Star Wars: Rogue Squadron #19 Fly against the evil Empire

Introduction

Fly against the evil Empire! As Luke Skywalker, co-founder of the Rebel Alliance's elite Rogue Squadron, you must combat the evil Galactic Empire! Engage in intense, fast-paced planetary air-to-ground and air-to-air missions - dogfights, search and destroy, reconnaissance, bombing runs, rescue assignments and more! Pilot X-wings, Y-wings, A-wings, V-wings and Snowspeeders with powerful weapons in over 15 missions battling TIE fighters, TIE bombers, Imperial shuttles, AT-AT walkers, AT-STs and other challenging foes.

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron is a game that was released for the Nintendo 64 and PC. The story shows the missions that took place during the formation of Rogue Squadron led by Luke Skywalker between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, with the exception of the final level. Rogue Squadron is the first game in this three game series.

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D for PC) is a video game that was first released for the Nintendo 64 video game console and the PC on December 7, 1998. It was one of the first Nintendo 64 games to support the console's Expansion Pak, which allowed higher-quality graphics to be displayed while playing.

The story is set between Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope and Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, beginning six months after the Battle of Yavin (with the exception of the final and secret levels), and shows the missions set during the formation of Rogue Squadron, led by Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles.

In 1999, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron won the Origins Award for Best Action Computer Game of 1998.

Synopsis

Setting

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron is set during the war between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance. Six months after the Battle of Yavin, the fliers of Rogue Squadron are engaged in a desperate battle for the survival of the Rebellion. As the Empire gathers strength for an all-out assault on the Rebel forces, Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles form Rogue Squadron, a group comprising twelve of the most skilled X-wing pilots from the Rebel Alliance.

Six years after the Battle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance has established the New Republic, which now controls three quarters of the galaxy. After the deaths of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, the Galactic Empire collapsed, but was reborn under a mysterious new leader. Rogue Squadron, now under the command of Wedge Antilles, continues to fight the Empire to protect the newly formed Republic.

Plot summary

Six months after the Battle of Yavin, Rogue Squadron briefly encounters the Empire at the Mos Eisley spaceport on Tatooine. The team is then assigned to escort supplies on Barkhesh. Soon after, Rogue Squadron helps search for the Nonnah and extract its crew on Chorax.

Later, the Rebels learn that Imperial officer Crix Madine wishes to defect to the Rebel Alliance. In response, the Empire launches an attack on Corellia, where Madine is hiding, to prevent his departure. Rogue Squadron, with the help of Han Solo and Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon, fought off the Empire and escorted Madine safely off the planet. Soon after, Rogue Squadron is joined by Gold Squadron, a group of Y-wings now led by Crix Madine; they are dispatched to the moon of Gerrard V to aid its quest for independence from the Empire. While disabling Imperial yachts over Gerrard V, the Rebel force encountered the 128th TIE Interceptor Squadron. Imperial pilot Kasan Moor's TIE fighter was disabled by Gold Squadron during the battle. When Rogue Squadron informed Moor that she has been taken prisoner, she offered to defect and provide the Rebel Alliance with intelligence on Imperial targets.

With the help of Kasan Moor's intelligence, the Alliance launched three consecutive attacks on Imperial bases throughout the galaxy. After an assault on the Imperial Enclave, a facility on Kile II supporting the Empire's Naval operations, Wedge Antilles was ambushed by a group of TIE fighters and was taken captive. The Rebel Alliance tracked Antilles to an Imperial prison complex on the planet of Kessel. Rogue Squadron organized a rescue on Kessel, liberating Wedge Antilles before he could be transferred to an Imperial prison.

With Wedge Antilles free and Rogue Squadron again at full strength, the Rebel Alliance turned its attention to a new Imperial threat—Moff Kohl Seerdon. Seerdon was consolidating Imperial power in preparation for an attack aimed at capturing Thyferra, a planet producing the healing substance bacta. Rogue Squadron was ordered to disrupt his operation with hit-and-run missions against key targets on Taloraan and Fest.

In retaliation, Seerdon blockaded a city on the planet of Chandrila. Rogue Squadron and the Alliance struck back by initiating a Kasan Moor–engineered raid on an Imperial base located inside a volcano on Sullust. While on Sullust, however, General Carlist Rieekan informed Rogue Squadron that Moff Seerdon used their raid as a diversion and began his attack on Thyferra. With Seerdon in control of the planet's bacta and their own supply threatened, Rogue Squadron quickly reached Thyferra, killed Seerdon, and freed the planet from Seerdon's control.

Six years after the Battle of Endor, Rogue Squadron, now under the command of Wedge Antilles, continued to fight the wounded Empire. On the planet of Dac, new Imperial weapons called World Devastators were destroying the planet. Rogue Squadron assisted in disabling all three Devastators and destroying the Imperial presence.

