🚨 UPDATE 🚨 We now have a release date: September 10, 2024

Atari has an uphill battle to break out of the nostalgia releases and use their huge IP library to create new games. They’ve done the “recharged” versions of many games, Yars included, and they’ve done a new version of Haunted House. Yars is a name that still has some familiarity with gamers. Whether this will keep the name alive, we’ll see. But, Atari has to take bold chances if they are going to stay viable.

It's worth keeping an open mind about, but I think when people say it's "not a Yar's game", it's probably less about it not being what they expected and more that it looks like it could really be *any* kind of game. It looks like a game they already had that just got slapped into the "Yar's Universe". To me it also just has kind of a mobile game look and feel; it's kind of clunky, at least in its current state. But we'll see when it actually launches.

It's from Way Forward, and they have experience when releasing new games from old Ips. I love River City Girls as a game from Kunio Kun and Double Dragon world.

I had fun with the demo. For me that's all that counts. It's on my Steam wish list and if the $ is right.

I haven't hated on it, other than to say "They missed an opportunity to remake Major Havoc" and I stand behind that. I think you replied with something is coming, and that's cool. Yars always was a somewhat 1 dimensional game. A really *good* game at the time, and maybe this serves to do more worldbuilding for it. I just kind of feel like they should have taken it in a different direction, like a 2.5d roguelike shooter, something akin more to metal slug, with that they could have done an equal amount of worldbuilding while staying in the spirit of the game.

Sounds like they are from the same camp as “This isn’t Star Trek”or “This isn’t Star Wars” or this isn’t feeling any pop culture franchise that has been around for decades. A more accurate statement might be “I’m not 12 years old anymore and this doesn’t hit the same way as it did in 1980s something” And you brought up Star Trek just as I was typing this so on the same page!

Most of the complaints I’ve come across are of the “This isn’t a Yars game,” which I guess I understand. If you’d asked me what a modern “Yars” game would be, I would’ve guessed something more akin like an auto-scrolling shooter or something. That said, I know Wayforward typically does good work, and I have every confidence that the game will turn out well, so I’m more than happy to keep an open mind about the game.

When you talked about New Star Trek vs Old I was thinking more like the comparing the old Star Trek from the 60s to the new that came out in the 90s. There was a big gap in time between the 2 versions there too. At the end of the day, sales will tell the story of whether this new style gives Atari a way to make their old IP more marketable in the future.

I enjoyed the demo. Looking forward to the full release. I like that they are trying to expand the Yarsiverse.

I think it is just an odd genre choice for a new Yars game which feels a bit off--putting. I think had it gone more of a space shooter direction like R-Type, Gradius, etc... with a shielded core/cannon at the end of levels it may have gone over a bit better. If they went full 3D, even a similar game to Descent might have worked. I think the style of game made just seemed foreign to the Yars theme.

I like the character art! I think it's a neat idea. I'm all for this kind of thing honestly. Like what EA did with Syndicate back in gen 7. It's a legacy thang.

I played Star Castle when it came out in the arcade. I had Yar's Revenge on my 2600. I currently play Metroidvanias most of the time. I'm looking forward to this.

I understand how people may be upset that this “isn’t a Yars game,” but I feel that this could help bring in new players interested into the IP. I mean, I’m not sure if the average person is willing to play a game that’s over 40 years old, but considering how this game seems to play in a Metroidvania style that’s very popular nowadays (Hollow Knight follows that game play stile and lot of people like that game), this seems like a good way for Atari to adapt to the changing times. (And you may be thinking that Atari is already getting people interested in old game like the original Yars’ Revenge through their countless compilations, but how many times can they use nostalgia time and time again before people feel like they’ve had enough?) That’s just how I feel about this game using a beloved Atari IP.

