Like most Midway retro releases, Root Beer Tapper makes use of Xbox Live in a very limited, but effective, way. Offering versus and co-operative modes for play over Live, the game never shows what the other player is doing; only showing their Gamer Tag and score in the corner of the screen, opposite yours. In versus, the game smartly places a large gold star next to the gamer with the highest score, making it easy to tell if you are in the lead or trailing your competitor. Not showing the other player is a benefit here; both because of the lack of lag and a smaller screen is the last thing you want with the frantic pace of higher rounds. The only bit of frustration comes from actually loosing a versus game where you have lives remaining, as the game awards 5,000 points for each remaining life when the other player loses all theirs.
Continuing in their tradition of well thought out Achievement Points, Midway provides plenty of difficult challenges to pull gamers back behind the bar for repeated sessions. Those who were (and probably still are) not that great at the game will immediately notice that the game does not end at the Sports Bar levels, where most gamers see 'Game Over' flash repeatedly, as there are achievements for clearing the Punk and Alien Bars. Seeing the unclaimed achievements for these bars are your first clues as to their existence, join the club. The achievements also do a solid job of forcing gamers online for both Live modes; offering points for both winning a set number of versus matches and achieving a rather difficult high score on co-op.
For a budget (400 Microsoft points) Xbox Live Arcade title, Root Beer Tapper holds up well; if for no other reason than the amount of replay needed to grab fifty wins over Live. Gamers have to be salivating for something new on the arcade at this point, but this will tie you over nicely until that 'something new' hits.