Gameplay

Players assume the role of Luke Skywalker for the majority of the game with over ten vehicles to pilot. Throughout the game, the X-Wing is initially playable though other craft can be unlocked during the course of the game. Taking place in the skies, characters fly on an axis identical to that of the Vs. series though the controls are more akin to an arcade style game rather than a true flight simulator. Each craft is equipped with a set number of laser cannons and a secondary weapon. Depending on the ship, the fire rate of the vehicle varies from rapid fire to slow-rate. The fire rate itself can also be modified for more power by linking cannons, but this decreases the fire rate at the same time. The craft's health is represented by a Shield Meter, displayed at the right top corner of the screen. Depending on how much damage you take, it gradually tints from green to flashing red. If any more damage is taken beyond this point, your vehicle will crash, resulting in the loss of a life. Fighters with an R2 unit can slowly repair the Shield Meter and minimize life loss. However, they too have a breaking point and if the Shield Meter reaches the flashing point, the R2 unit will be destroyed, making shield repair impossible. After completing a mission, a tally result for your performance will be displayed. If certain conditions are surpassed, you will be awarded with either a Bronze, Silver, or Gold medal. Collecting a certain amount of medals will reward you with new missions and vehicles. If you clear all of the normal missions while obtaining medals, you can extend the game's ending celebration.

Unlike the Star Wars: X-Wing computer game series that emphasizes space combat simulation, Rogue Squadron is a fast-paced, arcade-style action game. Each of the game's sixteen levels introduces mission objectives that must be completed to progress to the next level. These objectives are divided into four categories: search and destroy, reconnaissance, rescue and protect. Enemy aircraft are primarily composed of TIE fighters and probe droids. Ground defenses are more varied and include three different walkers, laser and missile turrets, stormtroopers and speeder bikes.

The player can control five craft without the use of cheat codes: X-wing, A-wing, Y-wing, Snowspeeder, and V-wing. Each vehicle offers a unique armament arrangement, as well as varying degrees of speed and maneuverability. The game initially restricts the player to a particular craft for each level; however, after the player has completed a level, he or she can replay it with any available craft. Levels set on non-atmospheric moons expose the player's craft to space, but as on other levels, the craft is vertically confined. Nine bonus power-ups are hidden in different levels throughout the game. These bonuses improve a craft's weapons or durability and are applied to each eligible craft for the remainder of the game.

The player's performance is measured throughout the game, and performance statistics are checked after each level against three medal benchmarks. Each benchmark contains five categories: completion time, number of enemies destroyed, shot accuracy, number of friendly craft and structures saved and number of bonuses collected. If a player's performance exceeds one of the level's three benchmarks in all five categories, a medal—bronze, silver or gold—is awarded upon completion. Acquiring these medals promotes the player's rank and helps unlock hidden content.

Controls

Luke's Settings

- Fire blasters

- Thrust

- Look around

- Fire mode

- Fire secondary

- Special

- Brakes/Speeder's Left Brake

- Switch view

- Roll/Speeder's Right Brake

- Camera shortcuts

CONTROL STICK - Craft movement

- Pause

WEDGE'S SETTINGS

- Fire blasters

- Thrust

- Switch view

- Look around

- Fire secondary

- Special

- Brakes/Speeder's Left Brake

- Fire mode

- Roll/Speeder's Right Brake

- Camera shortcuts

CONTROL STICK - Craft movement

- Pause

JANSON'S SETTINGS

- Fire blasters

- Thrust

- Switch view

- Look around

- Fire secondary

- Special

- Brakes

- Fire mode

- Roll

- Camera shortcuts

CONTROL STICK - Craft movement

- Pause

HOBBIE'S SETTINGS

- Thrust

- Brakes

- Look around

- Fire secondary

- Fire mode

- Special

- Fire blasters

- Switch view

- Roll

- Camera shortcuts

CONTROL STICK - Craft movement

- Pause

Chapters

• 1. Chapter I
  • 1. Ambush at Mos Eisley
  • 2. Rendezvous on Barkhesh
  • 3. Search for the Nonnah
  • 4. Defection at Corellia
  • 5. Liberation of Gerrard V
• 2. Chapter II
  • 1. The Jade Moon
  • 2. Imperial Construction Yards
  • 3. Assault on Kile II
  • 4. Rescue on Kessel
  • 5. Prisons of Kessel
• 3. Chapter III
  • 1. Battle above Taloraan
  • 2. Escape from Fest
  • 3. Blockade on Chandrila
  • 4. Raid on Sullust
  • 5. Moff Seerdon's Revenge
• 4. Chapter IV
  • 1. Battle of Calamari
  • 2. Beggar's Canyon
  • 3. Death Star Trench Run
  • 4. Battle of Hoth

Overview

Released on December 17 1998, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron is the first in a series of space combat games for Nintendo platforms. Originally released on the Nintendo 64 and PC, the game was developed by Factor 5 and was published by LucasArts.