I think a strong point that’s made in the video is that, like other companies, Atari is seeking avenues to interest younger generations of gamers in some of their intellectual properties. I think that’s a good thing, honestly. In today’s time, you’re probably going to draw more interest with a metroidvania title than a traditional space shooter. Honestly, it’s a creative approach I find laudable. Some of my acquaintances who enjoy rogue like games got a kick out of the recent Haunted House game. I’m a huge fan of the original but I enjoyed the new version as well, even though the mechanics were very different in most respects.

Atari’s odd reboots have all been very good so far Haunted House was great I liked the Panzer Dragoon style Yars for 360 so I’m not exactly a purist and Wayforward is a great studio. I’m very much looking forward to this.

Way forward seems to make awesome games from what I can tell so even if this game feels weird as a Yar's game it'll probably be good as a metroidvania.

I think you've hit the nail on the head Jon, that this is a new direction for a new audience. I'm a huge fan of Atari both old & new and have particularity enjoyed the Re-charged series but some of their other recent releases aren't for me but I'm glad others have enjoyed them. The negative reactions I see for not just this but for other established companies in the gaming sphere is pure and simple "gatekeeping" where certain community members think they have the right to decide what is and isn't allowed and try to make this view (their view) appear to be the "general consensus". Live and let live is what I say :-) Keep up the awesome work Jon!

Negative "fans" are why I really had to step away from developing for the VCS and who knows... after 40 years, maybe all the "fans" will finally push me out with their "fandom"... so, they can be stuck with developers who don't actually listen or acknowledge their existences outside of milking them like an ATM.

I see more good comments than bad on the Steam forum from the demo. I haven't played it yet and it looks like the only way now is to run the exe directly as they removed the Play option from inside Steam. To me it looks cool from the trailer. The hate I'm guessing is on the AA forums from the boomers who can't handle anything new. If it's not from the 80s with a handful of pixels in total it's just not good. lol

I'm 43 years old, and I personally have the belief that old things need to evolve in order to stay relevant. For example, look at the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. It's got a totally different art style, has the turtles acting like, and being voiced by, actual teenagers, and it's got a totally different feel to its storytelling. I loved it, and I actually find the old 80s cartoon unwatchable these days! I've been largely unable to truly get into my childhood nostalgia as the old cartoons and games don't hold up anymore to me, though occasionally we get something like Super Mario Bros Wonder which is unquestionably a combination of retro and modern ideas. (Ironically it was my older brother who tried the game and complained "I feel like I've played this before.") I am actually unfamiliar with the original Yars Revenge so I don't see this as desecrating my childhood. But I don't see it as being connected to the old game either other than some references, even if it was allegedly Wayforward who approached Atari with the idea. Finally, I want to point out that reviving old things in a new form is a mega common executive tactic that attempts to bridge audiences to bring in more money. An example is Harriet the Spy. It was a 1964 book, then a 1996 movie, and now it's a 2021 cartoon which goes off in a completely different direction to become a standard (albeit fun imo) slice of life cartoon. It's like executives say "bring back old popular thing" and creative types try to turn it into their own idea. Or the reverse, creative people come up with an idea, then an executive attaches it to a popular franchise (which is where Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order came from). It's just what companies do. Anyway, great video. Thanks for making it!

Like I said in my first reply on the demo. I like the Impossible Mission, Metroid angle because I love those games. What I don't like in this Yar Rising game, is the art design. First of all I have an innate hatred to people with blue/green/pink hair :D And I think since Yar is a bug like creature, the protagonist should've been a bug like creature with bug like features to help it across the worlds. It's a missed oppertunity to take the "Metroprime" genre into a new direction, like Yar's did for shooters. A missed opportunity and lack of creativity for sure. But if it's a tenner like all the other Atari Recharged games, then I'll definitely add it to my Siwtch. More than that, I probably hold out for the new Zelda 2D like game announced yesterday.

I feel like I agree with most of the complaints. I don't think the game will be garbage: I have yet to play a bad WayForward game. Furthermore, I like the MetroidVania genre, even though I think it's becoming a bit crowded, mostly because the indies making them have the same love for the genre's forebearers that I do. I feel like the problem is this approach will fail to capture both the existing audience, and the one they want to cultivate, precisely due to the dual problems of how little it resembles old-school Yars, and how little it will stand out on the game storefronts in a sea of Metroid wannabes. Basically, a marketing problem rather than a quality issue.

