Yars’ Revenge

Journey to the Razak Solar System, where an evil Qotile is swatting the Yars—mutant houseflies. This relentless enemy, hidden behind a protective shield, fires deadly missiles at the Yars. Help the Yars avenge their community! Send a Yar scout out to break a path through the shield by eating the bricks or exploding them with missiles. Then bring out the Zorlon Cannon and destroy the Qotile with a well-placed blast.

About the Game

What began as Howard Scott Warshaw’s failed attempt to recreate the vector-based Cinematronics Star Castle arcade game from 1980 ended up becoming one of the Atari 2600’s most beloved original titles.

From its chunky graphics and use of color to its sound effects, Yars’ Revenge is perhaps the one game that makes the best overall use of the Atari 2600 hardware’s distinctive feature-set. The fact that this technology was married to fantastic just-one-more-try gameplay is one of many reasons the regard for this game has grown considerably since it was first released.

Object of the Game

The primary objective of the game is to break a path through the shield and destroy the Qotile with a blast from the Zorlon Cannon. The secondary objective is to score as many points as possible.

Terminology

How to Play

The shield is the red area in front of the Qotile base. It appears in one of two shapes: as an arch, or a shifting rectangle. The shield is made up of cells. The Yar scout can destroy these cells by firing at them with Energy Missiles from any location on the playfield, or by devouring them on direct contact. The Zorlon Cannon can also be used to destroy the cells, but this is a waste of a powerful weapon.

Once a path has been cleared through the shield, the Zorlon Cannon must be used to destroy the Qotile. To call up the cannon, the Yar can either eat a cell or run over the Qotile.

The Zorlon Cannon appears on the left side of the playfield and moves in a direct line with the Yar. This means the Yar is in its line of fire. It’s important, therefore, to aim the cannon at the Qotile, fire it, and fly out of the way fast!

The Qotile shoots off two weapons: Destroyer Missiles and Swirls. The Destroyer Missiles come in a more or less constant stream, one at a time. The Yar must do his best to dodge them. Periodically, the Qotile transforms into a Swirl. This Swirl winds up and rushes off after the Yar. A Swirl can be destroyed with the Zorlon Cannon by hitting it either at its base location or in mid-air. As a player’s score increases, the Swirl becomes increasingly dangerous.

The glittering path down the center of the screen is the Neutral Zone. This area protects a Yar from Destroyer Missiles but not from Swirls. While in the Neutral Zone, a Yar cannot fire any Energy Missiles of his own.

When a Yar is hit by a Destroyer Missile, a Swirl, or his own Zorlon Cannon, he dies. Each player has four Yars (turns) to play in a game. Additional Yars can be earned.

Controlling the Yar

The Yar moves in whatever direction the joystick is pushed. The screen “wraps” from top to bottom, bottom to top. This means that if you fly the Yar off the top of the screen, it will appear at the bottom, and vice versa.

The red controller button has two separate firing functions: it fires an Energy Missile in the direction the Yar is pointed, or operates the Zorlon Cannon when it’s on the screen.

The red controller button is also used to restart turns and games. Press it after each turn to start a new life, or continue a successful one. Press it at the end of the game to play that same game version again.

Scoring

Score Chart

High-Score Game Features

The game ends when the fuel level reaches zero. In one-player games, try to beat your highest score. In two-player games, each player tries to beat the opponent’s score. After a two-player game is over, the left player’s score appears at the top center of the screen; the right player’s score appears at the bottom center, where the fuel amount was indicated during gameplay.

Difficulty Options

Yars’ Revenge includes two difficulty levels: A and B. Level B is for normal gameplay. Level A is for the skilled player. When the difficulty button set to the A position, the Swirl is propelled faster, making it harder for the Yar to dodge. Also, if the Zorlon Cannon and the Destroyer Missile touch, they destroy each other.

In a one-player game, use the left difficulty button. For two-player games, the left player uses the left difficulty button and the right player uses the right difficulty button.

Game Options

Use Select to choose the game number you wish to play, from 0 to 7. The game number appears in the center of the screen.

Once you select the game number you wish to play, press Reset to start the game. To start the same game over again, press either Reset or the red button on your joystick. Reset can also be used to start a new game at any time.