Hack The Planet: A Yars Rising Review

By Manuel

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Atari VCS, PC

There have been a lot of Atari reboots in recent years, some better than others, and today we're going to be looking at yet another. This isn't a game from the Recharged series though, it's something totally new and different. Yars Rising is a Metroidvania game developed by WayForward, that's now available on all major platforms. How it ties into the greater Yar's universe, or Atari itself in general, is something we're going to look at in this review. Speaking of which, we're going to be examining the Nintendo Switch version here, but I'm sure it'll be a representation of what one can expect from the other versions as well. There's a lot to cover in this one, so let's dive right in!

Yars Rising is a follow-up to the classic Atari 2600 game, Yar's Revenge. I'm willing to bet most modern gamers aren't too familiar with it, but I've played through a retro collection or two over the years. How the two games tie together is something that I think we'll get out of the way first. The plot of 1982's Yar's Revenge centered around a fly-like alien species known as the Yar who used an incomplete weapon known as the Zorlon Cannon to take out an invading alien species known as the Qotile. The titular "revenge" was due to the Qotile already taking out one of the home planets, the creatively-named Planet IV. Though it might not sound like much today, it was a surprisingly complex plot for its time, and was later expanded on in a remake in 2001, and then a release in the Recharged series in 2022. The next obvious questions have to be: What is Yars Rising? Is it a remake? A sequel? A prequel? The answer is... yes... but it's surprisingly complicated. I'll get to the plot in Yars Rising in just a bit, but one can easily jump into the game without knowing anything I just said, but there are plenty of references and Easter eggs present for those who do. You're welcome in advance for the brief history lesson.

Besides losing the possessive tense found in the original's title, Yars Rising put you into the role of Emi Kimura, a hacker who uses the handle "Yar". She is hired by a group of hackers to infiltrate the headquarters of QoTech Corporation and plant a USB device on one of their important computers. QoTech being a big corporation is definitely evil, and this hack is supposed to expose all of their nefarious deeds. The motives behind the group that hired Emi aren't very clear early on, but the other hackers she's in contact with, Mal, Kitbash, and Refresh, act as a way to deliver the plot within the first half of the game. Unfortunately for Emi, her infiltration goes south rather quickly, and she's captured by her supervisor, Mrs. Davidson. She's able to escape thanks to several conveniently placed air vents, and eventually uncovers QoTech's secrets first-hand as she attempts to leave the building. QoTech is not only involved in some rather strange experimentations, but their CEO Phillip Ong may be involved in a certain alien invasion that dominates the second half of the game. The plot is rather deep in its own right, and that's surprising considering the source material WayForward had to work with. There are also plenty of retro Atari references that make Yars Rising a perfect love letter to a period in gaming that most people today overlook. I probably would've liked the game a bit more if there were more shooter elements worked directly into the plot, but I can't really fault what's here. This isn't Shakespeare levels of writing by any means, but it is clever, funny, and self-referential enough that it'll most likely get you through the entire game.

There's no denying that Yars Rising is a Metroidvania-style adventure, but it's a rather simplistic take on the genre. The game's map doesn't offer a lot of deviation, and areas you can and can't go are more often than not clearly marked on the map at all times. More areas are opened up to you as you gain more skills, but backtracking to previously inaccessible areas doesn't always offer the biggest rewards. We'll get back to that last point in a bit, but another knock against the game's layout has to be the repetitive environments that make up the world. There are only two real areas within the game, the QoTech Building, and the Streets of SyZyGy City. There are plenty of sub-areas within these two greater zones, but the game is a bit smaller in scope than you probably think it will be when you start it up. Stranger still is the fact that you never really explore much of the QoTech building itself, and simply jump around from one wing of it to another via a system of elevators. I guess a complicated map might've bogged down things a bit much, but I can't help but feel that things went a bit too much in the other direction. I have to admit that it would've been hard to work in environments beyond the cold, drab city-based ones, but that's just one aspect of the game that I feel needed a bit more work in order to reach its potential.

Emi, or should I say Yar, can only run, jump, and crawl initially. She can also sneak around, but the point is that she's not exactly armed to the teeth early on. Through the hacking of various QoTech consoles, Emi (I just can't do the Yar thing after all.) eventually gains several upgrades known as Combat Augments and Biohacks. Combat Augments are permanent skills and attacks that are needed in order to progress in the game. These include the Zorlon Shot, which is Emi's main attack, the Trionic Missile, which are stronger weapons that are mainly used to destroy doors, the Firefly Drone, which activates platforms that allow Emi to reach new areas, and more. Biohacks are upgrades to Emi's other skills and abilities, and often do things like increase her health counter, her missile capacity, allow her to crawl or jump faster, or even change up how the hacking minigames are played. Though Combat Augments are always on by default, Biohacks have to be placed onto a Tetris-like grid shaped like a classic Yar in order to be active. There are no easy ways to clear a completely filled Biohack board, or any way to create multiples that you can quickly shift between, so I eventually found an arrangement I liked and stuck to it. I prefer direct upgrades like those that allow for stronger attacks and stat boosts, so any other Biohack I found was pretty much useless to me. This was the problem with the exploration thing I mentioned earlier, as most optional paths simply lead to more Biohacks. It's a neat system to play around with, and I don't want to make it sound like it's broken or anything like that, but a few tweaks here and there would've made it perfect.

