Loved the comic that came with that game! ❤. I later read that Yars Revenge was a FU to Atari’s CEO at the time, Ray Kasser. Yar is Ray backwards. The planet that Yar lives on is named Ressak which is Kasser backwards.
Yah, Battlezone, Star Castle were my fave arcade games. I still have my original Yars Revenge from way back. I want to get the new version. I dont know if i can get it for the GSP. When i found out Major Havok was one of the games loaded in the GSP right off, i bought it asap. Lol Major Havok was one of those arcade games i hardly ever saw in my area. The mall arcade had it in the 90s but ive never seen it since. Battlezone arcade sound was just great, even being the simple green line graphics, it was very immersive. StarCastle was just always my fave relaxing game in some ways, even though it had the tense moments when ya got close to blasting the core. I just liked the particular physics motion of stuff in classic starcastle.
Still one of, if not the, greatest games of all time even after over 40 years. I think everyone I knew had it. And you're right about getting in the zone. such a classic and I'm glad its still around
I used to have really bad, undiagnosed, asthma as a kid... to the point where I would panic when I couldn't breath which of course would make things worse. Something about playing this game put me in a zone like state and allowed me to calm down and catch my breath. Yars' will always be my favorite 2600 game for this reason.
Wow...I went all these years playing without knowing about the humming pulse count for when the Qotile attacks. I've always been a fan of audio cues in video games. I played on game mode 6 a lot when I was young, just because it made everything more interesting, it was like a relay. Thanks for explaining this game better for everyone, it is an all time great. The humming background noise is comforting in a weird way, feels like home. Maybe I am a Yar?
@@GenXGrownUp , hey, if you're interested, there's a third game that takes place in the Yars' universe that is going to be released on modern consoles, as well as Steam, soon. However, it is a Metroidvania, but it is also being made by WayForward, who has a pretty good track record with video games, including a few other Metroidvania games, such as most of the Shantae series, and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (which has a few former Konami employees that worked on the Castlevania/Demonic Castle Dracula series), and, shockingly enough, Atari....yeah, they're both teaming up for this game. I think that it is called Yars' Rising.
@@paxhumana2015 not looking forward to it. Looks like a bunch of woke crap interactive storybook thing. After seeing them mess up other classics... ugh i remember what they did to poor centipeede
Yars’ Revenge is my absolute favorite Atari game, so much so that in 2010 I broke the World Record and received a Twin Galaxies champion certificate. It was an 8+ hour game. I will note that I did correct the leader boards listing of the game which at the time had the apostrophe in the wrong (singular) place. The Yars in this game is plural, as it’s revenge for a whole planet that was destroyed.
Easily my favorite 2600 game! Loved that experience as a kid up to today! Been burning my Gamestation Pro up playin it! Looking forward to the Metroidvania version of Yars.
This game was my jam. My lame claim to fame, when it was on the Xbox 360 Game Room app, I got in the top 10 on the global leaderboard with a score in the millions. (I could've kept going easily, but it takes a *long* time to get there.) If you nail the Quotile with your cannon as it's in flight (what triggers that black line easter egg), you get an extra life and a big score bonus. I could get in a rhythm where I could hit it every single time. (I'm pretty sure there's a limit to how many extra lives you can bank, but the point is that it's easy to get one back if you lose one.) Also, instead of counting pulses to time the next launch, if you watch the Quotile, it always prepares to fire on the same color -- always on red, and two of the shades of blue on the higher levels -- and the sequence of colors is fixed. Makes it really easy to predict even if you lose count. Even then, I never knew about the "ultimate" mode, so over 40 years later, I still learned something. :)
Such a brilliant game and one that I played for hours upon hours. It's no coincidence that as I got older I would gravitate towards industrial music because that Yar's backing pulse could have easily shown up on a Throbbing Gristle record. I LOVE it!!
Was never a fan of Yars , i thought it was borinng as all hell. Your video as given me a all new respect for the game so ill try it again later. Thankyou brother.
Man, you sure nailed when talking about being back in the 80s. Any given Saturday morning right after cartoons it was down to the reckroom for Atari. This was one of the funest games. My dad's favorite was Video Pinball(maybe we could get a review of that one soon 😉) Love you videos sir! Every one triggers that magic nostalgia and memories of those Saturday mornings. Take care and see ya soon!
I remember "clocking" Yars Revenge as a kid. It was most certainly on the easy level and took quite a while, but that sense of achievement was something else. Now a much older man, I have no idea how I did it! It's fun to have a little go at it every now and then now, but my reflexes aren't what they used to be!
