Yars Rising Reviews

I have a serious love for Metroidvania games, but the biggest issue with talking about them is the fact there are just simply so many. Anyone you talk to could have played 100 different Metroidvanias, and still have no mutual games with you. Especially with the hype behind games like Hollow Knight: Silksong, or the love for Metroid Dread, it’s hard to not be too critical of other games in the genre. Which brings us to Yars Rising, the Metroidvania on show today, which takes a whole lot of n...

“Yars Rising boldly takes an Atari 2600 classic into the future with ingenious results.”

Yars Rising creatively blends retro Atari gameplay with platforming. I love the way the game controls and plays, and the artful presentation is brimming with color and life, but its persistent load screens and a lack of fast travel are annoying.

Yars Rising is an action platformer for the Nintendo Switch. It comes from those crafty folk at WayForward, renowned for the terrific Shantae series, among othe

From the renowned development studio WayForward Technologies, Inc. (Shantae, River City Girls, Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp) comes Yars Rising, a 2D action adventure exploration of one of Atari’s richest, and best known classic titles. Switch version reviewed. Review copy provided by company for testing purposes.

Yars Rising is a creative take on a classic that not only incorporates it into the game but expands upon it with an unexpected genre alongside a charming main character and solid storyline.

This metroidvania based on an Atari classic feels dated, but not for the reasons you'd expect.

Yars: Rising is an ambitious spiritual sequel to Yars' Revenge, and will give you a challenge; Wayforward and Atari worked their magic all through this one. Not so much in enemy variation, but Emi keeps the combat exciting and fun, and the hacks are that old Atari 2600 difficulty. Samus and Megaman would be proud. You will be too.

Yars Rising is a great metroidvania that plays it very safe, but still worth investing your time into. And it is perfect on the Steam Deck!

I had a really good time playing Yars Rising and importantly, it didn’t break the time bank. Having cruised through the main game in less than 10 hours, I managed to get over 80% of the collectibles while finishing the game in time for the embargo. Furthermore, if the game doesn’t feel hard enough for you, on game completion you unlock Professional mode giving a higher level of difficulty.

Taking elements from the best MetroidVanias, retro shooters, and anime series, Yars Rising delivers a truly immersive experience with mass appeal.

Yars Rising is 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 Rising is 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.

It may be obvious but I love games that suit my very specific tastes and Yars Rising is one such game that I can't get enough of.

I’ve gone on too long at this point, but I kind of want to just keep gushing! Yars Rising looks like a bunch of wacky stuff that shouldn’t work. Yet when it comes together it’s a blast for nearly its entire runtime. It’s WayForward at its most self-indulgent, but that turns out to be a great gaming experience that extends into a sweet, clever, little love letter to Atari’s classic library in a way that feels fresh and unique. The way Yars' Revenge, as the core of this concept, is woven throughout what from the outside seems like a totally unrelated kind of game is a constant source of dopamine. And while the stealth is kind of a dud, the action and exploration on the Metroidvania side is top notch, especially with all the neat and unusual powers you get to play with. Yars Rising is a big surprise, and one of the most memorable games I’ve played in 2024.

Despite being a sincere love letter to Atari and retro gaming in general, Yars Rising is more of a warning of blind nostalgia's follies than an affirmation of it. It’s also a reminder of why hacking minigames are just that: minigames. These repurposed Atari titles were better in small doses, and should arguably never have been turned into an entire title's gameplay loop. Their high frequency and tedious difficulty just made Yars Rising a chore to play through. It’s far from the worst game...

A neat anime-style metroidvania with some well-realised ideas, Yars Rising is a smart homage to an '80s Atari arcade classic, and a perfectly fine way to while away a good few hours.

Yars Rising keeps the spirit of its inspiration alive through the robust old-school challenges of a hacking game, but as a 2D Metroidvania it all falls a bit flat. Great controls, fun ability progression, and a killer soundtrack can't elevate the game past the limitations of its straightforward level design.

Resurrecting the Yars franchise in a new format but with loving nods to the original game and other Atari works, Yars Rising is full of charm, challenge, and fun idea. The only thing that lets it down is that the ending is too abrupt, but that just makes me hope for a sequel.