Yars: Recharged Review

After 40 years, Atari’s classic title Yars: Revenge is back for a new generation with the release of Adamvision Studios and SneakyBox’s Yars: Recharged. 30 challenging bosses await – should players take on the challenge?

Yars: Recharged Review

Staying true to the premise of the original, a core stands between you and the next stage. There’s a number of shields in the way, but no need to worry – your voracious appetite can make sure those shields are nibbled down into nothing. Once players connect enough orbs, they’ll be able to get behind the controls of a massive cannon that can deal big damage.

It’s a simple premise, one that stresses the importance of reflexes. Players will never know when the next major blast or shield movement will come their way, so it’s important for them to always be on their toes. There’s also a number of powerups and strategies at play; do you take out the subordinate cannons right away, or do you leave them for later for a sweet little bonus?

It’s just a shame that Yars: Recharged is a bit on the simple side. Each level more or less follows the same structure, meaning that repetition quickly sets in for those less keen on racking up a high score. Other oldies like Ms. Pac-Man varies things up with different map layouts and tiny little cutscenes, but this title ends up being a bit too note.

Of course, being 2022, there are some new graphical standards in play. However, Yars: Recharged ends up playing things too safe in that regard as well. Titles like Geometry Wars back in 2003 electrified screens everywhere, but the color palette here is a bit too muted to really make an impact. It’s not bad – the clean colors and wide playing field get the job done – but getting the job done isn’t good enough after 40 years on the scene.

Rather, this title is for those who always have their eyes on the prize. Score-chasing is the name of the game here, with the ultimate goal to rise to the top of the leaderboards. The game also makes a compelling case by having players take the mantle of a number of score multipliers at the risk of making things more difficult – just the learning curve needed to add replayability. A number of achievements are also available for reaching certain score milestones and taking down a set amount of cores.

Outside of the Arcade main course, there is also a Mission Mode for support for both single player and multiplayer functionality. These missions gradually unlock over time, and while they are far from scene stealers, they are still welcome nonetheless.

Yars: Recharged has all of the underpinnings of a successful score chaser, but the premise just isn’t taken far enough to stand out in this day and age.

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This review of Yars: Recharged was done on the PC. The game was purchased digitally.