Despite the fact that its box art is weirdly incomprehensible, and the game itself is hardly a looker, Frenzy is a genuinely addictive experience that should be in every Atari 7800 (or Atari 2600+ and Atari 7800+) owner’s collection.

A sequel to arcade classic Berzerk, Frenzy was originally released in 1982. This version, was originally an unofficial, homebrew adaptation of the game, but it’s now been officially released on the Atari+ platform.

In Frenzy, you’re trying to make your way through a randomly generated maze filled with deadly robots, pursued by the relentless, bouncing Evil Otto. This time around, Otto can be killed, but if you manage to shoot him, you’ll see that he’s even faster every time he reappears.

Other differences between Berzerk and Frenzy are destructible walls, and new enemy types, as well as big pieces of level architecture that appear every four levels, some of which can be shot to affect the current level in different ways. Walls and robots no longer kill on contact, but the robots do explode when shot, and the explosion itself can kill you!

It’s basic stuff, but feels genuinely timeless and it’s brilliantly addictive. The look and sound, including the return of digitized speech which felt mind-blowingly advanced back in ’82, is an instant time portal back to the original golden age of arcade gaming.

Oh, and if you pick up Frenzy’s 7800+ edition, Berzerk is included as a hidden extra too (and vice versa, if you buy Berzerk for the 7800+!).

With that and its superb gameplay in mind, Frenzy really does feel like an essential pickup, and perhaps the strongest title in the selection of 7800+ games that have recently been released.

Though Berzerk is available for the Atari 2600+ as an Enhanced Edition (which adds the digitized speech that was missing from the original release), as the hidden versions of both games are on the Atari 7800+ releases, they’re definitely the ones to go for.

You can buy Frenzy from Amazon, along with the Atari 7800+ or Atari 2600+ consoles. The Atari+ range of games and accessories are compatible with each console, and if you still have an original Atari 7800, it’s fully compatible with that too!

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