Yars Rising

Pure NintendoJemma Casson

8.5/10

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

Gamers HeroesCasey Scheld

85/100

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

GamingBoltMatthew Carmosino

8/10

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.

SiliconeraJenni Lada

8/10

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.

Capsule ComputersTravis Bruno

8/10

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.

Gaming NexusJoseph Moorer

8/10

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.

Steam Deck HQNoah Kupetsky

8/10

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!

GameLusterTim Jewett

8/10

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.

Digital TrendsGiovanni Colantonio

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

Impulse GamerDagmara

Metroidvania still remains a prominent force in the gaming industry. This year alone, a few of the genre’s representatives have been released, and they made a

WayTooManyGamesAaron Price

6/10

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...

PC GamerAlexander Chatziioannou

43/100

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