I used to use the color of the Qotile to know when it was going to change to the swirl. Red, then blue and green later when the frequency increases. I remember thinking sometimes that the right angle turn of the swirl made it easier to hit in flight.
I could never get the hang of watching the color, and it made me take my eyes off my Yar (which often led to death). I've always found that counting cycles worked best for me. 😁
@GenXGrownUp The missile is the same color as the Qotile and sometimes I watch that instead... but generally, it turns into a rhythm thing. I've never tried this variant in the past... I'm trying it now. It's fun! I'm finding that nailing swirls is somewhat easier *without* the neutral zone.
My FAVORITE game from that system, one of my all-time favorites for any system! The only game that ALL of my close friends and family, with 2600's, ended up owning. A totally LEGENDARY game!
Yars was never my favorite game, but one thing that cannot be denied is the intensity of the presentation!. That constant mechanical insect vibration sound and flashing lights and the other sounds for the actions is something else! it was *way* ahead of it's time. A precursor to Doom and other scifi/horror action games to come! 😲
Yars' Revenge is, in my opinion, the quintessential game for the Atari 2600. When I was younger I had no clue how to play it and never even thought about looking at the manual my dad had LOL. Now in my 30s it is in my top 10 video games of all-time. I just can't get enough of it (also all the mini games in Yars Rising has me HOOKED deeper)
Jon, I completely understand that Yar’s Revenge was a breakout hit back in 1981… when we first got it, I LOVED IT ! It was a really fun, compelling bit of sci-fi fantasy that for the 2600 was really well realized ! … however… the play value trailed off pretty quickly for me and I went back to true classics (although I fully agree Yar’s Revenge is a bona fide classic), like Space Invaders, Missile Command, Asteroids, Vide Pinball, and even Bowling for actual game play excitement. Yar’s Revenge, to me, sits among the greats like Superman and Pitfall and Pac Man as remarkable, memorable, classic Atari games… but ultimately the play value just isn’t there. I think any superior collection of Atari ROMs would be deficient if it DIDN’T have Yar’s Revenge… but for me… I’d play it now a couple of times for nostalgia and then move on to more challenging, fun games.
OK to be fair, I have to do an addendum to my comment, because… I never did the game variations and never played this ultimate Yar’s Revenge version and… admittedly it pushes the excitement factor up a little. Also I never got to the grey wall if I recall correctly… so… apparently I sucked at the game play… either that or I bored quickly… Probably a combination of both… but I’ll lean into the reality that I sucked at it I guess, because when we first got the game… I played it quite a bit ! It just ultimately didn’t hold my interest.
Great video! The simple game loop just works -- Yar's Revenge has always been one of my favorite Atari games. I've been playing Yar's Recharged on Steam and it's fun, but I do find myself drawn back to playing the original on original hardware every now and then.
I love how you know Atari games inside out. For instance, I didn't know there was a timing in the Qotile's attacks. I knew they could be more or less frequent, but not in a predictable way. It's incredible how 2600 games are much deeper than they look. By the way, I actually hate that Easter egg. I accidentally activated many times and was angry at having to restart the game. Sorry Mr Warshaw but it wasn't funny
The first Home Video Game Counsel I ever played was the Atari 2600-6switch. I don't remember the exact game that I played 1st. Thanks for the upload, these retro videos just put me in a better mood.
Greatest video you have ever made. You’ve peaked! Although my name is “channel of the yars’” there’s one game of all games for the 2600, secret quest! Combine adventure’s gameplay, with the strategy of yars’ revenge, with the graphics of an NES, along with pitfall’s planning of rooms. but remember, all revenge is good revenge, except for cluster’s revenge.
My first gaming console was the 7800 and I had a pretty good library of 2600 games, but not this classic. Until I recently got the Atari GSP, I discovered the joy of this incredibly awesome game! One of the absolute best!
Fun fact: the neutral zone is literally the code of Yar's Revenge itself, as etched into the very silicon it's embedded within; they had no way to store a complicated set of images for the neutral zone, so they used this technique of reading the ROM itself and applying some color shifting and x-y movement to the visualization. Think about that for a moment: when you stare at the neutral zone, you're staring into the code of the game itself. Still blows my mind after all these years.
@@GenXGrownUp not exactly. If yars revenge was the 70s top down view, then in the 80's, yes it would have looked something like star raiders. In the 90's it would be something like xwing vs tiefighter or wing commander. In the 2000's.... who knows
Yar's Revenge is a game I've only discovered in the last 2 or 3 months. Yes, I knew about the game before this, but had never played it. Now, it's rarely out of my 2600+ console. Sure, it's repetitive, but the game gets more and more intense as you play, and once you get into the zone it's a magical experience.
