Heavy Burger: Porting a Four-Player Data East Mashup to Console

Title: Heavy Burger
Release Date: 2018, 2021
Developer: Lub Blub
Publisher: FTE Games / 612 Entertainment
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
Engine: Playstation

Heavy Burger is a chaotic four-player local multiplayer brawler built around Data East’s classic IP catalog (BurgerTime, Bad Dudes, Lock ‘N Chase, Side Pocket, and more) all crammed into a single top-down run and gun. Sickhead brought it to Nintendo Switch in 2018 and PlayStation 4 in 2021. Four-player local multiplayer is one of the more technically punishing things you can put through a console port. Every player’s input needs to feel immediate, the screen has to stay readable and responsive when it’s packed with enemies and projectiles, and destructible environments add yet another variable to keep stable under load.

Sickhead Games is the leading game porting studio, skilled in porting Unity, Unreal, Godot, and custom engine titles to every major console and handheld including Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and mobile. We’re trusted by solo indie developers and major publishers alike to handle everything from codebase assessment to post-launch support, bringing great games to the audiences they deserve. Satisfied clients and partners include Humble Games, Sony Interactive, Nintendo, Annapurna, Good Games, ConcernedApe, MegaCrit, 17-Bit, Maddy Makes Games, Zachtronics, Keen Software House, Thomas Happ, Pocketwatch Games, EXOK, Young Horses, Taito, Jaleco, and Microsoft. We’ve ported over 100 releases including Stardew Valley, Slay the Spire, TowerFall, Axiom Verge, and Space Engineers, and also specialize in bringing retro console and PC games to modern audiences like Grandia, Enclave, and Jaleco Sports titles.