I'm about to turn 49... I'm all for evolving the franchise from the "in name only" rail shooters and cash ins. The mini games look fun as hell, and the fact we're getting something with a bit of meat to it instead of scraps is a good thing. Any haters can go back to their old school Yars without losing anything.

I’m 44. I had a 2600 until I got NES. In the 2000s I was a 2600 collector. These days I have a 2600+ and a few games,I mostly play Atari through the “recharged” games on Switch. I am PSYCHED for this game! The art style,the music,the story,everything is what I want from a game. I do get that it’s kind of weird to make it a metroidvania instead of a shooter,but I don’t know what people expected in 2024.

Usually the anime style western games are way more anime than most Japanese games. This is one of the case. I never like that, even though I'm not stranger to animes for over 35 years (when and go, depends I'm interested or not). However I still wait the full game.

Appreciate the deeper dive on this game. Definitely has a Metroid feel to it too, so it seems like a decent combo of both worlds. I'll see you guys on the 1980s Now live Wednesday night if I don't have other errands. Have a good night!

I’m 58, I played Yar’s Revenge when I was in high school when it came out. I liked the Yar’s Rising demo and played through it several times. I will buy the game when it comes out.

I'm an old GenXer who still plays Yars' Revenge to this day. That being said, I'd love it if this game were a prequel! Could we be seeing an origin story for the Qotile?

Yars Rising looks fantastic! I love the art aesthetic, especially the Bladerunner-style nighttime cityscapes in the background. Just gorgeous. I also like the female character, she's adorable & has a very cute & catchy voice. I also love the fact that Atari is releasing what might be its first Metroidvania - a genre sorely lacking in its history. I say all this being someone born in '80 who's first console was the 2600, had the 7800 & Jaguar the Christmas it was released.

A separate thought on these Atari games. Take a look at Lunar Lander - it’s a story-wrapped game and most people who played the original didn’t know the story bits. (Thanks again for Lunar Lander - love it) Same with Yars Revenge. I think (but not sure) that the story bits and animation are similar between these two titles - what are your thoughts? I think Atari is doing something unique with these titles, but they aren’t communicating that part (at least not that I’m aware of). I don’t know how they get in front of that to set expectations but they could lean on the community to help tell that story. I think they are making unique games, not just nostalgia-farming these titles.

I'm just excited for you Jon- to see you get to play it all the way through soon and uncover some of the hidden gems and callbacks that I'm sure will be there. This was always one of my favorite Atari games as well. Your positivity is infectious and I really appreciate what you do on this channel. Keep up the great work my friend.

I think it looks beautiful and lovingly crafted. Which fits, given Atari's goal of working with indie developers to find fresh twists without too much oversight... I played Yars Revenge when I was six (yes I'm Gen x) and it has all the complexity of breakout. Every other angle on that has been done, so keeping that stuff as mini games and creating a world around it seems like a smart call. If I played modern retro influenced games I'd be onboard for sure (I don't game at all, but I like to follow the happenings)

I wonder if they plan to mention some of the events in the "Yar's Revenge Read Along Book" in the new games?

I enjoyed the Yar's Rising demo and I owned the original in the early 80's. Of course it's not the original Yar's, but it doesn't have to be. I'm glad Atari is using the IP to make something a little different and not sticking to a 3rd or even 1st person shooter. There will always be opportunity for other games.

Personally, I would like to see a Yars-themed Shmup "shooter" game, I have not played Yars Rising yet to say if I like it or not. Great video and choice of topic! And.... I liked the Yars on rail shooter, It reminded me of Panzer Dragoon Or Gamera 2000 and I love both of those games.

Never played a yars game but due to modern controversies with gaming I'm hesitant of most new games coming out as of late. I'll wait until the late reviews drop.

