K-Razy Shoot-Out

K-Razy Shoot-Out
Developer	K-Byte
Publishers	K-Byte CBS Software CBS Electronics (5200)
Designers	Keith Dreyer Torre Meeder1
Platforms	Atari 8-bit, Atari 5200
Release	1981: Atari 8-bit 1983: Atari 5200
Genre	Multidirectional shooter

K-Razy Shoot-Out is a clone of the arcade video game Berzerk developed by K-Byte, a division of Kay Enterprises, and released for Atari 8-bit computers in 1981.² The game was written by Torre Meeder and Keith Dreyer,³ and was the first Atari 8-bit cartridge from a third-party developer.⁴ An Atari 5200 version followed in 1983. The team of Dreyer and Meeder also wrote the 1983 Atari 8-bit game Boulders and Bombs.¹

K-Razy Shoot-Out is part of a series of titles with the "K-" prefix, including K-Razy Kritters⁵ and K-Star Patrol.⁶ All of them were published on cartridge. After CBS Software purchased K-Byte,⁷ the games were published under the CBS brand, including the Atari 5200 port of K-Razy Shoot-Out.⁸

As in Berzerk, the goal is to destroy all of the robots occupying a series of randomly generated mazes. In Berzerk, if the player takes too long to clear a maze, an indestructible bouncing ball ("Evil Otto") drives the player to an exit. K-Razy Shoot-Out uses a visible timer instead.⁹ If the timer runs out, the game ends. If the player exits a maze without clearing it, the player has to replay one or two mazes without getting points.¹⁰

K-Razy Shoot-Out sold 35,000 copies by June 1982.¹¹ John J. Anderson of Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games, wrote that as a Berzerk clone, "the only element that's missing is the speech ... lots of fun, and has a great deal of staying power".⁴ It won the 1983 Arcade Award for "Best Arcade/Action Computer Game" from Electronic Games magazine.² The Berzerk similarity was mentioned, but also that the game has "a unique flavor" on its own way.