INTRODUCTION
Nintendo follows up their smash hit: Shadows of the Empire, with another 64-bit wonder. In this latest Nintendo installment of the Star Wars universe, you take it to the Empire like never before with new ships, new weapons, and new worlds. So wind up the engines, pop the safeties on the weapons and take aim as we blow up some TIEs and walkers in the name of freedom.

DIFFICULTY
WedgeWannaBe: The majority of this game is not too difficult. However, some stages present more problems than others. We aren’t talking a little more difficult, but rather plan on spending a late Saturday night with a case of Mountain Dew and some pizza type of difficult. For example, the Raid on Sullust level pretty much kicked my butt for several hours straight until I gave up trying to outsmart the system and just went to memorizing where the key threats were located. You start out by being thrown inside a volcano, a la Revenge of the Sith, in a Y-wing with multiple missiles inbound. No warm up or stretching here! You basically wage a personal war against the missile launchers while not only using up two out of your three lives, but also while ignoring the primary goals of the mission. Once you take those out and clean up the rest of the board, you still have the fun of figuring out how to blow up a reactor with your last remaining life. Pure memorization is the only way through this level without going insane. While not impossible, this is the primary challenge of the game in my eyes. Besides that you have the standard challenge of needing to protect something while knocking off all the TIEs. Most of these opportunities are easy enough and won’t require the case of Mountain Dew.

Sand Snipe: I totally agree with Wedge here, the game is not too difficult, but some of the levels really made me mad. Like Wedge stated, the Raid on Sullust level was hard. However, I had more trouble on the Battle of Fest level. Here you have to escort and protect three AT-PTs, in a Snowspeeder, from three AT-ATs and some turrets. Sounds easy at first, but after you blow up all the turrets and AT-ATs, the AT-PTs then get attacked by four groups of TIE bombers and a mess load of tanks. While the tanks do little damage, the main threat is the bombers. One bomber can take out all your AT-PTs! On top of it all, I found out that I did it wrong and then it was one of the easiest levels. That sucked, because that level ended up costing me a controller!

GAME PLAY
WedgeWannaBe: Rogue Squadron offers a fresh look at both selecting levels and the approach to winning them by an interesting set of selection screens. First you pick your level by running through various images coming off a holoprojector. Each image shows a scene from the level and then follows through with a brief verbal description of the stage and its goals. From there, you go to selecting which vehicle you’d like to use in tackling the challenge. Some levels are restricted to only certain vehicles. For example, some stages require the speeder to use its tow cable to bring down the AT-ATs. Trying to accomplish this with an X-wing would only get R2-D2 into a fit of rage. Other levels offer the flexibility of trying a Y-wing or A-wing. An additional opportunity, made after completing certain challenges, is to use other vehicles like the Millennium Falcon or the V-wing speeder. Weapons selection and usage was also taken up a notch in this game. I loved using the Y-wing’s bomb targeting system to drop big ones on the heads of AT-STs giving me a hard time. Just hitting close was sometimes enough as the concussion wave finished off your foes.

Besides the multitude of vehicles and weapons, Rogue Squadron also offers the chance to cross over into the Expanded Universe by visiting other worlds and situations. One of the final stages is set on the world of Mon Calamari against the World Devastators sent by the Clone Emperor in the Dark Empire comic series. Your goals follow along with the comic’s plot and deliver a superb conclusion to game.

Sand Snipe: You begin by picking your level of preference to conquer. In each level you then pick your ship. To start, all you have is an A-wing, Y-wing, X-wing, the Snow Speeder, and the new V-wing. The A-wing is fast and has okay firepower but the missiles they have suck. The real downside is that it has a weak shield. The Y-wing is slow, but can take a beating due to the strong shields. It has only one gun so the firepower is low but its bombs pack a powerful punch. The X-wing is the common “Start off” ship for everyone and it’s probably the easiest to maneuver. Everything about it, like speed, firepower, shield, and missiles is at medium rating. The Snowspeeder, is probably my least favorite. It’s kind of slow and only had a tow cable to take out AT-ATs. The firepower is okay, but it is still fun to wrap that two cable around that AT-AT. Last but not least, the new V-wing, is really fast and has decent firepower and missiles. Okay, sounds good, but it has almost no shield at all. However, it’s still great for hit and run missions. My favorite would probably be the X-wing, especially once you start finding the secret upgrades in the missions. For example, the X-wing’s torpedo upgrade allows you to lock-on to enemies. There is also one that improves shields.

