Star Wars: Rogue Squadron Review┃History and Analysis

[@Viper1Zero]

I can still SMELL opening my N64 on Christmas 1998 with Rogue Squadron, GoldenEye and Star Wars Shadows of the Empire. What a year.

[@justafanofnerdculture7602]

Damn, you had one helluva Christmas that year!

[@SOLIDSNAKE.]

What a lucky bum!

[@nobel11]

"So, you like shooting Y-Wings, do ya?!" That line lives rent-free in my memory.

[@bassfunkmaster85]

Fun fact: the guy who played wedge in the original Star Wars is ewan mcgregors uncle

[@Baroque_cast]

Bruv, The V-Wing was the best ship in the game... That missile attack that splits is devastating and can hit anything

[@stormthrush37]

Plus the rapid fire mode. Was surprised that wasn't mentioned.

[@macrossMX]

@@stormthrush37 Of course, if you fire it for too long, the guns will overheat and there is a cooldown before you can reactivate it. Overall, the V-Wing is fun for levels where you have to take out targets that takes a lot of laser fire to take down.

[@dylives7667]

Unfortunately, it's a speeder. Meaning that, just like The Snowspeeder, has to be deployed on the planet to be used.

[@Newie69MK]

As long as you had the homing missile upgrade. Otherwise it was like a warhead shotgun.

[@rudolphantler6309]

Loved the story, Seerdon, Kasan Moor, V-Wings, the smooth controls, the downed Nonnah, AT-PTs, the cool planets, the custom music actually done well, nice narration, the secret hunting, and the visually engaging menu system. Played it on PC. MANY times.

[@MaitreEtherion]

Hello there, thank you very much for this analysis. Kindly note, you don't need cheat codes to unlock the 3 bonus missions & all ships, as when you complete all Main Missions with gold medals, you unlock that. :3

[@darthsquidious5956]

It’s hard to describe my nostalgia for this game. I remember first watching the OT on VHS as a 3-year-old. Phantom Menace had just hit theaters and the SW merch was surging. Rogue Squadron was the perfect game to immerse me into the greater Star Wars universe which I will always love (pre-Disney).

[@evprince]

Same here, brother. Prequels were peak time for us Star Wars fans.

[@High_Key]

The Prequel era really expanded the universe and the subsequent content that we got from was a blessing

[@mrpatate12345678]

Back when Lucas-Arts gave a shit. This game was a dear one to me as a kid. Always preferred starships to neon swards.

[@MrMoorkey]

LucasArts us just a name now, nowhere near the REAL LucasArts

[@astrosquirrel5038]

I loved this game, as well as the sequels. Such a great series and one I wish we could see a continuation of.

[@laurinthor3350]

Had this on pc in my childhood. I all out loved this game to death. Played it with a Joystick, which worked perfectly. That jingle when you fail a mission gives me ptsd tho :'D

[@dudujencarelli]

You don't need cheat codes to unlock the Falcon or the TIE Interceptor. All it takes is getting Gold Medals on every level, including the bonus ones, which also allow you to use most ships on every other level (a Y-Wing on an A-Wing level and so on).

[@selay333]

Loved this as a kid, only thing that annoyed me was trying to get gold on some missions like the first stage which if I remember you had to hit the tiny stormtroopers.

[@blastermaster7261]

So much fun! Truly a privilege to play these games back then.

[@starlighter93]

What??? I never knew about the Naboo starfighter in this. That's so cool!

[@callsign_scooter9602]

Haven't played this one since like the late 90s and I STILL remember all the lines if that says anything. A straight classic.

[@GlitchSystem-xf7jb]

I still have my copy of this game. Don't forget the 1969 Buick Electra you can unlock with cheats and fly around in

[@CyberOtto-ny9gy]

Played the demo on PC more than one hundred times. This video inspired me to buy the game, as soon as can find enough time. Keep the lights on in the "Retro Room".

[@ssyn6626]

Loved this game played it tons. I actually like the A-wing best. You didn't mention the fact its guns track your targets aim assist really handy for hitting fighters.

[@ethankoernke1329]

You forgot the hot rods from American Graffiti as playable ships.

