Ugh, what have they done to Yars' Revenge?!

[Prometheus]

I'm a bit late to the party on this one, but I just wanted to say bleh. They're doing a "follow-up"/reboot to the classic Atari 2600 title, Yars' Revenge. They're calling it "Yar's Revenge", having moved the apostrophe.


If you're familiar with it, take a look at this.


Yes, yes you did just see some generic brown environments (which are allegedly "Miyazaki-inspired" - I guess they've gotten him confused with someone else), text about WAR, BETRAYAL, and REVENGE, and a girl in a mechanical bug-suit. And yes, this is meant to be a follow-up to that game about the giant space flies that were taking down a planet-destroying cannon.


I get the feeling that this isn't going to go down well with existing fans who know the name, and I further get the feeling that the kids they might be aiming it at most likely wouldn't have any recognition for the name anyway. Accordingly, I find myself wondering why they chose to make it a tenuously-linked revival of an existing property, instead of a new one. Is anyone else as confused as I am about that?

 

[moz]

I wasn't alive when the first one was around, thus I don't really understand all the love for atari games, (I can barely start them most of the time ), and I still think this 'sequel' looks like utter rubbish.

 

[Gerix]

This reminds me of the time I found out Alien Syndrome was getting remade (again). I played the PS2 version, but the new one sounded kind of like Shadowgrounds with its upgrades. Anyway, I just looked it up and found it didn't receive very high rankings. It seems like giving a franchise a reboot gives a developer the license to half*** it.

 

[second exodous]

Um, my family had a copy of Yar's Revenge when I was a young, the sticker was gone on the front. If the sticker is gone and you don't have the instruction manual YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE F$#@ IS GOING ON!!!! I really don't see how they can screw this one up.


I will say this though, it was made in the 80's by an American, so why does it look like a Japanese Anime game? It would be way cooler if they took art direction from those sci-fi art paintings from that era. Or the 70's, what we used to think space travel would be like. I don't know, anything but Anime, WTF?

 

[WizardStan]

Accordingly, I find myself wondering why they chose to make it a tenuously-linked revival of an existing property, instead of a new one.

I know exactly how this played out, I've read about it a dozen times in GDMag. An awesome game is proposed and conditionally approved, development begins, part way through marketing starts asking questions. How are we going to advertise this? What's the hook to get the largest audience? If they can't find one, they will invent one. "So it's a story about some girl in a bug suit seeking revenge for betrayal? Rename her Yar! I have a brilliant idea!"


I am not very fond of marketing departments.

 

[second exodous]

I just played Yar's Revenge, and. . . yeah, a fly is attacking blocks. I don't have the manual, but I'm guessing it had a story in it, maybe they did really go out to make the second game based on what the manual said.


Still though, I see Prometheus' point, and taking that into consideration I have to agree with Stan. This is only the first video though, no gameplay or really any story, so possible it will be better than it looks? Maybe?


Maybe Howard Scott Warshaw will work on the game and maybe the easter egg that he puts into it will have the fully playable version of E.T., 2600 style!

 

[Prometheus]

I don't have the manual, but I'm guessing it had a story in it, maybe they did really go out to make the second game based on what the manual said.

It's not in the manual - it's in a comic book that was included with the game. Unfortunately, this new game is of no relation to that.

 

[second exodous]

I don't have the manual, but I'm guessing it had a story in it, maybe they did really go out to make the second game based on what the manual said.

It's not in the manual - it's in a comic book that was included with the game. Unfortunately, this new game is of no relation to that.

Ohh yeah, I loved those comic books that were in Atari games. I still have a few Atari force comics.


But yeah, if it is not at all related I like you don't see the point. If it had no story whatsoever I'd see 'meh' but since it does I think it should follow it or not be a Yars game. I'd still be interested if Howard Scott Warshaw, the only name tied with the 2600 games development, was working on it though.


Comic is here


EDIT: Wow, unrelated, well, kinda, but I just last night watched an old 1967 Hammer Horror film named Quatermass And The Pit and am thinking that this was the inspiration for Yars, at least the bugs aliens. I haven't read the comic yet.


Well, after reading the comic on Atari Age I can say that they are not related, the game to the movie I linked above. I always thought Yar was someone's name but it is just the race of bug people. The 'revenge' part is them attacking another race, the Qotile, after they destroyed one of the Yars' planets.


So the new game and the old game could be the interaction between humans and this bug race. Maybe humans attacked the Yars and now they are getting revenge on them or the humans join forces with the Yars against the Qotile? In the comic humans have the tech to travel from planet to planet and the Yars are the humans fault so they have some sort of responsibility there. It is still weird how the human has a suit that makes her look like a Yars, it will be interesting to see how they fit that into the story line. Maybe she's a spy or she needs to suit to travel in space without a spaceship? I don't know, there could be a lot of ways to make it related to the first game.