Yar's Revenge was a single screen shooter that saw your Yar nibble away at a shield until it was left open for your Zorlon Cannon to take out. It was a very simple game that also very addicting. Yars Rising does feature that original game in a way, as well as other variants inspired by it, but they take on a far different form. I've mentioned hacking a few times up to this point, and all hacks in the game are done by way of playing a retro-styled minigame, usually referencing Yar's Revenge. These hacks start out simple at first, but get very intense by the end. They don't all simply reference Yar's Revenge either. Some hacking minigames had references to Warlords, Space Invaders, and even Missile Command, just to name a few that I recognized. They're all unique in their own way, even if some felt a bit unfair at times. Failing a hack causes real damage to Emi, and failing too many times can result in a game over. A game over means you go back to your last save point (Oh, and said save points are modeled after Computer Space cabinets!), and that can set you back quite a bit if you're not careful. This one aspect makes the harder hacks a chore, but thankfully there is a workaround if you're having trouble. If you fail a hack too many times the game allows you to turn on an invincible mode. This was great and all, but I couldn't help but feel that it wouldn't be needed if some of the minigames themselves felt less cheap. Gripes and often pointless rewards aside, I will admit that these hacking minigames were some of my favorite parts of the game as a whole. I actually found myself wishing there were more of them, but I also can totally understand it if others found them to be a bit too archaic to be entertaining.

Combat is a core part of Yars Rising, and it's the place where I think the game is most unbalanced. I'm sure AVGN would have a lovely time with this one, as most of the game's enemies either fly at you from a sharp angle, or are fast and low to the ground. Emi can fire while standing, crouching, or jumping, but can only fire straight ahead. This means that there will be times when hitting an enemy coming at you from an angle is all but impossible. There is also the threat of knockback, or an attack stalling a jump, and Yars Rising does feature pits that take off a huge chunk of your life if you fall into them. It doesn't help that the controls always felt a bit off, and getting Emi to do what you want her to do could sometimes be an impossible task. It's not a game-breaking issue, but things like jumping to grab ledges, or hiding in doorways, feel very hit or miss. Bosses offer a respite from the wonkiness of normal combat, but they're too few and far between to really change things up all that much. Also, there's not only combat sections to worry about, but stealth ones as well. These annoyed me the most as the enemies you're usually hiding from, larger humanoid robots, seem like they should be able to be taken out with your standard weapons. That's not the worst of it either. Even though these stealth sections are failed instantly if you're caught, they're so short that they'll probably be over before you realize it. Most stealth sections involve sneaking past one or two robots, and then getting back to the normal game. Simply put, these sections almost feel pointless. I do realize that adding in too much stealth would bring up its own problems, but its inclusion here seems like an afterthought. I guess the only other things left that are worth mentioning is that fact that Emi can't swim, but the humorous asides that are brought up because of that were a delight.

Despite its flaws, I think Yars Rising is a great game overall. The controls are a little clunky, the combat's not too smooth, and there's a few other issues that I'll get to in just a bit. In spite of all that, the game is fun. I know that's a cop out throwing in "fun" so simply, but that's what it is. There's a certain charm to Yars Rising that keeps one invested, and its quick-moving nature makes the odd gameplay quirk here and there less noticeable. It also tackles difficulty rather well, and there weren't any parts of the game that I felt were totally unfair. Well, I guess there were a few hacking minigames that had me thinking that, but that's what the invincibility is for. The story is strong, Emi can be entertaining if you don't mind the constant banter, and there's that WayForward vibe to everything that makes me wonder if this is the start of a new franchise. It could definitely have used a bit of polish, but most of my complaints were mentioned simply for the sake of being thorough.

Though I had a few reservations regarding gameplay, I have no such hold-ups when it comes to the visuals. Yars Rising isn't going to push the hardware on any of the platforms that it's on, but it's a great looking game nonetheless. The characters and enemies are large and detailed, and the boss monsters are all unique too. There are the issues regarding the repetitive nature of the game's map, but I have to say that what is here looks amazing. I was impressed the first time I ventured out into the rainy city night, and I guess wanting more of a game isn't necessarily a bad thing. I should also mention now that I didn't experience a single performance issue during my time with the game, and that's always an important note to make when playing a multi-platform release on the Nintendo Switch. Then there's the little things that give everything added dimensions. The menus have a cool neon vaporwave aesthetic, the hacking minigames have a HUD that resembles a computer that is both retro and modern, and the cutscenes are told using comic book panels. That last bit is most intriguing to me, as it's my understanding that there's also a comic book adaptation of the game that launched alongside it. I want to check that out one day, and it's also a callback to the comic book that came with the original Yar's Revenge. There's very little complain about on the visuals front, and I'm glad that I'm finally getting to aspects of the game that I can praise.