Yars was one of my favorite games back in the day. We also rarely acquired new games - so we tended to play the ones we had a lot. I remember finding the easter egg and thinking the game had glitched (guessing my 11 year old self noticed the black line, but really don't remember!) Quite possibly the first easter egg I had ever encountered.
Great video as always! My personal favourite game all things considered. Only Atari game i own complete in box plus my original childhood cartridge. Thank you again!
"It's really not complex", while technically true, somewhat belies that this is *way* more complex than most Atari "shooters". In my own case I'm encountering this game for the first time in adulthood and I've struggled with it a lot initially, precisely because I've tried to impose my assumptions on the game about how simple an Atari shooter "should" be, and also because I'm a lazy bastard and still haven't set aside time to read the manual. 😓 Thanks for the tutorial!
I got my Yars Revenge later than the initial release. I believe my parents purchased this for me c. 87-88 at Zayre. Nevertheless i loved the artwork, storyline & gameplay. One of the golden era Atari 2600 classics for sure!
Top 3 for sure. There is an elderly gentleman I see in the neighborhood, think he is a landlord) has "YAR" as his license plate. Haven't been able to ask yet. Haha HSW made gold here. Geat overview man.
Was able to clock this game on default in the day. Ultimate Yars squeezed more gameplay out of it as it cranked the difficulty up. Used to play it 2P with my brother. Only gripe I had was the game reset too quickly when you had game over and lost your score!!
@@GenXGrownUp I don't think so have you shown The easter egg it use to make us mad until we Figured out what was Causing it ya your Talking about the Black Stripe LOL
@@seha6391 It's the one I talk about and link to at the end of this video. Here's a timed link right to the Easter Egg instructions: th-cam.com/video/Z2xvtYl2uro/w-d-xo.html
One thing that may have improved the reception this game got was if there was a milestone at a lower score. Many people that saw the game as repetitive probably didn't play long enough to reach the first milestone. An earlier milestone would telegraph to players "keep playing, there's more surprises"
That's a game structure theory that was developed more recently - little early breadcrumbs or even an early hint at future powers or mechanics. Back in the '80s they just relied on the manual to get that info to us!
Ironically, _Star Castle_ is now a homebrew 2600 game, achieved through a strange pixel technique that nobody back in the day had ever dreamed of. th-cam.com/video/omTz-G2S7kU/w-d-xo.html I'm actually not 100% certain how they did it myself, even knowing a fair bit about the 2600's ins and outs.
Great video. I have always liked this game very much. It's pretty challenging and entertaining. Isn't there a revamped/refueled/reimagined version of it? I know there's a series of "remade" Atari games (even sold on Xbox and Switch) but I always forget the name of thay series. Just wondering if there's a newer Yars version.
the satellite dish turns into a swirl by color. Yes I thought it was a satellite dish when younger. when the color turns more orange then get out the way. thats the way I always got it down until it went into the blue and grey stages and it followed you.
The only way I killed the Qotile was to hit the swirl in mid-air. You get the most points and an extra yar, Maximum of 9 IIRC. I got pretty good at it and could get to the pink level every time. Not so good at it anymore. I lost my gaming reflexes since then.
Don't feel too bad about missing Ultimate Yars. I only just found out about it yesterday. And it's true, I can't go back to the default. lol And now, with the new Yars Rising game out, this old game now feels weirdly new all over again, like a relic from an alternate future.
Hollywood should make the Yars Revenge movie based on the comic book story and the game itself. If they can do for Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, and Tomb Raider, why not Yars?
As a kid I really did not like this game and was kind of indifferent to it. Fast forward to the modern VCS release of Yars Recharged and I loved it. That made me revisit the original 2600 port, and I have to say, I have a new appreciation for this game.
I'm not gonna say you're stretching the truth here, but the recorded world record is only in the range of 25,000,000. And I never knew '80s Atari to give out patches. Do you still have it (or photos of it)?
@@GenXGrownUp I just stumbled across this again (don't have my notifications on for YT). Sorry missed your reply, lol, three zeros too many omg. I got a badge for 4 million. Not 4 thousand million. Lol. It was a magazine for Atari. No, I've no idea what happened to the badge. Don't have the VCS anymore either.