[@darylobey8867]

I remember the black car 😊

[@GunRunner106]

chicken walker is not the first time you could play as a AT-ST in any star wars game - that honour goes to shadow of the empire as well. so many cheats in that game to play as any of the enemies in the foot missions. you could switch to play as an AT-ST in the first level. and could change the outrider to look AND behave like either a x-wing or tie in the final mission~ ;) i have no fucking idea how we found the cheat codes to do this as kids back then, we had no access to the gamemags, but we sure as hell still found those.... somehow...

[@bifftannen1598]

Got the N64 game right when it came out when I was 18 & loved every minute of it. I'd like to think I became an ace on it & did speed runs on each level, trying to take off as much time as I could. I had hoped for a game like this & a lesser extent Shadows of the Empire since Super Empire Strikes Back's Mode 7 snow walker level. Rogue Leader on Gamecube is still probably my favorite Star Wars game since it really upped everything by a ton & the graphics were (and still are) so good. Great video!

[@darkieturner9242]

Wait all of yall played Rogue but nobody knows about the flying overpowered Cadillac???? What

[@ElladanKenet]

I was the target demographic back in 1998 when this came out. Same age as Jake Lloyd/Anakin. This was mindblowing and hella fun to play. You also left out another hidden vehicle; the Buick! Rogue Squadron is for sure one of the best games on the N64, and one of the best Star Wars games period. It's criminal that it has never been remastered. And yet.... Rogue Squadron 2 is even better!

[@PaulGaither]

I was 14 when this came out. Got it for the N64 and played it so much and got so good at it back in the day that I would challenge myself with 1st person one life only gold medal runs. I absolutely love this game, the presentation. I loved playing: • Search for the Nonnah - In this level, the N64 "fog" felt like part of the game and would belong even in a remake/remaster. • Defection at Corellia - A time to fly the Speeder outside of a snow mission. A lot of fun stages to this level with fun air to air and air to ground combat. • Assault on Kile II - I love the Y wing here and I always imagined it as a star wars take on flying the Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers. • Escape from Fest - This is such a satisfying mission from start to finish.

[@SandmanGotBeer]

Raid on Sullust can suck it though....25 years later and I STILL can't quite hit the gold medal lol

[@PaulGaither]

@@SandmanGotBeer - A user named "Jaanuhthn" has an all-gold run on the N64 here on KZbin. You certainly have to plan a path and make sure you take out the launchers on your way to the objectives. Give their video a watch and I am sure you can do it. They lost two lives, but that didn't stop them from getting Gold.

[@SandmanGotBeer]

@@PaulGaither already did lol I just can't hit both the time and/or accuracy requirements in the same run. It's ok. Tis just a game.

[@PaulGaither]

@@SandmanGotBeer - Agreed. in a similar way, I cannot save Hammer Lance in Mechwarrior 4 mercenaries on Elite Difficulty in the mission "Styk: Reinforcement". Most of the community can't, but there is a youtube vido of it happening and a Reddit post about it as well becasue of how difficult it is. Some challenges are worth trying for personal achievement, and some are worth walking away from. To each their own.

[@bigbitehood1353]

3:19 Disney: "Wait.... YOU CAN _DO THAT!?!??"_

[@tonystank3091]

Try swapping the firing mode for the V-Wing. Then it shoots so fast you can burn out your guns if you sustain fire too long. But that's not a problem if you fire in bursts. Not only that, but for some reason, if you use only that, you get 100% accuracy on your end score. Also, and maybe this is for the PC version only, I haven't tried on N64, but *on* the PC version for *sure,* if you get Gold Medals on *all* the levels, bonus levels included, you unlock all the ships that you thought were just cheat-only. And, you get the ability to play all the ships in all the levels too. With the exception of the Snowspeeder levels and Taloraan, since Snowspeeder levels are more-or-less unbeatable without the speeder, and Taloraan has no ground for the speeder-type craft to hover on. But if you wanna fly an X-Wing on a Y-Wing level, or a Snowspeeder on a regular X-Wing level, it's a hell of a completion bonus.

[@zeonino]

25 odd years later and I still have that X-Wing vehicle description burned into my head. "The Incom T-65 X-Wing is the fighter that killed the Death Star. An almost perfect balance of speed, maneuverability, and defensive shields makes it the fighter of choice for Rogue Squadron, except when the mission profile disallows it." It's wild how this looked totally real at the time. And then when Rogue Leader dropped, that looked just like the movies. We got really lucky that peak Star Wars happened at the same time as peak gaming and got a wide variety of good Star Wars games (including Lego not too long after).

