Yars Rising Review (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, & PC)

While some retro games are a blast to play in the modern day, especially when they have been revamped to have better graphics and controls, others may simply be better left in the past. Yars Rising, unfortunately, falls in that category, and yes, 2011’s Yars’ Revenge and 2022’s Yars: Recharged revived 1982’s Yars’ Revenge. However, WayForward and Atari are treading unchartered territory with the newest addition to the series, testing the Metroidvania waters for the first time ever. 

WayForward’s expertise is immense, having revived 2002’s Shantae for the modern age. So, with the studio at the wheel of Yars Rising, we had a high level of confidence that nostalgia would once again be fulfilled. And yet, upon playing the new game, something feels off. Something in the gameplay feels unfinished, like the legacy that the new game intended to set still needs more time in the oven. If you’ve been considering trying your hands on WayForward and Atari’s new release, be sure to read our Yars Rising review to know what you can expect from the game.

Trip Down Memory Lane

Yars Rising is the spiritual successor to 1982’s Yars’ Revenge, which launched on the Atari 2600 platform. Back then, the rail-shooter game was exceptional: strange and wild but exceptional. You played as a fly-like humanoid of the Yar race fighting against your arch-rivals, the Qotiles. Battles took place on a single screen, with your character shooting and nibbling at your opponent’s defenses while avoiding incoming fire. It was incredibly fun and satisfying to win, with each level taking only a few seconds. Overall, you could beat the game in under an hour. 

And perhaps Yars Rising should have remained like so. WayForward is trying to revive the game for a contemporary audience. They have done so in the past with Shantae and to great success. However, Yars Rising misses the mark by a long shot. So, what went wrong? Well, the story is something you may have heard before. It still borrows the premise of 1982’s Yars’ Revenge, with the Yars and the Qotile races at war. However, the plot is more Earthbound, much like the comics, with the protagonist being a young hacker named Emi Kimura, who goes by the handle Yar. 

No Funny Business

Yar works for QoTech corporation in cyberpunk Syzygy City. But she also works for an Activist group, and while snooping through the servers, she stumbles onto the shady deeds of QoTech. Thusforth, she sneaks deeper into the corporation’s territory, infiltrating restricted areas in pursuit of the truth. And so, your Metroidvania journey begins. It’s all very textbook, with the usual mechanics you may expect from the genre. You can run, jump, and climb platforms. You have to play the game level by level as you navigate a 2D side-scrolling world.

During platforming, Yar keeps you company, literally. She often says her thoughts out loud, sometimes things that are obvious and, quite honestly, annoying. If she’s not talking to herself, then she’s talking to her comrades on the radio, who might as well be one person as they all feel interchangeable. Look, the dialogue and overall story aren’t Yars Rising’s strongest suit. It’s nice that the game crafts a premise, albeit regurgitated. Perhaps the plot’s saving grace is the techno soundtracks: absolute bangers that make all the enduring of the story worth it.

Interconnected World

At first glance, the cartoony anime-inspired aesthetic is pleasing to the eye. It’s distinct enough to grow your interest in exploring. However, you’ll soon realize that the levels you unlock are more or less the same. There are no diverse biomes that uncover unchartered territory or design. It’s all hallways, vents, and other corporation gimmicks that are easily forgettable. Barely much will stand out after a couple of hours, which begins to grow frustrating when you start to backtrack. 

Like most Metroidvania, Yars Rising also requires unlocking specific abilities to access certain areas. And so, while seeking the abilities you need to complete a level, you’ll often need to backtrack your way through places you have already been to. But at least you have a handy map you can use to keep track of all the areas you have visited before and those still requiring an ability to unlock. 

Meat of the Game

Still, with the map basically revealing all the information you need to beat a Metroidvania, the platforming begins to grow too straightforward, especially when you factor in the relatively easy gameplay. Platforming is simply too easy for any casual or hardcore gamer. It’s pretty straightforward, with laser traps, floating security bots, alien bugs, and more to watch out for. These are often easy to get past with the littlest platforming knowledge. It’s all a matter of timing, with minimal precision to raise the stakes. 