I watched your demo play-through and I actually finished it. I rarely do that but the game captured my imagination and looked like a lot of fun. I dig the art style and I especially liked all of the callbacks. Is it going to be the next Red Dead or Fallout? No. Does it have to be in order to be a fun game? No. But then, I’m an Atari fanboy and I’m always eager to see what they come up with next. I’m definitely picking it up for my VCS when it’s released.

Y'know, I've seeing the same reaction from people who have watched the trailer for Borderlands. It's not what they want nor did they expect and they're not willing to give it a chance based on its own merits. As much as I hate to use the expression, this is a total fanboy reaction.

i think it's good to expand on yars......as a kid playing yars revenge it was hard at times to hold my interest since i didn't read any story to it......just a means to an end....wherever that end was cuz i never found it.

Let me preface this by saying whether you like the game or not, that’s perfectly fine. Everyone has personal tastes. But I’ve been on Atariage since like 2004 and I’m the retro community for longer. One thing I have learned is that there is a small but extremely vocal group of fans who just hate on everything that’s new/different. I’m not talking about the folks who are just like ‘nah that doesn’t look like Yars I’ll pass’. I’m talking about the ones who rant on every video about it they can find on KZfaq with extra caps lock. A certain sort of fan thrives on negativity like that. They’re in every fan group that gets big enough. Do anything new that doesn’t meet their expectations, they start yelling. When it comes out, if it’s bad, they gloat. If it’s good, crickets. Just is what it is. I ignore it. They’re a much smaller group than the volume indicates.

Even though it didn't really catch my attention, I found the attempt to do something different interesting, although I think that these appeals to new generations are usually doomed to failure. In any case, it seemed like a cooler game than the unplayable Years from 2011. If someone wants a remake that is more faithful to the original then I think Yars: Recharged is the definitive game.

Second video I've watched on this topic. Admittedly, I'm probably 1/8 or 1/4 generation young to be in the Yars Revenge target demographic age wise being born in 79. But I did play Yars on both the vcs and in the arcade in the 80s. This is an entirely different type of game that weaves some Yars touches into the experience, and I'm totally down with it, I will more than probably grab this on steam or switch at some point. To each their own but I think this is a fun take. 🥂 Cheers fellow nerds.

I'm looking forward to it. It looked really entertaining. I enjoyed the banter and such.

I played Yars Revenge upon release back in the day and I can totally see where this modern game’s development comes directly from that game. Is it the modern game I would have made from YR? No Does that mean it’s not a good direct development? No It looks to me as a very good effort stating true in its own way the source material… wish I could say that about all reboots and continuation games (and movies and shows) I wish it the very best of luck and can’t wait for Jon to do a long play so we can see how the storyline develops past what we have seen thus far The good thing is that you review these for us Jon and people can quickly decide if it’s for them or not If it is not, I hope they can find something more suited to their tastes Keep gaming!

Sounds like a prequel. I love your point of view and open-mindedness on this upcoming game.

I will for sure get this game. It has gameplay that I like, set in a universe of a classic Atari game, created by a developer that I also like their other games. So for this GenX dude it is pretty mucha no brainer. I can say without a doubt that the new direction for this iteration of Atari is fantastic and of all the companies from my childhood they have my attention and support.

Looks cool, especially the mini-games. And I do get prequel vibes ... I mean "Yars Rising" is suggestive. I mean, obviously the characters we see look human, so maybe this is a story of how the genetically altered Yars race got developed or escaped from some scientific lab experiment or something? Anyway, FWIW an absolute ton of us GenXers are or were anime/manga fans, as well as heavily into anime style video games from Japan during the late 80s and 90s.

I would also like to add that even though this isn’t the shooter we all love from an Atari reimagined. What’s not to say that Atari of any iteration wouldn’t have taken a different direction for Yars or any IP. Not all Mario games are the same. I look forward to a new direction from an old friend.

Wayforward + metroidvania + yars universe = AMAZING!

