Economical Metroidvania
The stylistic balancing act extends to Yars Rising’s gameplay, which takes some even bolder creative liberties with the series. It’s a 2D action adventure very much in the vein of Metroid. Simple combat just has Emi blasting her cannon forward and shooting the occasional missile, while exploration has her crawling through vents and dodging laser grids. She gets a few traversal powers along the way, like a wall jump and air dash, but WayForward keeps everything simple. It has the economical design of a Game Boy Advance game, which makes for a breezy adventure. That’s something that WayForward excels at, as seen in gems like The Mummy Demastered.
Sometimes it can feel a bit too stripped down. Shooting is a bare-bones combat hook that doesn’t really change, while rigid stealth sections force players to wait for guards to walk back and forth on their set path or else be instantly taken down by one shot if they’re alerted. Traversal gimmicks can feel sloppy too, like its frustratingly sluggish underwater movement or an upwards burst that’s a bit unwieldy. If you’re looking for a genre game as sprawling or complex as Hollow Knight, you’re in the wrong place.
That sleek design is a gift in other spots. Yars Rising keeps its map small and easy to navigate, making its secret hunting less daunting. Every unexplored path is clearly marked on my map and highlighted in red if it’s not accessible yet. I completed the game at 100% in about nine hours and there was very little fat on that, even if it meant for a fair amount of visual repetition as I navigated the same few areas multiple times.
It helps that the rewards for exploration all feel worthwhile. Rather than hiding missile expansions or health upgrades throughout the world, Emi instead collects equippable mods that alter her abilities. Each one is represented as a set of Tetris-like blocks that can be slotted into a pixel art grid that looks like the insect hero from Yars’ Revenge (another cute nod to the series history). It’s an inventory puzzle game where I need to figure out how to fit as many pieces in as possible while still boosting stats like my shot power or air dash distance. It’s the rare Metroidvania where I felt driven to explore every single corner of it; I just never knew what helpful bonus might be waiting behind a tricky platforming puzzle.
Retro puzzles
While the connections to the Atari game may only sound like pixelated lip service so far, Yars Rising’s creative spirit comes through in its hacking puzzles. Throughout the adventure, Emi must break into computers to unlock doors and get new chips. Each one has its own timed minigame modeled after Yars’ Revenge and its retro space shooting gameplay. I need to nibble shields, blast Qotiles, and avoid deadly swirls just like in the original. At first, it’s a cutely nostalgic throwback. Shortly after, it becomes the most compelling hook in the entire game.
Atari
Each hacking challenge gets increasingly more complex as it plays with the core concepts of Yars. One has me nibbling away at heart shapes as I dodge missiles that fall like rain. Another has me biting through one side of an enemy shield so I can charge up my Zorlon Cannon on the other side of the screen and fire it into the metal shield on my foe’s backside. They even get referential to other Atari games, with nods to Centipede, Missile Command, and more. Each one is a bite-sized challenge that highlights just how elegant games like Yars’ Revenge are. They’re as much a reward as the secrets hiding behind them as each one gets added to a minigame collection, where they can be replayed.
Conclusion
I hope that Yars Rising serves as a blueprint for Atari moving forward. Heck, I hope any publisher struggling to keep a series as old as Yars fresh is paying attention. Yars Rising is a loving ode to the past that reveres its source material enough to confidently expand on it rather than give it an easy refresh. It takes the original franchise’s worldbuilding seriously and finds a way to twist every morsel of it into a larger adventure that’s worthy of the Yars name. Sometimes the best way to keep the past alive is to let it evolve into something new. Precious nostalgia is an anchor, and Yars Rising flies free without that tying it down.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Yars Rising?
Yars Rising is a 2D action-adventure game developed by WayForward, published by Atari, and based on the classic arcade game Yars’ Revenge.
How does Yars Rising improve upon the original?
Yars Rising takes creative liberties with the series, offering a more modern take on the classic gameplay, including 2D exploration, stealth, and puzzle-solving, while maintaining the original’s spirit and charm.
Will Yars Rising appeal to fans of the original game?
Yes, Yars Rising pays homage to the original game, incorporating many elements from Yars’ Revenge, such as its colorful pixel art style and catchy chiptune music.
How does Yars Rising perform technically?
Yars Rising runs smoothly on PC and Steam Deck OLED, with little to no lag or bugs encountered during testing.