Rogue Squadron was one of the first games to make use of the Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak, which updated the graphics and allowed players to play the game in high resolution. Rogue Squadron has spawned two sequels since it is release in 1998, the first being Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader released in September of 2001 for the Nintendo Gamecube and the second being Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike released in October in 2003 for the Gamecube.

The game is known for its arcade style approach to starship dogfights, with Factor 5 taking influence from the original Star Wars cockpit arcade game. The game also has little resemblance to the novels for which the series is based, opting for Luke Skywalker to be the main character, rather than Wedge Antilles , the protagonist of the novels. The game also features full voice audio for character dialogue, a rarity for the Nintendo 64 at the time.

Characters

Luke, as mentioned, is the main character of Rogue Squadron, the only other playable character being Wedge during a bonus mission of the game. Hobbie and Janson also make an appearance as pilots for the Rebellion, as seen in The Empire Strikes Back. Crix Madine, a Rebel Alliance General by the time of Return of the Jedi, also plays a part in the game, as the player must assist his defection from the Galactic Empire. This incident occurs on Corellia, Han Solo's homeworld, and as expected, the space pirate makes a last minute appearance to help his friend Luke, similar to the end of A New Hope.

Wedge plays a pivotal role as well, often being Luke's wing man, and keeping him updated on any threats or mission updates. General Rieekan, from Empire, serves as the commanding Rebel in constant communication with the flight team. He gives orders to Rogue Squadron, and often calls them back to base if the player fails the mission. Another important defection from the Imperials occurs during the course of Rogue Squdron.

Kasan Moor, a pilot in the deadly 128th Imperial Squadron, acts upon her doubts of the Empire, eventually becoming a valuable aide to the Rebel cause. Her knowledge of hidden Imperial bases helps Rogue Squadron carry out several sabotage missions, crippling the Empire's forces. It is also hinted that Luke and Kasan are fond of each other, as Kasan is grateful for escaping Imperial influence, and Luke is able to see the good in her. The main adversary of the game is Moff Seerdon, bearing all of the characteristics of a typical evil Imperial officer. He gives commands to the Imperial Fighters, and spouts Imperial rhetoric reminiscent of the films to the opposing Rebels.

Characters are not individually seen on screen, apart from their biographies in the game's menu. Rather, the game portrays its characters through the ships and vehicles that each one flies. Moff Seerdon is nearly always represented by a Tyderium Shuttle, and Kasan's defection is visualized in the transition from piloting a TIE Interceptor to an X-Wing. General Rieekan often rides in larger transport crafts, and Luke occupies the starfighter in the player's control.

List of Characters

• Wedge Antilles
• Chewbacca
• Han Solo
• Wes Janson
• Derek "Hobbie" Klivian
• Crix Madine
• Kasan Moor
• Dak Ralter
• Carlist Rieekan
• Zev Senesca
• Kohl Seerdon
• Luke Skywalker

Story

The story of Rogue Squadron takes place between Episode IV and Episode V. The Rebellion is still making an effort to stay united, and resist Imperial takeover, while at the same time engaging in rescue and liberation missions.

As the Rogue Squadron help General Madine and Kasan defect, Wedge is caught in his downed Y-Wing by Imperial forces on a mission from which the Rebels are forced to flee. Luke and Kasan launch a rescue attempt, allowing the Rebels to infiltrate the prisons of Kessel and free dozens of war prisoners.

Moff Seerdon poses a threat to the recent Rebel successes, with each following Imperial defeat striking anger in the evil commander. Sederdon is finally defeated during his raid on civilian bacta facilities, where Luke and the rest of Rogue Squadron protect the innocent inhabitants and successfully take down Seerdon's shuttle.

Locations

Many of the locations in Rogue Squadron appear to be counterparts to the Original Trilogy's many planets. Each planet also consists of a single environment, as in all desert, all forest, or mostly water. For example, Barkesh shares many traits with Yavin IV, the Rebel base in A New Hope.

Both planets are covered in jungle, and share similar ancient architecture. Talloran is a gas planet, with a floating city that looks very similar to Cloud City, and in fact Kasan comments on how she is reminded by Bespin during the mission.

Fest is an all ice world, with Imperial Walkers as the empire's main force, echoing the planet Hoth from Empire. Chandrilla also borrows its architecture heavily from conceptual paintings of Alderaan, a planet unseen on film until 2005 in Revenge of the Sith. Hoth and Beggar's Canyon on Tatooine make appearances as bonus levels, as well as the Death Star's equatorial trench.

