In 1981, Yar’s Revenge was released on the Atari 2600, and soon became one of the most successful games on the console. Thirty years on, Atari has released an updated version of the best-selling title. Yar’s Revenge on the Xbox Live Arcade is an on-rails third person shooter. You play as the last of a strange insect-like humanoid race called Yar, blasting your way through levels filled with enemies from the Quotile Empire.
The main problem with Yar’s Revenge is its difficulty. It is incredibly challenging. In fact, I would even go so far to say that it is the most difficult game I have played on the Xbox Live Arcade. This significantly reduces the fun you can get out of the gameplay, and I often found myself not being able to play for more than ten minutes at a time because I was getting so frustrated. The controls are awkward, and it can be a real hassle to select different weapons. The checkpoints are very far apart from each other, and if you die you will often have to replay several minutes. The movement is quite poor as well. Whenever you perform a roll to dodge an incoming enemy missile, the game really feels as though it has boxed you character in.
The UI doesn’t help much either. It is hard to see what ammo and weapons you are carrying since the icons are placed right in the corner of the screen. Most of the time you won’t be able to look due to the vast swarms of enemies projectiles that you constantly have to dodge.
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Yar has several weapons at her disposal. The first is a standard gun which will shoot endlessly, and is useful against small targets, but weak against stronger enemies. That’s where the rail gun comes in. It can blast through tougher opponents, but it has a large recharge time. Yar also has a rocket launcher. You can use this to target up to six enemies at once, and then release homing missiles for instant destruction. The missiles definitely ease the games difficulty, but there is a limited supply of ammo for them. You can also find power-ups scattered throughout the levels, which when shot, unlock special weapons or defences which are quite vital to help you progress. You can also (very rarely) find health packs, which are essential.
There is a story to Yar’s Revenge, but sadly it is one that is poorly constructed and narrated, with there just being two mini-cut scenes in the game. The gameplay is also short, offering only six stages, and a few challenges, which are basically just repeats of the stages but made harder. After a while, the gameplay becomes tedious as you fight the same enemies and similar boss battles across parallel stages over and over. The generic fighting becomes really dull and repetitive.
Yar’s Revenge isn’t all bad though. The brilliant cel-shaded graphics look beautiful, and the environments and enemies look terrific. Sadly, it just isn’t enough to make up for the lackluster gameplay. The sounds are dated, and the music doesn’t help or affect the experience, and just plays, unnoticed in the background.
Yar’s Revenge leaves much to be desired for an Arcade title. The controls are poor, and even if you can master them and the games difficulty, the game offers little more than deadening gameplay and repetitive battles. If you are a fan of on-rail shooters, than you might find some fun in Yar’s Revenge. However, to the average gamer, there is little on offer here.
| Rating | Description |
| 3 | Gameplay Tedious game play and repetitive environments don't offer a lot. |
| 7 | Graphics The cel-shading looks beautiful. More environments would have been great though. |
| 3 | Sound Dated effects, and insignificant music does not add a lot to the feel of the game. |
| 4 | Final Score |