@@GenXGrownUp Yup! One of the things I remember saying was "Dad! You play a FLY! IN SPACE! You eat the bad guys shield!" He... Wasn't quite as impressed as I was. My cousins got it too. I remember going to visit them, and my confused cousin asking me "What does 'HSWRSH" meant.🤣
I never timed the change of the base. When I saw the color grey, I knew it was within a couple seconds of changing. What about the easter egg, when you fly along the dark line after exploding the spiral, mid-air?
GXGUp, no offense, but .... Didn't you ever wonder about what those "select" and "A-B" switches did ? I mean, most of us started fiddling with them right away !
you don't need to count cycles, I actually never knew that.. but you can tell from the color of the boss. it turns red before it fires! and you also forgot hitting the swirl when it's in mid air gets you tons more points. real Yarians only kill it this way! Also to trigger the easter egg, just put your Yar on the black line right in the middle of the screen (where it fades out) that will always (almost?) do it.
The color is a great clue, but you've gotta keep your eyes on it - the counting technique works best for me because I can keep my eye on my Yar and the cruise missile.
Loved the comic that came with that game! ❤. I later read that Yars Revenge was a FU to Atari’s CEO at the time, Ray Kasser. Yar is Ray backwards. The planet that Yar lives on is named Ressak which is Kasser backwards.
Those trivia bits and more in my Yars video: th-cam.com/video/Z2xvtYl2uro/w-d-xo.html
Yars revenge and battlezone are my 2 favourite 2600 games
Yah, Battlezone, Star Castle were my fave arcade games.
I still have my original Yars Revenge from way back. I want to get the new version. I dont know if i can get it for the GSP.
When i found out Major Havok was one of the games loaded in the GSP right off, i bought it asap. Lol
Major Havok was one of those arcade games i hardly ever saw in my area. The mall arcade had it in the 90s but ive never seen it since.
Battlezone arcade sound was just great, even being the simple green line graphics, it was very immersive.
StarCastle was just always my fave relaxing game in some ways, even though it had the tense moments when ya got close to blasting the core. I just liked the particular physics motion of stuff in classic starcastle.
Personally i like midnight magic, yars revenge, battlezone and pitfall 2 as my top faves and bezerk now that I think about it.
BattleZone is awesome no doubt.
Still one of, if not the, greatest games of all time even after over 40 years. I think everyone I knew had it. And you're right about getting in the zone. such a classic and I'm glad its still around
I was 11 back in 1982, and until this day, those sounds effects are still legendary
I used to have really bad, undiagnosed, asthma as a kid... to the point where I would panic when I couldn't breath which of course would make things worse. Something about playing this game put me in a zone like state and allowed me to calm down and catch my breath. Yars' will always be my favorite 2600 game for this reason.
Wow...I went all these years playing without knowing about the humming pulse count for when the Qotile attacks. I've always been a fan of audio cues in video games. I played on game mode 6 a lot when I was young, just because it made everything more interesting, it was like a relay. Thanks for explaining this game better for everyone, it is an all time great. The humming background noise is comforting in a weird way, feels like home. Maybe I am a Yar?
Yars Revenge is a legendary title and any game that can take you back in time is magical! Great video as always!
Couldn't agree more!
@@GenXGrownUp , hey, if you're interested, there's a third game that takes place in the Yars' universe that is going to be released on modern consoles, as well as Steam, soon. However, it is a Metroidvania, but it is also being made by WayForward, who has a pretty good track record with video games, including a few other Metroidvania games, such as most of the Shantae series, and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (which has a few former Konami employees that worked on the Castlevania/Demonic Castle Dracula series), and, shockingly enough, Atari....yeah, they're both teaming up for this game. I think that it is called Yars' Rising.
@@paxhumana2015 Yes, indeed. th-cam.com/video/Kw9xInHP9R0/w-d-xo.html
@@GenXGrownUp , I just figured that I'd toss that fact over to you.
I love the options the difficulty switches provide. Adds lots of replay value.
Spoiler Alert:
Never look for space invaders....
Having 100 skill levels and variations will blow your mind!
@@alfonsedente9679 , I wonder if such options will also be available in Yars' Rising as well?
@@paxhumana2015 not looking forward to it. Looks like a bunch of woke crap interactive storybook thing.
After seeing them mess up other classics... ugh i remember what they did to poor centipeede
Yars’ Revenge is my absolute favorite Atari game, so much so that in 2010 I broke the World Record and received a Twin Galaxies champion certificate. It was an 8+ hour game. I will note that I did correct the leader boards listing of the game which at the time had the apostrophe in the wrong (singular) place. The Yars in this game is plural, as it’s revenge for a whole planet that was destroyed.
Congrats.
