The better game: Berzerk for the 5200 or Frenzy for the ColecoVision?

[ConsoleAddict]

Hello, my name is Joseph. I've been a console gamer since the early 1980's and I've run the gamut of consoles from the Atari 2600 to the PlayStation 3. I hope I can be an asset to your message board.

I've been playing both the 5200 version of Berzerk and Frenzy for ColecoVision for the last week and I've been racking my brain over which game is better. Both are amazing games, utterly addicting.

5200 Berzerk has the voicework and it's very challenging to boot. Frenzy has the strategy of reflective walls and the rooms with machines in them, though it is somewhat easier to rack up a high score.

So, if anybody here has played both games, which one do you like better? I like them both equally, I can't pick one over the other.

Thank you.

[Arkhan]

I prefer Berzerk over Frenzy, simply because its harder. Frenzy you can do a bunch of tricks , etc, and get through things easier.

Berzerk is a whole lot of "better be accurate" shots, or you wind up dead.

As a result, Berzerk makes me more excited while playing.

[Steve W]

I have a problem with both of those games, mainly because of the controls you have to struggle with on each game's console. I prefer the Atari 2600 version of Berzerk, although the repetitive mazes get boring quickly.

Frenzy is pretty good on the Colecovision, but it's that damn controller that makes it next to impossible to play for me. I've got the Super Action Controllers, but they don't quite work well for me on that game. Plus, my Colecovision is pretty glitchy, so the graphics are slightly corrupted which makes things worse. I wish I could enjoy the game.

[ConsoleAddict]

Yeah, the control in both games can be an issue. However, I can tolerate using the CV knob for Frenzy. Hasn't given me too much trouble in the 27 years I've played this game off and on.

[Brianvgplayer]

The CV control knob game me trouble at first, but it's better after getting used to how it works. It's also possible to use a 2600 controller with the game if plugged in the first port. I love the CV Frenzy. I like it better than 2600 Berzerk (which I like quite a bit), but I'm not sure about the arcade or 5200 version since I only played a bit of those versions of Berzerk.

[Arkhan]

I just use sega genesis pads instead. >_>

[ConsoleAddict]

Well, after playing 5200 Berzerk, I can't go back to 2600 Berzerk or Vectrex Berzerk. It's amazing how for so long, I had to satisfy myself with the limited mazes and non-challenging gameplay of 2600 Berzerk. Discovering its 5200 cousin was a revelation.

Still, maybe it was also due to the time I put into Frenzy on the CV. I thought Frenzy was all I needed. Apparently, I was wrong.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

I choose MAME! I don't own a 5200 or a CV so I've never played them. Do they have the voices? I like the 2600 version, but the voices in MAME really make a difference. I was so close to buying a berzerk cocktail last month, but the dude bidding against me had more money. I will own a berzerk cab one day.

Anyway how close are these versions to the arcade?

[ConsoleAddict]

I choose MAME! I don't own a 5200 or a CV so I've never played them. Do they have the voices? I like the 2600 version, but the voices in MAME really make a difference. I was so close to buying a berzerk cocktail last month, but the dude bidding against me had more money. I will own a berzerk cab one day.

Anyway how close are these versions to the arcade?

5200 version has voices and they're pretty good considering you didn't need a voice modulator like the Intellivision or the Odyssey 2. Frenzy has some music but no voices. Frenzy on the CV is a near exact duplicate of the arcade. Probably a few graphical differences.

Berzerk has all the features of the arcade, including boxed in robots. It's harder than the arcade game, probably due to the controls.

[PingvinBlueJeans]

Frenzy on the CV is a near exact duplicate of the arcade. Probably a few graphical differences.

They actually improved the graphics a bit and added a few things not present in the arcade version.

BTW, just thought I'd mention for those not aware that PacManPlus over at AA has started work on a 7800 port of Frenzy...
http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic...orking-on-%3B/

[Johnny_Boy]

Fans of Frenzy might want to check out "Frantic", a Work-in-Progress Colecovision homebrew heavily inspired by Frenzy and Berzerk. Work on it isn't over yet, plus the coder is apparently a bit tired of it. Still, worth a play in an emulator.

Link

[Aswald]

Overall, I would have to choose 5200 Berzerk.

It is about as close to the arcade version as I remember, with some minor differences: 11 enemies maximum instead of 12, and 2 minimum instead of 4- and there do not appear to be quite as many mazes (the arcade version was said to have had at least 64,000).

But it manages to capture the arcade essence. The progression through the different robots, the subtle aspects- such as being able to fire over a barrier before a robot can- and the voice synthesis, how I remember the joy of hearing it again once I got the 5200 working in 1998- it just works.

But you need a digital joystick to really play it. The other night I beat 27,000 points.


CV Frenzy is still a favorite of mine, even if the enemy shots move no faster than you (in the arcade they were a bit faster) and there is no voice synthesis.

My biggest complaint about it is that you get a bonus life at 1,000 points, and then every 2,000 points thereafter. Why? I can only assume they were still testing the game, and did not return that system to normal before it, like other 1983 games, was rushed out. It should be like Berzerk: one at 5,000, and another at 10,000.

[Gabriel]

5200 Berzerk, easily. I find the simplicity of Berzerk makes it much more entertaining and frantic. Even if it weren't for that quality, the voice in the 5200 version compared to the mute CV makes it an easy contest to judge.

[T2KFreeker]

They both rock. I have to give the edge to 5200 Berzerk though. I really love this version of the game. Still, it would be awesome to own the arcade cabs though one day as I love these both.

[ConsoleAddict]

@ Aswald

Yeah, the easy to acquire free lives in Frenzy does hurt the game a bit. It does give the player a fighting chance to get deep into the game but a very good Frenzy player probably could play for a long time before all his humanoids are dead.

Even with all those lives, I think I've broken 20,000 only once. Berzerk, I have yet to score 5,000.