Video Game: Rogue Squadron

Title: Star Wars Rogue Squadron
Publisher: LucasArts
Platform: N64, PC
Released: 1998
Played from: 1998-2000, 2009

Have you ever been reunited with something you treasured from your childhood, only to find out that it just lost its magic sometime between when you were seven years old and the present day? Rogue Squadron is not an example.

The N64 is something of a legend among gamers who, like myself, grew up in the 90s. Sure, it had its share of blunders and flops, but it was home to many of the finest games ever created. Unfortunately, I was not one of the lucky kids who got an N64 for Christmas, so I played this fine game on the PC. Truthfully, I think flying games were better when played with a joystick designed for flight sims, anyway. I was an avid Star Wars fan in my youth, and I played this game endlessly from about third through fifth grade. While cleaning out my room a couple years ago, I decided to boot it up for old time's sake and see if it was as much fun as I remember it being 11 years earlier. Here's my take on it.

Overview
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So, what is this game? Simply put, it is a Star Wars flight sim. You fly around in one of eight flyable aircraft to blow up bad guys, save good guys from being blown up, and generally be a nuisance to the Empire. You are given a briefing before the start of each mission, although unforseen events often interfere with the plan, which adds some nice variety to the gameplay. The game tracks your statistics (time to complete, enemies killed etc.) and gives you one of three possible medals depending on how you performed. None of the levels are particularly difficult, but obtaining every gold medal can be more than a little challenging.

Gameplay
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Simply put, this game is good, old-fashioned fun. It is equally appealing whether or not you are a fan of the Star Wars series, and offers enough variety to keep your interest. There are 15 missions in the normal game in addition to 4 unlockable levels that can only be played after completing all normal missions with at least a bronze, silver, or gold medal. Additionally, two extra ships can be unlocked for obtaining a nice collection of medals, and Episode 1's Naboo Starfighter was included as a secret that can be unlocked with a patch (on the PC) or with a series of passcodes (on the N64). In an interesting departure from most other games, the scope of this shooter is not to save [good thing] from total annihilation from [bad thing]. In fact, the vast majority of the missions are much more believable--launch a raid on an Imperial base to cripple AT-ST production temporarily; rendezvous with escaping prisoners and escort them to safety. My only complaint with the game missions themselves is that there are a very, very large number of escort missions, sometimes with very fragile good guys making a blind dash through a gauntlet of bad guys. Fortunately, the game is not particularly difficult, at least until you go back through to get gold medals all the way through. When you have to complete the Death Star trench run with 75% accuracy, a decent number of kills, and a time literally within 10 seconds of the flawless run scenario, you will be cussing and throwing things at your screen. There is something of a loose story here, but you will be just fine if you skip almost every movie in the game.

Graphics, Sound, Mechanics
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Something happened between 1998 and 2001. Something magical that revolutionized the way video games could look. I like to call it the Dreamcast. But, simply put, this game regrettably shows its age with jagged, clunky polygons, infantry troops that are actually 2D sprites, and low-res bitmaps. But, this game was designed to fit onto a 30-MB N64 cartridge, so let's cut it some slack. Graphics are clear enough to tell what's going on, and that is good enough.

Sound? It's Star Wars. If you don't know what Star Wars sounds like, there are six movies that you need to watch. The music and voices are a little on the compressed side, but it still gives the full Star Wars experience.

As far as handling goes, this game is solid enough to appease even the most vehement of control freaks (get it?). Ships are responsive (some more so than others, but that is the point!). My only complaint is that the camera has a tendency to get "stuck" or lag behind the player's ship, especially when accelerating quickly. So, I just played it in first person mode for the more genuine experience.

Replay Value
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As stated above, this game is packed full of nice unlockables that will take a fair bit of skill to complete. Finish the game, and you get a post-trilogy mission to play with a new ship. Finish that one with at least a bronze, and you get a  new ship to fly through a race. Beat the game with all silvers, and you get the Death Star Trench run. Beat everything with gold metals, and you get two secret ships, the Battle of Hoth, and the ability to use any ship on any level.

Unfortunately, after having played the game that exhaustively, there wasn't too much left to it. I guess after the challenge is over, this game loses much of its appeal until you start a new game. But, since it will take you a nice handful of hours to complete, this game has much more to it than many modern games do.