BREAKING NEWS - BERZERK WORLD RECORD SHATTERED !!
As reported on May 29th, 2005
Hello fellow gamers:
"Intruder alert !! Intruder alert !!"
How many of us from the golden era of gaming did not stop to take notice of one of history's first talking video games as we visited our local arcades ? After all, "Berzerk", one of the most popular video games in history, combined great gameplay with a little bit of salesmanship...the game said "Coin detected in pocket" as you approached. Who wouldn't have wanted to give this title a try back in the day. Walter Day, founder and chief scorekeeper of the "Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard", states in his first book of video game world records that his most vivid video game recollection is that of a row of about ten "Berzerk" machines, each with the volume cranked up high. Between the satisfying sound of your laser bullets destroying a robot, to the chilling sound of your man taking a hit, and the menacing bouncing ball known as "Evil Otto" (or just "Otto" for short), "Berzerk" offered gamers a real challenge and a reason to keep coming back for more.
Small wonder that owning the world record on "Berzerk" was and still is truly something to be proud of. Most gamers never get up to the first extra life. Few reach the second. Fewer still have ever seen, let alone achieved, a score of more than 20,000 points. The game has two well known ROMsets. The easier of the two is genelly regarded to be the "Slow Bullets" version, meaning the robot's bullet speed is slow, but to compensate, the ebil bouncing ball known as "Otto" which comes out if you take too long in a stage moves very quickly. But the "Fast Bullets" version is much harder. "Otto" might move slowly, but the robot's laser bullets are fast. Each stage allows a gamer less than one second to decide on what to do, and to react. Only the best gamers have a prayer at surviving the "Fast Bullets" version at higher levels of difficulty.
For more than ten years, Chris Ayra, who hails from Florida and is widely regarded as one of the golden era's premiere gamers, was the proud owner of this illustrious world record title with a score of 224,880 points, more than 120,000 more than the gamer in second place, Ron Bailey. In all this time, no one has seriously challenged Chris' record. In fact Ron Bailey's second place score is more than twenty years old. No one else has even come close. But before that possibility might actually happen, Chris decided to try pushing the bar up a bit higher, and succeeded. Big time !!
On March 27th thru 28th, 2005, in a game that lasted for more than 4 hours and 26 minutes, Chris Ayra pushed the world record on "Berzerk" (Fast Bullets) to a whopping 325,270 points, and in the process he lasted thru 706 boards and destroyed close to 6,000 laser-shooting "Berzerk" robots. Expert players know what is involved to reach this plateau. It's not easy, and a lot can go wrong at any time due to the nuances of the program, as you will soon see. Inevitably, a point is reached in even an master-class player's performance where the game wins. Designed during the era of some of the most memorable "marathon" titles of all time, those titles such as "Defender", "Robotron" and "Joust" which just kept going and going until your last life expired, "Berzerk" was equally relentless, yet it only allowed you a small number of chances for survival. You started with three lives, and had a chance to earn two more. That was it. As a result, no one had ever marathoned "Berzerk", and the average gamer lasted less than five minutes, if even that long. The game had a hundred-thousand's digit which the majority of gamers would never, ever see, not by their own hand, or by any other local hotshot. Chris Ayra is one of the truly elite few gamers that have reached this barrier and beyond.
Here below is a recap of his game followed by some afterthoughts.
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THE PATH TO VICTORY
"Hi. My name is Chris Ayra, and in a second I'm going to start a game of 'Berzerk'. It is Sunday, March 27th, 2005, it's about 10:45pm in the evening so this will cross over into the 28th. All right...here we go", and with that introduction to the tape, history is about to begin.
4,380 points - Chris encounters hi very first minor difficulty. "Gosh", he exclaims, as he comes close to losing his first life early into the game. In the very next stage, he passes the 5,000 point barrier and earns the first of his two bonus lives. He's doing well, but the game will keep getting harder until about the 20,000 point mark.
8,080 points - "Aaahh"...evil "Otto" failed to destroy the last robot in a wave, cheating Chris out of 140 points (50 for the robot, 90 completion bonus). Up to this point he did not lose a single completion bonus.
10,000 points - approximately 10 minutes and 56 seconds into the game and Chris is rewarded with his second bonus life. The game still has yet to reach peak difficulty, but Chris is doing well and making no mistakes, and looks well prepared for whatever the game might throw at him.
14,230 points - the first close shave of the game as a laser almost catches Chris. He reacts verbally but it is barely audible.