Vehicles

Most of the Rebel and Imperial starfighters in the game remain true to their Star Wars canon traits. For example, the X-Wing is able to shift between attack position and cruise position by locking the S-Foils. The A-Wing is the fastest ship in the fleet, yet also the weakest in terms of shielding, as witnessed in Return of the Jedi; both attributes are similar to the TIE Interceptor, as also seen in Jedi. Used primarily for bombing and escort missions, the rock-solid Y-Wing sees plenty of use in both offensive and defensive missions; the ship's built in Ion Cannons are particularly helpful for disabling important enemy targets. Often employed on air-to-ground missions and quick assaults, the Snowspeeder is a useful craft for dealing with the formidable AT-AT walkers, as seen in The Empire Strikes Back. An expanded universe ship, the V-Wing makes an appearance as a flyable starfighter during the bonus mission featuring Wedge.

Rogue Squadron features atmospheric battles only, as true space combat was not introduced until the following Factor 5 game,Battle for Naboo.

Player vehicles

X-wing Space Superiority Starfighter

SECONDARY WEAPON: Proton Torpedoes

SPECIAL: Open/Close S-foils

The most balanced craft in the game and initially playable from the start. Boasting four laser cannons, six proton torpedoes and an R2 unit, this is the best recommended craft for beginners. It can close its S-Foils to attain greater speeds but it cannot fire its lasers in this state. This is one of the best space ships of the Rebel Alliance. it is armed with four blaster cannons and six proton torpedoes. The X-Wing is fast, and even faster with the S-foils (the wings) closed, and also it has good maneuverability. Also, the X-Wing has the addition of shields and an R2 unit to repair damage.

Y-wing Bomber

SECONDARY WEAPON: Space Bombs

SPECIAL: Fire Ion Cannon

The most heavily armored fighter in the fleet. The Y-Wing is used only in bombing missions and for good reason the Y-Wing in this game lacks the speed and blaster power for proper dogfighting. They're armed with twin laser cannons, 20 powerful proton bombs and a special topside ion cannon which is used for disabling targets. The ion cannon is the only weapon that can be charged up. First usable on Assault on Kile II. The Y-Wing is the bomber for Rogue Squadron. It has two blaster cannons and it can carry up to 20 bombs. it is not very fast, in fact, it is the slowest ship of the Rebel Fleet, and it does not have good maneuverability. But, this ship has the strongest shields unit and an R2 unit to repair you when you are in the heat of battle.

A-wing Interceptor

SECONDARY WEAPON: Concussion Missiles

SPECIAL: None

The third fastest fighter in the game. While lightly armored, and thus, easier to destroy, it is much faster than most craft. it is armed with twin blaster cannons and 8 concussion missiles. First usable in Search for the Nonnah. This interceptor is the fastest ship of the Alliance, but also the weakest. Its armament is two blaster cannons and up to 8 concussion missiles. This ship is extremely fast and has very good maneuverability. But what it gains on speed it lose in defense, 'cause it has a fair amount of shields.

Millennium Falcon YT-1300 Modified Freighter

SECONDARY WEAPON: Seeker Torpedoes

SPECIAL: None

The second fastest fighter in the game as well as the most armored one. This behemoth boasts dual laser turrets that can decimate enemies in all directions and has an internal R2 unit, thus, it can always repair shield damage even beyond the breaking point. The downside to this is its immense size, making it an easy target. (Unlockable). This is a YT-1300 modified freighter. Its armament is two quad- blaster cannon turrets and up to 20 seeker torpedoes. The speed of this speed is excellent, but the maneuverability is not. This thing has good shields - good thing, 'cause it is very big and you crash with everything.

V-wing airspeeder

SECONDARY WEAPON: Cluster Missiles

SPECIAL: Scram Jets

Featured exclusively in the comic book which the game was based on. it is slightly faster than the A-Wing. Because of its status as a speeder and it is unusable in the Battle Above Taloraan, its shields are pretty weak but it makes up for that with its devastating double laser cannons and its ability to hover along low altitude ground. By altering fire modes, it can utilize a Rapid Fire mode, though it needs to cool down if too many shots are fired at once. It also has special jet boosters that function as a Turbo ability. With six cluster missiles, this craft is well equipped for taking on multiple targets at once. First usable in Battle of Mon Calamari. The V-Wing speeder is a modification of the snowspeeder. It has two blaster cannons that can be fired at normal rate or rapid fire position, up to six cluster missiles and the scram jets, that are speed boosters. This ship is very fast, and with the scram jets it is even faster, and it is maneuverability it is great, but after a while using the rapid fire position of the blasters or the scram jets, they overheat and you will have to wait 'til they cool to use them again. This ship doesn't have shields. This speeder comes from Dark Empire, six years after Return of the Jedi.