When Golden Axe tried to compete directly with Street Fighter 2, nobody accepted it, even though that was a subtle shift between genres. When the sequel to Zanac A.I. came out on the Sony PlayStation (leaping from 8 bit to 32 bit) everyone could see, "This is a Zanac game". That's what 99 percent of people are looking for.

It's sad that so many people are dismissing this. I'm SUPER excited for it!

Jon - You make some good points here in your video. What I see is a whole lot of developers and artists and concept designers have put a LOT of work into this game. It looks great on first sight and I’ll give it a go regardless of its name and perceived universe origins. If it’s bad then I will stop playing it. If it’s great then I’ll play it more.

I think as long as it has that core gameplay then anything added is fine

The original games “backstory” was all in the accompanying comic book. It was a fun game with fun mechanics for its time. I didn’t pay any attention to the backstory - then or since. My first reaction to the video was “what’s this?” That said, it looks worth a play. I don’t think of it as “80s yars” but that’s ok

A nuanced take as always, and one I agree with 100%. Have a great day, cheers.

I haven't played the demo, but the game looks interesting to me! I am a GenX gamer too, and I like seeing new things. It may end up not being my favorite, but I will certainly give it a try!

Atari owns some amazing IP that could/should be modernized, Adventure should absolutely be updated to a potential rogue-like game. I would buy the shit out of that. A new Dark Chambers would also be extremely welcome!

U think yars’ rising either takes place in a universe where the events of revenge happened long in the past and your Qotiles won, taking the yars’ and making them slaves to work for Qo-Tec, and you must expose Qo-Tec for what they’re doing. Which would make sense as sabutor seems to also have the yars’ lost, and turned into selves for the Qotiles. (OR) The Qotiles lost, and are trying to colonize a more advanced earth by using technology. Which one do you think is true?

The game is not what I was expecting, but I am VERY excited to play it. I'm curious how they're going to tackle the lore :)

Another thought. Looks like a platformer. With robots and sci-fi stuff. And terminals. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN BRANDED IMPOSSIBLE MISSION 3 !!! 😂 Maybe then the hard corers would end all their puffery. ☁️

Looks like a cool game! This GenX would definitely play it!

Good point GenX. Ill hold judgement and Im willing to try the game. Im a fan of the original and I think it will be a good and interesting experiment while we wait for Warshaw's sequel. 👍

I can't wait to see Asteroids get re-done as a platformer, too. In full color raster. With a trackball.

They gotta include the ghost of Ray Kassar as a final boss.

I have no problem with an established series trying something different, many IP's have dipped there toes in different genres to much success (Metal Slug has a tactics strategy coming out soon for example). Frankly if doing this help get more people into Yars and Atari IP's in general then that is a win for everyone. Frankly many of those leaving negative comments I personally feel fall into the "Troll" category where they are just trying to poke the bear for a reaction or start up a comment war and then exit stage right and let the event escalate on it's own.

It looks like a 2d platformer. Grade it by that scale, then how it compares to Yars Revenge.

It looks worth a play to me. The ultra anime characters didn't not appeal to me (I have logged hundreds of hours in Disgaea games so I do like cheese) . I would love to see the ending the main character somehow being responsible for a fly getting on a cargo ship or something to tie it all in

It's a Metroidvania so I'm automatically in. The Yars theme just makes me salivate for the new HSW sequel

It’s kind of sad actually, I’d say the last few years are the best Atari has been in three decades by a mile. As I’m enjoying the Nightdive remasters and remakes The new original games, Pixel Ripped, Mr Run and Jump, Days of Doom And greatly enjoying things like the EXCELLENT Atari 50th collection and the vastly underrated Haunted House roguelite it feels like Atari fans are for no particular reason at all fighting ALL of it tooth and nail.

Look, I'm just going to go in with the knowledge that it's wayforward, thus automatically meaning it's good. I don't give a flying one about the fan division, just gimme a good game!

I believe they announced today a release date of Spetember 10th.

