Manufacturer:  Stern

Released:  1982

Game Designed and programmed by  Alan McNeal 

World Record:  4,804,540

Purchased:  January, 2005

Condition:  PCB Only - Haven't swapped pcbs yet...

 

Berzerk Home page

 

Frenzy Quick Reference

Frenzy Arcade Flyer

Frenzy Manual

Berzerk to Frenzy Switcher/Hack (Untested)

 

Frenzy Sounds

Game play

Death

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                        

        Click on the arrows below to scroll through all the pictures.  Highlight a picture to make it full size.

 

 

    This is a game that I never got a chance to play much in the arcades.  Frenzy, the sequel to Berzerk, was released towards the beginning of the great Arcade Depression in the early 80's.  It was also one of Stern's last video games and had a very low production number.  It's pretty rare to find an upright with a  marquee that isn't faded and has its side art intact.  Its even more rare to find a cocktail table version of Frenzy.  The first time I saw and played Frenzy was at a Time Out in Forestville Mall located in Maryland. 

    There are a few new features in Frenzy giving it much different feel than Berzerk.  Frenzies walls could still kill a player upon touching them but now walls are reflective and segmented.  The new walls allowed a player to use them to their advantage or demise.  Now players can create their own exits by shooting holes in the segmented walls.  Players can shoot robots by ricocheting their shots off of the reflective walls.  Otto can now be destroyed with 4 shots but will reappear to only chase you faster.  The robots come in 2 flavors this time, Skeletons and Eyeballs.  They are much smarter than the previous batch of robots from Bezerk that would kill themselves and other robots.  Also new in Frenzy are 4 unique levels such as Mama Otto, Power Factory, Computer Room, and Robot Factory. 

     Frenzy and its predecessor Berzerk use nearly identical hardware internally.  The power supply, video board, sound/speech board, and control panel are the same for both games.  Frenzy can be converted to Berzerk and visa versa by swapping ZPU boards.  Berzerk uses a ZPU-1000 and Frenzy uses cleverly enough, ZPU-1001.  Since I have a Berzerk I decided to pick up a Frenzy ZPU and give it a try.  On a similar note, I've found information on building a Berzerk to Frenzy switcher designed by Dave Fish.  There are instructions, schematics, parts list, binary file, and additional information included in the zip file (see sidebar).  Dave did a great job of documenting all his hard work.