Yars' Revenge (1999). Play online

Summary

The Game Boy Color version of Yars’ Revenge – released in September 1999 as Yars’ Revenge: the Qotile Ultimatum – expands the classic 1981 Atari fixed‑shooter into a scrolling battlefield. Developed by Vatical Entertainment with Mike Mika’s input, it preserves the horizontal‑axis clash between the fly‑like Yar and the shielded Qotile while adding a secret bonus stage where you dodge asteroids and chase the Ghost of Yar for extra points. New intermission screens and a password‑based continue system give it a more modern feel, and the scroll‑wide playfield makes the original’s wrap‑around arena feel larger. The game still challenges players to bite through the shifting energy shield, fire the Zorlon cannon, and avoid the Qotile’s guided missiles and swirling obstacles. Colorful shield‑color shifts and high‑score thresholds add visual flair, turning a nostalgic shooter into a fresh handheld adventure.

Storyline

The backstory of Yars' Revenge on Game Boy Color follows the Yars, a fly‑like humanoid race that evolved from ordinary houseflies after a crash‑landed spaceship spread radioactive dust across the Razak system. The mutation gave them the ability to devour any material and to convert that energy into devastating projectiles capable of vaporizing solid rock. Peaceful at first, the Yars began colonising planets and started building the Zorlon Cannon as a defensive weapon.

Their work was interrupted when the alien Qotile dissolved Planet IV, turning the wreckage into a neutral zone and forcing the Yars to finish the cannon in secret. The Qotile hides behind an energy shield and attacks with missiles and “swirls.”

To defeat the Qotile, the Yars must break the shield by devouring its cells or make direct contact, triggering the incomplete Zorlon Cannon to fire and annihilate their foe.