This sort reminds me of the Arcade World of Lego Dimensions. If you never played it, its basically a history tour of Midway arcade titles. The main section is what you'd expect from a 'Lego Game', and plays nothing like the arcade titles, BUT to progress you rebuild the cabinets to play some of the arcade classics. Only you here you only play just one game - and Dimensions had the whole games fully emulated and playable. QOTD; I mean, "Alone in the Dark: Illumination" is a thing that exists, no matter how hard I want to pretend it doesn't. I have a soft spot for the Xbox 360 one (aka "Inferno") for being quite risky and daring in its gameplay, but "Illumination" is basically antithesis of AITD. Heck, I'd rather have 'AITD The Cute'emUp' instead. The new one seems amazing, thanfully.
I've really been enjoying this - but totally agree it's the wrong license attached to the game. I've just written similar in an Amazon review - but this feels more like a reinvention of Impossible Mission.
I had fun with this game! About to start a Pro Mode playthrough, and makes me interested in trying the 82 game if its available at my arcade. I will say the story is the biggest letdown as it was super predictable, and the actions were kinda stiff, but I enjoyed it nonetheless
Yars' Revenge isn't an actual arcade game. It was a rework of concepts from an existing arcade game called Star Castle. The original 2600 Yars' Revenge is available on the Atari 50 collection that you can get on just about anything it seems, as well as most other digital Atari compilations. Pro tip: If you do play Yars' Revenge for yourself, do yourself a favor and read scans of the manual (and the comic book, if you can) and experiment with the gameplay variations laid out in the manual to get the most out of the game. I had been playing on just the default setting for years until I thought to properly read the manual just a few days ago. And now I actually understand why it's on so many people's top 10 lists for Atari 2600 games. :)
I have played Yars Revenge on the Atari 2600 back then and have Yars Recharged (Which my score in there is "ImaFnTrex") But seeing we are now playing as a human like character really threw me off on the feeling of Yars (Only in the mini-games/hacking PC areas feels like Yars)
I think people just want to 'bomb' anything that 'ruins their childhood' this game is really good. I know this is probably why centipede died, because they reinvented it, however I've played the new games and loved them too. People just need to stop complaining.
My childhood was not ruined. Both new and old games can exist at the same time, and that's fine. Now, why not address any of the actual complaints I brought up? I'm actually really happy that you're enjoying it. I went in ready to like it, as both a fan of Yars and Metroidvania-style action games. It just under-delivers on both of those things.
As a long time fan of Yar's, Metroid, and rainbow lasers, I feel both insulted and seen at the exact same time. Is this how NBA 2K fans feel all the time?
Atari tried the high fantasy anime reinvention before back in 2011. Although that one was still an arcade shooter, whatever misgivings it had. I like that one's art direction a bit more as well. QOTD, first thing that spang to mind was Yoshi's Island DS. FWTW.
I wonder if they took some inspiration premise-wise from the Yars Revenge reboot from 2011, which was only on PC and Xbox360 in which you played a lady from the alien Yars-race breaking out of her brainwashing by the Quotiles and fighting them. The hacking mini-games seems to be a way to include and pay homage to the old game-play style, which they probably felt was too small for a full game-release these days. A shame that it doesn't seem to merge well with the general premise of the rest of the game, and that most of it seems pretty middle of the road. From the looks of things, the Asteroids reboot looks like a way more interesting take on bringing back their old games with a more modern concept. Shame, bug-girl Metroidvania sounded like a cool concept.
The thing about this is... why Yar's Revenge if you're gonna make up a new story? Wasn't one YR's biggest innovations that it had fleshed-out lore? If they were gonna go this route, they should have made it look like a new IP, then had the Yar tie-in be a twist ending that's slowly hinted at across the story. And for the QotD, for games I've played anyway, probably Yu-Gi-Oh Decade Duels for PS3/360. Most YGO games before this point were RPG-lite or had some adventure/progression elements as you unlocked better cards and tougher opponents as you played, but Decade Duels has one dinky little tournament mode with opponents way too tough to take on with your starting cards... but you can better card packs or decks with real money. It was gross, and was the first time I really felt cheated by a game I bought
Making Yars Revenge as a Platformer is like if they took the WWE wrestlers and put them in a Demolition Derby game. Who would do such a thing?! 😉😂🤣 If you know, you know. But anyways, yeah, maybe instead they could have called it Atari Rising, and then along with Missile Command and Centipedes, they could have one involving Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Breakout, etc etc etc. Then would be no reason to have to repeat mini games. As for the question, think I'll go with Zelda 2. To be fair to it, the first game seems like it must have been ground breaking at it's time, would have been hard to follow up on, but I'm sure there was a reason Link to the Past went back to the same formula as the first.