Easily my favorite 2600 game! Loved that experience as a kid up to today! Been burning my Gamestation Pro up playin it! Looking forward to the Metroidvania version of Yars.
I agree!
Once I discovered Ultimate Yar after rereading the manual as an adult.. there’s no going back!
Same applies to game 9 on Berzerk!
Well played, Jon! That was fun! 😁
This is one I played quite a lot as a kid. I did not have the manual, so I did not learn about Ultimate Yars' until the internet age.
This game was my jam. My lame claim to fame, when it was on the Xbox 360 Game Room app, I got in the top 10 on the global leaderboard with a score in the millions. (I could've kept going easily, but it takes a *long* time to get there.) If you nail the Quotile with your cannon as it's in flight (what triggers that black line easter egg), you get an extra life and a big score bonus. I could get in a rhythm where I could hit it every single time. (I'm pretty sure there's a limit to how many extra lives you can bank, but the point is that it's easy to get one back if you lose one.) Also, instead of counting pulses to time the next launch, if you watch the Quotile, it always prepares to fire on the same color -- always on red, and two of the shades of blue on the higher levels -- and the sequence of colors is fixed. Makes it really easy to predict even if you lose count.
Even then, I never knew about the "ultimate" mode, so over 40 years later, I still learned something. :)
Such a brilliant game and one that I played for hours upon hours. It's no coincidence that as I got older I would gravitate towards industrial music because that Yar's backing pulse could have easily shown up on a Throbbing Gristle record. I LOVE it!!
Was never a fan of Yars , i thought it was borinng as all hell. Your video as given me a all new respect for the game so ill try it again later. Thankyou brother.
How very cool! Once you've given it another go, I'd enjoy hearing your new thoughts!
I now wish I had this game BITD. I'm sure I've owned a loose cartridge at some point but without the manual I had no idea what to do.
Man, you sure nailed when talking about being back in the 80s. Any given Saturday morning right after cartoons it was down to the reckroom for Atari. This was one of the funest games. My dad's favorite was Video Pinball(maybe we could get a review of that one soon 😉) Love you videos sir! Every one triggers that magic nostalgia and memories of those Saturday mornings. Take care and see ya soon!
I remember "clocking" Yars Revenge as a kid. It was most certainly on the easy level and took quite a while, but that sense of achievement was something else. Now a much older man, I have no idea how I did it! It's fun to have a little go at it every now and then now, but my reflexes aren't what they used to be!
I used to use the color of the Qotile to know when it was going to change to the swirl. Red, then blue and green later when the frequency increases.
I remember thinking sometimes that the right angle turn of the swirl made it easier to hit in flight.
I could never get the hang of watching the color, and it made me take my eyes off my Yar (which often led to death). I've always found that counting cycles worked best for me. 😁
@GenXGrownUp The missile is the same color as the Qotile and sometimes I watch that instead... but generally, it turns into a rhythm thing.
I've never tried this variant in the past... I'm trying it now. It's fun!
I'm finding that nailing swirls is somewhat easier *without* the neutral zone.
I enjoy these games so much more now thanks to you not only explaining them but also showing what you mean. These vids are seriously wonderful.
Thanks for explaining why Yars is cool.
My FAVORITE game from that system, one of my all-time favorites for any system! The only game that ALL of my close friends and family, with 2600's, ended up owning. A totally LEGENDARY game!
The game came with a comic book that I still have. 🔥
Yep. I talk about those comics and more in the video I mention at the end of this one.
I've only recently got into Atari via the anniversary collection. I have to say I'm hooked now some really great games.
Wow, thank you for introducing me to this amazingly addictive game!
Yars was never my favorite game, but one thing that cannot be denied is the intensity of the presentation!. That constant mechanical insect vibration sound and flashing lights and the other sounds for the actions is something else! it was *way* ahead of it's time. A precursor to Doom and other scifi/horror action games to come! 😲
Yars’ Revenge holds up so well! Thanks for this review! ❤
It does!
I never knew about this mode, and Yar's Revenge is the cartridge that's currently in my Atari.
Game mode 6 and RIP OFF THE KNOB! 😉 (Metaphorically, of course.)
Yars' Revenge is, in my opinion, the quintessential game for the Atari 2600. When I was younger I had no clue how to play it and never even thought about looking at the manual my dad had LOL. Now in my 30s it is in my top 10 video games of all-time. I just can't get enough of it (also all the mini games in Yars Rising has me HOOKED deeper)
Jon, I completely understand that Yar’s Revenge was a breakout hit back in 1981… when we first got it, I LOVED IT ! It was a really fun, compelling bit of sci-fi fantasy that for the 2600 was really well realized !
