Let me start off by saying there are far too many Star Wars games in the world. If you already own one, turn back, dont read this review because if you buy another one they'll think you like it, and they'll only make more. As I own four so far, I know how ridiculous they get. It started with X-Wing, I thought what a cool game, and it'll work on my computer! (My computer being very out-dated at the time) and then soon moved to Tie-Fighter (which I actually couldnt play on my computer.) A short while later, I got X-Wing alliance for an easter gift, and then came Rogue Squadron. Lets face it - theres too many of these games in the world. Im not even going to go into the storylines as this game's is really just a takeoff from the movies. I will say X-Wing Alliance (which I will review at a later date) Did have a good story line and equally superb gameplay - but we arent here to discuss that, are we? No. We're here to discuss Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.
As the 4th Star Wars game I owned, this I would have to say, was the first one for a console (and Im not counting the one for the original NES system that I owned as it sucked and I could never beat it). This was also the game that got me an expansion pack, I believe it was a $5 rebate or something similar with purchase of the game. Well they hooked me on that one, and now I have an expansion pack, and two other spare ones (god help me). As far as the graphics for Rogue Squad went, I didnt (and still dont) feel that their anything special. I mean, really what is so big about it? Yes, the edges are rounded, and the details are much better for land units and so on, but really all Im comparing it to is other flight sims for the N64. Graphics on this game certainly arent anything innovative.
As far as a storyline goes, the game is basically comprised of sixteen individual missions (not counting the ones via the deaddack code), each with its limitations and such. There are about 8 star feighters total (this includes hidden ships, which I will talk about later). One of the things that bugs me about this particular Star Wars game is that you can only fly the Speeder and Y-Wing on missions that are Speeder Only, or Y-Wing Only Missions. I can understand this with the snow speeder, but you really should be able to fly the Y-Wing anywhere. Its not fair :-(.
Some things I am very impressed with this game for, are the fact that there is a 'theater' so to speak, where you can watch all the cutscenes you've earned, as well as listen to the music from the missions/etc. You can also read the biographies of the members of rogue squadron (or have them read aloud by the games voice feature, yes this N64 game has voice!) And, yes, this is the best being last, this is the most recent N64 game I've owned, that has an in-game cheating system where you enter codes to earn items.
As far as game play goes, I feel the controls are easy to master, the only thing I have a problem with is the bloody tow cable on the snow speeder. Man, trying to rope down an imperial walker with that thing is a ____ing bitch. This is mainly because when you try it, it zooms out from the speeder, and you are forced to estimate how close you are to the thing. I think the camera angles however are good, and the variety of views you have are also good for a flightsim on a console. You can choose from close behind the fighter, far behind the fighter, and a cockpit view. the cockpit views are actually quite impressive for what they are, and I'd have to say my favorite is that of the tie interceptor (which is a hidden item). As far as hidden items go, this game has some of the best. For hidden ship selection, there is the Millenium Falcon, Tie Interceptor, A Cadillac (actually the V-Wing transformed) and The Naboo Star Fighter. Now, considering that Episode I came out about a year after this game was released, its kind of impressive the team kept it a secret for that long, and I wont lie to you, this ship really rekindled my intrests in Rogue Squad.
As for normal ships, you have the selection of the X-Wing, A-Wing, and V-Wing. These are the three most common ones, and no I didnt make a mistake, they invented the V-Wing for this game.
Read My Lips. The V-Wing is the stupidest thing ever concieved, and in fact I would never fly it if the last mission didnt warrant that you fly it. Its really got nothing special about it, except its laser cannons can fire very fast. The downfall of course is that every five seconds in rapid fire mode, you hear 'cannons over heated' and you cant fire for about another five seconds. That kills the action. There is also a feature that is available on most fighters, that is a secondary ability (primary being laser cannons). Most of the secondary abilities are like proton torpedoes, but the one time the V-Wing comes in handy is with its secondary ability - multipler seeker missles. They fire about six missles, and divide onto the targets. Lets say theres two Tie Bombers you want dead, you aim in the middle, press secondary fire, and three split to one, and the other three split to the other, effectivley killing both fighters.
The sound in this game, is pretty satisfying, I mean, what can I say, its the same damn R2-D2 effect there is in every star wars game. The music is good though, theres a lot more original work then there is in most other games, and that combined with the imperial march, and the original works by John Williams from the movies make the game's sound particularly enjoyable. The only thing I find that gets on my nerves quite a bit is how all star wars games introduce you to your mission via the story telling thing. If you dont know what I mean, a huge thing comes up saying "STAR WARS" and fades back, followed by upward scrolling text, telling the story. It gets on my nerves so bad that after playing rogue squadron for 15 minutes I had to turn it off. Couldnt take it anymore.