32,820 points - the first real test of Chris' "Berzerk" skills comes into play. Faced with a single robot guarding the exit, and "Otto" about to breathe down his neck, Chris needs to lure the robot to it's own demise by causing it to run into the edge of a wall. In "Berzerk", the fewer the robots, the faster they move. When you are down to a single robot, it moves at your speed and destroying it is very difficult, especially if the robot has the advantage over you position-wise. As it turns out, this is the first of several close encounters with a lone laser-firing robot that Chris will face this performance, and each one is as risky as the first.
35,200 points - another loss of 140 points as the ninth robot, all by itself, is in a position where Chris or "Otto" has no chance at destoying it. But that's cool...Chris has every intention of passing his own world record, so with 190,000 points to go he knows that there is a lot of gaming left.
46,670 points - "Whoah !!" he exclaims. This one caught me by surprise as well. He though he shot a robot at a higher level but the next thing he saw as he prepared to shoot other robots was a laser whizzing past him from overhead. His experience and quick thinking allowed him to dodge the laser fire and dispatch his hardy foe, and then he proceeded to finish the stage.
48,890 points - "Shoot !!". An understandable reaction to a difficult stage. The board started with just four (4) robots, meaning they would be moving faster earlier on, and affording him less time than anticipated to negotiate the layout and exit before "Otto" appared and chased him down. In fact, at the very opening of the stage, one of the robots almost manages to shoot Chris with a laser, but Chris keeps his cool and clears the stage.
60,610 points - "Oh, great...not good !!". A row of robots very near at the beginning of the stage make for a hairy bit of manuevering and decision-making, but Chris manages to pull it off and finishes the stage.
63,340 points - for the first time this performance, Chris let's out a quiet yawn. It's late approaching midnight, so this is understandable.
71,270 points - "Seventy one...first hour", is all that Chris says to indicate how he's doing time-wise. Remember that most gamers never last more than five minutes.
97,260 points - Chris has his first near-death brush with evil "Otto". There were some finicky robots guarding the exit and "Otto" was just released. Chris barely escaped as "Otto" came precariously close to his character just as he reached the exit.
100,000 points - Chris did me the favour of counting the boards in case I lost track (which I did), and reached the 100K barrier during board 227 at approx 1:22.40 into his performance. Based on his own estimates, breaking his previous record would require an additional 100 minutes of gameplay, so he was in it for the long haul. This was just one barrier...he had many more hurdles to pass before he could reach that mark, and as all "Berzerk" players know, anything can happen.
148,000 points - Chris played the previous 48,000 points very quietly. At this mark, however, he said "One forty eight...wow" to himself. He was getting there.
150,000 points - Chris reached this mark during board 333 at approx 2:02.44 into the game.
183,160 points - "Hoo-eee !!". Chris is really starting to enjoy himself now as he lets out this brief moment of exclamation. He's about 50K away from his intended mark.
186,000 points - It's hard for me to hear clearly, but I was able to make out Chris mulling the possibility of how nice it would be to reach maybe 300K this game. Funny he should say that !!
193,690 points - "Whooo !!". For a moment I thought this was Ric Flair, the wrestler, letting out his famous howl, but it was Chris, quite pleased with his score. "Almost there, almost there" he said. Even the 41,000 points he still had to go is more than my own personal high score...on SLOW bullets no less !!
200,000 points - "Two hundred K", Chris said, as the board came to an end at 200,200 points in board 440 at the 2:43:35 mark.
202,430 points - "Oh, no !!". This was almost a devastating moment. ALL the remaining robots walked into each other or the walls and self-destructed just as "Otto" was released, forcing Chris to end the board earlier than anticipated, and putting him out of his preferred position for the wave that followed. Some gamers prefer to be dead-center of the exit door, others prefer being off to the side. Chris obviously was not properly aligned. His comment had as much to do with the robots self-destructing causing "Otto" to move faster as it did with the next wave itself. And this coming while he was so close to his world mark. As it turns out, Chris handled the next wave well and kept his game going, inching closer to his world mark of 224,880 points.
205,620 points - I might be mistaken but I could swear that I heard Chris humming to himself at this point. He certainly seemed in control of the game and had taken every bad scenario that had been thrown at him thus far and dealt with it.
220,210 points - "Not good"...he almost has his head clipped by a laser shot that whizzed by too close for comfort.
224,880 points - Chris finishes a stage and he knows all-too-well what the significance of this magic number is. He has tied his previous all-time best !! Even if he simply runs into a robot now and gains 50 points he will have beaten his own world mark, so he's quite pleased, but keeps himself in check as the game is at peak difficulty and the slightest error in concentration will be deadly.
