Yars Rising (NS) - Review

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At first blush, it might not make a lot of sense to turn Yars' Revenge, a single-screen shooter from 1982, into a modern Metroidvania. Yet the deeper you look, the more it all adds up. Despite its simple mechanics and short gameplay loop, the Atari 2600 best-seller had an unusually extensive backstory. Indeed, it even came bundled with a comic book that explained the extraterrestrial origins of the heroic fly-like Yars and their fearsome enemy, the Qotile. Borrowing that mythology and leaning on its expertise with side-scrolling action games, developer WayForward has created Yars Rising, which turns the original game's formula on its head.

Yars Rising follows Emi Kimura, a young hacker who goes by the handle Yar. Hired by a mysterious patron to hack into the data files of the shady corporation QoTech, Emi soon finds herself at the center of an intergalactic conspiracy. 

If nothing else, WayForward deserves credit for integrating the story of Yars Rising into the larger mythology of the franchise. The game feels like a logical extension of the narrative established in 1982. Judged as a standalone story, however, it fails to leave a strong impression. Emi is a charming, if overly chatty, heroine, but the events and personalities that surround her feel very superficial. There's a lack of gravity and urgency to the game, which is weird considering its apocalyptic stakes. In general, things are played for laughs. 

This is fine, for a while. Emi's early meta commentary about video game constructs is quite entertaining. "Lotta air vents in this place," she muses, as she sneaks around QoTech undetected. But after several hours, the sarcastic, ironic observations wear thin. Even when the game dares to get deathly serious, as it does about two-thirds in, it quickly buries any trauma and forges ahead undeterred. It's a bit too flippant for its own good.

Yars Rising takes its gameplay systems more seriously, although the results are just as mixed. A true Metroidvania, the game asks its player to explore an expanding, interconnected map, noting roadblocks and gated-off sections along the way, and then revisiting those restricted zones once armed with new abilities. When it focuses on this backtracking cycle and the other tent poles of the sub-genre — platforming and run-and-gun action — it gets on fairly well. The controls are snappy and responsive, as you'd expect from a WayForward production; it's quick and easy to move around each room; and the fighting is shallow but satisfying.

Regrettably, the game often gets in its own way, focusing too intently on less interesting mechanics, including stealth and hacking. The stealth segments aren't objectionable really, just perfunctory. They don't require much foresight, planning, or mental energy. The hacking gameplay, which comes in the form of dozens of mini-games based on the original Yars' Revenge, is a lovely idea in theory but a nuisance in practice. The games aren't that fun and end up stalling your momentum.

It's completely understandable that WayForward wanted a way to bridge the gameplay gap between the 2600 game and this ninth-gen Metroidvania, but here's the thing: they already did so without the mini-games. Each of Emi's power-ups is based either on a mechanic from Yars' Revenge or flavored with an insectoid theme, including the Zorlon shot, which grants her projectile attacks; the Trionic Nibble, which empowers her to dissolve energy barriers; and the Grasshopper Legs, which allows her to leap gracefully off walls.

If you enter the pause menu, you'll find yet another call-back to 1982, although this one is far more ornamental: a block puzzle in the pixelated shape of the original Yar sprite. It's here where you'll activate all your perks, or "Biohacks" in the game's parlance. There are 45 of these spread throughout Emi's world, each one off the beaten path and locked behind a hacking challenge. While the hacking process can, again, prove tedious, the act of hunting down these secrets is perhaps the most rewarding part of the game. Some grant Emi boons in combat, some boost her health, and some give her a leg up inside future hacking mini-games. Hunger.exe, for example, allows Emi's Yar to eat away barriers more quickly.

Even the act of triggering the perks is a game in itself, since the Yar sprite functions similarly to the attache case in Resident Evil 4. The most useful Biohacks are larger or more oddly-shaped, so you'll have to rotate them (and leave out others) to make the puzzle fit. It's a fun little addition.

Even without the offensive and defensive enhancements activated by Biohacks, you should be able to topple the campaign without much trouble. This is an easy game — too easy, in fact — with straightforward platforming, predictable enemy engagements, and pushover boss battles. There is a taxing stretch toward the end where Emi must navigate a maze filled with lasers and crushing walls, but this is very much the exception to the rule.

Once you beat the game, which should take between seven and nine hours depending on how much backtracking you do, you'll unlock Professional Mode, which thankfully ups the difficulty level. You can also play any of the hacking mini-game you unlocked from the main menu, and shoot for high scores. Overall, Yars Rising has a decent amount of content.

It also has decent art direction and music. Yars Rising isn't the most luxurious-looking game, but its bright Saturday morning cartoon aesthetic works fairly well. Many of the corridors and rooms are samey, and a few backgrounds are unconvincing, but it's generally fine. As for the playlist, it's absolutely huge, with 16 different composers involved. As you'd expect, some songs are better than others. The disco-funky "So Alive", from WayForward mainstay Megan McDuffee, is probably the highlight.

As for performance, Yars Rising is remarkably reliable, with one unexpected twist. It has lots of loading screens. The screens don't last long — only a few seconds each — but they're absolutely everywhere, at least on Switch. It gets old fast. 

Turning an old-school single-screen shooter starring a pixelated fly into a modern Metroidvania with a Gen Z hacker might seem odd, but it's less of a stretch than you'd think. The original Yars' Revenge had an unusually deep narrative for its time, after all, and WayForward has found a way to expand upon it in an organic way. Unfortunately, the final product doesn't do much to elevate the Yars franchise, due to an excessively flippant tone, an over-reliance on unsatisfying stealth and hacking mechanics, and generally straightforward, unsurprising gameplay. The controls are solid, the power-ups are interesting, and the exploration is rewarding, but that's not quite enough to save the game from mediocrity.

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