GOING BONKERS? 

• Try to keep from going bonkers as you dodge robot fire and elude the robot gang leader, Evil Otto. Your objective: Destroy robots, rack up as many points as possible, and stay alive as you move through a multitude of maddening BERZERK mazes. 

• Use your joystick controller to move through the electrified maze -- but don't touch the walls, or you'll fry! Press any red fire button to shoot lasers at the robots. 

• Watch out for Evil Otto! He's invincible; nothing can destroy him. Once he catches you, you'll never escape. He'll pound you to a pulp, grinning like a maniac all the while. Your only hope is to get out of the maze before Evil Otto reaches you. Then you'll be in a new maze, facing a new set of robot goons. And Evil Otto will pursue you again! 

• Each round is completed when you exit from the maze. The game ends when you lose your last life. 

CONTROL YOURSELF 

• Insert the BERZERK cartridge as explained in your Atari 5200 (tm) owner's guide, and turn on your console. 

• Plug one 5200 controller into jack 1 for a one-player game; plug a second controller into jack 2 for two-player games. The player using jack 1 controls game selection and starts the game. 

• Use your joystick to move through the maze. You can shoot lasers in any direction you move the joystick, although you cannot shoot while running or with the joystick set in the neutral position. 

Your Self-Control Buttons 
• Press START to begin the battle. Press PAUSE to stop and restart the action. Press PAUSE, then RESET during game play to return to the title screen. To restart the game at the same skill levl you last played, press PAUSE, then START. 

Game Options 
• Press the * key to cycle through the eleven progressively more challenging skill levels. The skill level appears next to your life indicators at the bottom of the screen. If you wait a few seconds after selecting a skill level, the robot you'll encounter in that game appears on screen to demonstrate its shooting ability. You can then see what you're up against before you start the action. 

• Press the # key to select a one-or two-player game. 

Hearing Voices 
• The built-in voice is automatically activated when you start the game. To silence the voice, press the 9 key on your controller -- the voice will say, "Chicken! Fight like a robot!" To reactivate the voice, press the 7 key on your controller -- the voice will say, "The humanois must not escape!" to tell you it is on again. Listen to the built-in voice for valuable cues. For example, "Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" is a warning that Evil Otto is coming to get you. 

FIGHT OR FLIGHT 

• You start the game with three lives. You lose a life if you get hit by laser fire, touch an exploding robot, run into a robot, touch the wall, or get caught by Evil Otto. 

• Lives remaining are displayed next to your score. You win a bonus life at 5000 and 10,000 points, but the maximum number of reserve lives you can have is four. 

• Initially, the robots move and shoot slowly, but as the game progresses, you reach more challenging skill levels. In these higher levels, the robots move faster, shoot faster, and fire more shots at once. As explained under GAME OPTIONS, you can start game play at a higher skill level if you choose. 

• When you lose a life, you start with your next life at the same level you last played. In two-player games, players alternate turns each time a life is lost. 

SCORING 

GET THE ROBOTS! 

• You score 50 points for each robot destroyed. When all the robots in a single maze are destroyed, you score ten bonus points per robot. Robots explode when they're hit by your laser or the lasers of other robots, and when they run into maze walls, collide with each other, or get pounded by Evil Otto. You can score a total of 999,990 points before the score rolls over. 

A-MAZING TIPS 

* As you move from one maze to another, continue pressing the fire button. It takes the robots a moment to start their attack -- you can often zap them first when you enter shooting. 

* Evil Otto always enters in the same place you do. Try to get away from this danger zone and near an exit as soon as possible. 

* Because Evil Otto bounces up and down, it's easier to escape him through the side exits than the top or bottom exits. 

* In difficult levels where there are a lot of fast-moving, fast- whooting robots, head for the cover of a maze wall immediately. Allow the robots to collide with each other and to shoot one another or to walk into your firing range. But don't wait too long or you'll be trapped!