227,160 points - "Oh my God" he says. I suppose even Chris cannot believe that after so many years he is still as good as he was at the game...better than ever, in fact.
230,980 points - "No break !! No break !!" he says to himself as he waits near an exit to take a brief 2-3 seconds rest before "Otto" reaches him.
231,680 points - "Oh, no !!". Near-devastation. A single determined robot yet again is guarding the exit area that Chris wants to go thru. There's barely time to react so he attempts a maneuver that causes the robot to self-destruct or take a hit from his own laser, but the move is not without risk as the robot is very close by. Chris pulls this off and keeps the game going.
250,020 points - at the end of stage 548, and 3:24.56 into his game, Chris says "Quarter of a million...a quarter of a million on 'Berzerk' "!!. Even he is obviously stunned at his excellent progress
253,670 points - this was his most devastating moment this performance. Nothing seemed to go right, and the robots did not seem to "break" just right, or self-destruct, or get into the path of another robot's shot. "Otto" reared it's ugly head (well, not literally as "Otto" is basically a bouncing smiley face), but Chris was lucky in that so many robots were still about so "Otto" was moving very slow, while Chris was about halfway towards the exit area. Chris pulled through and seemed greatly relieved.
255,310 points - "Wow...2:43 in the morning". That short comment says enough.
278,530 points - "Oh boy..." is all he manages to say as he is again faced with a sole, determined robot guarding the exit area right before "Otto" comes out. He pulls through. Like I said earlier in this recap, Chris has more than one brush with a single remaining robot this performance, and each one is as risky as the last...save for one that is yet to come.
283,420 points - Chris breathes heavily outward as he waits near the exit mark for "Otto" to come. He is about 17K from the 300K mark, and 50K from passing his previous mark by a whopping 100,000 points. It won't be long now, if he can just keep it together...and if the game doesn't get crazy on him.
288,180 points - this was easily one of Chris' do-or-die moments, and this was the toughest encounter with a sole remaining robot this performance, the one I just spoke of. Chris made not one but two attempts to destroy this robot. The crafty robot evaded his first attempt, but Chris' second attack caught it just right and it exploded less than an inch away. In "Berzerk" if the robots explode too close they will take you out with them, but Chris was at a safe distance so no worries.
288,910 points - "I'm getting tired now"...this was spoken out of the blue, and I'm sure that after nearly four hours of gameplay we understand how he feels. The intensity never lets up except for a few short seconds per wave when it's just you and "Otto". Right now the battle was both mental and physical. And yet 300,000 points was so very close Chris could taste it. I have to imagine that he was concentrating very hard at this point, regardless of how tired he might be feeling. To a golden age gamer like Chris, there's nothing quite like the premise of reaching a new major threshold to wake you up and keep you invigorated !!
297,550 points - yet another brush with a single remaining robot guarding the exit area. Chris doesn't let this one stop him, and once dispatched, he knows that it won't be long now before he reaches that mark.
299,800 points - Chris polishes off board 653. Just four (4) more robots to go...a few more shots and it's one for the books.
300,000 points - board 654, 4:05.48 into the game, and the time is about 2:50am on Monday, March 28th, 2005. I was probably sleeping, and maybe even snoring. Yet here was Chris Ayra who, passing the 300,000 points mark on "Berzerk" for the first time in history, never made a sound. His silent recognition of this achievement is a quiet testimony ot how polished a gamer he really is. I remember in the movie "The Color of Money" when Paul Newman's turn came up in the big tournament after Tom Cruise's character missed a key shot. Newman's "Fast Eddie Felson" doesn't say a word as he maneuvers around the table to where he will make his next shot. That's the type of quiet that I heard, or rather didn't hear, right now. It's like the old proverb about the sound of one hand clapping. I think the appropriate word here is awe. We, as well as Chris, are in awe of this score.
303,220 points - another battle with a lone, determined robot. Once again, Chris comes out ahead.
304,080 points - Chris lets a robot get a little too close here, so seemingly close that even shooting it might prove fatal, but it was apparently not yet past the point of no return as Chris manages to dispatch the robot and continue onward. But this definitely was one of his closes cals this game.
305,230 points - "Oh boy !!"...Chris can't believe that he's still going and that it's past 3:00am now.
319,560 points - "SHOOT !!". Chris is faced with the most devastating set of circumstances yet. I don't think up to this point Chris has been this loud in his exclamations as this situation warranted serious attention.
321,580 points - Utter devastation. Chris loses back-to-back lives, and in fact makes no points on the second one, which in this game is almost always what happens.