I feel like C- is way too generous given the description, especially considering the price. The animations are just soo stiff and awkward too. I've downvoted several 20$ metroidvanias on steam that are likely far better than this, and this is 30$...
It's because what they turned the game into is pretty bland and boring, and the mini-games only scratch the surface of what they could have done. If you're going to have that many devices to hack, then ideally you would want more variety in the hacking mini-game. That's why it probably would have worked better if the hacking mini-games were based on a series of Atari games, not just Yars Revenge. Also, I explain all of this in the actual review.
Yeah, I've wishlisted it, but I probably will wait for a sale. I'm sure it's a competent metroidvania game, but it seems to be the only kind of game Wayforward wants to make. It's like a re-skinned Shantae game every single time. I would have preferred Inti-Creates got their hands on Yar's. At least they do something different for their search/action games. Blaster Master Zero is nothing like Yohane the Parhelion, or Gunvolt, or Curse of the Moon, etc.
I think people forget that Wayforward are a *deeply* inconsistent studio. For every Mummy Demastered, Shantae, Advance Wars 1+2 and River City Girls, they have a Silent Hill: Book of Memories, Trollhunters: Defenders of Arcadia, Bakugan: Champions of Vestoria and Contra: Operation Galuga. I'm definitely still interested in this game, but I unfortunately enjoy the anime BS angle 😅
The 2009 game isn't really necessary, as this is a review and not not a comprehensive history of the franchise. I could be wrong, but I think I referenced it in my Yars: Recharged review. For what it's worth, I was all ready to go with the genre shift. I'm one of the few critics who liked that R-Type turn-based tactical RPG from a bunch of years ago, so I'm not extra protective of the genre. I can get over a jarring shift. The issue here is that they didn't really do anything interesting with the genre they shifted to. This is a very middling Metroidvania game, and without the Yars name, nobody would give it a second glance. It's generic and uneventful, and there are just so many better examples of this genre out there. Hell, the developer of this game has made at least a half dozen better Metroidvania games than this, so people should buy one of those instead. They are a hell of a lot cheaper and better.
You might have to raise your voice over the overwhelmingly positive reviews for this game; if you want a pixelated shooter retro style, there are plenty low quality titles out there.
"Overwhelming positive reviews"? Where?? When I look around at critics, the reaction seems pretty mixed, with most agreeing with my criticisms. I posted this review right when the embargo lifted, so I had no idea how others would react to this game. I'm not looking for a low-quality pixelated shooter, that's the last thing I want. I got enough "low-quality" from this disappointing game.
> "I'm mad that this game is so different from original Yars Revenge gameplay!!!" > "There are WAY TOO many Yars Revenge style gameplay mini games!!!" uhhhh pick one? your complaints in this review seem contradicting.
First, I would be totally fine with the game being different from the original or any other Yars game. My complaint is not that it shifted genres, I actually like that idea. My issue is that what they turned it into is pretty bland and generic. Even compared to WayForwards other Metroidvania games, this one is pretty lame. I would hope that a game as inventive as Yars' Revenge would be turned into a Metroidvania that tried something new and different, similar to the original. Second, my complaint about the hacking game is that the Yars' Revenge mini-game is too repetitive and has a hard time sustaining itself through an entire game. That's why I suggested maybe make this into an Atari game, where they could pull from more classic games for the hacking. That way there would be a little more variety. Third, when you make up quotes I didn't say and reword what I did say into very simplistic criticisms, of course it will seem contradictory. But those weren't my complaints. I hope this clears things up for you.
I can commend WAY FORWARD for actually making this silly mash-up of YAR’s REVENGE. Perhaps, You are being toooo harsh on this title. Since YARS RECHARGED already exists, why do you think WAY FORWARD should replicate the same retro concept in a different way? After all the original 2600 game was a variant on STAR CASTLE by Cinematronics. FUN FACT, ATARI was working on a port of STAR CASTLE but the deal fell through, so YARS REVENGE was made instead.
