After 42 years, one of Atari's weirdest, best games is getting a cyberpunk, anime, Metroidvania sequel
Today's Nintendo Indie World Showcase had a few surprises, and if you happen to be familiar with the Atari 2600 library, none of them were more surprising than the announcement of Yars Rising.
Yars Rising is a Metroidvania-style action platformer from WayForward, a storied studio with big experience in the genre thanks to titles like the excellent Shantae series. You play as a hacker named Emi who grows in power over the course of the game, "granting her wild augments and biohacks that let her reach previously inaccessible areas," as the game's Steam page details.
Bewilderingly, Yars Rising is a follow-up to the Atari 2600 title Yars' Revenge, a single-screen shooter where you control an insect-like creature trying to take down a big evil boss. There's also this big barrier in the middle of the screen, and these weird static effects, and… well, look, at a glance it's one of the most inscrutable retro games you'll ever see. But it was wildly experimental by the standards of the era, and these days is regarded as one of the best Atari 2600 games.
Yars' Revenge will be playable within Yars Rising, and the new game will also feature "a series of hacking minigames" that "pay homage" to the classic. Either way, this remains one of the weirdest IP revivals I've ever seen - but given WayForward's pedigree, I'm more than happy to see a new Metroidvania from the studio.
Back in 2022, Yars' Revenge creator Howard Scott Warshaw told DualShockers that a sequel was on the way, saying "I'm going to create a huge backstory that's going to go on and cover what I call 'The Yarnovers.'" There's no mention of Warshaw in current press materials for Yars Rising, so it remains to be seen if this new game is the same one he had in mind.
Yars Rising is set to launch in 2024 across Switch, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, PC, and yes, the Atari VCS.
The next mini Atari is a ‘70s computer you’ve probably never heard of, and I’m hyped.
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