Yars' Revenge

Infobox VG| title = Yars' Revenge


developer = Atari
publisher = Atari/Telegames Ltd
designer = Howard Scott Warshaw
engine =
released = 1981
genre = Fixed shooter
modes = Single player
ratings = "none"
platforms = Atari 2600
media =
requirements =
input = Joystick

"Yars' Revenge" is a video game developed for the Atari 2600. It was created by Howard Scott Warshaw, who also wrote the 2600 titles "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and the much derided "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial". "Yars' Revenge" was Atari's best selling original title for the 2600. The game was released in 1981. In 1999, a Game Boy Color version was developed by Vatical Entertainment and released by Telegames Ltd.

The game began as a licensed port of the Cinematronics arcade game "Star Castle." In the original game, a powerful cannon is protected by three layers of counter-rotating shields. The player must shoot holes in these shields in order to destroy the cannon inside. But once these holes are made, the cannon can also shoot out at the player. If the outermost layer is completely destroyed, new layers of shields are grown. Harassing the player are two free roaming torpedoes that hunt out the player's ship.

As the Atari version grew, change after change was introduced until the final product had very little resemblance to the original. In this game, the hero (a Yar) is an insect-like creature who must nibble or shoot through a barrier in order to fire his "Zorlon Cannon" into the breach and destroy the evil Qotile, which exists on the other side of the barrier. The Qotile can shoot at the Yar even if the barrier is undamaged, by turning into the "Swirl" - fortunately, the player is warned before the shot is fired, and he can retreat to a safe distance to dodge the enemy's energy blast. Also in the game is a safe area, "the neutral zone", where the pursuing enemy torpedo cannot harm him (although the Swirl can). The Yar cannot shoot from within the neutral zone.

As with several other video games for the 2600 system, a miniature comic book was included in the game package, illustrating the story behind "Yars' Revenge". [http://www.atariage.com/comics/comic_page.html?MagazineID=48&CurrentPage=1] The comic book explained the "revenge" of the game's title: that the Yars were avenging the destruction of one of their worlds, Razak IV. The Yar race and the planet Razak were named after Ray Kassar, CEO of Atari at the time.

Atari also released an album, under the label Kid Stuff Records, which contained a theme song and a radio drama-style reading of an expansion of the story in the comic book. A different, 7" recording explained the tragedy that revealed that a Yar could use himself to target the Zorlon Cannon rather than eating from the barrier. Both recordings were produced by John Braden.

A sequel to this game ("Yars' Return") was created in 2005 for the Atari Flashback 2 system.

Easter egg

The game has an Easter egg. After killing the Qotile, if the player moves vertically along the line where the Qotile was killed, the programmer's initials, HSW, can be seen. This is typically done by shooting the Swirl in mid-shot, so that a vertical line appears on the screen. This ends the game.

Trivia

* Sound effects from the game were used in Joe Dante's "Explorers" during the drive-in theater movie sequence as the sound of the space battle portrayed on the screen while the protagonists buzzed it.

External links

* [http://www.atariage.com/software_page.html?SoftwareLabelID=603 AtariAge entry for "Yars' Revenge"]
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* [http://www.thealmightyguru.com/Reviews/YarsRevenge/ Yars' Revenge at TheAlmightyGuru]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ1Qg-Ny75g Yars' Revenge original TV commercial]