Yar's Revenge
Yar's Revenge is a rail shooter video game developed by Killspace Entertainment and published by Atari. It is a reboot of Yars' Revenge, the original Atari's 1982 shooter for the Atari 2600. It was released for the Xbox 360 through Xbox Live Arcade and Windows in April 2011.
Also recorded as Yars Revenge
Yar's Revenge
- Date
- 2011
- Publisher
- Atari
- Language
- English · French
- Genre
- rail shooter
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Yar's Revenge. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q47092707 · wikipedia · Yar's Revenge
In this article
The object
The object
The game reinterprets the original's setting and characters, adopting anime graphics and making the formerly insectoid Yar species into four-armed humanoid aliens. A nameless Yar girl is brainwashed by the Qotile evil empire, but after she is shot down and rescued, she seeks revenge on her former master. The game received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its graphics, but criticized its gameplay, sound, and lack of voice acting or online multiplayer functionality, calling it difficult to recommend even at its relatively low price point.
Key facts
Key facts
• Title — Yar's Revenge • Developer — Killspace Entertainment • Publisher — Atari • Series — Yars • Platforms — Xbox 360, Windows • Released — Xbox 360 April 13, 2011 Windows April 28, 2011 • Genre — Rail shooter • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer
Development
Development
• Illustration — The player character (top left) shoots at enemies using a targeting reticle while flying over the landscape. Yar's Revenge was the first major project from Killspace Entertainment, a studio made up of former Obsidian Entertainment, Pandemic Studios, Red 5 Studios and EA Los Angeles developers. Their primary focus had been on first and third-person action-adventure games with an emphasis on sci-fi and horror, but Killspace pitched the idea of a rail shooter to Atari, who wanted to make something "new and exciting" with the franchise. The game's environments were stated to be inspired by works by Hayao Miyazaki, with the game using an anime art style due to Killspace's experience with it. Artist Evan Cagle was stated to be a fan of the anime genre. The developers aimed for the gameplay to be "fast and frenetic".
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- United States
Named but not plotted · 1
Yar's Revenge is associated with United States.
Country
Reception
The game received an aggregate score of 55/100 for the Xbox 360 version and 56/100 for the Windows version on Metacritic, indicating mixed or average reviews. Matt Miller of Game Informer rated the game 7.5/10 points, calling it "competent", but held back from greatness by lack of enemy variety or variation in level design. Describing its story as "eclectic and oddly philosophical", he said that the adaptation's strangeness made it interesting. However, he noted that after the first couple of levels, the game became monotonous, and that it did not match the quality of other well-known rail shooters. Jon Michael of IGN rated the game 6/10 points, saying poor voice acting would have been better than no voice acting due to the difficulty reading the game's story, especially on a standard-definition television. He also criticized the lack of enemy variety, saying that there were only three major types from beginning to end. He called character movement inconsistent, and bemoaned the lack of online co-op, with only local co-op available. While saying it was "tailor-made" for shooter fans wanting a challenge, he found it difficult to recommend even for $10. Kristan Reed of Eurogamer rated the game 5/10 points, remarking that it was nonsensical to completely ignore the source material, and that while a game of "undeniable excellence" would have made up for the changes, the game's controls were "inelegant". Criticizing the need to pilot Yar and her targeting reticle independently, he called the game's encounters "underwhelming" despite "the occasional nod to the visual minimalism of Rez". Heidi Kemps of GameSpot also rated the game 5/10 points, saying that while it had "great art design", the gameplay was "dull" despite being heavily inspired by Panzer Dragoon, Star Fox and Sin and Punishment. She called it a "prime example of squandered potential".
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Yar's Revenge, revision 1305406467 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Yar's Revenge. Metacritic.
- 2.Yar's Revenge. Metacritic.
- 3.Callaham, John. Exclusive: We chat with the producer of Yars' Revenge. BigDownload. 2011-03-22.
- 4.Miller, Matt. Review - Yar Returns With A New Look. Game Informer. 2011-04-13.
- 5.Michael, Jon. Yar's Revenge Review. IGN. 2011-04-18.
- 6.Reed, Kristan. Download Games Roundup. Eurogamer. 3. 2011-04-22.
- 7.Kemps, Heidi. Yar's Revenge Review for Xbox 360 - GameSpot. GameSpot. 2011-04-25.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 21 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Collectables
20,755 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Yandere SimulatorWork
- yanggeumTerminology
- yangqinTerminology
- YankeeOrganisation
- YarisWork
- Yars RisingWork
- Yars' RevengeWork
- yatgaTerminology
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a copy of Yar's Revenge?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.