I'm just curious why a lot of people (in these comments) seem to consider a core tenant of Yars "innovation" and lament this game for "not being innovative" or "a collection of old ideas slapped together". I'm going to let you in on a little secret; EVERY GAME we made back then was at the same level of "innovation" that you attach to Yars, because practically every game we made back then was "new". But I don't think anyone attaches this "has to be innovative" yoke to ever game from the past. Such a strange take, to me.

I am old enough to remember when Star Trek TNG came out. There were a lot of Star Trek fans that proclaimed “This isn’t Star Trek!“ No one is taking away the original and replacing it or anything. It’s just so silly.

I had a Yars game for the 360. It was an on-rails third person shooter where the characters bore more resemblance to what you might expect from a Yars game than this. But that was universally panned as well, as I recall. But it wasn't a bad game to just pick up and play from time to time.

Honestly it doesn't feel like a Yar's game from what I've seen, so I can see where some of the response comes from. The target audience probably don't even know what Yar's revenge is. With that in mind it's probably a perfectly good game, but I'd have given it a new name and everyone would probably be okay with that.

I don't get the negative reaction. WayForward is an amazing developer and just based on the 20 minutes of the demo, there's a ton of love for the original game. Is it different? Yes. But why is that bad? The only thing I'm not crazy about is the banter between the team, but I can overlook that.

To me, saying this isn't a Yars game is like saying Super Mario RPG or Mario Kart aren't Mario games. Franchises are allowed to have spin-offs, reboots, etc. that expand on the lore and universe. In this case, though, Yars doesn't get nearly as many games as Mario does, so I'm guessing that's why some people are upset. They wait a long time for some kind of Yars game and what they finally get goes far beyond what they expect, and I think that's rather reasonable. Plus, when you're as old as a Gen-Xer, I imagine you might have that lingering stigma about how you won't live forever and can't wait too long for the game of your dreams. I'm a millennial, and even I have that mindset sometimes.

I think the game looks good - kudos to Atari for utilizing the IP for something interesting.

Well... 98% of the hate is probably because a Yar is an intelligent species of Fly, not a hot teenage girl. If the protagonist was a hot teenage cybernetic housefly, that would be OK. It might be a reasonably good game, but it needs to take place in the actual YARS universe. If they made a new Donkey Kong game where Donkey Kong was a goth teenage boy and not a gorilla, it would not really be a Donkey Kong game.

Great Content!👍🏻🇺🇲

wayforward making the usual wayforward game. It's historically turned out to be a pretty good game when they've made it in the past, but why Yars?

It's hard to hate a game that hasn't been released yet and plus hate is a strong word lol. This game just doesn't grab me yet but it looks similar to a lot of modern games so I definitely can see why Atari would be targeting you know younger folks. I would rather wait till the finished product comes out before I make a decision

The game looks cool, and I'm looking forward to it, but I really am in the "it's not a yars game'' clan. Should it be considered in the Yars universe just because someone plays yars inspired minigames on a computer? By that logic, our real world is in the Yars universe, we all played Yars Revenge! And its unlikely to be a prequel either. If somehow this evil corp builds the Quotile, and it has to be fought by mutated flies later in the future, how could those minigames have anticipated that? For now, I think it just says Yars on the title so more old guys will buy it. Also, waifus sell better than flies. All that being said, we'll see if the story of this game, once released, actually has any real link to the original story.

To be honest I will make my decision when it comes out. Whether it is a good game or not is up to interpretation for each person.

If this had a different name and was on the Nintendo Switch, well I really believe people wouldn't say a word qnd honestly would like it , probably love it .

Yar's Revenge is now Shadow Complex, big deal. It was Space Harrier ten years ago. And Pac-Man became Maniac Mansion thirty years ago... these reinventions of classic franchises tend to happen. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't, but as long as they're there, you might as well try them.

If it's Atari (who made Yars) and set in the world of Yars (which I always wanted more of). It's a DAMN Yars game. Haters gonna hate. All the new Atari Remasters have been awesome. Would love a Star Raiders Remaster.

