Atari has announced that the next in line for Sneakybox’s series of remakes is Berzerk: Recharged. The press release says that it will be released “later this year,” which is a pretty small window of time by development standards.
Designed by Alan McNeil, Berzerk was first released in 1980 in arcades, followed by ports on the Atari 2600, 5200, and Vectrex consoles. It was first published by Stern, but Atari proudly bought back the property during a round of acquisitions this year.
Something like this was inevitable, as Atari CEO Wade Rosen sounds like a fan. I don’t blame him. I’m not big on that primordial era of video games, but Berzerk is something special. It’s a multidirectional shooter where you navigate mazes and blast robots. You also frequently find yourself accosted by a bizarre smiling face called “Evil Otto” who is indestructible. He’s here to make sure that you keep spending quarters.
Beyond updated graphics and a soundtrack by frequent collaborator Megan McDuffee (River City Girls), Berzerk: Recharged will also upgrade the gameplay with twin-stick controls. You’re put through 20 “hand-crafted” mazes to compete for leaderboard supremacy. There’s also a two-player coop, which is standard for the series.
While Berzerk: Recharged doesn’t have a solid release date, it’s targeting PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Atari VCS. In the meantime, you can satisfy your Evil Otto cravings with Berzerk Enhanced Edition for the actual Atari 2600, which releases on November 17, 2023.