I'm all for radically changing the Yars formula, and even going with a completely different genre. Just make sure the game you turn Yars into is FUN. Even as a Metroidvania, this game is bland and forgettable. There's not much original or unique here, and WayForward has made much, much, MUCH better games in this genre before. It's a bad Metroidvania game and an even worse Yars experience.
WayForward are a great platformer developer. It's not exactly their fault that this IP is being mismanaged. If Atari knew anything about their own IPs, they'd know this game shouldn't be "Yars" but should've been a Major Havoc game. FUN FACT: I pitched them on a Major Havoc 2.5D MetroidVania almost 2 years ago. I mean, a Major Havoc Metroidvania from the creator of Strider 2014 sounds pretty good to me... but I'm biased. 😂
It looks amateurish in terms of execution and is conceptually "way off" - I just don't see the appeal of this at all. Some of the recent games pushed through the latest incarnation of Atari have been middling to piss poor, with odd exceptions. Without the Atari label attached to these games, they would barely register if simply released on Steam. If there were any justice in this world and I had a magic wand, I would have placed Jeff Minter as CEO of Atari in the hope that he would fully understand and respect the heritage of the name and not use it as what could be viewed as merely a symbol to copy & paste onto promotional material when grubbing for nostalgia dollars.
The problem is the vast majority of Atari game originals were released so long ago, it's hard to flesh them out for modern times without radically adding to or altering the original premise.
I feel like the Recharged series has done a good job of walking that line. While not all of them are good, most have found a way to take what was good about the original and flesh it out with power-ups, challenge levels and more. They aren't trying to turn the simple arcade games into epic adventures, but keeping them bite-sized and simple. That said, as Atari tries to go beyond the Recharged series, they are bound to run into problems like this. In order to flesh out some of those 40-year-old games, they may end up turning them into something completely different and unrecognizable. At least NeoSprint and Haunted House managed to capture what was good about original versions.
I like how we're all kinda flummoxed by this thing.
This sort reminds me of the Arcade World of Lego Dimensions. If you never played it, its basically a history tour of Midway arcade titles. The main section is what you'd expect from a 'Lego Game', and plays nothing like the arcade titles, BUT to progress you rebuild the cabinets to play some of the arcade classics. Only you here you only play just one game - and Dimensions had the whole games fully emulated and playable.
QOTD; I mean, "Alone in the Dark: Illumination" is a thing that exists, no matter how hard I want to pretend it doesn't. I have a soft spot for the Xbox 360 one (aka "Inferno") for being quite risky and daring in its gameplay, but "Illumination" is basically antithesis of AITD. Heck, I'd rather have 'AITD The Cute'emUp' instead. The new one seems amazing, thanfully.
I've really been enjoying this - but totally agree it's the wrong license attached to the game. I've just written similar in an Amazon review - but this feels more like a reinvention of Impossible Mission.
I had fun with this game! About to start a Pro Mode playthrough, and makes me interested in trying the 82 game if its available at my arcade.
I will say the story is the biggest letdown as it was super predictable, and the actions were kinda stiff, but I enjoyed it nonetheless
Yars' Revenge isn't an actual arcade game. It was a rework of concepts from an existing arcade game called Star Castle.
The original 2600 Yars' Revenge is available on the Atari 50 collection that you can get on just about anything it seems, as well as most other digital Atari compilations.
Pro tip: If you do play Yars' Revenge for yourself, do yourself a favor and read scans of the manual (and the comic book, if you can) and experiment with the gameplay variations laid out in the manual to get the most out of the game. I had been playing on just the default setting for years until I thought to properly read the manual just a few days ago. And now I actually understand why it's on so many people's top 10 lists for Atari 2600 games. :)
I have played Yars Revenge on the Atari 2600 back then and have Yars Recharged (Which my score in there is "ImaFnTrex")
But seeing we are now playing as a human like character really threw me off on the feeling of Yars (Only in the mini-games/hacking PC areas feels like Yars)
I think people just want to 'bomb' anything that 'ruins their childhood' this game is really good. I know this is probably why centipede died, because they reinvented it, however I've played the new games and loved them too. People just need to stop complaining.
My childhood was not ruined. Both new and old games can exist at the same time, and that's fine. Now, why not address any of the actual complaints I brought up? I'm actually really happy that you're enjoying it. I went in ready to like it, as both a fan of Yars and Metroidvania-style action games. It just under-delivers on both of those things.
As a long time fan of Yar's, Metroid, and rainbow lasers, I feel both insulted and seen at the exact same time.