This feels more like a Metroid federation Force thing where people just dismiss it for not being directly a Metroid sequel. I'm still going to give this game a chance. I love dior's revenge, and I don't mind them expanding the game.

One small thing i want to add to the conversation for the comments, Wayforward can cook when they are given a proper direction and funding, it's almost accepted by most that the more recent bakugan tittle is the weakest in their entire catalog, mostly because spin master did not give them that much time to do something more proper, for all intents and purposes it was a one and done commision, not a game that was meant to last a while sadly. I myself hope i give the game a go sometime in the future, maybe for a discount i'll be honest

Its simple for me, i like arcade style games and other than mini games its a modern platformer. A genre that doesn't appeal to me

Not a fan of demo. This is not the Yars type game I played in the 80s.

It just seems like a cynical marketing ploy. Games like this are a dime a dozen, and I don't think anyone would even be talking about this at all if they hadn't stuck the "Yars" name on it. Having watched gameplay videos of it my reaction was "Meh."

Don't we have enough metroidvanias now as it is..

Me. It's coming from me. ;-) Way Forward have been extremely inconsistent in the quality of their creative work: people tend to only remember a few favorite projects, and not to look at the actual list of how many projects they've had in total -and how few you'd want to remember. And yes, I own the Way Forward Barbie game for the Nintendo DS. ;-)

Be open-minded and give this game a chance. 😉

Sir, don't you know we want the same but different from our IPs.???

I hate the visuals, the game may be good, but I am very fragile to theme and art style. Even if a game is really good, I won't play a game where I don't like the visuals, the sounds and music. Taste is irrational. People may also be tired and more irritated by something that could be seen as "Sweet Babyfied". But that is not the case here because the hero is a white beautiful woman.

While I never played Yars Revenge back in the 70s-80s. My first game console was PONG, then later Coleco Adam, then Sega's Master system, but I do understand the grievous of many die hard fans who say "This isn't a real Yars game." While I do agree in keeping and open mind, the gaming industry for the last 10 years has taken a beloved franchise and butchered it by either pushing cheap cash grabs, or changed it so radically different that it's no longer recognizable. Now, most people can honestly agree that it makes financial sense for Atari to create more modern vision in hopes of increase their player base, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it's going to back fire on them in a big way. Let me explain. This re-envisioning uses the title of Yars Rising but the only parts that appear to be like Yars is the graphics of some of mini-games. The rest of the game appears to be a modern side scrolling metromania which is absolutely nothing like Yars which was a space ship/insect ship fighting, rail shooter. These things have nothing in common at all, so combining in the way they have done is taking a big, big risk of alienating a well established (42 years+) and retro fans base, in hopes of attracting a younger crowd who spend most of their time playing MOBI games. A lot of companies have tried this in the best and most of them ended up alienating the former, and not attracting enough of the latter to be successful. To GenXGrownUp, while I have really enjoyed your videos, and I think you have many good points to consider, I also think you might have taken this commits a little too personally or perhaps you need try to relay better that you see both sides of this argument instead of kind of looking like your defending Atari's actions a little too strongly. No offense, but at after watching this video, you seemed to be a bit too hard on those hardcore retro/atari fans who are voicing their opinion. The Modern Gaming Industry in the last 10+ years have been turning out remakes, remasters, re-envisioning and for the most part not doing such a good job, so its not a stretch people are quick to see the negative of any new games using the name of a once beloved franchise. As a GenXer like yourself, this isn't anyone's first rodeo, today's modern Gaming Industry has earned the vinegar their getting. The new Atari too has earned a little of that with some of the things they done recently, but I digress. Needless to say I think both sides have very valid points that need to be discussed and respected.

I won't say the game sucks without playing it, but the "Yar's" aspect definitely feels shoehorned in. Otherwise it reminds me -- strangely enough -- of 'Splosion Man on Xbox 360!