N-1 Starfighter Naboo Royal

SECONDARY WEAPON: Seeker Torpedoes

SPECIAL: None

A well-hidden unlockable craft which was only unveiled upon the release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and can be used in any mission excluding the ones for Speeders. Despite being a relic of old times, it is easily the best fighter in the entire game. The vehicle boasts powerful twin rapid fire laser cannons, 6 proton torpedoes, amazing speed, the shields of the X-Wing, and an R2 unit. (Unlockable). It is an EXCELLENT ship in everything. it is armed with two blaster cannons and ten seeker torpedoes. Also, it is very fast and has very good maneuverability. And it does have shields and an R2 unit.

TIE Interceptor (Twin Ion Engine Interceptor)

SECONDARY WEAPON: None

SPECIAL: None

Kasan Moor's captured TIE Interceptor. Like most TIEs, it lacks shielding, so it can be shot out of the air pretty easily. It also has no secondary weaponry, but it makes up for these with its rapid fire quadruple laser cannons and speed. (Unlockable). The Interceptor of the Imperial series of Twin Ion Engine fighters. it is armament is very sad, only four blaster cannons, but they have advanced accuracy systems. The speed and maneuverability are very good, but it doesn't have shields and the hull is very weak, so you can take up to six impacts and you are a goner.

T-16 Skyhopper

SECONDARY WEAPON: None

SPECIAL: None

A simple transport craft and the weakest in the game. it is armed only with a singular laser cannon used for exterminating womprats as well as an ion cannon. Only usable in Beggar's Canyon. The Skyhopper is a good ship for flying only. it is armed only with one blaster cannon, which is pathetic, but you do not use it 'cause you use it to race against your friends, and no blasters are allowed. The speed and maneuverability of the Skyhopper is good. This ship doesn't have shields, so watch out for crashing, it could be fatal.

T-47 airspeeder

A fairly agile craft. Despite having twin laser cannons, it only has one firing mode. With only little shielding, one must take advantage of its speed. The vehicle is also equipped with the classic harpoon and tow cables used to trip AT-ATs off their feet, automatically destroying them. First usable in the mission Defection at Corellia.

AT-ST

Nicknamed the chicken walker. it is the only ground bound vehicle in the game and requires the use of the control stick to move, effectively making it the slowest vehicle in the game, armed with only two laser cannons. Playable on all missions, except Battle Above Talorran, with the use of a code in the PC version. The N64 version has a mission based around it.

Buick Electra

A joke vehicle that replaces the V-Wing model, complete with faint vrooming sounds. Based on the real life Buick Electra series, this car has the same abilities as the V-Wing. However, should the game be paused while using this craft, it will automatically crash. (Unlockable)

Non-player Vehicle

Starships

• CR90 Corellian Corvette
• Lambda-class T-4a shuttle
• Sentinel-class landing craft
• TIE Bomber
• TIE/D automated fighter
• TIE Fighter

Walkers

• AT-AT
• AT-PT

Tanks

• XR-85 tank droid

Trains

• Armored Hover Train
• Armed supply trains

Aquatic

• A-Q5 Waveskimmer
• Amphibion

Superweapons

• World Devastator

Secrets

By playing through the game and achieving certain criteria, players can obtain medals (as well as increase their ranks). By obtaining medals for all of the normal missions, a bonus one will be unlocked as well as further extending the game's ending.

Medal Unlockables

• Clearing all normal missions with a bronze level will unlock Beggar's Canyon, a unique racing level that exclusively uses the T-16 Skyhopper and extends the game's ending a little.
• Clearing all normal missions with a silver medal will unlock the Death Star Trench Run, a derivative of the original Battle of Yavin's trench run segment and extends the game's ending a little to feature a roll call congratulatory message for all participating members of Rogue Squadron.
• Clearing all normal missions with a gold medal will unlock the Battle of Hoth, another slight derivative of the original battle the same name. This also completes the ending by showing the unlockable craft plus the T-16 flying into the sky.
• Clearing all bonus missions with a bronze medal will unlock the Millennium Falcon.
• Clearing all bonus missions with a silver medal will unlock the TIE Interceptor.
• Clearing every mission, including the bonus ones with a gold medal will unlock the ability to use every selectable ship in nearly every mission, the exclusion being those that feature the Speeder.

