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|     ||     T|  .  Y|     ||     T|  .  Y|  .  |
l_____jl_____jl__j\_jl_____jl_____jl__j\_jl__j\_j


BERZERK FAQ
For play on Atari 2600
Presented by BoredGamer
Version: .4
Last Updated: 8/24/2001
Phase: Technically Complete

The E-mail Dealy...
Okay, I have two different E-mail addresses that I'd prefer you use for 
different purposes.

If you are e-mailing me about feedback, questions, or anything having to 
do with any FAQ, please send it to Blublublublu1129@cs.com.

If, however, you are e-mailing me on something that does not concern a 
FAQ, e-mail me at Liverboyjoe179@cs.com.

If any e-mail is sent to Blublublublu1129 that does not concern a FAQ, 
it will be deleted/ignored.  Please try to refrain from sending FAQ 
information, etc. to Liverboyjoe179.

Please stop sending me files.  I will not download them unless they are 
someone I know, and by this I mean someone I know -personally- like 
family or best friends.  I have suspected that some files that have been 
sent to me are viruses (with good justification after being persecuted) 
and did not download them.  This also means not to send me FAQs or any 
other material to critique.

This FAQ is technically complete.  Any information that can be 
contributed to this can be accepted and accredited once it is validated 
as true.   
_______________________________________________________________________

UPDATE HISTORY

8/24/2001- Pre- I've begun this project.  It looks like after writing 
the FAQ/Walkthrough for Pitfall 2, I've wanted to write some more Atari 
2600 FAQs.  I also found a great site that has almost every Atari 2600 
manual in HTML format called AtariAge.  I think most people have heard 
of the place.  See information in the FAQ as far as URL.  The basic 
layout has been completed, the Thank You section is up, the Legal Bit is 
up.  What else could I add in such a short time?  Added some questions 
to the FAQ.  

8/24/2001- v0.4- Completed Section 3 on game variations.  Added the 
screen layouts. Completed the introduction.  Hey hey!  Completed the 
FAQ.  Added a new paragraph onto the tips as far as intercepting enemy 
shots.  Also added some more questions to the FAQ.  Spellchecked it as 
well.


Reference Credit goes to:

AtariAge- www.atariage.com

Contents According to Joe
-------------------------
Section 1: Introduction
1A: Trapped on a Dark Planet
1B: Playing the Game
1C: Hazards
Section 2: Screen Layouts
Section 3: Variations
Section 4: Tips
Section 5: FAQ
Section 6: Legal Bit
Section 7: Thank You and Goodbye

  ------------------------- 
/  SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION  \
-----------------------------

1A: TRAPPED ON A DARK PLANET

In a not too distant future... Next Sunday, maybe (sorry, gotta excuse 
the shameless MST3K plug)... Mankind has become quite advanced.  We've 
gained the ability to travel beyond the reaches of our galaxy and into 
new galaxies with newly discovered planets.  One expedition was sent to 
one of these new planets called Mazeon.  When they reach the planet, 
they find it is quite uninhabitable.  One by one, each member of the 
this group research voyage is mercilessly killed by robots called 
Automazeons.  Each is slaughtered until one is left.  This is the 
character you play as.  

That one was imprisoned in a gigantic labyrinth.  An Amazing Maze like 
something from the Dark Carnival.  The character comes to and realizes 
that he may just have a chance of escape.  However, he just so happens 
to be surrounded by what seems to be hundreds- or even thousands- of 
Automazeons within the maze.  Armed with his blaster, he must blast his 
way through the maze and try to find the escape route.  However, working 
behind the scenes is the mind behind all this mayhem.  His name is Evil 
Otto.  Even if our hero can manage to wipe out the Automazeons, Evil 
Otto is extremely powerful and very... EVIL!  One shot will not kill 
Otto.  Hey, 100 shots will not kill Otto.  It seems almost hopeless for 
our hero, but he must rise above the odds and make his way out of the 
maze or fall victim of the true Mr. Happy.  

1B: PLAYING THE GAME

Berzerk is a single player game for the Atari 2600 made by Atari and 
Stern Electronics.  This is a shoot 'em up/action game in which you must 
make your way through a gigantic maze full of robots, electric walls, 
and the evil one himself... Evil Otto!  

The game is played on a 2D plane surface.  Your motions can go in all 
directions, even angles.  Each level has walls placed in certain 
patterns (see Section 3) along with robots spread throughout the area.  
You can use your blaster to defeat the robots by pushing the 
joystick's/gamepad's button.  To aim your button, push a direction.  One 
thing you should remember is that your blaster will fire in the 
direction you last moved in.  So, if you went downward and stood still, 
your blaster would still shoot downward.  For each robot killed, you'll 
get 50 points.  Kill every robot on the screen and you'll receive 10 
bonus points for every robot that was killed on that screen.  

