Berzerk is a game synonymous with arcade gaming and is one of the first games to have voice synthesizing – INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! Those who played it in the arcade will remember the anxiety that that phrase could induce knowing that the evil robot overlord Otto was about to appear.
Like all successful arcade titles at the time, Berzerk found its way to the consoles of the time and the Atari 2600 was very impressive given the obvious downgrades needed. One of the aspects of Berzerk that was lost in the translation was the robot voices, it didn’t spoil the game but was noticeable.
Although the speech would return for the later 5200 port, it can now be enjoyed with the original 2600 thanks to Atari releasing an Enhanced Version alongside its latest new 2600+ console. The new version also has diagonal firing and some improvements to the explosion graphics as well as a few bug fixes. The game plays almost the same but with the new diagonal firing, which works for you and the robots.
You move through a robot-infested maze, trying to survive and build your score. After a while, Evil Otto appears and starts to chase you down. You have the same weapon as the robots, a simple laser, and move at a similar speed. You can simply avoid all the robots and freely move around the maze but there isn’t much fun in that and the robots will now call you a “chicken”!
We played this cart as part of our review of the new console and it feels solid with slightly better collision detection, especially when trying to not touch the electrifying walls. All the original modes are present and the robots shooting diagonally certainly adds a new layer of challenge. As the game progresses the frantic nature of the gameplay creates excitement and many near deaths that you’ll be glad to have escaped.
Overall, Berzerk is just as good as it has always been and the new enhancements make this a worthwhile upgrade to the original. The game is so playable and anyone with even the faintest of love for arcade gaming will enjoy this. You can even go toe to toe with a friend in the turn-based multiplayer mode. Berzerk – Enhanced Edition can be purchased at Amazon priced at £25 from 17th November 2023 and will work on original 2600 consoles as well as the new 2600+.