Is this how NBA 2K fans feel all the time?
Atari tried the high fantasy anime reinvention before back in 2011. Although that one was still an arcade shooter, whatever misgivings it had. I like that one's art direction a bit more as well.
QOTD, first thing that spang to mind was Yoshi's Island DS. FWTW.
I wonder if they took some inspiration premise-wise from the Yars Revenge reboot from 2011, which was only on PC and Xbox360 in which you played a lady from the alien Yars-race breaking out of her brainwashing by the Quotiles and fighting them.
The hacking mini-games seems to be a way to include and pay homage to the old game-play style, which they probably felt was too small for a full game-release these days. A shame that it doesn't seem to merge well with the general premise of the rest of the game, and that most of it seems pretty middle of the road. From the looks of things, the Asteroids reboot looks like a way more interesting take on bringing back their old games with a more modern concept. Shame, bug-girl Metroidvania sounded like a cool concept.
The thing about this is... why Yar's Revenge if you're gonna make up a new story? Wasn't one YR's biggest innovations that it had fleshed-out lore?
If they were gonna go this route, they should have made it look like a new IP, then had the Yar tie-in be a twist ending that's slowly hinted at across the story.
And for the QotD, for games I've played anyway, probably Yu-Gi-Oh Decade Duels for PS3/360. Most YGO games before this point were RPG-lite or had some adventure/progression elements as you unlocked better cards and tougher opponents as you played, but Decade Duels has one dinky little tournament mode with opponents way too tough to take on with your starting cards... but you can better card packs or decks with real money. It was gross, and was the first time I really felt cheated by a game I bought
Making Yars Revenge as a Platformer is like if they took the WWE wrestlers and put them in a Demolition Derby game. Who would do such a thing?! 😉😂🤣 If you know, you know. But anyways, yeah, maybe instead they could have called it Atari Rising, and then along with Missile Command and Centipedes, they could have one involving Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Breakout, etc etc etc. Then would be no reason to have to repeat mini games. As for the question, think I'll go with Zelda 2. To be fair to it, the first game seems like it must have been ground breaking at it's time, would have been hard to follow up on, but I'm sure there was a reason Link to the Past went back to the same formula as the first.
I feel like C- is way too generous given the description, especially considering the price. The animations are just soo stiff and awkward too. I've downvoted several 20$ metroidvanias on steam that are likely far better than this, and this is 30$...
Game is fun. Not sure why the reviewer bashes this spinoff for not being like Yars whilst also finding the Yars faithful hacking to be repetitive.
It's because what they turned the game into is pretty bland and boring, and the mini-games only scratch the surface of what they could have done. If you're going to have that many devices to hack, then ideally you would want more variety in the hacking mini-game. That's why it probably would have worked better if the hacking mini-games were based on a series of Atari games, not just Yars Revenge. Also, I explain all of this in the actual review.
Well adding a hip main character doesn't help this. Doesn't look like yars at all. Really wonder how this was pitched.
QOTD, Duke Nukem Forever.
1:40 the internet being what it is I think you started a cult just by coining that exaggerating 😂
Yeah, I've wishlisted it, but I probably will wait for a sale. I'm sure it's a competent metroidvania game, but it seems to be the only kind of game Wayforward wants to make. It's like a re-skinned Shantae game every single time.
I would have preferred Inti-Creates got their hands on Yar's. At least they do something different for their search/action games. Blaster Master Zero is nothing like Yohane the Parhelion, or Gunvolt, or Curse of the Moon, etc.
I think people forget that Wayforward are a *deeply* inconsistent studio. For every Mummy Demastered, Shantae, Advance Wars 1+2 and River City Girls, they have a Silent Hill: Book of Memories, Trollhunters: Defenders of Arcadia, Bakugan: Champions of Vestoria and Contra: Operation Galuga.
I'm definitely still interested in this game, but I unfortunately enjoy the anime BS angle 😅
It doesn't look bad. It just like the reviewer is jarred by the genre shift. Second, why no mention of yars remake from like 2009?
The 2009 game isn't really necessary, as this is a review and not not a comprehensive history of the franchise. I could be wrong, but I think I referenced it in my Yars: Recharged review.
