Berzerk (Atari 2600) - online game | RetroGames.cz
RetroGames.cz - staré hry ONLINE

„We don't stop playing because we grow old;                         
... we grow old because we stop playing.“                         

English EN       Czech CZ            

   
 Menu
 Games
 Others
 Search

 

   
 

Berzerk - Atari 2600

Atari 2600 joystick:

Atari 2600 joystick


Joystick control:

 

Player 1: Player 2:
joystick ↑↓←→ TGFH
trigger Spacebar A
turbo Del .
RESET F12 F12
SELECT F11 F11
Pause Alt+P Alt+P
black-white / color mode:  F2
paddle / joystick mode: Alt+L

Emulation speed:

If the game emulation is slow, try to speed it up by reloading this pa­ge without ads or choose a­no­ther emulator from this table.


Other platforms:

Unfortunately, this game is cur­rent­ly available only in this ver­si­on. Be patient :-)



Game info:
Berzerk - box cover
box cover
Game title: Berzerk
Console: Atari 2600
Author (released): Stern Electronics, Inc. (1980)
Genre: Action, Shooter Mode: Single-player
Design: Alan McNeil
Music:
Game manual: manual.pdf

File size:

1605 kB
Download: Berzerk.a26

Game size:

4 kB
Recommended emulator: Stella

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

   Berzerk is a multi-directional shooter video arcade game, released in 1980 by Stern Electronics of Chicago. The player controls a green stick man. Using a joystick and a firing button that activates a laser-like weapon, the player navigates a simple maze filled with many robots, who fire lasers back at the player character. A player can be killed by being shot, by running into a robot or an exploding robot, coming into contact with the electrified walls of the maze itself, or by being touched by the player's nemesis, Evil Otto.
   The function of Evil Otto, represented by a bouncing smiley face, is to quicken the pace of the game. Otto is unusual, with regard to games of the period, in that there is no way to kill him. Otto can go through walls with impunity and is attracted to the player character. If robots remain in the maze Otto moves slowly, about half as fast as the humanoid, but he speeds up to match the humanoid's speed once all the robots are killed. Evil Otto moves exactly the same speed as the player going left and right but he can move faster than the player going up and down; thus, no matter how close Otto is, the player can escape as long as they can avoid moving straight up or down.
   The player advances by escaping from the maze through an opening in the far wall. Each robot destroyed is worth 50 points. Ideally, all the robots in the current maze have been destroyed before the player escapes, thus gaining the player a per-maze bonus (ten points per robot). The game has 65,536 rooms (256x256 grid), but due to limitations of the random number generation there are fewer than 1024 maze layouts (876 unique). It has only one controller, but two-player games can be accomplished by alternating at the joystick. The game is most difficult when the player enters a new maze, as there is only a short interval between entering the maze and all the robots in range firing at the player. For the beginner, this often means several deaths in rapid succession, as each death means starting a new maze layout.
   Another memorable feature is the action of the robots—unlike adversaries in most other contemporary games, Berzerk's robots are known for being noticeably stupid, killing themselves by running into walls or each other, shooting each other, or colliding with Evil Otto. Since they shoot from the right and from the top, it is advantageous to shoot them from around walls coming from the left or from the bottom. This creates a substantial disadvantage for the second player for beginning players, since the second player starts on the right side of the screen. This can be corrected by exiting top or bottom on the first screen and then exiting right on the second screen. From then on, the second player can go left to right like the first player starts out. Anybody who can get through the second screen without losing a life consistently and who understands the left-to-right advantage no longer has a disadvantage for starting second. Thus, in championship play, a two-player game can be used without problem.
   As a player's score increases, the colors of the enemy robots change, and the robots can have more bullets on the screen at the same time. Once they reach the limit of simultaneous onscreen bullets, they cannot fire again until one or more of their bullets detonates; the limit applies to the robots as a group, not as individuals.

More details about this game can be found on Wikipedia.org.

For fans and collectors:
Find this game on video server YouTube.com or Vimeo.com.
Buy original game or Atari 2600 console on Amazon.com or eBay.com.

Find digital download of this game on GOG or Steam.

 
Videogame Console:

This ver­sion of Berzerk was de­sig­ned for A­ta­ri 2600, which was com­mer­ci­al­ly ve­ry suc­ces­s­ful vi­deo ga­me con­so­le of se­cond ge­ne­ra­tion pro­du­ced by A­ta­ri from 1977 to 1992. It was the first con­so­le that used re­mo­vab­le me­mory mo­du­les with ga­mes. At the time of its grea­test fa­me, mo­re than 30 mil­li­on units of this con­so­le were sold for about $ 200 a pie­ce. To da­te, the ga­me li­bra­ry for this con­so­le con­tains near­ly 1,000 o­ri­gi­nal ga­mes. Mo­re in­for­ma­ti­on about the Atari 2600 can be found here.


Recommended Game Controllers:

You can control this game easily by using the keyboard of your PC (see the table next to the game). However, for maximum gaming enjoyment, we strongly recommend using a USB joystick that you simply plug into the USB port of your computer. If you do not have a joystick, buy a suitable USB controller on Amazon or AliExpress or in some of your favorite online stores.

 
Available online emulators:

5 different online emulators are available for Berzerk. These emulators differ not only in the technology they use to emulate old games, but also in support of various game controllers, multiplayer mode, mobile phone touchscreen, emulation speed, absence or presence of embedded ads and in many other parameters. For maximum gaming enjoyment, it's important to choose the right emulator, because on each PC and in different Internet browsers, the individual emulators behave differently. The basic features of each emulator available for this game Berzerk are summarized in the following table:
 

Emulator Technology Multiplayer USB gamepad Touchscreen Without ads
Javatari 5.0 JavaScript YES YES YES YES
Javatari 0.91 JavaScript YES YES NO YES
NeptunJS JavaScript YES YES NO NO
EmulatorJS JavaScript YES YES YES YES
JStella Java applet YES NO NO YES


Similar games:

If you like Berzerk you'll probably like also some of the similar games in the overview below. The games you see here are selected based on title similarity, game genre, and keywords. However, the list is generated automatically and can therefore be very 'subjective' especially for some specific games. To find a particular game, please use our search form.

Frenzy Marauder Venture Room of Doom Beamrider
Frenzy Marauder Venture Room of Doom Beamrider
 
TRON: Deadly Discs Universal Soldier Squeeze Box Cybernator Thexder
TRON: Deadly Discs Universal Soldier Squeeze Box Cybernator Thexder
 
Robotron: 2084 Blaster Master Starmaster Blaster Master 2 Moonsweeper
Robotron: 2084 Blaster Master Starmaster Blaster Master 2 Moonsweeper

Comments:


 

This website is NOT sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Atari, Sega or by any other video games company. RetroGames.cz makes no claim to the intellectual property contained in the individual games.
Text content of RetroGames.cz is available under the Creative Commons 3.0 License. You can copy it freely, but indicate the origin and keep the license.

Facebook | Privacy policy | Terms of Service | Cookie statement | Advertisement | Report NA content

This website is hosted by WebSupport.cz.