Yars Revenge is an interesting historical oddity that is definitely worth a bit of time. This might be one of the most visually stunning games on the Atari 2600. On a system where characters are often just a square, and other items are blocky, Yars' Revenge feels abstract in a way that evokes surreality. The central color pillar is a flowing rainbow of color shifting through hues. I don't entirely know what it is supposed to be, but it looks very cool. Likewise, when the base explodes, the screen becomes awash in triumphant color.
Yars' Revenge certainly feels unintuitive. I can pick up and play many shmups and generally get how it works very fast, this is a game that took awhile to figure out. Flying into enemies is usually death in games, but maybe back in 1982 that wasn't as ingrained in players. Perhaps in that regard this game has been hurt by the passing of time.
Even if you know how the game works, Yars has problems. There are two levels the game cycles through, and while these add variety, the levels don't feel nearly as varied as modern offerings, or even games that would come out a few years later. The game does get harder over time because the chaser missile gets faster, but that's the main difficulty spike. Perhaps it is unfair to compare Yars to later games in that department because it is on such limited hardware, but other space shooters get harder by throwing in more obstacles and enemies, or harder enemies, and it lets those games feel much better paced.
Yars' Revenge is a graphically impressive game for its system, and even separated from its limitation and taken purely on its own merits it still looks great. It's easy to see why this game made such a strong impression, because nothing looked quite like it. Even the MOMA recognized this game's value today and included it in its collection. It's worth a play, if only because it's short and you can get the gist quickly, and its historically important and visually iconic.
Yars' Revenge certainly feels unintuitive. I can pick up and play many shmups and generally get how it works very fast, this is a game that took awhile to figure out. Flying into enemies is usually death in games, but maybe back in 1982 that wasn't as ingrained in players. Perhaps in that regard this game has been hurt by the passing of time.
Even if you know how the game works, Yars has problems. There are two levels the game cycles through, and while these add variety, the levels don't feel nearly as varied as modern offerings, or even games that would come out a few years later. The game does get harder over time because the chaser missile gets faster, but that's the main difficulty spike. Perhaps it is unfair to compare Yars to later games in that department because it is on such limited hardware, but other space shooters get harder by throwing in more obstacles and enemies, or harder enemies, and it lets those games feel much better paced.
Yars' Revenge is a graphically impressive game for its system, and even separated from its limitation and taken purely on its own merits it still looks great. It's easy to see why this game made such a strong impression, because nothing looked quite like it. Even the MOMA recognized this game's value today and included it in its collection. It's worth a play, if only because it's short and you can get the gist quickly, and its historically important and visually iconic.