The gaming industry is awash in nostalgia, with publishers constantly re-releasing classic titles through ports, remasters, and remakes. While these methods offer a glimpse into the past, they often fall short of truly carrying a legacy forward. WayForward’s Yars Rising breaks this mold, offering a modern reimagining of the Atari 2600 classic, Yars’ Revenge. This Metroidvania isn’t just a polished-up retro shooter; it’s a complete transformation that respectfully honors the original while forging a new path for the series. While its streamlined design has both advantages and disadvantages, Yars Rising presents a compelling blueprint for reviving retro games without relying solely on nostalgia.
From Retro Shooter to Modern Metroidvania
The original Yars’ Revenge tasked players with controlling an insectoid character battling alien ships. Gameplay revolved around strategically weakening enemy shields before unleashing the Zorlon Cannon. While innovative for its time, this simple premise posed a challenge for modern audiences. WayForward’s solution? Expand and evolve.
Yars Rising reimagines the core concept as a Metroidvania experience, blending side-scrolling shooting, stealth elements, and hacking puzzles. Though seemingly disparate from the source material, the connections become clear as the adventure unfolds. The narrative follows Emi (code name: Yars), a blue-haired hacker infiltrating a sinister corporation, a story that subtly echoes the alien conflict of the original. This narrative framework, reminiscent of classic Atari lore, provides a foundation for a more fully realized world.
The game is peppered with clever callbacks. Just as Yars’ Revenge came with a vibrant comic book, Yars Rising features a striking art style and motion comic cutscenes that resonate with long-time fans. This blend of retro inspiration and contemporary influences creates a unique narrative energy.
Blue haired girl dodging orange red lasers in Yars Rising
WayForward masterfully balances these contrasting elements. The original’s hard sci-fi themes are recontextualized within a vibrant, 1990s anime aesthetic, complete with stylized voice acting and lighthearted humor. The soundtrack, a departure from the original’s triumphant score, features jazzy pop tunes reminiscent of the Persona series. This fusion of past and present, unified by WayForward’s distinct creative vision, is truly impressive.
Streamlined Gameplay: A Double-Edged Sword
Yars Rising‘s gameplay takes even greater liberties with the original. Emi navigates a 2D world, engaging in simple combat with her cannon and missiles, exploring environments, and solving puzzles. New traversal abilities, such as a wall jump and air dash, are introduced gradually, maintaining a streamlined experience reminiscent of Game Boy Advance titles. While this minimalist approach allows for a breezy adventure, it can sometimes feel overly simplistic.
The basic shooting mechanics remain largely unchanged throughout the game, and the rigid stealth sections can feel restrictive, demanding precise timing and offering little room for error. Traversal elements, like the sluggish underwater movement and the somewhat unwieldy upward burst, also present occasional frustrations. Players seeking the complexity and depth of games like Hollow Knight will likely find Yars Rising lacking.
Emi Kimura shooting robot in Yars Rising
However, this streamlined design also offers significant advantages. The compact map is easy to navigate, making secret hunting a rewarding experience. Unexplored paths are clearly marked, and inaccessible areas are highlighted, simplifying exploration. The relatively short playtime (around nine hours for 100% completion) minimizes unnecessary padding, despite some visual repetition.
The rewards for exploration are particularly compelling. Instead of traditional upgrades, Emi collects equippable mods represented by Tetris-like blocks that can be slotted into a grid resembling the original Yars’ Revenge protagonist. This inventory puzzle adds a strategic layer, encouraging players to optimize their loadout for various stats. The allure of discovering new and beneficial mods provides a strong incentive to explore every nook and cranny.
Retro-Inspired Puzzles: A Brilliant Twist
Yars Rising‘s most ingenious element lies in its hacking puzzles. These timed minigames, integrated throughout the adventure, draw directly from Yars’ Revenge‘s retro gameplay. Players must nibble shields, blast Qotiles, and avoid swirling hazards, mirroring the mechanics of the original. What begins as a nostalgic throwback quickly evolves into the game’s most engaging feature.
Emi hacking terminal with neon colored barricade and shooter in Yars Rising
These hacking challenges increase in complexity, cleverly iterating on Yars’ Revenge‘s core concepts. Some puzzles introduce new shapes and hazards, while others require strategic manipulation of enemy shields and the Zorlon Cannon. References to other Atari classics, like Centipede and Missile Command, add another layer of retro charm. These bite-sized challenges showcase the elegant simplicity of retro game design and provide a welcome diversion from the main adventure.
A Legacy Reimagined
The interplay between 2D action and retro-inspired puzzles is what sets Yars Rising apart. WayForward has successfully expanded the Yars universe beyond the confines of a single screen, while simultaneously integrating the original game into the narrative itself. This blend of nostalgia and modernity, where Easter eggs transform into genre-bending mechanics, elevates the experience.
Yars Rising demonstrates a deep reverence for its source material, choosing to expand upon its core elements rather than simply offering a superficial refresh. It takes the original’s worldbuilding seriously and crafts a larger, more compelling adventure. It’s a testament to the idea that sometimes, the best way to honor the past is to allow it to evolve.
Yars Rising was tested on PC and Steam Deck OLED. Yars Rising Steam Page
