For over 40 years, the Atari 2600 game “Yars’ Revenge” has endured. Atari has released this 1982 action game multiple times, both in cartridge form and as part of retro consoles. Numerous developers have attempted to remake it, reimagine it, or create an official sequel to the simplistic shooter.

In September, developer WayForward Technologies will take another shot at “Yars’ Revenge,” but they are going in a different direction. WayForward’s “Yars Rising” is an action-adventure exploration game inspired by games like “Super Metroid” and “Shadow Complex.” Instead of starring a vengeful chrome alien fly, the protagonist is a young hacker named Emi “Yar” Kimura, who is trying to take down a shadowy corporation from within.

“Yars Rising” is definitely a departure from the original “Yars’ Revenge,” but it is being created with as much reverence as possible for the original game, according to game director James Montagna. “I did the deepest of dives you could possibly do on the entire history of ‘Yars’ Revenge,'” Montagna told me during a video call. “I mean, even stuff like the 1982 vinyl record release of ‘Yars’ Revenge – really obscure stuff that maybe two people in the world care about. We were just trying to absorb as much knowledge as we could, because if we’re going to do this thing, we want to make sure to do it right. We want to know the legacy of where it came from. And I think that’s really important when you’re handed something like this, because it has history, and we want to honor it.”

Still, “Yars Rising” is thematically, aesthetically, and mechanically very different from the original “Yars’ Revenge,” but that’s by design, Montagna said. Some of that is to serve the new game’s story, but some of it is also playing to WayForward’s strengths as a developer of platformers and Metroidvanias. “It’s also a little bit of [us] surprising players with something they maybe didn’t even know that they wanted,” he said. “No one was expecting or asking for an exploration action-platforming ‘Yars’ Revenge’ reimagining, right? But I think part of our job as designers is to show people why and how something like that can make sense.”

The story of “Yars Rising” is about a black hat hacker ring that is approached by a “mysterious figure with deep pockets to hack this mega conglomerate called QoTech.” Emi takes the gig because the price is right, Montagna explained. “She’s got this antagonistic streak; she’s doing something immediately a little bit nefarious and dishonest,” he said. “She gets a job at QoTech to win their trust over the course of several weeks, and the game kicks off the night where she’s going to pull off her heist. As the game progresses, you’ll learn more and more about her backstory.

“Why is a ‘Yars’ Revenge’ reimagining having this kind of character and this style of gameplay? It starts to make sense the more you play it. And I can only explain so much without just completely giving certain things away, but it really comes down to, well, this is how we communicate the story. It’s a genre we’re good at, and a little bit [that] we want to surprise and delight.”

The story of “Yars Rising” is about a black hat hacker ring that is approached by a “mysterious figure with deep pockets to hack this mega conglomerate called QoTech.” Emi takes the gig because the price is right, Montagna explained. “She’s got this antagonistic streak; she’s doing something immediately a little bit nefarious and dishonest,” he said. “She gets a job at QoTech to win their trust over the course of several weeks, and the game kicks off the night where she’s going to pull off her heist. As the game progresses, you’ll learn more and more about her backstory.

“Why is a ‘Yars’ Revenge’ reimagining having this kind of character and this style of gameplay? It starts to make sense the more you play it. And I can only explain so much without just completely giving certain things away, but it really comes down to, well, this is how we communicate the story. It’s a genre we’re good at, and a little bit [that] we want to surprise and delight.”

“Yars Rising” also honors the original “Yars’ Revenge” in one major way: The game is filled with hacking minigames based on the original game’s concept. To hack things in “Rising,” you play as the pixelated fly (Yar) and attack the enemy (Qotile), which is protected by a shield. The hacking games are remixed versions of the original’s playfield, combined with other classic Atari 2600 games like “Space Invaders” and “Missile Command.”

“It’s almost just as much a WarioWare microgame experience in a certain light,” Montagna said. “It’s also a stealth game. So I think there’s, like, so many elements of different [game genres] […] probably why I personally hesitate to put certain labels on it, but I can’t really correct anyone that calls it a Metroidvania.”

While WayForward is trying to do something new and different with its take on the Yars series, “Rising” is also an Atari love letter, Montagna said. In “Yars Rising’s” gameplay trailer, you can see “Computer Space” cabinets and references to Atari creator Nolan Bushnell. But these shoutouts to Atari’s history will be more than just set decoration, Montagna explained.

“In so many ways, we wanted to make it so that every detail is something that could potentially matter to somebody,” he said. “There’s a way to do that that doesn’t feel invasive or [exclusionary]. There should be some emotional reaction – like, ‘Oh, they get me’. ‘I grew up with this’. Or ‘I know what this is’. So throughout the game, it has varying degrees of Atari references – even entire boss battles in this game are references to something to do with Atari in some way, shape, or form. I hope players look forward to seeing what those are.”

Even the game’s hacker hero is built around Atari iconography. Emi’s aqua blue hair is a combination of the Atari “Fuji” logo and the silhouette of the original Yar sprite.

But Montagna said that “Yars Rising” can’t simply rely on nostalgia or a familiar game name to succeed. It has to be great and a good action-adventure exploration game in a crowded market of Metroid-inspired retro games.

“I’m happy to say I think we did a pretty darn good job of making sure that flow is right,” Montagna said of “Yars Rising’s” focus on precision and gameplay variety. “You might be gunning down enemies, jumping from platform to platform, mowing through a series of enemies, then in the next room, it’s going to change up on you. It’s going to be a little bit of stealth gameplay where we’re slowing things down. I think that that ebb and flow is good, because if it’s just pure adrenaline, it can be exhausting. We’re also incorporating those hacking challenges, which also break up the moment-to-moment a bit.”

“Yars Rising” is coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X on September 10th.