After you've defeated a robot, you should walk through the spacious gaps 
in the wall.  These are your exits.  They'll take you to another room 
with more robots for you to destroy.

Depending on your game variation (see section 3), you could get what 
appears to be a bouncing happyface.  This is Evil Otto, the master of 
the game.  Another factor taken into account with game variation is 
whether or not Otto will rebound (become temporarily destroyed) when 
he's shot or not.  There is a setting that can make him invincible, but 
that's only recommended for the most advanced players.  

Robots can be defeated many different ways.  You can blast them like 
normal.  What's funny is when they blast each other.  You are not the 
only one that can be killed by walls, so can the robots.  Robots who 
walk into each other are also destroyed.  It's also funny watching Evil 
Otto destroy his robots for you.  Any way they are destroyed, you still 
gain 50 points for each one. 

The robots are not just dumb, lumbering hunks of metal.  They do fire at 
you.  The more rooms you go through, the faster they fire.  So, you may 
need to find new ways to change your game plan (see Sections 4 and 5 for 
Tips and FAQs, respectively).  

Depending on your variation, you can also get extra lives in the game.  
You can get extra lives at every 1000 or 2000 points (depending on your 
setting).  There are also settings that do not give you extra lives 
whatsoever.  

1C: HAZARDS

There are hazards against you as well.  Not only are the robots present, 
they also shoot on most variations.  The last three variations (10, 11, 
and 12) feature robots that do not shoot.  12 is actually the easiest 
variation of all of them as the robots do not shoot and Evil Otto does 
not appear.  Speaking of Evil Otto, he too is a hazard you should avoid, 
especially if he is invincible.  Finally, the funniest of all the 
hazards is the wall.  I first played this game around 1982-83 when I was 
about 2-3 years old.  This game was practically the reason I got into 
gaming (this and Super Mario Bros.).  The first time I saw the main 
character walk into the wall and sizzle, I laughed extremely hard for 
quite some time.  Again, I was only about 3 at the time and watching 
someone little, pixel-based character hysterically fry was about the 
funniest thing since peek-a-boo.  

  --------------------------- 
/  SECTION 2: SCREEN LAYOUTS  \
-------------------------------

The game has very basic screen layouts.  There are 13 in that I've seen.  
I continually played this game and I've seen no others than the ones 
displayed here.  If you have seen anything different than these, please 
send a screenshot it to the FAQ address (see the E-mail dealy at the 
top).  Each open space you see in each room is to denote a way to a 
different room.  Defeat all the robots (if you wish) and then leave out 
those pathways.  Any dashes or lines you see are, of course, walls which 
you shouldn't touch.

|-----------         -----------|   
|                               |
|                               | 
|    |                     |    |
|    |                     |    |
     |                     |    
     |                     |    
     |                     |    
|    |                     |    | 
|    |                     |    |
|                               |
|                               |
|-------------------------------|  

|-----------         -----------| 
|                               |
|                               | 
|    |                     |    |
|    |                     |    |
|    |                     |    |
|    |---------------------|    |
|    |                     |    |
|    |                     |    | 
|    |                     |    |
|                               |
|                               |
|-----------         -----------|   

|-----------|       |-----------| 
|           |       |           |
|           |       |           | 
|           |       |           |
|           |       |           |
|                               |
|                               |
|                               |
|           |       |           | 
|           |       |           |
|           |       |           |
|           |       |           |
|-----------|       |-----------|

|-----------         -----------| 
|                               |
|                               | 
|    |                     |    |
|    |                     |    |
|    |                     |    |
|    |                     |    |
|    |                     |    |
|    |                     |    | 
|    |                     |    |
|                               |
|                               |
|-----------         -----------|

|-------------------------------| 
|                               |
|                               | 
|    |                      |   |
|    |                      |   |
     |                      |   
     |----------------------|   
     |                      |   
|    |                      |   | 
|    |                      |   |
|                               |
|                               |
|-----------         -----------|

|-------------------------------| 
|                               |
|                               | 
|    |                      |   |
|    |                      |   |
     |                      |   
     |                      |   
     |                      |   
|    |                      |   | 
|    |                      |   |
|                               |
|                               |
|-------------------------------|

|-----------         -----------| 
|                               |
|                               | 
|    |                     |    |
|    |                     |    |
     |                     |     
     |---------------------|    
     |                     |    
|    |                     |    | 
|    |                     |    |
|                               |
|                               |
|-------------------------------|

|-----------|       |-----------| 
|           |       |           |
|           |       |           | 
|           |       |           |
|           |       |           |
                               
