Yars Rising Review

Yars is a game series that has been around since 1982, with the first title, Yars’ Revenge, released on the Atari 2600. I had the opportunity to check out the remake of Yars: Recharged in 2022, so I am familiar with the base game. However, Yars Rising isn’t another remake of the original game; instead, you are playing as Emi “Yar” Kimura. She is a programmer who works for QoTech in Syzygy City. The company name is similar to Qotile, who is the enemy in the Atari game. This isn’t her only job; she gets a call after her shift from Malorie “Mal” Foster, who is asking her how the mission is going. Her first mission is to sneak into the server room, install the dongle, and get out undetected.

We control Emi as she sneaks through the rooms of the QoTech building to avoid the guards working there, hacking consoles to open doors in your way. Yars Rising plays like a 2D action platformer, with sections where you jump, run, crawl, sneak, and shoot the enemy. As you progress, Emi, also known as Yar, gains power, enabling you to retrace your steps and access previously inaccessible areas, akin to a Metroidvania title.

Emi isn’t on her own during her mission; she has a whole team that is helping her out. Anthony “Kitbash” Ocha will teach you how to hack the systems in QoTech, as it will get you through certain locked doors blocking areas from you. Hacking involves playing a mini-game where your goal is to keep your Yar (that looks like an anthropomorphic fly) safe until you can fire the Z-Cannon at the Qotile. Should the hacking challenge prove too challenging for you, you can activate the invincible hack mode by pressing the menu button. This will ensure that Emi's Yar can't be destroyed. Move your craft — your Yar — close to the target and fire the cannon, but make sure you move your craft out of the way so it doesn’t get hit by the cannon shot. There are a lot of variations with these hacking games, so it never feels repetitive, no matter how many times you play them. Early in the game, one of the first consoles you hack will rewrite your DNA, giving you a power-up called the Zorlon Shot. This is a physiological augment that lets you shoot a blast of energy from your hands, whether you are running, ducking, jumping, or standing.

While exploring the facility, your teammate, Kyan “Refresh” Winters, calls to tell you about the Sync Stations that you find placed around the complex. These are big yellow terminals that the QoTech employees use for ordering snacks, recharging devices, and clocking in, but this is how you will be able to save your progress and will also replenish all of your health at the same time. If you fall in battle or during your mission, the spot that you saved most recently will be where you restart. It is also handy to revisit this location, as you can easily recover your health instead of trying to collect red health shards from defeated enemies or canisters that you destroy.

You get map data sent to your cell phone that shows you all the areas you have visited before. Your hacker friend, Kitbash, will drop a beacon to highlight areas you should visit next. On your travels, you can acquire multiple biohacks, but space is limited, so you need to be strategic with the ones you equip. The first one you learn is Ladybug Charm, which makes enemies drop one extra heart shard when they are defeated. These have you placing blocks onto a pixel Yar image, these are like Tetris pieces where you try to fit as many as possible without any gaps. Each biohack you get is a different shape and size, so you will want to move them around to maximise the space you have available.

The story in Yars Rising is super interesting and has a fantastic sense of humour. The further you progress, the deeper the story gets, and the crazier the sci-fi mystery becomes. We learn about Emi’s personal connection to a distant alien race as she unlocks unimaginable powers to help her figure out what the QoTech company is up to and what they are trying to hide. There’s a reason why she has a tattoo of a Yar on her arm! What exactly is QoTech, and who hired you to infect their systems?

The visuals in Yars Rising look great, and I love the colour palette that they use! The characters have a wonderful design, and each has their own unique look and personality. The animation of the characters during cutscenes allows them to move and not remain static. It looks like they are breathing and swaying, but their mouth and lips don’t move when they talk. Though this didn’t bother me much as the voice acting was well done. There is a large variety of upbeat songs that play during your adventure that feel like they fit Emi’s personality very well. One of the augments that you can equip will show the song name and the artist on the screen when the music changes.

One of my favourite things was the boss battles that you fight in. The first "Severe Threat" I faced was against a large robot called the Burning Sentinel. This fight was challenging as you had to use your trionic nibble ability to attack its shield, once it's disabled, attack it with your Zorlon Shot. Once the sentinel is damaged enough, you also need to use everything that you have learned about hacking to get into the console that is in the room with you and the enemy to win the battle. If you fail your hack attempt you will need to face off against the sentinel again and defeat its final form until it is smoking and you can hack to the terminal. If you run out of health, you return to the save point, and you will need to restart the battle once again. It was challenging, but not in an unfair way. It was a very satisfying feeling when you got everything to work together seamlessly.

The controls in Yars Rising felt very tight and responsive, no matter the task I was trying to complete. Crawling through air vents, jumping between platforms, or using Emi’s powers to defeat an enemy or dismantle a barrier worked great. In the beginning, the game recommends playing with a controller, and I can’t imagine trying to play with a keyboard and mouse. Especially since the shoulder buttons are used on the controller to move Emi around stealthily to avoid enemy encounters. It would be very difficult to try and coordinate all the actions without a gamepad.

Developer WayForward has done a great job incorporating a game released 40 years ago into a brand-new title that feels modern and fresh. I appreciate the clever use of the original Yars title to breach the systems of this shady QoTile company. The characters are fun, the story is intriguing, and the platforming elements are challenging and fun to play. This is a fantastic title that I think anyone who loves 2D platformers, cool sci-fi stories, and throwbacks to retro titles should try out!