Passcodes (N64)

hese are to be entered in the Passcodes screen located in the Options menu

• IGIVEUP - Infinite Lives
• ACE - Hard Mode
• DEADDACK - All levels, including bonus ones unlocked
• FARMBOY - Unlocks the Millennium Falcon
• TIEDUP - Unlocks the TIE Interceptor. The Falcon must be unlocked first for it to be selectable
• TOUGHBOY - All Upgrades unlocked
• RADAR - Enhanced radar
• DIRECTOR - Unlocks Showroom in the Options menu
• MAESTRO - Unlocks the Concert Hall option in the Showroom
• KOELSCH - Changes the V-Wing model into a Buick Electra (WARNING: Pausing the game while using this version of the V-Wing will crash the game after a few seconds during said period)
• CREDITS - View credits roll
• CHICKEN - Play a bonus mission using the AT-ST
• HALIFAX? - !YNGWIE! - Unlocks the Naboo Starfighter

Development

After the success of Shadows of the Empire on the Nintendo 64 in 1996, LucasArts began planning a follow-up. At the time, Factor 5 was developing a game engine to create large terrain maps. LucasArts, pleased with earlier collaborations with the company, decided to use Factor 5's engine for its new game. The game's focus would be space combat; this direction was inspired by a level of Shadows of the Empire in which the player flies a Snowspeeder during the Battle of Hoth. Rogue Squadron and Factor 5 production manager Brett Tosti stated, "That whole scene was actually the genesis for Rogue Squadron because everybody said, 'why do not you do a whole game like that?' So we did."

Factor 5 initially pitched a concept to allow gamers to play through missions similar to the fans' favorite action sequences from the Star Wars films. This proposal was rejected, however. At that time, Lucasfilm Ltd. was not comfortable with video games drawing directly from the films. Factor 5 originally wanted to put Wedge Antilles as the primary player, but Howard Roffman of Lucasfilm felt players would feel more comfortable with a more important Star Wars character. Factor 5 agreed to make Luke Skywalker the protagonist.

During the early stages of development, designers came across Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron, a series of comics set during the years of the original film trilogy. With these comics as a guide, Factor 5 began developing a game with a similar setting and including characters from the films flying original missions. In May 1998, a demo of the game was displayed at E3, but the game was so incomplete at the time that Tosti considered it a tech demo. It rendered a basic heightmap and an immobile AT-AT model, while TIE fighters lacking artificial intelligence flew and fired in a predetermined path. When "playing" the demo for audiences, Tosti followed a very specific flight path of his own to give the illusion that he was actually battling with the TIEs. Despite the demo's bare-bones presentation, response from gamers was largely positive.

Factor 5 appealed to Nintendo to use the Nintendo 64's newly developed memory Expansion Pak. Nintendo was reluctant, expecting the technology to be reserved solely for hardware peripherals. However, after Iguana Entertainment used the Expansion Pak to achieve a higher display resolution for Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, Factor 5 was given the green light. The Expansion Pak is used to increase Rogue Squadron's Nintendo resolution from 320×240 to 640×480.

Lucasfilm was hesitant to grant access to the Star Wars library of sound effects for the game's sound designer, Rudolph Stember. As a compromise, the company provided Stember with sounds sampled at the relatively low rate of 22 kHz, half the standard rate. Stember objected, claiming that the clips sounded worse than effects he had lifted from VHS tapes for a previous Star Wars project. The game includes voice work from several notable persons, including screen actors Olivia Hussey and Raphael Sbarge as well as voice actors Bob Bergen, Neil Ross and Terence McGovern. Instead of using Nintendo's default sound drivers, Factor 5 developed its own tool called MOsys FX Surround. The Factor 5 drivers use Nintendo 64 processors, but tax them less; advanced compression techniques were also employed. As a result, the game includes over 80 minutes of high-quality stereo sound.

In November 1998, a month before the game's scheduled release, LucasArts signed a worldwide agreement with Nintendo concerning three new Star Wars video games. It granted Nintendo the rights to market the games and hold exclusive, worldwide distribution rights for five years following each release. Rogue Squadron was the first game released under this agreement.

GameSpot Review

By Ryan Mac Donald

Posted December 11, 1998 11:29 am PT

Any fan of the first level of Shadows of the Empire really should check out Rogue Squadron.

Remember the first level of Shadows of the Empire? Remember thinking "Gee, if only the rest of the game were like this, this game would actually be good?" LucasArts heard you and developed an entire game based around the concept. Of course, spending an entire game in the snowspeeder, fighting AT-ATs, is something better left to that old Atari 2600 game, so some more modes of transport have been tossed in to spruce things up.

You play as Luke Skywalker (finally, no Dash Rendars or Kyle Katarns in sight) who leads the Rogue Squadron against the Empire. The game has a very movie-like quality to it, mostly thanks to a lot of voice work and in-game cinemas. The game plays like an action-packed Wing Commander game sans all of the crazy controls. Auto-leveling keeps you from crashing and allows you to get a firm grasp on the control quickly and easily. Once you have gotten the hang of flying the craft, you can disable it. Each of the ships has varying armor and weapon strengths. In addition, the ships maneuver differently, making one type more suited for some missions than others. The missions are composed of rescue missions, defense, escorting ships, and striking targets. Some missions require pinpoint accuracy when shooting, while some require that you simply lay waste to everything that you encounter. This mix of levels really keeps the pace of the game fresh and exciting. In each level you can earn one of three medals. Your performance throughout the level decides which, if any, of the three medals you will receive. If you collect all three medals on every level in the game you will be handsomely rewarded.