322,700 points - "Stupid !! Stupid !!" - Chris is in an extremely precarious position. He's on the left side in the center. An alcove above and below both have robots. The instant he moves out, one will shoot him. And yet he has to move or "Otto" will appear and destroy him. Chris attempts to pick them off several times but to no avail. He tries a desperate maneuver and is caught in a crossfire from which there is no escape.
323,380 points - "Oh boy !!"...Chris is faced with a tough situation, and manages to somehow pull through. Now it's a matter of time. He's clearly getting tired, and the game's intensity is relentless. But he still holds it together for a little while longer.
324,740 points - "I cannot believe it !!". Chris manages to escape a very rough stage unharmed. And he's this-close to passing his previous world mark by more than 100,000 points.
325,220 points - end score after board 705
325,270 points - after 4 hours, 26 minutes and 13 seconds, and in board 706, Chris Ayra finally succumbs to a situation which is absolutely impossible to escape. He is in the center of the left side against the wall as he enters this board. There's one robot direcly on top, another direcly below, and on angles with line of site towards Chris, there is a robot to the upper right and lower right. The incoming volley of laser fire is inescapable. Chris loses his last life.
"Wow", he says as he lets out one breath. "Whoo" with another. He could finally rest. He entered his initials into the high score screen, and spoke into the camera about making a copy of the videotape prior to sendng it in for verification...after all, a performance like this must be preserved in case of disaster. Chris followed up with the necessary closeups, and then treated me to a glimpse of his personal gameroom which included some of his favourite titles such as "Ms Pacman" and "Crystal Castles", and several others.
"This is Chris Ayra, March 28th, 2005, and a little bit after three in the morning, with a new world record."
And with that, the world's greatest performance ever on the arcade classic "Berzerk" came to an official end.
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AFTERTHOUGHTS
That's the good thing about being the person that gets to write the articles about world record performances on video games. You have a chance to collect your thoughts at your convenience before you so much as type the next word. "Berzerk" is one of the most frantic titles ever made, with some setups at the beginning of a stage that are beyond anyone's ability to react quickly enough before getting shot by laser fire. It is also one of the most memorable titles of all time. The many phrases that are heard while playing the game were both amusing and taunting. What other game told you "Chicken...fight like a robot" ? This disembodied voice that directed the hoards of lifeless, metallic, death-dealing, laser-firing robots never, ever stopped as it seemingly attempted to rally the troops against you.
Anyone that wants to find out more about "Berzerk" should check out the Killer List of Video Games at http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=B&game_id=7096
For those of you who do not know of Chris Ayra's previous accomplishments, they include some of the highest scores ever achieved on classic arcade titles. Here is a brief run-down on some of his most memorable achievements...
-> He still to this day is the world champion on "Ms Pacman" with a score of 920,310 points. Mind you, this is on tournament settings, and not the "turbo" version which is ridiculously easy in comparison. Additionally, he is one of six players (officially) who have reached the "kill screen" on this title at tournament settings
-> He is one of an elite group of four players who have achieved a "perfect Pacman" score of 3,333,360 points
-> He scored 305,000 on a vintage title called "Head On" which is so lofty that players to this day are baffled at how he accomplished this
-> His scores of 66,910 on "Pole Position" and 895,569 on "Crystal Castles" are among the highest ever recorded for each title
There are other scores and titles, but the ones he cherishes the most are those on "Berzerk" and "Ms Pacman".
When I heard from Chris and his good friend, Bill Mitchell, about the imminent arrival of a new world record tape from Chris on "Berzerk", I was thrilled. This was in fact only the second performance by Chris that I have ever personally witnessed, this first being a 910K score on "Ms Pacman" from the Funspot competition back in 2000 when he and Darren Harris, playing on separate "Ms Pacman" machines, each scored 910K simultaneously. So for me, this was a real privilege.
Gamers like Chris Ayra are a rare breed. They excel at certain titles to an extent that other gamers can only dream of, and typically, as you often find when having the good fortune of speaking with these masters from the golden age of video games, they have probably forgotten more tricks and tactics on video games that most gamers today will ever remember. I speak very highly of Chris not just because of his former contributions to the classic era of gaming, but because his gaming spirit, perseverance and dedication are everything that gamers today strive for.
On behalf of the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard, we congratulate Chris Ayra on his astounding achievement on the classic arcade title "Berzerk". Mind you, fellow gamers, Chris had a few more titles in his game room, and he's not just letting them sit there gathering dust. But for now, for all "Berzerk" players everywhere, the bar was just raised a few notches higher !!
Robert
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