… however… the play value trailed off pretty quickly for me and I went back to true classics (although I fully agree Yar’s Revenge is a bona fide classic), like Space Invaders, Missile Command, Asteroids, Vide Pinball, and even Bowling for actual game play excitement.
Yar’s Revenge, to me, sits among the greats like Superman and Pitfall and Pac Man as remarkable, memorable, classic Atari games… but ultimately the play value just isn’t there. I think any superior collection of Atari ROMs would be deficient if it DIDN’T have Yar’s Revenge… but for me… I’d play it now a couple of times for nostalgia and then move on to more challenging, fun games.
OK to be fair, I have to do an addendum to my comment, because… I never did the game variations and never played this ultimate Yar’s Revenge version and… admittedly it pushes the excitement factor up a little. Also I never got to the grey wall if I recall correctly… so… apparently I sucked at the game play… either that or I bored quickly… Probably a combination of both… but I’ll lean into the reality that I sucked at it I guess, because when we first got the game… I played it quite a bit ! It just ultimately didn’t hold my interest.
Great video! The simple game loop just works -- Yar's Revenge has always been one of my favorite Atari games. I've been playing Yar's Recharged on Steam and it's fun, but I do find myself drawn back to playing the original on original hardware every now and then.
Top tier game and a top tier run. Awesome job Jon :-) Thanks for sharing!
This is exactly why it doesn't need to be remade and revamped ;)
There is a sort of remake/remaster of this game on the Atari 50 collection.
Yar's Revenge got props in the form of posters and gameplay, in The Walking Dead series, and Ash vs. The Evil Dead.
Top 5 all time game for the Atari 2600 for sure. Great game still. At the time, it was the greatest game to play.
I love how you know Atari games inside out. For instance, I didn't know there was a timing in the Qotile's attacks. I knew they could be more or less frequent, but not in a predictable way. It's incredible how 2600 games are much deeper than they look. By the way, I actually hate that Easter egg. I accidentally activated many times and was angry at having to restart the game. Sorry Mr Warshaw but it wasn't funny
Dude. That's the best game (and highest score) of Yar's I've seen.
All thanks to a misspent youth. I could probably improve on it if I weren't also narrating. Maybe that's a live stream opportunity?
The first Home Video Game Counsel I ever played was the Atari 2600-6switch. I don't remember the exact game that I played 1st. Thanks for the upload, these retro videos just put me in a better mood.
I always pronounced quotile as "KWAH-til." Mind blown.
Awesome stuff. Thanks for the video!
Glad you liked it!
This game remains one of my favorite ever VCS games, and it absolutely holds up. Yars forever!
I played Yars more than any other 2600 game. Still love it to this day. Thanks Jon!
One of the best video games ever! 👍 Thanks for mentioning option 6, got to try that one out asap. 🙏😉
Greatest video you have ever made. You’ve peaked! Although my name is “channel of the yars’” there’s one game of all games for the 2600, secret quest! Combine adventure’s gameplay, with the strategy of yars’ revenge, with the graphics of an NES, along with pitfall’s planning of rooms. but remember, all revenge is good revenge, except for cluster’s revenge.
Who's "cluster?" 😉
My first gaming console was the 7800 and I had a pretty good library of 2600 games, but not this classic. Until I recently got the Atari GSP, I discovered the joy of this incredibly awesome game! One of the absolute best!
Fun fact: the neutral zone is literally the code of Yar's Revenge itself, as etched into the very silicon it's embedded within; they had no way to store a complicated set of images for the neutral zone, so they used this technique of reading the ROM itself and applying some color shifting and x-y movement to the visualization. Think about that for a moment: when you stare at the neutral zone, you're staring into the code of the game itself. Still blows my mind after all these years.
Have you seen my Yars' trivia video mentioned at the end of this one?
Played it on my buddy's black and white TV in 82, still playing it today on my AYN Odin 2. Always played game varation 6.
They really dropped the ball on this one.
Yar could have been an awsome FPS
Ha!
@@GenXGrownUp noooo i mean fps flight sim... something like Wing Commander
@@alfonsedente9679 Something like Wing Commander wasn't plausible on the 2600. Star Raiders and Starmaster were pushing the envelope in that arena.
@@GenXGrownUp not exactly.
If yars revenge was the 70s top down view, then in the 80's, yes it would have looked something like star raiders.
In the 90's it would be something like xwing vs tiefighter or wing commander.