                               
                               
|           |       |           | 
|           |       |           |
|           |       |           |
|           |       |           |
|-----------|-------|-----------|

|-----------|-------|-----------| 
|           |       |           |
|           |       |           | 
|           |       |           |
|           |       |           |
                               
                               
                               
|           |       |           | 
|           |       |           |
|           |       |           |
|           |       |           |
|-----------|       |-----------|

|-----------|-------|-----------| 
|           |       |           |
|           |       |           | 
|           |       |           |
|           |       |           |
                               
                               
                               
|-----------         -----------| 
|                               |
|                               |
|                               |
|-----------         -----------|

|-----------|       |-----------| 
|           |       |           |
|           |       |           | 
|           |       |           |
|           |       |           |
                               
                               
                               
|-----------         -----------| 
|                               |
|                               |
|                               |
|-------------------------------|

|-----------|       |-----------| 
|           |       |           |
|           |       |           | 
|           |       |           |
|           |       |           |
|                               |
|                               | 
|                               |
|-----------         -----------| 
|                               |
|                               |
|                               |
|-----------         -----------|

|----------          -----------| 
|                               |
|                               | 
|    |                      |   |
|    |                      |   |
     |                      |   
     |----------------------|   
     |                      |   
|    |                      |   | 
|    |                      |   |
|                               |
|                               |
|-------------------------------|

  ----------------------- 
/  SECTION 3: VARIATIONS  \
---------------------------

One thing that I really liked about the Atari era and games of it was 
game variations.  Through variations, you can have different rules and 
difficulties with different games.  Not all games included variations.  
Berzerk has 12 different variations you can play.  The variations change 
a few things such as the appearance and properties of Evil Otto or 
whether or not robots will fire.  The difficulty switch served no 
purpose in this game, so you basically play with whatever difficulty is 
set on whatever variation.

Variation #1
The most basic variation. You gain extra lives at 1000 points as usual.  
There is no Evil Otto in this variation, so you're pretty much stuck to 
fighting just robots.  The robots do shoot, so you're not completely out 
of the woods.

Variation #2
This one is just like #1 with one distinct difference.  You still gain 
extra lives at 1000 points, robots still fire, but Evil Otto is present 
in this variation.  You can "destroy" him (or as the instruction manual 
puts it, "rebound" him) temporarily, but he will return.

Variation #3
The game is getting a bit harder here.  You still gain extra lives at 
each 1000 point mark, robots still fire, and Evil Otto is still present, 
but he cannot be defeated here.  He is invincible.

Variation #4
Evil Otto is not in this variation.  Whew.  Robots still fire, but you 
gain an extra life every 2000 points.  

Variation #5
Just like variation #2.  Evil Otto is temporarily defeatable, robots 
fire, but extra lives occur every 2000 points.  

Variation #6
Extra lives still cost 2000 points a pop.  Evil Otto's robots are still 
firing their blasters.  Finally, Evil Otto is indestructible.  Let's 
just hope you can rack up 2000 points fast!

Variation #7
Well, Evil Otto is gone, but he takes bonus lives with him.  In other 
words, you can only play with what lives you have, adding a bit to the 
difficulty.  There are still robots, and yes, they still shoot.

Variation #8
Evil Otto returns in his defeatable state, but there still is no 
opportunity to gain extra lives.  What's worse is that the robots can 
still fire.  This one isn't as bad as the next.

Variation #9
The real ego killer (or ego maker, if you're that good) is #9, probably 
the hardest mode available.  Evil Otto is invincible, robots fire, and 
there's no chance of gaining extra lives.  So, you'll have to fight and 
run extra hard. 

Variation #10
Evil Otto exists and cannot be destroyed.  You gain an extra life for 
every 1000 points.  Yay, it came back!  Robots don't fire, either.

Variation #11
Evil Otto can be defeated here.  You can also gain extra lives at every 
1000 points.  What's more, robots do not shoot.  

Varation #12
The easiest variation available.  No Evil Otto whatsoever.  Robots do 
exist, but they don't fire.  You also gain extra lives at every 1000 
points.  Woohoo!

  -----------------
/  SECTION 4: TIPS  \
---------------------

Beginners should try variation 12 unless they feel they are good enough.  
Variation 12 has only two hazards: robots that don't shoot and walls.  
This is a great way to norm yourself with the game, learn the robots 
movements and such, and learn how to shoot from all angles.  All of that 
will come very helpful when you actually have to deal with something 
like shooting robots and Evil Otto.

Learn to shoot from an angle.  Shooting straight vertical or horizontal 
can be effective in early levels of the game.  However, the further you 
go, the faster enemies can shoot.  This means, it'll be a bit harder for 
you to dodge their attacks when they shoot directly at you.  The robots 
can only shoot vertical and horizontal.  They cannot shoot from an 
angle, which gives you a major advantage over them.

