six root beer cans on the counter
which he then mixes up.  You must move Sam to the can you
think wasn't shaken to earn bonus points.

What makes Tapper an interesting and amusing game are the
detailed colorful graphics, the zany music, Sam's humorous
gestures and the uniquely designed instruction sheet which
is written and printed in the form of a menu card.  One
major weakness I found is that after playing the game five
or six times one tends to find the action rather monotonous.
The  element of challenge involved is not very stimulating
beyound the first few games, but ti's an excellent game for
refining basic skills of eye and hand coordination
nevertheless.  Warning!  Excessive play of TAPPER can cause
"Trigger Finger".

