BERZERK
• When a robot is shot, the image of Evil Otto briefly appears (picture #1)!
• “Necktie” trick - if you’re lined up exactly right, a robot’s laser fire will sail harmlessly through your neck (picture #2 and video #1)! This trick is also in the arcade version.
• Drop the gun - hold UP+DOWN and tap FIRE. At times, you will lose your gun. The gun will remain in one place and the robots can get killed if they walk into it. This may also work by holding LEFT+RIGHT when firing. And if you try to shoot after losing the gun, your character's arms will rise but no bullets will leave. {Tony Roy}
• Crazy bullets - go to the left side of the screen, hold UP+DOWN and then hold RIGHT. As soon as your character begins to move, press FIRE. Note: You should be holding the three directions while pressing FIRE. The bullets will start from the center of the screen and continue to the right. This is useful if there is a wall in the center and there are robots that you want to hit. Press LEFT instead of RIGHT when all three directions are held causes bullets to leave from the guy's head. If this trick is done on the right side of the screen it is sometimes possible to get the bullet to pass through the wall and come out on the left side of the screen. Go to the right side of the screen, hold LEFT+RIGHT and then hold DOWN. When press FIRE, the bullet it will suddenly appear on the far left of the screen and not move form that location. If UP is pressed instead of DOWN, the bullet will appear not as far to the left. {Tony Roy}
• Never run from Evil Otto along the bottom of the screen. Otto will take smaller bounces and outrun your character.
• By rapidly firing while moving down, you can shoot yourself in the foot (although you won’t be harmed). {Scott Stilphen}
• The maximum number of robots on any given screen is 8 (programming limitation).
• The data for having the robots fire diagonally is in the ROM code. However, the mechanism to activate the diagonal firing is not present. {Dennis Debro}
• BUG: The missiles are incorrectly initialized when a game is started. This doesn’t affect the game but it may be an issue with a faulty CPU.
• BUG: If an active game is left idle for too long (17 minutes), it will go into the attract mode (and end). However, the way this limit was programmed was, two timers and the joystick status are involved. The "frame counter" (RAM location $84) increases 60 times per second (50 for PAL), rolling over from 255 back to zero. If the stick is not being pressed (i.e. in neutral position) on the specific frame when this rollover occurs, the "attract mode timer" (RAM location $87) is increased. If this timer rolls over from 255 to zero, the game is ended by jumping back to Game Select. Note that apart from this rollover, the attract mode timer is only reset to 0 on power up. If you were allowing the attract mode timer to increase on a previous game, the amount accumulated is carried over to the new game! So if you want to maximize the idle time, it's suggested to begin a new game directly after power up (which is the only time you know for sure the timer is set to 0), and always move the stick during a game so it isn't given the opportunity to increase when the frame counter rolls. {Kurt Howe}
• BUG: Wrap-around Evil Otto (trick #1) - Use this trick on any level that has a straight top border with an exit. You also need at least 1 robot on the screen (you need to move faster than Otto). Stand in either top corner and wait for Otto to appear. When he gets close to you, move to the closest side of the top exit and stand as close as you can w/o leaving the room. When Otto gets close, move across to the other side of the exit. Otto will go out the exit, some “garbage” graphics will briefly appear above your score, and then he’ll reappear at the bottom of the screen and float (not bounce) towards you (picture #3). As long as 1 robot remains, you can continue to side-step him and lure him out the exit! {Philip Chow, TV Gamer Winter 1983}
• BUG: Wrap-around Evil Otto (trick #2) - On any screen with a top exit, move as close as possible w/o going out. When Otto appears, press SELECT. In the attract mode, Otto will go out the top exit, and your guy will shoot a laser beam straight down the screen before Otto reappears (picture #4). If any robots are in the beam’s path they will be shot!
• BUG: Wrap-around shot - Stand at the edge of a right exit and fire into it. Your shot will fly out the left exit and will destroy any robot that it hits (picture #5). The manual calls this a “horizontal laser beam wraparound feature”. If done with the left exit, your shots will appear a few feet behind you (to the right)! {Ian, TV Gamer January 1985}
• BUG: Rebound Evil Otto wrap around shot - Similar to the above, except it’s done at the left exit. Anytime this is done in a game featuring a “rebound” (shoot-able) Evil Otto, he will immediately disappear (video #1)! {Antun Barbato}
• BUG: Attract mode tricks - During a game, pressing SELECT when a robot is exploding displays a random six-digit score (usually 100,000+). If you press SELECT while any robots are moving, they’ll keep moving (in the attract mode), and if one touches you, there will be a “shot” sound and he’ll disappear! If Evil Otto comes out (during the attract mode), he can still kill robots. If you press SELECT while your shot appears on the screen, it will stop moving, and a part of it will remain (picture #6). If any robots move into it (in the attract mode) they will be killed! {Scott Stilphen}
• BUG: The manual states the maximum number of reserve lives you can have is 255, after which the counter will reset, but as soon as you save 128 the game will reset back to the attract mode (video #2). If you're not paying attention when this happens you'll press the fire button and reset your game. If you earn the 128th man from a robot running into a wall while a robot is firing, its shot will wrap around the screen (and kill any other robots that contact it). If it's wrapping around horizontally, it acts similar to how your shots wrap around when firing into the escape routes; if vertically, you'll see some graphics glitches. If the 128th man is earned while your laser shot is onscreen, it will stop moving and the sound f/x for it will hang as well. Also, you still earn points for any robots that are killed! {Dennis Debro}
• BUG: The manual states you will occasionally meet a super strong robot who is merely "stunned" by your first shot. What actually happens is, a robot will survive if another dies at the same time it’s shot.
• BUG: The manual states the maximum score possible before the counter rolls over is 999,999 but the only scoring values possible are 10 and 50.
• BUG: If you shoot a robot and leave just as it’s hit but before the sound effect for it plays, you won’t get the points for it. {Scott Stilphen}
• RUMOR: Extra variations and an empty “arena” screen are rumored to exist. {Dave Harvey, TV Gamer}
