Berzerk

This Atari 2600 port of the 1980 arcade classic BERZERK is actually really good. After playing such disappointing arcade conversions as ASTEROIDS and PAC-MAN, I was pleased to see that this addictive little diversion remained as true to the original as the system's specs allowed. If I remember correctly, the mazes here were somewhat more primitive than the arcade version's, but that is probably only due to the 2600's limited screen resolution. Also, you won't hear any of the synthesized speech in the cartridge version (a feature that broke new ground in the world of arcade games), but again, this is only because it was beyond the system's capabilities.

Overall, even though it's hard to duplicate the thrill of blasting away robots while perched in front of a loud BERZERK arcade machine, the Atari 2600/VCS version comes pretty close.

Based on one of the first talking arcade games, "Berzerk" for the Atari 2600 is just as much fun as the coin-op version, but without the talking. The gameplay is the same. There are 12 game options. The object of the game is to go from maze to maze and shoot a bunch of robots that are assigned to shoot you on sight. Also, if you waste too much time in a maze, the Evil Otto (bouncing ball with a happy face) will try to run you out and possibly destroy you. The graphics and sound are pretty much the same as the arcade. The control is just as good and you can shoot in any direction. Too bad they don't make games like this one anymore. My evaluation: 8 out of 10.

A somewhat fun game for the Atari 2600 game, this game is based off one of the first games to feature speech, only there is no speech here. Simply a stick man going through a maze battling robots with an ever increasing rate of fire! Though is it really a maze when you can not escape the situation? If you dawdle in one section for to long, the evil Otto comes to make you budge from your position. So you have some choices when he appears, you can hold your position if you are pinned down by the robots and he kills you, or you can try to desperately make it out of the section of the maze your in. This can result in you being vaporized. Evil Otto can be destroyed in some modes of played and not in others. I suppose if you want a challenge you can make him indestructible. Heck, I think you could even make it so he would not appear at all. Not absolutely sure about this, not like I am about turning off the satellite and UFO in Asteroids. Not to bad for an Atari game, the problem is you get kind of bored simply going from room to room with no real chance of escape. Not sure if there was a layout to the whole thing or if it was simply random. Still, it was good for a few plays.