If there is no Evil Otto, patience is a virtue.  You do not have to 
shoot all the robots to defeat them; they can shoot themselves or walk 
into walls and you'll still get all the points.  Prey on the robots 
stupidity rather than running straight into the fray.  This is 
especially useful if you have gotten very far in the game and the robots 
begin to shoot extremely fast.

Learn to use walls to your advantage.  Sometimes, when a robot shoots at 
you, you can use the wall as a shield. Fire at the robot when its body 
is exposed enough beyond the wall.  Just make sure it can't fire past 
the wall and hit you.  

Sometimes, you just got to say, "Screw bonus points!"  If you wait 
around too long, eventually Evil Otto will arrive.  If you have him on a 
variation which he is indestructible, then it's best not to wait around 
or try to defeat all the enemies.  Run out the nearest exit you can 
because Otto is quick... Extremely quick.

Otto can also destroy his own robots.  Allow him to do so before 
completely destroying him.  Just do not allow him to get too close.

When you start getting good enough, it should be time to learn how to 
intercept enemy fire.  Sometimes, shots will get too fast to dodge.  If 
you position yourself just right, you can shoot their projectile and 
completely destroy it.  Of course, this will prompt them to reprise 
their fire, so keep on your toes.  

  ---------------- 
/  SECTION 5: FAQ  \
--------------------

Q: What is that smily face thing?
A: That's Evil Otto.

Q: I keep killing Evil Otto and he keeps returning.  Is there any way to 
permanently kill him?
A: No.  He'll just keep returning.

Q: Is there an end to this game?
A: As far as I know, no.

Q: How many different game variations are there?
A: 12.

Q: What's the maximum amount of lives you can have?
A: 255.

Q: How do I fire at an angle?
A: Push two different directions at once.  I.E. if you want to shoot to 
the upper right, then motion towards the upper right portion of your 
stick/pad.  

Q: There was one level where I fired through an exit on one side and it 
came out the other side.  What is that?
A: I think it's a bug in the game.  You can only do it if you're really 
close to the exit that's on the side.  I cannot be done from top or 
bottom exits.  

Q: You keep mentioning a gamepad throughout this FAQ.  Does that mean 
there actually was a pad for Atari 2600?
A: I don't know exactly if there was.  The reason I list a pad is that 
there are people who use emulators.  I think as each year goes by with 
more and more Atari's unfortunately passing away, there will be more and 
more people downloading Atari emulators.  The same can even be said for 
those who have not touched an Atari in their lives who might be 
interested in seeing what the old games were like.  I think that would 
mainly appeal more to the hardcore gamer crowd, though.  

Q: I went to AtariAge and the manual for [insert game here] is not up! 
A: Okay, so that's not quite a question, but who's counting?  Anyway, as 
of right now, they do have manuals in HTML format.  While it may not be 
as visually appealing as seeing the manual, it is still a good source on 
game storylines (believe it or not, Atari games DID have storylines), 
information, and such.  

Q: Why is there no walkthrough you can give for this game?
A: Because there is not enough depth or definite pattern to the game to 
necessitate a walkthrough.  All the rooms and robot numbers are random.  
The only thing I could say as far as a walkthrough is, "Destroy all the 
robots.  Go to the next room.  Destroy all the robots.  Go to the next 
room. Avoid Evil Otto."  

Q: Is there a difference between this version and other versions?
A: The only other version I've played is the Vectrex version.  The 
Vectrex version (if the name is any indication) runs on vectors while 
this game runs on pixels.  I also don't remember the Vectrex version 
having very many variations, if any at all.  It also had a few different 
screen layouts and was a lot harder than the Atari 2600 version.  

  ---------------------- 
/  SECTION 6: LEGAL BIT  \
--------------------------

This FAQ is copyright 2001 to Joe Shaffer, aka BoredGamer.  Any use of 
this FAQ for commercial purposes in any way, shape, and form without 
confirmed consent of the author is strictly prohibited.  This can be 
used for personal use and freely distributed, as long as there is no 
profit being made off the FAQ without my approval before hand (this 
includes magazines).  This also cannot be posted on any websites without 
my solid approval.  Any failure to comply with said premises can, and 
probably will, result in legal actions.


  ----------------------------------- 
/  SECTION 7: THANK YOU AND GOODBYE   \
---------------------------------------

Jeff "CJayC" Veasey for maintaining GameFAQs.

AtariAge for the great instruction manuals (www.atariage.com).

Atari and Stern Electronics for the creation of Berzerk.

(c)Joe Shaffer 2001  