I don't think I'm over-exaggerating one bit when I say that WayForward really put a lot of work into Yars Rising's soundtrack. It features music from artists like Megan McDuffee, Moe Shop, YUC'e, TORIENA, and many more. The music is all great, and there's a valiant effort to integrate the soundtrack into the game fully. There's even a Biohack that shows you the current song that's playing as it starts up. You may think I'm leading into a negative here, but I have very little to say about the game's music that isn't glowing praise. Everything has a City Pop feel to it, but with a touch of modernity that keeps it feeling original. Besides the integration I mentioned earlier, there's also a lot of effort put into making the music to sound like a cohesive unit, rather than dozens of individual tracks from an equally large number of individual artists. Okay... here comes the negative. Even though I totally love the music, I couldn't help but feel that a lot of it seemed out of place. Yars Rising isn't a rhythm game, or a game that gives off any vibes other than a fast-moving Metroidvania, but the music all sounds like it's been taken from a club DJ's mix tape. I'm not sure if any of the music was actually created specifically for this game, but it really didn't ever seem that way. Running through levels while hearing retro-sounding pop songs that had vocals to them was odd enough, but then having the track then shift to something that sounds like it belongs in an industrial rave was even stranger. The music is actually rather low in the mix too, and it took a bit of messing around in the options to make it clearly audible in the first place. This is by no means a bad collection of music, but I don't know if it really fits this game. I don't think any game's soundtrack has left me as conflicted as this one does, but that's not the only thing I have to say about the game's sound.

That last part was me moving onto discussing voice acting, and thankfully I have pretty much only positives to say in that regard. Yars Rising features a cast of voice actors that are sure to be well-known to fans of anime, or even of other WayForward titles. Jenny Yokobori does a perfect job as Emi, and her comic timing and line delivery make the near-constant quips anything but annoying. Speaking of which, you can actually turn off Emi's random dialogue if you so desire in the options menu. Why anyone would want to do that is beyond me, but I guess I can't fault the game for thinking of everyone. Faye Mata and Christina Vee also do a great job as Mal and Mrs. Davidson respectively, and even lesser-heard characters like Refresh and Phillip Ong are given depth through the performances of their voice actors. This is a title that takes full advantage of its wonderful cast, and I guess the only negative I can think of is that just about every line is delivered in a tongue-in-cheek way. I personally found the humor to be spot on, but I also know that the "take-nothing-serious" vibe can be off-putting to some. There's also no other dub track in the game, but I don't think that was really to be expected here. I was never going to rate the sound poorly due to the issues I had with the music I mentioned above, but I'm glad that the voice acting rose up to give me yet more to speak highly of.

Yars Rising is a decently lengthy game, and it'll take most players about 6-9 hours to beat it the first time. It's not really the most replayable game out there, but there are different ways to tackle the game if you're looking for that sort of thing. Playing with Biohacks really can change up how the game plays, and I'm of the mind that the experience is more than worth its current $29.99 price tag. It may not be as deep as something like a full-fledged RPG, but the production values make this one of the better games I've played from WayForward's catalog. Main game aside, there's also Emi's Hacklist to enjoy. This mode collects all the hacking minigames found throughout the core game, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I spent more time playing these after the fact than you'd probably think. I guess asking for an update to that part of the game might be asking for too much, but high scores and additional hacks would be great things to consider as far as future updates go. That really is the only "extra" on offer, but not every game needs to be a 100 hour commitment.

Though I managed to find a couple of things to complain about here and there, I think it's rather obvious that I give Yars Rising the biggest of recommendations. It may be a bit on the clunkier side at times, but it honestly is one of the biggest surprises of this year. It's sure to be a treat for fans of retro Atari games, Metroidvanias, or even just of WayForward itself. This game somehow manages to honor its simplistic roots, and still create an entire mythos around them that can be further explored in an entire franchise. There's even that comic book I mentioned earlier that I really want to get my hands on. I'll just cut to the chase now: Pick this up on whatever platform you can, and thank me later. See you in the next one!

Check Out Yars Rising on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/yars-rising-switch/

---

​Story: A+
Gameplay: A-
Graphics: A
Music/Sound: A-
Value: A

Overall: A

Pros:
+ An excellent reimagining of the Yar's Revenge lore.
+ The story and characters are fun and endearing, and there are plenty of references to classic Atari.
+ A well-balanced Metroidvania that is fast-moving and full of plenty of secrets to find.
+ The graphics and visual style are amazing, with the comic book style cutscenes deserving a special mention.
+ Even though I have some issues regarding how well the music actually fits the game, I must admit that the soundtrack features several great City Pop-inspired tunes.
+ The hack minigames were a personal favorite, and getting to play them outside of the main game is a nice addition.
+ Emi herself is one of the best reasons to play the game in my opinion. Here's hoping we get a sequel.

+/- There's a comic book to enjoy too! I hope that this means we get a whole series down the line!

Cons:
- Combat, stealth, and the control scheme overall are a bit clunky.
- Not being able to change Biohacks easily means that most people won't bother with experimentation.
- The game's soundtrack is awesome, but I think it feels out of place with the actual game.
- Only being able to essentially travel through the QoTech Building and SyZyGy City felt limiting.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

---

Who get's ready like this?!?!