For what it's worth, I was all ready to go with the genre shift. I'm one of the few critics who liked that R-Type turn-based tactical RPG from a bunch of years ago, so I'm not extra protective of the genre. I can get over a jarring shift. The issue here is that they didn't really do anything interesting with the genre they shifted to. This is a very middling Metroidvania game, and without the Yars name, nobody would give it a second glance. It's generic and uneventful, and there are just so many better examples of this genre out there. Hell, the developer of this game has made at least a half dozen better Metroidvania games than this, so people should buy one of those instead. They are a hell of a lot cheaper and better.
@@DefunctGames your thoughts on the shantae series?
You might have to raise your voice over the overwhelmingly positive reviews for this game; if you want a pixelated shooter retro style, there are plenty low quality titles out there.
"Overwhelming positive reviews"? Where?? When I look around at critics, the reaction seems pretty mixed, with most agreeing with my criticisms. I posted this review right when the embargo lifted, so I had no idea how others would react to this game.
I'm not looking for a low-quality pixelated shooter, that's the last thing I want. I got enough "low-quality" from this disappointing game.
I thought from the title that it was going to be about Ray Kassar rising from the grave.
Split the fanbase in two? So there'll be like four players instead of eight?
I am playing it and am having a lot of fun and I love the hacking mini games.
> "I'm mad that this game is so different from original Yars Revenge gameplay!!!"
> "There are WAY TOO many Yars Revenge style gameplay mini games!!!"
uhhhh pick one? your complaints in this review seem contradicting.
First, I would be totally fine with the game being different from the original or any other Yars game. My complaint is not that it shifted genres, I actually like that idea. My issue is that what they turned it into is pretty bland and generic. Even compared to WayForwards other Metroidvania games, this one is pretty lame. I would hope that a game as inventive as Yars' Revenge would be turned into a Metroidvania that tried something new and different, similar to the original.
Second, my complaint about the hacking game is that the Yars' Revenge mini-game is too repetitive and has a hard time sustaining itself through an entire game. That's why I suggested maybe make this into an Atari game, where they could pull from more classic games for the hacking. That way there would be a little more variety.
Third, when you make up quotes I didn't say and reword what I did say into very simplistic criticisms, of course it will seem contradictory. But those weren't my complaints. I hope this clears things up for you.
I can commend WAY FORWARD for actually making this silly mash-up of YAR’s REVENGE.
Perhaps,
You are being toooo harsh on this title. Since YARS RECHARGED already exists, why do you think WAY FORWARD should replicate the same retro concept in a different way?
After all the original 2600 game was a variant on STAR CASTLE by Cinematronics.
FUN FACT,
ATARI was working on a port of STAR CASTLE but the deal fell through, so YARS REVENGE was made instead.
I'm all for radically changing the Yars formula, and even going with a completely different genre. Just make sure the game you turn Yars into is FUN. Even as a Metroidvania, this game is bland and forgettable. There's not much original or unique here, and WayForward has made much, much, MUCH better games in this genre before. It's a bad Metroidvania game and an even worse Yars experience.
WayForward are a great platformer developer. It's not exactly their fault that this IP is being mismanaged. If Atari knew anything about their own IPs, they'd know this game shouldn't be "Yars" but should've been a Major Havoc game.
FUN FACT:
I pitched them on a Major Havoc 2.5D MetroidVania almost 2 years ago. I mean, a Major Havoc Metroidvania from the creator of Strider 2014 sounds pretty good to me... but I'm biased. 😂
It looks amateurish in terms of execution and is conceptually "way off" - I just don't see the appeal of this at all. Some of the recent games pushed through the latest incarnation of Atari have been middling to piss poor, with odd exceptions. Without the Atari label attached to these games, they would barely register if simply released on Steam. If there were any justice in this world and I had a magic wand, I would have placed Jeff Minter as CEO of Atari in the hope that he would fully understand and respect the heritage of the name and not use it as what could be viewed as merely a symbol to copy & paste onto promotional material when grubbing for nostalgia dollars.
The problem is the vast majority of Atari game originals were released so long ago, it's hard to flesh them out for modern times without radically adding to or altering the original premise.
I feel like the Recharged series has done a good job of walking that line. While not all of them are good, most have found a way to take what was good about the original and flesh it out with power-ups, challenge levels and more. They aren't trying to turn the simple arcade games into epic adventures, but keeping them bite-sized and simple.
That said, as Atari tries to go beyond the Recharged series, they are bound to run into problems like this. In order to flesh out some of those 40-year-old games, they may end up turning them into something completely different and unrecognizable. At least NeoSprint and Haunted House managed to capture what was good about original versions.