Yars Rising Review – A Metroidvania Revival of the Classic Yars’ IP, and it Works

Reviving Yars’ Revenge with Modern Metroidvania Gameplay

Developer Wayforward is known for the Shantae series, but they’ve been dabbling to create new entries in retro series following the wide success of the River City Girls series. Now, the studio is teaming up with Atari to give Howard Scott Warshaw’s Yars’ Revenge a modern facelift. For anyone who has seen or played Yars’ Revenge, I’m sure this may cause some confusion.

I mean, the game plays as a series of puzzles as you control a giant bug named Yars and shoot down these enemy spaceship things. That’s the thing with Atari 2600 games; anytime someone explains a game, it’s always like, “Well, you control this person thing and use this oval thing to acquire the key that blows up that one set of pixel things from the first screen.”

Anyway, not to get off topic, but leave it to WayForward to take the concept of Yars’ Revenge and flesh it out into the Metroidvania action game that is Yars Rising. While I don’t think this game will create a boom in Yars’ heads worldwide, I found the character writing and general gameplay progression intuitive and fun. So let’s see what Yars has been up to all these years later.

A Fresh Protagonist: Emi’s Story in Yars Rising

Yars Rising introduces Emi, a hacker who has just infiltrated the QoTech facilities to uncover some secrets from within the company after they discover evidence that they are conducting experiments on monsters. Well, as it goes, things go from bad to worse in Emi’s case because she eventually learns more about the client who hired her and even her own past. This is a learn-on-the-go type of game. You’re never in conversation for too long, and most of the lore dumps happen as you travel from place to area. The map is set up in a Metroidvania style where Emi will eventually gain access to new tech to reach objectives, but that also requires you to master the art of hacking.

Emi’s punk rock sass brings unexpected charm to this retro reboot, making every conversation feel fresh and fun.

As you play, terminals can be accessed, which changes the game’s genre to what I would guess could be a modern Yars Revenge. Each of these terminals is home to a new type of Yars puzzle, which keeps you on your toes each time you find a new one. Very minimal instructions were given during these sections, which initially frustrated me until I watched Yars Revenge gameplay. Suringpringly, I understood how to play the game for the first time in my gamer life. Now, in Yars Rising, I will say that each puzzle has a specific degree of difficulty, but there’s no actual pattern to the challenges. This makes their inclusion in this game even more fun because no matter how repetitive backtracking or combat may become, a new hacking puzzle will always be waiting for you.

Yars Rising succeeds where many retro reboots fail—by merging nostalgia with innovative modern mechanics.

As for Emi’s character, I actually enjoyed her character writing and humor. She brought a charming punk rock sassiness to the conversations, but it wasn’t overbearing. She quickly won me over with her crude humor and puns. Her character design also adds to her charm, as she has various poses to accompany her reactions. The other characters also played their roles decently, with Mrs. Davidson stealing my heart, I mean the show. The bosses were also interesting in their introduction, but none had any staying power in the plot, making QoTech the only real villain throughout most of the game.

Metroidvania Mechanics and Puzzles in Yars Rising

The gameplay is pretty standard, and it doesn’t seem like WayForward spent too much time rigging Emi with a ton of animation and actions. This general statement can be said about other game elements, such as the limited number of enemies, repeated room sections, and a limited pool of available abilities. As you hack through the adventure, you’ll eventually gain access to some missiles, walk on water, and double jump. Nothing about what makes Metroidvania, a Metroidvania will excite fans, and the limited fast travel and abilities don’t help this game stand out in the pool of others in the genre.

Challenges and Combat: Exploring QoTech’s Depths

But Yars Rising is a sum of many parts. The combination of the mini-games, platforming sections, and taking down enemies keeps your brain from dwelling on what the game lacks, and you’re left with having fun. There seem to be systems at play throughout this game that make up for systems that might feel like they were cut due to budget.

Yars Rising combines Metroidvania mechanics with classic puzzle-solving from Yars’ Revenge, delivering a fresh experience for modern players.

Still, what’s here is a fine experience capped off with a soundtrack that has no right to be this good. Seriously, there are some fun songs in this game that range from Vocaloid to rock ballads; I’m telling you, I was vibing for the entirety of my 10-hour experience.

Soundtrack and Visuals: A Surprise Hit

Fatigue may possibly set in as you try to understand the map or where to go next, but this ounce of frustration was likely not even close to what a child hooking up their Atari 2600 for the first time and expecting to figure out Yars Revenge.

In many ways, I feel like WayForward really stepped up creatively to flesh out this IP, and I don’t think any other developer could hit this level of quality within the constraints this team might have been in. The result is a fun weekend game, which is exactly what I was looking for.

Final Thoughts: Yars Rising’s Role in Atari’s Future

Yars Rising brings the Yars IP to modern players in some creative ways. Emi’s attitude and sass provide an edge to the narrative that doesn’t detract from some of the more emotionally driven scenes. It’d be nice to see these characters reprise their roles for future installments of this series. The subtle Metroidvania systems make this an approachable entry point into the genre, but the action can be challenging at times. Nonetheless, I had a fun weekend playing this game. Thankfully, it seems like Atari finally has a nice foundation for the Yars series. I’m honestly just glad I didn’t have to play another Yar’s Revenge (2011).