Picked Up the reason I am even in this hobby: Berzerk

Phetishboy

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Picked Up the reason I am even in this hobby: Berzerk

I am Very Excited. I finally got the elusive game I have been wanting since before I ever started collecting and restoring machines. Berzerk. I don't know what it was about that game, but from about 82-86 or so it hooked me. I would play it at the Dreamland Auditorium (roller rink) in the little gameroom/snackbar they had. It was my favorite game, and I remember getting pissed when they got a Robotron: 2084 and placed it directly across from the Berzerk on the opposite wall. I always felt like Robo was a rip-off of Berzerk, and refused to play it. My adult mind has changed of course, but I still have a soft spot for Berzerk. Now to the story of my pick up.

Russmyers and I were planning to do a trade for his project Berzerk, but we never sealed the deal. In the meantime, he found and alerted me to one on ebay that was local. Non-working, good shape, opening bid of $150. A week went by and I was the only bidder. E-gavel falls, I win. I set up a time to get it 3 weeks out, as I was headed to the MOMA auction 20 minutes away that day. I called on my way to get it, dude never answered. Call again, still no answer. No matter , I am still coming off of my Primal Rage high, so it's all good. All this while I am navigating from my iPhone on Mapquest. I end up on a road I didn't know and called this gentleman a 3rd time. Still no answer so I say "call me in the next 5 minutes or I'm headed home, Chan". I start driving again, ready to jet home, and happen to run right into his place. Knock on the door, he shows up. Nice guy, has a few more machines in the garage including a working Asteroids and Defender. I load up the machine and head home.

Now a few weeks before pickup I contacted forum member scienologist to see if he could repair my Berzerk boards. That sweet gentleman had actually set aside a full working and rebuilt set for me and told me I could exchange mine for his rebuilt ones. When I alerted him that the machine was here, he asked for my address and just mailed me the whole works. I hadn't even paid him or sent him my boards yet. Great guy. I finished installing them tonight, and the machine fired right up. Behold:

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This one will be fully restored with all new stencilling,-AFTER, I get 2 more stencil projects done.
 
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Hmmmm. I'm not sure, but that doesn't look like the factory joystick.

Nice score, though. I have a nice Berzerk and I'm proud to have it in my collection. I have an original joystick, although, its not on the machine.

- M1A
 
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Looks good. Couple of ideas. Those bezels are bad about flaking. May I suggest you seal it with Triple Thick like you would a pinball glass. If you spend a few minutes with some tape its pretty easy to block off to spray even in the irregular places.

The CP also looks pretty good. You might want to consider a plex overlay to keep it in good shape.

Beyond that, when I cleaned mine up I reworked the joystick. Mine, like yours, had a Wico style stick in place of the original bat. I recessed it a bit in the bottom of the panel. I traced the joy base and removed a little material with a chisel. My thought was if I ever dig up an original Bat Stick it would be easy to make a spacer to get my depth correct again.
 
That stick is the one Stern installed after all the opto board failures from the original bat stick. Not the same play IMHO as I grew up using the bat stick, but your cab looks really good. Nice grab.
 
Man what a great game. Heck I have looked for one for years with no luck. I think i will start calling you the Donald Trump of Klov.
 
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Always cool to get the elusive game, nicely done! I was a huge Berzerk fanatic as well, but it's all nostalgia love... Whenever I play it now, I'm not as excited about it as I used to be. :(

And that makes me a sad panda...
 
nice berzerk, shawn! that game is a ton of fun to play, however i suck at it... vespertillio just got one a month or so ago and i'm gonna have to go play some more of it. stern cabs rock too. i like the way they did their side art.
 
I used to play Swamp War on the TRS-80 Model I. It came out around the same time as this game. Very similar concept.

I think the voice in this game was the most interesting thing about it.

That Bat Joystick must be hard to find. I would not be surprised if Gene at Vintage Arcade has one for sale but it won't be cheap.
 
Kind of a side question, but is that typical Berzerk burn in? I always thought the only thing that burned in on them was the credit and score area.

When I first looked at it and saw the pattern, I thought it was Pepper II burn or something then saw the burn lines up with the maze borders. I thought Berzerk moved through the screens enough in demo mode that it didn't happen.

Real nice score BTW. Love the game and love the cab art.
 
Nice Berzerk phet now if I can only find one. I should have never sold mine. I'll find another eventually.Hey is it possible you could pm me the guys contact info who does the berzerk board repair for future use unless it was a one time thing he did for you....Thankyou...Dave
 
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