Atari 2600 MARAUDER Takes BERZERK Somewhere Different
Marauder for the Atari 2600 may look a lot like Berzerk at first glance, but Tigervision’s 1982 maze shooter has some clever ideas of its own. There’s a real objective to your exploration, a temporary invincibility shield, faster-paced action, and a unique line-of-sight mechanic that changes when enemies are even visible.
Originally based on a larger computer game from On-Line Systems — the company that would become Sierra On-Line — this 2600 version preserves the alien-base infiltration half of the original experience.
In this Friday Plays, we take a closer look at Marauder, see how it compares to Berzerk, and find out whether this overlooked Atari game really has more going on than its simple appearance suggests.
Thanks to Friday Plays viewer Heckensteiner for the recommendation!
#retrogaming #atari #atari2600 #genxgrownup
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@elultimoretro
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Están geniales estos vídeos explicando juegos de Atari. Ya era hora que alguien lo hiciera. 😊
@SaintLewisMusic
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
So, I don't think I'd enjoy it more than Berzerk, but it's not a rip-off by any means. I like that's there an objective other than "survive until you don't"!
@JoseGomez-yg1yd
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Pon doblaje español porfavor
@stonedcommander
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
This looks like one of the better 2600 games for sure. Fun.
@MrKevinp0
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
I think there's enough going on to warrant a playthrough. Thanks for the recommendation! I'll take this opportunity to throw out my semi-annual request for Pepper II on the Colecovision! Have a great today and an even better tomorrow!
@gregwesson8815
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Great choice, Jon! eBay shows mostly PAL copies sadly and highly priced at that. Maybe I'll luck upon a copy in the wild. 🙂
@markorendas1423
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
SOUNDS GREAT!!! THANX FOR THIS AND PREVIOUS GAME REVIEWS…!
@Datan0de
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Wow, you've struck gold this week! This is exactly my kind of game. I'd pulled it up in Stella and started playing before I even finished the video, and if I wasn't going out for anniversary dinner tonight it would probably take up much of my evening. 😅
I love the speed, the LOS view, the fact that you can touch the walls and robots without dying, and just the frantic pace of it all. I've noticed that the robots can shoot each other, and if they do you get the points, so that's a nice bonus.
Now I wonder if I can sneak in a couple more games before the end of the work day…
@vidarlystadjohansen9829
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
discovered this just a few years ago. really cool game
@jayme69
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Great game choice and play through Jon. Thanks for sharing and keep up the awesome work!
@TedAdamGreen
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Great fun 2600 goodness!
Thanks for another wonderful Friday Plays episode Jon
🥳👊🏻👾🕹️📺😎🤖
@scottblackadder2910
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Looks and feels like a new game
@katmacoconnor
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
🤖👾💜
@scottblackadder2910
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Never knew about this game thank you i lasted 1min lol
@Dvader0086
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
I guess if you're taking requests, you could Try Fast Food or Jawbreaker for 2600
@GenXMemorieswithBigfriendly
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
I thought that the shield looked like a Sombrero.
@GenXMemorieswithBigfriendly
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
I wonder if the bonus for destroying the core was higher on the Apple II version and it just didn't translate to the 2600? Then they didn't update that part of the manual?
@GenXMemorieswithBigfriendly
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Its a good thing you get the bonus life every two levels because once the difficulty ramps up there are quite a few cheap deaths.
@SurfMurph
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Looks like Berserk mixed with Wizard of Wor
@Virtualblueart
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Cool how they had line of sight mechanics this long ago.
@JoseMolina-ij3xx
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
This is not quite berserk. It feels more like Wizard of Wor.
@unificialtime8360
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Wow the first phase of the Apple ][ version resembles a reverse Missile Command
@armana1404
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
I never knew about this! It looks like a better Berserk! Definitely fast, furious and fun. 😎I wanted to get this right away…but it goes for about $400 on Ebay right now! Jon, you've got a real treasure on your hands!
@only257
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Nice 😊
@orbit_askew
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Very fun game. There are roms out there that map the controls to a single joystick.
@kevinstrade2752
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
May i suggest Robot Army for the intellivision. Its a modern homebrew but its Bezerk, and Bezerk plus (story mode)
@SupremeNerd
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
I wonder if it is available on AtariAge
@SupremeNerd
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
I'm liking this!!!
@exidy-yt
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Another one i missed out on that really looks like a lot of fun! Thanks for showcasing this one Jon, it absolutely looks worth a runthru today and had I found it as a kid I would have been super happy about it, it's the kind of 'one more go' game you want to improve on, I kind if wish it had more rooms with such a generous time bar, and spawning in the endgame room is silly and should have been coded out of happening, so not sure how much playtesting if any was done, but the AI seems competent and the action more and more frantic. The line of sight mechanic was something I didn't see until Ultima III on the Commodore 64 and I had thought it was pretty unique, only to find out all these years later it had been done a year earlier on the humble Atari VCS!
@peacefulscrimp5183
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Great video 👍
This game looks fun.
@MountainManGamingPSVR
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Holy Moly! The non-PAL version of Marauder on EBAY is hundreds of dollars! Guess I won't be playing this any time soon.
@Offramp-z7p
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Atari 2600's "Berzerk" with a little bit of Intellivision's "Night Stalker" maybe?
Edit: Come to think of it, the 'power center" reminds me of the "power plant" from 'Frenzy'.
@leiaorgana5491
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Cool…didn't know about this game…thanks.
@theblockydad
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
The problem here is that I now have to start keeping an eye out for the cart. Cosmic Creeps, np. But Death Trap? MARAUDER? What's next, Tooth Protectors??
@seraphinberktold7087
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Marauder has been a part of my Atari 2600 collection since 1984 or 1985. I am not quite sure.
What I am sure of is that you better pick an appropriate difficulty level if you are any good at it or otherwise your game can last ages.
I once brought my Atari 2600 with me to a friend and played so long that he threatened to pull the plug!
That day I achieved a new personal highscore but my friend was a bit angry. 😠
Well, you can't have everything, I guess… 🤷
@sandranemeth2164
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Rad Tiger vision games are rare
@RoyLake
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
I completely forgot about this game – I used to play it all the time and I was obsessed with it. Blimey, that's brought back some memories.
@rogerspacebucks450
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
That box cover art is some awesome retro-futurism.
@GenXMemorieswithBigfriendly
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Unless somebody has knocked me off I've got the high score for emulation play over on Twin Galaxies. What about that snub nosed Colonial Viper on the box.😅
@cryptocoffee13
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Cool game. May have played it on emulation. Worth getting the cartridge
@SkiBumMSP
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Never knew about this one! I did have the Atari 2600 version of Berzerk and played that thing all the time. This game would've been awesome. Did notice that even touching the sentry bots did not kill you. You only got killed if you got shot by the bots. That line-of-sight thing is pretty cool. Yeah, that manual does appear to be incorrect. It is 20-points per "tick" left on the timer, but does appear to maybe 1,000 points at max and not 3,200. I wonder if that was a change made in the game during play testing, but the manual never got up to date. But yeah, those damn robots do get fast on those later levels!
@binkman853
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Excellent game – never heard of this . Maybe next time the computer version. Thanks
@shawncarter7188
August 21, 2026 at 9:23 pm
Great game- gets pretty tense !