A long time ago on ancient hardware, the Yars and Qotile faced off against each other in a battle that, even for a time when any wild idea could get a shot, still counted as unusual. A single Yar ship faced off against a single Qotile defended by a shield, and the object was to destroy the shield, either by shooting or nibbling away at it, then touch the Qotile to call up a cannon shot. Meanwhile the Qotile sometimes changed into a swirl form that was deadly to the touch, especially when it launched itself across the screen, and a wandering missile was always homing in on the Yar fighter. Topping it all off, the cannon shot was as deadly to the Yar as the Qotile if it didn’t get out of the way, and of course the Qotile was moving up and down the screen, so required careful timing to nail the shot.
Something Old, Something New, Something Completely Out Of Left Field
Yars' Revengewas a rare game that took full advantage of what little power the Atari 2600 had, and while it was hobbled with only two levels endlessly repeating, it had a good number of game modes to make up the difference. It’s still fondly remembered today, with a couple of remakes and even a sequel released for the 2600 in 2005. Now the Yars are back again with an all-new take on the series in the form of a metroidvania, although it’s one that fuses the standards of that genre with dozens of mini-games based onYars' Revenge, plus occasional diversions intoCentipedeandMissile Commandfor good measure.
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Hacker Emi is working for the QoTech corporation as a cover for infiltrating it, and the big day of accessing the server has finally arrived. Emi and her crew all use codenames, with Emi going by Yar and even having a tattoo of the Yar ship from the 2600 game on her wrist. Other than being agile and good at hacking, Emi is just a normal person, no other special abilities, and that’s a problem when she’s caught tampering with the server. Luckily QoTech is bad at security, so they toss her in a room with an easily-accessible air duct, which for some reason leads to a rainbow-hued console that, when hacked, activates Emi’s Yar tattoo and enables her to shoot force bolts. Now Emi just wants to escape QoTech headquarters and get home, but patrolling robots and armed human guards are making the trip through the labyrinth of corridors a much bigger quest than the expected “elevator to lobby and out the front door” she might have hoped for.
While the base gameplay ofYars Risingis your standard metroidvania, with new rainbow-consoles unlocking new abilities that allow Emi to explore farther into the office building, the hacking minigames are what initially create the strongest link toYars' Revengebefore the latter half of the game more explicitly references it. Each hack is a new twist on the original game, starting with a few basic tutorial hacks that introduce the idea of breaking the Qotile shield and destroying it with the cannon, to not having a shot and having to nibble away at the barrier, dodging the missile that’s always chasing after the Yar, avoiding the swirl attack, etc.
It doesn’t take long for new elements to be introduced that had nothing to do with the original game, like mines that explode in a large area or the bug fromCentipedewinding its way down the screen. It’s a great way to mix up the jump-and-gun platforming with something completely different, and the reward for hacking is usually a new upgrade for one of Emi’s core abilities.
Only so many upgrades can be active at once, although they can be swapped out on the pause screen at any time. Emi’s Yar tattoo acts as the storage point for the active upgrades, with the more powerful ones being larger and taking up a bigger chunk of the limited space. The upgrades cover just about all of Emi’s abilities, from shot speed or power to dash distance, health and wall-jump, getting extra pickups for the missiles, and even a good range of hacking minigame skills like triple-shot or turning invisible and unharm-able after not moving for a few seconds.
While the base gameplay ofYars Risingis your standard metroidvania, with new rainbow-consoles unlocking new abilities that allow Emi to explore farther into the office building, the hacking minigames are what initially create the strongest link toYars' Revengebefore the latter half of the game more explicitly references it.
Editing a Hero For Every Situation
While the hacking upgrades can be found just about anywhere, the ones governing Emi’s skills always require the use of that skill to get to, such as higher height for the Grasshopper Legs wall-jump needing that ability to reach. The world map is maybetoogenerous with the information, though, with unused routes tagged in red while those accessible with her current abilities are in green. It makes clearing the game at 100% far more trivial than a standard metroidvania, especially seeing as there don’t appear to be unmarked destructible walls or anything similar hiding in the environment, unless they’re rare and subtle.
The lack of any real exploration is a big part of whyYars Risingtends to feel flat. Controls are good, but Emi’s abilities all feel standard, and the weirder ones like a remote-controlled explosive firefly don’t get much of a workout. The story also doesn’t feel fleshed out, with themes like Emi losing her humanity as she gains powers dropped entirely, not to mention not defining what exactly “losing humanity” means when… Gestures at the whole world in general. Emi herself is also in need of more personality than having a semi-awkward quip for every situation, especially when tragedy hits later on in the game. A sad quip is still a quip, and she’s back to being perky ten minutes later.
The adventure also tries to go big, but never once feels that way, even in the final boss confrontation. We’re told of epic events and they’re all happening offscreen as Emi and whoever she’s with at the moment talk about all the things we’re not seeing, and what we are seeing is the same old environments of office, office in orange, town and a too-brief outside section near the end of the game. Taken together it just makes everything feel small.
Closing Comments:
Yars Risingis in the dreaded “pretty decent” zone, not actually bad, but not good enough to be memorable. Controls are fluid and smooth, but there aren’t many areas that give them a proper workout and there was only one boss fight in the entire game that presented any kind of real challenge. The hacking games are more consistently creative, but they’re also the kind of thing you’ll play once and not feel any need to go back to again, despite being available as a collection from the main menu.Yars Risingis playable, Emi is a fun character that usually doesn’t fall on the wrong side of the “I guess this is my life now” line, and the jump between metroidvania and classic single-screen arcade gaming is a nice hook. Altogether, though, none of the elements ever fully take off to make Emi the hero she should be.
Yars Rising
Version Reviewed: PC
In Yars Rising, Hacker Emi is trapped in the offices of QoTech after getting caught snooping, but her escape attempt has granted her powers that no human should have. Shoot, sneak, platform, and play endless variations on Yars' Revenge as a hacking minigame to unravel the secrets hiding in the building’s labyrinthine depths.