In the 2000's.... who knows
Yar's Revenge is a game I've only discovered in the last 2 or 3 months. Yes, I knew about the game before this, but had never played it. Now, it's rarely out of my 2600+ console. Sure, it's repetitive, but the game gets more and more intense as you play, and once you get into the zone it's a magical experience.
You get it.
Yars was one of my favorite games back in the day. We also rarely acquired new games - so we tended to play the ones we had a lot. I remember finding the easter egg and thinking the game had glitched (guessing my 11 year old self noticed the black line, but really don't remember!) Quite possibly the first easter egg I had ever encountered.
Yars revenge is a great game I still play it best game ever
Great video as always! My personal favourite game all things considered. Only Atari game i own complete in box plus my original childhood cartridge. Thank you again!
Of course! Thanks for watching. 😁
"It's really not complex", while technically true, somewhat belies that this is *way* more complex than most Atari "shooters". In my own case I'm encountering this game for the first time in adulthood and I've struggled with it a lot initially, precisely because I've tried to impose my assumptions on the game about how simple an Atari shooter "should" be, and also because I'm a lazy bastard and still haven't set aside time to read the manual. 😓
Thanks for the tutorial!
Dumb instructions! 😉 Thanks for watching.
I got my Yars Revenge later than the initial release. I believe my parents purchased this for me c. 87-88 at Zayre. Nevertheless i loved the artwork, storyline & gameplay. One of the golden era Atari 2600 classics for sure!
I have NEVER known about that option 6!!!
Top 3 for sure. There is an elderly gentleman I see in the neighborhood, think he is a landlord) has "YAR" as his license plate. Haven't been able to ask yet. Haha HSW made gold here. Geat overview man.
This game looks so simple yet there's a lot to it. I will have to get it some time.
Was able to clock this game on default in the day. Ultimate Yars squeezed more gameplay out of it as it cranked the difficulty up. Used to play it 2P with my brother. Only gripe I had was the game reset too quickly when you had game over and lost your score!!
I mastered this game long ago.
Hitting the shooting spiral is the hardest thing especially when it can make turns.
I could play forever.
Congratulations.
We should do a Yars Revenge tournament! I wonder if it has a kill screen?
I know you can roll it over, but the only killscreen I know of is the Easter Egg which ends your game.
We use to call it “flipping” the game. “I flipped it!” That meant you beat it or rolled it over as you said. Ah the good ol days 😊
@@SciurusBelnades I've heard it called "flipping" as well. "Rolled over" I believe originates with car odometers.
you can also kill him on the wall and just hang out on the Right side of the Screen the Easter egg will pull
But Did you know that the Neutral Zone is actually the Programming Code For Yars Revenge?
That and the full-screen explosion as well. Did you watch my "Ten Things You Don't Know" video covering all the cool trivia?
@@GenXGrownUp I don't think so have you shown The easter egg it use to make us mad until we Figured out what was Causing it ya your Talking about the Black Stripe LOL
@@seha6391 It's the one I talk about and link to at the end of this video. Here's a timed link right to the Easter Egg instructions: th-cam.com/video/Z2xvtYl2uro/w-d-xo.html
Great run! Can you describe how you played in this particular video? Was it on original hardware or emulation? What controller do you prefer?
In this video I'm playing on Stella. I prefer a CX-40 style stick for Yars - a thumbstick just doesn't cut it for me with this one!
One thing that may have improved the reception this game got was if there was a milestone at a lower score. Many people that saw the game as repetitive probably didn't play long enough to reach the first milestone.
An earlier milestone would telegraph to players "keep playing, there's more surprises"
That's a game structure theory that was developed more recently - little early breadcrumbs or even an early hint at future powers or mechanics. Back in the '80s they just relied on the manual to get that info to us!
When i had an Atari this was the most played game out of my collection (At least had about 10 games)
Great video. Count me among those who didn't play this properly back in the day.. 🤣
You and me both. Thanks! 😁
Yar, me lad, yar.
Ironically, _Star Castle_ is now a homebrew 2600 game, achieved through a strange pixel technique that nobody back in the day had ever dreamed of. th-cam.com/video/omTz-G2S7kU/w-d-xo.html I'm actually not 100% certain how they did it myself, even knowing a fair bit about the 2600's ins and outs.
I must have read the yars comic a dozen times as a kid.
'this game makes me happy.....jon on yars revenge.....well said atarian!
Over 40 years and just found out about the different game variations 😅
so. Many. Hours. on this game.
Great video. I have always liked this game very much. It's pretty challenging and entertaining. Isn't there a revamped/refueled/reimagined version of it? I know there's a series of "remade" Atari games (even sold on Xbox and Switch) but I always forget the name of thay series. Just wondering if there's a newer Yars version.