The gameplay does switch up the pace using stealth, as you may sometimes need to hide in vents or crouch to avoid being seen by patrol guards. But the patrol guards are barely life-threatening, allowing you to use pretty basic stealth. You would think then that combat would be the meat of the game, but no. Yar can shoot lasers out of her fingers, taking down the robots and alien bugs you run into. All it takes is a few shots to take them down. 

Overall, platforming and combat are a huge let-down. There are far better Metroidvania games out there that will really challenge you. Otherwise, Yars Rising is pretty easy to beat, and if you’re looking for a challenge, you’ll more likely leave the game frustrated. It’s not a single thing that dulls the gameplay. You have basic stealth mechanics, boring enemies, straightforward platforming, and more that combined make the meat of the game feel lackluster. 

Fight the Power

While most of Yars Rising’s enemies are a piece of cake, you will come across a few bosses who can be a nightmare to beat. Some bosses are genuinely fun and satisfying to take down, thanks to their persistent attacks and surprising attack patterns. But there are only a few bosses who elicit a satisfying reaction to combat. For the most part, boss fights are straightforward, with hardcore gamers taking them down in mere seconds.

Yars Revenge Revived

But for all the bad that Yars Rising’s Metroidvania has, it redeems itself via its mini-games, which I know is pretty damning. The core game should be able to hold its own. But it is what it is, and the terminals that you come across that you need to hack into to unlock new abilities and, consequently, new areas are where the game shines best. The terminals essentially take you to a Yars’ Revenge game, with the single-screen and pixelated Yars versus Qotiles rail-shooting combat.

The goal is to clear a path for a cannon shot that will destroy a Qotile enemy. However, while the first terminals give you straightforward objectives, the mini-games quickly grow in complexity. You can play a mini-game that has homing missiles chasing after you. Others have rocket launchers or destructive mines you must evade. Soon, you’ll start to tackle more profound mini-games that have you taking down a giant Centipede and dodging incoming grenades.

Admittedly, some of these mini-games are a nice touch of nostalgia, referencing Yars’ Revenge and other Atari games like Missile Command. However, consecutive mini-games build on the same mechanics, thus thrusting you into a repetitive cycle. And while you may forgive the repetitiveness on account of nostalgia, later mini-games simply begin to grow more frustrating. They can be pretty tough to beat. Moreover, if you lose in a multi-stage level, you’re forced to restart from the beginning of the level. 

Meanwhile, the mini-games start to pile up. And you have no choice but to complete all 45 of them to unlock all the areas in the game. It’s unfortunate as the mini-games make up as much as half of the entire game, yet they lose their momentum and grow repetitive over time. 

Level Up

To ease your worries, Yars Rising awards you a new ability after winning a mini-game. So, you graduate from just running and jumping to bio-tech skills like walking on water and more. At times, you can unlock upgrades that give you more health, more damage, and other buffs. However, you have to be cautious of the abilities and upgrades you equip, given they have limited slots implemented via a Tetris-like game, which, while it’s not a revolutionary system, does offer a nice change of pace. 

Verdict

One half of Yars Rising is a Metroidvania game with platforming and combat elements. Unfortunately, the gameplay is straightforward, with basic mechanics and predictable enemies. The other half are mini-games akin to Yars Revenge, which you must complete to unlock inaccessible areas of the game. Now, the mini-games pique your interest, thanks to their nostalgia and satisfying puzzle-solving rail-shooting gameplay. Often, you’ll strategize your moves and feel engaged in beating the mini-games. But then, they grow increasingly demanding and repetitive over time. WayForward may have proven itself with Shantae, but Yars Rising feels like a low-effort take on revamping the beloved 1982 Yars’ Revenge.