Here’s
a disturbing thought. Some portions of my youth can only be recalled by playing
or reminiscing about a certain game. Perfect example: I can’t remember my high
school Sociology teacher’s name, but I can vividly recall my high school
Sociology notebook: it had a giant insectoid head with the words "QOTILE
DIES" below it, scratched deeply into the cover in blue ball point pen.
What’s even more disturbing is that this WAS a Sociology class, after all...
what kind of an example must I have been to my teacher, wanting to exterminate
an alien species like that? It couldn’t have been politically correct, even in
1982. Yes, I’m sure that as major events occurred around me that semester each
one more or less became a part of my past that blurred into obscurity. But
playing Yars' Revenge - and being part of the revolution
against the evil Qotile - is one I event remember well.
Although I’ve never heard it stated publicly, I’ve always felt that Yars' Revenge was inspired by the Cinematronics’ coin-op sleeper, Star Castle. The object is fairly straightforward: you’re the good guy on the left side of the screen, kill the bad guy on the right side of the screen. The simplicity of the classics still lure me in. No matter how complex games get today, very few reach the level of pure entertainment Yars' Revenge or others in its era achieved. With only one screen, seven objects, and solid programming Howard Scott Warshaw created what I believe to be his masterpiece.
The six objects are the Yar, the cannon, the Qotile, his shield, a "neutral zone", a homing missile, and your bullet. The goal is to break apart the Qotile’s shield by either shooting it with a bullet or consuming it, the latter of which enables the cannon. With enough of the shield removed, you can fire the cannon (which moves vertically in sync with your Yar) and hopefully hit the Qotile. Hit him and you’re challenged to do it again, this time at a more challenging pace. While you’re chipping away at the shield you’re constantly pursued by the homing missile. If it touches you, you die. The only place the Yar is safe is in the neutral zone, a scintillating vertical bar near the center of the screen. Oh, one more thing. Every few seconds, the Qotile spins in place then shoots out in your direction. If it hits you, you die.
After about five rounds of Qotile bashing, things really heat up. The homing missile gets faster, the Qotile leaves its base more frequently and ultimately begins to home in on you instead of flying out in a straight line. You are awarded higher points as levels progress. In fact, the scoring system here rewards risk takers. You get more points for nibbling a shield than shooting it, and you get more points for destroying the Qotile in mid-flight than you would for just taking him out from his base.
I wouldn’t put Yars' Revenge in my top ten, but it is definitely one of the true "quality" titles for the Atari 2600. It has stood the test of time, too. Recently I fired the game up on my home theater, with the sound on a high echo (I used the "stadium" setting on my system) and played like I did when my Sociology homework should have been done instead. For me personally, it also holds the honor of stealing away a fair portion of my youth, although why my guidance counselor never spoke to me about my hostility toward alien races is a mystery that will likely remain unsolved...