The visuals get a great boost from Nintendo's new RAM upgrade accessory. When using the RAM pack, the game plays in a much higher resolution. The textures of the landscapes, the ships, the lighting effects - everything looks so much better. Without the upgrade, the game looks OK but not nearly as nice. Whether you are playing with the upgrade or not, the game does unfortunately suffer from one major visual flaw: The pop-up is horrendous. Every object in the game is drawn in at an incredibly short distance from your view. This at first seems like a really bad thing, but after spending any amount of time with the game you nearly forget all about it since most of the time you are generally focused on what's right in front of you and your radar.

Rogue Squadron has a ton of speech for an N64 game. Each mission has a briefing to listen to before you go into battle. Then during the action there are voice commands indicating what you have to do next. Plus there is a lot of chatter from the rest of your squadron. All of the voices sound fairly decent and really draw you into the game. Once there, the incredible sound effects, like the scream of TIE fighters zooming past you with their guns blazing, really sound terrific. The game also makes good use of stereo effects. The only thing in the audio department that Rogue Squadron lacks is quality music. Sure, its Star Wars stuff, but the actual quality of it doesn't sound very good.

Overall, Rogue Squadron is a good mission-based shooter. Fans of the film will be pleased with the good usage of the Star Wars universe. Being able to fly by Jabba's palace, over Sarlacc, or to see Han Solo's homeworld is really a treat. Any fan of the first level of Shadows of the Empire really should check out Rogue Squadron.

Nintendo Life Review

"I've lost Artoo!" Version Reviewed: European

By Andrew Donaldson

Posted Thursday, December 10, 2009

A long time ago (around 13 years to be precise) in a galaxy not so far away, and when Nintendo 64 hardware was still fresh off the factory production line, LucasArts released Shadows of the Empire. Unfortunately for Star Wars fans everywhere, it was a pretty average affair, with only the Battle of Hoth level proving to be truly memorable. While most of the game took the form of a 3rd-person shooter, one stage allowed the player to take control of a Rebel Alliance Snowspeeder and, in true Star Wars fashion, go for the legs of any AT-ATs which happened to get in the way.

Gamers everywhere saw the potential and clamoured for more. Couldn’t LucasArts make an entire game based solely around this type of gameplay? Well, after teaming up with German developer Factor 5, LucasArts decided to make it happen and in late 1998 we were introduced to the first entry of the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series.

Set in the period of time between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, the player assumes the role of Luke Skywalker – leader of the titular Rogue Squadron fleet. The game features all the craft gamers have come to expect from a Star Wars game, from good-old X-Wings and Y-Wings to the more obscure. There are 16 different stages, each with their own mission objectives and set over a wide range of varied environments – from the snow-covered valleys of Fest to the inside of an active volcano on Sullust. If the names of these planets do not exactly ring a bell, do not worry; at the time of Rogue Squadron’s development, Lucasfilm was uneasy with video games depicting scenes directly from the movies. For this reason, the game focuses instead on the expanded Star Wars universe, drawing inspiration from sources such as the X-Wing Rogue Squadron comic book series. The lack of iconic movie locations could be seen by some as a disadvantage, but nothing could be further from the truth. Rogue Squadron, with its original storyline and different range of levels from the usual formula, provides a refreshingly new Star Wars experience.

The gameplay is fast-paced arcade-style fun. This is not a flight simulator by any stretch of the imagination. However, that is not a bad thing at all. The tight controls fit the action perfectly; the analogue stick controls the direction of your craft, Z and A slow-down and speed-up respectively and the B trigger is used for standard blaster fire. The C buttons are used for changing camera view as well as ship-specific functions, such as dropping bombs from the Y-Wing or closing the S-foils of the X-Wing. A sign of good game controls is when, after a short while of playing, they become completely natural and you do not have to think about them. Rogue Squadron is one of those games. No matter how many times you might die (and it’ll probably be a lot), never once will you be left blaming the controls.

Rogue Squadron has the distinction of being easy to pick up but very difficult to master. there is plenty of replay value to be had here. As if playing through the game’s 16 stages wasn’t hard enough, it is possible to earn bronze, silver or gold medals on each level. Silver and gold medals in particular are very difficult to achieve and it’ll take a lot of practice, play time and replaying levels over and over again to obtain them. Easily frustrated gamers or those looking for a nice game to chill out with should think twice, but for fanatics it provides excellent replay value and a firm sense of achievement when you finally get gold on that level after the 80th try. However, a feeling of pride is not the only motivation to go for gold. The developers have included some tantalising unlockables to tempt players to get the most out of the game. Bonus power-ups are also hidden in some levels and finding them will provide upgrades such as shield improvements or more advanced missiles.