The missions will keep you occupied for awhile. A lot of them are simple demolition, blowing up every Imperial building you can find. The rest of them are escorting ships or protecting cities. The thing is that each level usually has one ship to choose from until you beat the game. After that, you can pick the X-wing, A-wing and V-wing in any level, except for the levels when you have to be the Snowspeeder or the Y-wing. There are also three bonus missions. Also, if you get a bronze, silver, or gold in every level, you can then drive the Millennium Falcon and the V-38 in those levels.

AUDIO
WedgeWannaBe: Nothing overly impressive to mention. The best aspect of a mediocre audio setup was having certain elements of the game talk out to you and the rest of the squadron. Usually, this occurred when having to guard other units and them crying for support or help. Too many times I heard Y-wings asking the annoying question of “Rogue Squadron where’s our cover?” I quickly discovered that yelling at the screen did no good as I tried to politely inform them of what they could do with their cover request. Besides that, it is a pretty basic system. Nothing was overly impressive about the sound effects or music either. If you compare this game to Shadows of the Empire, it doesn’t appear that they made many improvements.

Sand Snipe: Everything WedgeWannaBe said was totally true. There is nothing special about the audio as it is just like every other spaceship game. You hear blaster sounds and explosions. The talking was kind of boring… actually more annoying because someone is constantly crying that they need cover. I think it’s worse in the Y-wing though as every time you get shot, Luke says one of two phrases: “Ha, didn’t even scratch it!” or “Wow, this thing can take a beating!” Try hearing that fifty times in one mission.

VIDEO
WedgeWannaBe: Once again, not much improvement over a game that was released before it by the same company. The mist and clouds in the sky obscuring targets as they get farther away is a nice touch, but we saw this kind of effect in The Shadows of the Empire. I expect software developers to keep improving and not rest on their laurels. While the graphics for the 64-bit N-64 blow the socks off Sonic the Hedgehog from Sega Genesis, I think they could have done much more here. The only real aspect that tickled me was the bombing scope used by the Y-wings. The software developers did some quality work here that I was happy to see got carried over to the sequel, Rogue Leader. The only real negative I see is that sometimes the game camera gets a little awkward and then you can’t control the craft as well. For example, try going pure vertical and then pulling out over the top. This seems to confuse the daylights out of the camera and it takes a while to get your ship back under control.

Sand Snipe:  I thought the video was okay, at least for its time. I really don’t pay too much attention because I just play the game.  However, the poorest graphical image is the people on the ground. On certain missions there are Stormtroopers or Snowtroopers and they look so lame in this game, they run so stupid I can’t even explain it! But it still is funny to hear then scream when you shoot them.

MULTIPLAYER GAME PLAY
WedgeWannaBe: Nothing to speak of. That really isn’t a surprise due to the birth of the multi-player environment occurring just after the release of the N-64. Only the smash hit Goldeneye really offered a quality multi-player experience at that time.

Sand Snipe: No multiplayer. You see, back then no one had friends and they had to play alone! Just kidding, but really I don’t think it would have been very good to have multiplayer unless they added a lot more enemies because in some levels, you can easily take out all the TIE fighters and turrets. I think they still needed time to experiment with a multiplayer mode.

REPLAY VALUE
WedgeWannaBe: This is one of those games that you need to take out and play every so often. If you’re either looking for some easy kills or some easy aggravation, this game can offer it all. The Raid on Sullust definitely gets a tip of the hat from me when it comes to levels where the replay value will always be there. You could play this level until you were blue in the face and it would always be a challenge. Special cheat codes also add to the replay value as you can take on the form of a convertible or use the TIE interceptor. There’s even a cool AT-ST level to unlock!

Sand Snipe: I think this game has great replay value. After you beat the game, you can drive the V-wing, X-wing, and A-wing in every level except the one’s with a mandatory vehicle. There are also some hidden upgrades you can find that boosts shields and one gives the X-wing homing missiles! Some of the levels are so much easier using a different ship. Another cool thing to go back and do is to get medals. If you get all bronze, silver, and gold medals in all levels, you get bonus missions, one giving you the chance to fly the Millennium Falcon! So there is a lot of replay value here.

FINAL THOUGHTS
WedgeWannaBe: This game was a blast to play again! If you still have your old Nintendo N-64 laying around and you are looking for a little old school Star Wars video game action, see if you can pick this up. It will be well worth the low price you’ll snag it for on eBay!

Sand Snipe: All I have to say is “five bucks” as that’s how much I got it for on eBay. It’s a great game and is worth it for that cheap off a price. I liked pulling out my old, dusty 64 and playing with those huge controllers while having to learn all the controls again. In the end, it will keep you busy.

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