In 1982, Yar’s Revenge was released on the Atari 2600 console. It was a single-screen shooter where players controlled a fly-like character and had to penetrate shields to shoot a weak point while avoiding enemy missiles. Like most Atari games in the 80s, it was minimalistic and you had to use your imagination for the graphics, but most gamers didn’t realize that it did have a story too.
The plot of Yar’s Revenge revolved around a peaceful fly-like alien race getting their planet invaded by another alien race called the Qotile. Lore is written about the kinds of weaponry and names for the ships and it is all insect-themed. There is material here to work with now that WayForward has its hands on it and aims to put its spin on the concept while completely changing the gameplay into something more ambitious.
From a single-screen shooter to an expansive metroidvania, how can WayForward revitalize and reimagine Yar’s Revenge? How far removed can the premise become while still having ties to the Atari game? Can Yars Rising hack it? Find out in our Yars Rising review!
Yars Rising
Developer: WayForward Technologies
Publisher: Atari
Platforms: Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 (reviewed)
Release Date: September 10, 2024
Price: $19.99
Yars Rising is a starkly different premise compared to its Atari roots. It’s set in a dystopian cyberpunk world where the bubbly Emi works at an evil corporation as an IT. Emi is not entirely on the level with her corrupt employer and while trying to subvert the company she works for with her unconventional hacking prowess, she gets caught and is swiftly terminated.
However, she won’t be able to collect her belongings and walk out the door easily. The building goes into lockdown mode and all her access has been revoked. Getting around the massive skyscraper will entail a lot of sneaking around and hacking. Unlike most metroidvanias, Emi does not have the most fluid and expressive range of movement.
Her range attack only shoots straight and can’t aim at angles. She moves slowly and this was to facilitate stealthy gameplay around the various sentries that patrol the hallways. For a fit girl, her controls feel stiff, although this may have been a deliberate attempt to reinforce the main draw of Yars Rising, which is hacking.
The idea of Yars Rising is to establish a sense of cyber espionage. The future won’t be won with shooting (even though Emi can shoot fireballs) but with hacking. The map is adorned with various terminals and entry points for Emi to hack and reconfigure to gain access or to open a vault for an upgrade.
This is a very novel and interesting spin on the admittedly tired metroidvania subgenre which has increasingly doubled down on twitch-based action and challenging scenarios. There are tons of hacking mini-games in Yars Rising. All of them take inspiration from Yar’s Revenge and have straightforward Atari-like graphics.
Wayforward remixed the classic gameplay in almost endless ways where they barely repeat themselves. This does add a lot of variety while exploring the building and keeps gamers on their toes, but it also can lead to moments of confusion.
When hacking, Emi has limited time and when time runs out or if her Yar avatar gets hit, she gets a nasty shock and loses some HP. When encountering a new hacking game, it can take a few tries and a little trial and error to fully understand what to do even with the on-screen directions explaining what to do.
Some of the terminology won’t make sense at first, leading to accidental mistakes. This can be especially tense when going up against a boss since the only way to defeat them is by completing a hack after weakening them. The reliance on hacking mini-games for most aspects of progression is a breath of fresh air. Hacking is where most of the tense moments happen since Emi’s movement and combat are very basic.
Yars Rising‘s action is mellow and the most intense moments for Emi are when she has to use some of her powers to avoid traps while staying out of sight of drones or security systems. The only drawbacks to Yars Rising are many of the same issues that plague most Wayforward games. Unfortunately, the character writing and dialogue are very corny and obnoxiously unfunny.
It has the kind of dialogue where it feels like the developers insisted on the characters constantly talking and making quips for no reason. It was insufferable enough that most gamers will want to skip all the talking because WayForward is nowhere near as witty as they think they are. I got flashbacks of Forspoken at times when Emi was quipping, but she didn’t have anyone to bounce off of, making her look insane.
The cel-shaded visuals look clear and crisp. Wayforward’s anime-inspired style looks authentic like it came from a real Japanese studio. The models are simple with distinct silhouettes and have bespoke color pallets that make them identifiable and memorable. It is an appealing-looking game with expressive and cute girls in it who happen to talk way too much.
Yars Rising can look a bit cheap and sterile, but it is not an ugly game. Players will feel the lack of budget in the lack of details for the broad strokes of the game. The parts that feel like the developers put the most time and effort into will be the multi-step boss battles, which feature some creative visuals and setpieces.
Yars Rising is a neat and interesting take on what Yar’s Revenge can be. While the story is forgettable and the cutscenes are obnoxious, it still manages to be enjoyable if they’re skipped.
The grab-bag remixes of Yar’s Revenge are surprising and not knowing what is coming next keeps the gameplay engaging, even if Emi’s stealth mechanics are as basic as possible. At the very least, WayForward took an old Atari game that nobody cared about and did something new and interesting with it.
Yars Rising was reviewed on a PlayStation 5 using a code purchased by Nichegamer. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. Yars Rising is now available for PC (via Steam), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.