In addition to the gameplay, another area Factor 5 outdid themselves is the game’s sound. Incredibly, the developers (through the use of advanced compression techniques) have managed to squeeze around 80 minutes of sampled speech and other high-quality sound effects onto the cartridge. The amount of in-game speech coming from your wingmen – while it may seem like nothing nowadays – was amazing back in 1998, and when combined with the terrific cinematic cut-scenes weaved into the missions, it adds greatly to the game’s sense of immersion. The short cinematic sequences, advancing the story at the beginning and end of each mission, combined with the excellent voice acting pull you into the action. Accompanying the game’s quality sampled speech are all the authentic sound effects that gamers have come to expect from Star Wars games. The sound of blaster fire, TIE fighter engines, clanking AT-ATs… chances are that if you are a Star Wars fan, you are now hearing these sounds in your head automatically. This is what Star Wars Rogue Squadron sounds like. it is a tremendously authentic experience and only serves to add to the immersion and overall experience of the game.

The in-game music is also worthy of the Star Wars name and includes both familiar and original synthesised tunes. do not expect to have the opportunity to appreciate it very often though - due to all the blaster fire and engine noise that will inevitably be wailing out of the TV speakers.

The game’s graphics are also of a very high standard for a Nintendo 64 game and make full use of the system’s Expansion Pak. Craft are intricately detailed, right down to their smallest aspects and in-game textures are also a grade above the usual N64 standard. The only downside is that the game tends to suffer quite badly from fogging. Although the draw distance is not impressive, it is hard to fault Factor 5, as this problem riddled many a game on the console. Even still, the fact that most of the environments are shrouded in a heavy fog cannot be ignored.

A two-player mode would also have been a nice inclusion, but Rogue Squadron is such an exquisite one-player experience anyway that it is not a huge blow. Anyone truly determined to play with a friend should check out the GameCube's Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, which features extensive co-op and versus modes.

Aside from this, it is wise to bear in mind that the later stages of Rogue Squadron can be difficult, and if you are stuck on a level there is not much else to do but try again to beat it. There are not any other game modes to play if you happen to hit a brick wall. What’s more, each time you use up your three lives you have to go all the way back to the title screen and navigate through the menus if you want to try again. That being said, although it is annoying, it is only a very minor irritation.

Nitpicking aside, it is hard to shake the feeling that Factor 5 have put a lot of time and care into Rogue Squadron. As well as tons of unlockables (secret passcodes hide even more, should you manage to obtain all gold medals), the iconic Star Wars yellow scrolling text is in there laying out the story. The developers have also included pilot profiles for the prominent members of Rogue Squadron. it is a nice touch — the sort of thing that no one would notice if it wasn’t there, but they put it in anyway just because they cared.

In the same vein, Factor 5 have also included an incredibly detailed cockpit view. It may prove impractical in terms of actually playing the game but it certainly looks impressive and is another example of the developers going the extra mile and putting a lot of effort into something so minor.

Even the mission select screen is cool – looking exactly like the holographic-screen from the Yavin base briefing room straight out of the movies. Furthermore, as if Factor 5 would have it any other way, your mission briefing is also delivered to you verbally.

For Star Wars fans especially, Rogue Squadron is absolutely essential. Others just looking for a fun flight combat game will get a kick out of it too, even if they know nothing about the movies. Great gameplay, visuals (minus the fog) and sound combined with an engrossing sense of immersion provides a fantastic experience even a decade later. With the recent appearance of the Super Star Wars series on the Virtual Console, let us hope that Rogue Squadron is next on LucasArts’ list.

Chapters

• 1. Chapter I
  • 1. Ambush at Mos Eisley
  • 2. Rendezvous on Barkhesh
  • 3. Search for the Nonnah
  • 4. Defection at Corellia
  • 5. Liberation of Gerrard V
• 2. Chapter II
  • 1. The Jade Moon
  • 2. Imperial Construction Yards
  • 3. Assault on Kile II
  • 4. Rescue on Kessel
  • 5. Prisons of Kessel
• 3. Chapter III
  • 1. Battle above Taloraan
  • 2. Escape from Fest
  • 3. Blockade on Chandrila
  • 4. Raid on Sullust
  • 5. Moff Seerdon's Revenge
• 4. Chapter IV
  • 1. Battle of Calamari
  • 2. Beggar's Canyon
  • 3. Death Star Trench Run
  • 4. Battle of Hoth