Playing the default game with a broken-ish controller back in the day was surely hard enough for me.
I admit I was pretty good at this game as well. 😊
Does that qualify as an "admission?" 😉
@@GenXGrownUp it just might…
I never knew you could nibble! I always kept firing!😂😂😂
Oh, yeah! Aside from touching the Qotile, nibbling is the only way to earn the Zorlon Cannon on the early game variations! 😁
the satellite dish turns into a swirl by color. Yes I thought it was a satellite dish when younger. when the color turns more orange then get out the way. thats the way I always got it down until it went into the blue and grey stages and it followed you.
The only way I killed the Qotile was to hit the swirl in mid-air. You get the most points and an extra yar, Maximum of 9 IIRC. I got pretty good at it and could get to the pink level every time. Not so good at it anymore. I lost my gaming reflexes since then.
Don't feel too bad about missing Ultimate Yars. I only just found out about it yesterday. And it's true, I can't go back to the default. lol
And now, with the new Yars Rising game out, this old game now feels weirdly new all over again, like a relic from an alternate future.
That's cool!
Hollywood should make the Yars Revenge movie based on the comic book story and the game itself. If they can do for Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, and Tomb Raider, why not Yars?
There is nothing like Yars Revenge.
As a kid I really did not like this game and was kind of indifferent to it. Fast forward to the modern VCS release of Yars Recharged and I loved it. That made me revisit the original 2600 port, and I have to say, I have a new appreciation for this game.
wow i haved this game more than 40 yrs simple but so hard but mostly just a great gaming.......cccya
I’d have loved this, I think, if I’d had it!
Oh. ...my homeboy memories
I reached 4,000,000,000 in this on the 2600 in the 80s. Submitted the evidence to Atari magazine and received a badge.
I'm not gonna say you're stretching the truth here, but the recorded world record is only in the range of 25,000,000. And I never knew '80s Atari to give out patches. Do you still have it (or photos of it)?
@@GenXGrownUp I just stumbled across this again (don't have my notifications on for YT). Sorry missed your reply, lol, three zeros too many omg. I got a badge for 4 million. Not 4 thousand million. Lol. It was a magazine for Atari. No, I've no idea what happened to the badge. Don't have the VCS anymore either.
I loved Star Castle… sad we never got a good console port.
Will you be doing a Ranking of StarPath/SuperCharger games?
Anything is possible! 😁
What about the double ET style ships during the explosion sequence? Does anyone know what I’m talking about?
Yars' Revenge was the first game I remember begging my parents for lol
Did you get it?
@@GenXGrownUp Yup! One of the things I remember saying was "Dad! You play a FLY! IN SPACE! You eat the bad guys shield!" He... Wasn't quite as impressed as I was.
My cousins got it too. I remember going to visit them, and my confused cousin asking me "What does 'HSWRSH" meant.🤣
Also, that huge cool explosion? It's a graphic representation of the game's code.
Whoops, just spotted your top ten list.🥴
I never timed the change of the base. When I saw the color grey, I knew it was within a couple seconds of changing. What about the easter egg, when you fly along the dark line after exploding the spiral, mid-air?
Never mind, I should have waited 2 seconds!
😄
GXGUp, no offense, but .... Didn't you ever wonder about what those "select" and "A-B" switches did ? I mean, most of us started fiddling with them right away !
Sure. Why do you ask?
you don't need to count cycles, I actually never knew that.. but you can tell from the color of the boss. it turns red before it fires! and you also forgot hitting the swirl when it's in mid air gets you tons more points. real Yarians only kill it this way!
Also to trigger the easter egg, just put your Yar on the black line right in the middle of the screen (where it fades out) that will always (almost?) do it.
The color is a great clue, but you've gotta keep your eyes on it - the counting technique works best for me because I can keep my eye on my Yar and the cruise missile.
I liked Yars but I got so good that I got over a million points and flipped the score over to zero again.
That's too bad. 😶
GenX remorseful about tossing away the manual and missing out on additional info? This must be the introduction to the opposite sketches!
Never played Yars Revenge, I saw once, my friend was playing it, never got into it.
👌
I believe you get extra points for hitting it mid flight? Doesn't it progress from one to six?
For sure. That's also how to access the Easter Egg.
Sorry to say I owned this just wasn't one of my favorites
I don't mind if you're wrong. 😜
@@GenXGrownUp I cried when I first played pac man cause it wasn't the same
hi even on game 2 he will fire very fast not sure why well cccya..