Berzerk Voice Enhanced
by: Mike Mika

"Chicken, fight like a robot." Just hear that once and you will easily understand why this is the best hack of the year. While most hacks are neat little graphic tweaks or even helpful adaptations of existing games, Berzerk Voice Enhanced goes beyond the realm of "normal hacking" (something along the lines of Tim Snider’s Venture II a year or so ago). While "voice" is not entirely new to VCS games (Quadrun and Open Sesame), it’s never been quite like this. Berzerk VE produces some of the best sound your 2600 can churn out. With three distinct phrases spoken arcade perfect, this hacked version of the old Atari stand-by will make your original Berzerk cart a big time dust catcher! But Mike didn’t just rest on his vocal laurels, he also went in and hacked the colors and graphics to more closely match the arcade, and included a very nice title screen.

The majority of hacks are done, enjoyed briefly and then lost in the shuffle, but Berzerk VE sold out almost immediately when it debuted at the 2002 Classic Gaming Expo and continues to sell well (ranking #6 in the AtariAge Store listings as I write this). Not too shabby for a "simple little hack!" This thing is so good, it’s practically a homebrew!