Genre: Action, Arcade Flight
Year: 2001
Developed by: Factor 5
Published by: LucasArts
Platforms: Gamecube
#164
Feeling Like: All wings report in…with updated graphics!
Three Star Wars games to go. Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2: Rogue Leader is more than worthy of a bronze medal.
I can’t write much more beyond what I said in the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron post, although I do find it odd that the colon symbol has migrated over to the right.
Star Wars is still cool, regardless of the shape the franchise is currently in. However, May 3rd, 2021 Henry didn’t know anything about Andor, so there’s that. There aren’t any escapades that feature flying space battles in Andor, but there is a moment with a few TIE fighters that showcase the terror of them better than anything Star Wars has ever done. God, what a fucking show.
Two things really stand out and this is why the sequel is better than the original.
The menus are amazing. There is full motion video clips of the classic movies playing behind your selections at all times. This may not seem amazing in 2023, but in 2001 this was an incredible feat. It didn’t matter that most of the levels you’d be playing would contain absolutely none of the scenes depicted; what mattered is that they were awesome.
The other is that this is the kind of game that really, really benefitted from beefier hardware. I know that sounds odd concerning a console that is now 22 years old, but the jump from the N64 to the Gamecube may as well have been through hyperspace. Gone were the pixelated landscapes and jaggy edges…ok, well to a point. We still haven’t hit HD graphics for a Nintendo console yet, but the proof was in the pudding. Just play the first level, attacking the Death Star, and you’ll immediately see an improvement in everything. More ships, more lasers, more targets, bigger levels and, most importantly, a silky smooth framerate. Lag or delay mean literal death, particularly since Rogue Squadron 2 is quite challenging. When you’re trying to bullseye womp rats in your T-16 back home…
There are all sorts of “Wings” you can fly in, but the X-Wing is still king of all spaceships…or maybe it’s on par with the Arwing, I can’t tell. The variety is impressive, B-Wing, A-Wing, Y-Wing for bombing missions, hell even the Snow Speeder is available for an improved version of the attack on Hoth!
All the appropriate sound effects and music are here too – I always love the slightly scrambled voices from your colleagues telling you what to target, or if you’ve got a bogey on your tail. I don’t recall too many solo missions which is apt – it’s called Rogue Squadron, after all. I always felt like I was part of something bigger, and I love when games do that.
I was sad to learn of Factor 5’s fate, they certainly deserved a better swan song than Lair. I can’t help but think a medieval fantasy style Rogue Squadron would kick ass, but apparently the motion controls doomed the game right from the start. Maybe they needed a quality publisher like LucasArts behind them to guide their vision in the right direction, or maybe it’s easier to make a terrific game when you’re improving an already established formula from one of the most successful franchises in human history.
Hard to tell. Either way, flying around and trying to get secret upgrades while dodging endless blasts from Star Destroyers or careening your spacecraft around dangerous corners or defending a shipment of goods from an invading enemy force will always be fun. It may have been the most fun here.
The 500 