Berzerk
I've always like Berserk. I don't know, I had success at it when I was younger which wasn't usually the case. I was kind of a spaz physically and didn't have the requisite hand-eye skills to really rule the joystick like some kids. Plus early video games where way harder then the games of today. I base this opinion on my poor memory and the fact that the whole video game industries business model was based on getting kids to push quarters into the machine as often as possible without making the endeavor seem like a total rip off.
Anyway, Berserk was fun. You ran around a maze and shot at these slow moving robots. The point was to get from one end of the screen and out the door before this bouncing smiley faced named Evil Otto came onto the scene.
He bounced around a lot faster then you did and he was invulnerable to your character's blaster. Plus Otto could go through the walls of the maze so when he entered he made a bee line for your "humanoid" while you, restrained by the laws of reality couldn't pass through solid matter and thus fell prey to his death touch. Oh ya, I totally forgot, if you touch the walls of the maze you got killed. They were all electrified up.
I think the coolest part of the game was that the robots talked junk at you during the game. The most famous thing they said was of course "intruder alert!, intruder alert!" there was a grip of other things though. Hold on, I am going to go out on the internet and find a list....
- "Coins detected in pocket": During attract mode, specifically while showing the high score list.
- "Intruder alert! Intruder alert!": Spoken when Evil Otto appears.
- "The humanoid must not escape": Heard when the player escapes a room after destroying every robot.
- "Chicken, fight like a robot": Heard when the player escapes a room without destroying every robot.
- "Got the humanoid, got the intruder!": Heard when the player loses a life. (The "got the intruder" part is a minor third higher than the "got the humanoid" part)
That was pretty easy. The internet is awesome for finding things out really fast. I also had Berzerk for my 2600. That was pretty fun too but each maze was a lot smaller and there weren't as many robots on the screen at once. The Atari was cool but it had it's limitations. Still though, I used to play it all the time.
Berzerk also had a song on the Pac-Man Fever album. It was called Goin Berzerk and it was a love song of sorts but like to the game of Berzerk, well to playing Berzerk with your special lady, or dude if you happen to be a chick.
Berzerk, Berzerk, Berzerk over you. That's not a bad little hook. I've heard worse. I HEAR worse everyday on the way to work in the morning. I kind of like that tune and it brings back memories of playing Atari in my cousin Tom's basement while we switched back and forth between The Pac Man Fever record and the Rocky Soundtrack.
Comments