Star Wars: Rogue Squadron

"Now, Young Skywalker, You Shall Fly."

The earliest Star Wars flight simulator I can remember is that one level in Super Star Wars where you're flying across the Death Star, blowing up TIEs and other whatnot. Then came the rest of the Super Star Wars trilogy, then Shadows of the Empire. SotE was the game that really inspired the people at Lucasfilm to develop Rogue Squadron. More specifically, the Battle of Hoth and the skyhook levels, since those were the only true flight simulation levels. Rogue Squadron became so popular that it eventually two more Star Wars flight sim games were made off of it, thus resulting in the Rogue Squadron trilogy. I bought this game at a Toys'rus quite a few years ago, and I still find myself playing it quite a bit. Here's why...

Gameplay 10/10: The gameplay blew me away. There were many different ships you could fly, like the X-Wing, Y-Wing, A-Wing, Millenium Falcon, TIE Interceptor, Snowspeeder, the EU V-Wing, and for the first time ever, the Naboo Starfighter. The controls was pretty cool, as each ship handled differently. The X-Wing had the standard amount of maneuverability, firepower, speed, and shields. The A-Wing was really fast, but weak in all the other aspects. The Y-Wing was slow, but really powerful, and you get the picture. There was also very little slowdown in the game, which is always a plus. I’m just a little mad that there weren’t any space levels, unless you count the Death Star as a space level.

Challenge 9/10: Although it's not necessarily hard to beat this game, it does have its challenging points, like the Battle of Mon Calamari. The really difficult part is getting all the gold medals, but I'll talk about that later. Other than that, the game's not really that hard.

Story 8/10:Basically the adventures of Rogue Squadron between Episodes 4 and 5. Many people believe that there is no true point to this game, but there is. Rogue Squadron captures an ex-Imperial TIE interceptor squadron leader who eventually joins thier side. She tells them of a man in the Empire named Moff Seerdon, her former leader. So she helps Rogue Squadron go out and foil Seerdon's plans for Imperial domination. Not all the missions follow this storyline, especially not the Battle of Calamari, which takes place many years after The Empire Strikes Back. But I’m okay with that.

Graphics 10/10: Rogue Squadron’s graphics were way ahead of their time when this game came out. Everything was so detailed and perfectly drawn out. The snowspeeder and the X-Wing look much better than they did in Shadows of the Empire, as do the walkers, TIE Fighters, and all the other ships in the Imperial fleet. The levels look beautiful, and everything is really clear looking.

Sound 10/10: Star Wars games are known for having great sound and music qualities. One thing puzzles me though, the TIE fighter laser cannons, when fired, sound absolutely nothing like they do in the movies, but other than that, everything sounds great. The classic John Williams music is very crisp and clear, and just sounds great. The voice clips are done very nicely, and most of them sound like the real movie characters!

Playtime/Replayability 10/10: This game is sure to keep any flight sim or Star Wars fan hooked for a really long time. Even after you beat the game, you’ll still find yourself playing this game, mostly to get all gold medals on every mission and unlock secrets.

Rent or Buy? Buy, of course! This truly is what a good flight simulator should be. And if you don’t have an N64, get Rogue Squadron for computer, it’s the same game!

There you go, my review on the legendary Star Wars game, Rogue Squadron. This game went on to have a prequel made to it, Battle for Naboo, on the N64, and a sequel, Rogue Leader, on the Gamecube, but the original will always be my favorite. That’s all I have to say.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/21/03, Updated 03/21/03