[@finlayduncan5167]

Love your channel! All these retro Star Wars games are so nostalgic - I’d love to see a Jedi Knight / Jedi Outcast retrospective! 😊

[@evprince]

Literally in the works right now

[@riftshredder5438]

Considering that this game actually had voice acting in it was really cool for the N64

[@mikedrop4421]

One of my favorite games from my teenage years. Great video and you got my subscription!

[@BrackishB]

Playing this on the family PC with a flightstick with my cousins was about a bajillion hours of my childhood. Killer game.

[@ezehogan]

As someone who lived through all of this; the PSX was released prior to the Nintendo 64. In North America the PSX was released in late 1995. The N64 was released in late 1996 so in 1998 it was two years old and about halfway through its life. Both the N64 and PSX had pretty solid 1999’s and 2000’s. By 2001 however the PS2 was already on the shelves and the GameCube would be released late in the year so both consoles were winding down. The AT-ST was unlockable in Shadows of the Empire. I had way too much fun shooting down Snowspeeders. The inclusion of the Naboo Starfighter was a massive shocker; especially since its inclusion wasn’t leaked until after The Phantom Menace came out in May of 1999. As someone who unlocked all of the bonus levels by getting gold medals on each mission… that Death Star trench run was a massive letdown. There were several right angle turns! I was so happy when Factor 5 rectified this on the GameCube with Rogue Leader.

[@jonny-b4954]

I don't think you landed a single shot in half of the footage hahah. That's my feeling playing these old Star Wars fighter games. Hah. Especially the Gamecube version.

[@SandmanGotBeer]

Creeping up on 25 years since this game was released. I got this game for Christmas in 1998 and it was a MAJOR staple of my childhood. I never had a GameCube as a kid, but this year I acquired one on ebay as well as Rogue Squadrons 2 and 3 and gave them a play. They were fun, but not as iconic or solid as the original. During the pandemic I found my original copy of Rogue Squadron in my stuff and decided to play it through after many years. I made it through with all gold medals, except for Raid on Sullust, which after 25 years I still haven't achieved...maybe some day lol

[@entertainmentgaming8738]

I never knew there was a part 3

[@lmno567]

​@@entertainmentgaming8738it was not a great game. An unnecessary Episode 3 tie-in mission, awful on-foot sections with awful platforming and controls, and not nearly enough flying missions, and most of the upgrades you can find are actually useless as you don’t use the ships nearly enough. That Dagobah level can f**k right off. The best th8ng about the game is the co-op mode, which is a two-player version of the Rogue Squadron 2 campaign.

[@nospoon3822]

I've played this game so many times when I was a kid back in the late 90's on my N64, I love it.

[@Deathelement53]

I loved this game as a kid

[@aaronayl1]

Loved this game, I was disappointed that the sequel didn't have an original story. And yes, seeing the cheat code for the Naboo Starfighter in ONM magazine as a kid was SO exciting.

[@QuantumNova]

Protect the AT-PT's-- **Turns off console** Welp time to play something else.

[@ArnoArtner]

Fantastic video! But.. 1998 "nearing the end" of the N64? That's not a truthful description.

[@rebelsatcloudnine]

I never played this one as much. Growing up I never owned a 64, but my friend did, and I remember that he borrowed this from his older brother. But later on we played the sequels on the Gamecude, and I have a lot of fun memories playing all of those. Sad to hear that the Y-wing is the worst vehicle in this game, as that's my favourite ship :)

[@j4yb0b]

Scratching my head a bit about the bit where you talk about it pushing the N64 and say the console was near the end of its life and the PlayStation had been out for a bit. The PlayStation was out way before the N64 was released!

[@evprince]

Yeah, that was an error on my part mis remembering.

[@mrjtfang2]

the V-wing is honestly one of my favorite designs imo, even if it doesn't control well in rogue squadron.

[@dylives7667]

Forgot to mention how speeders are stuck to the atmosphere, unlike the average starship that can go in and out of planets. At least in the case of the snowspeeder, it hugs the ground. So, no matter how much you try to crash it, you won't. Also cheat codes, outside of the AT-ST mission, aren't necessary to unlock stuff. It all unlocks depending on the medals you get on missions.

[@nivozero8989]

yet it takes off from the cruiser hangar, though

[@dylives7667]

@@nivozero8989 That shouldn't happen. But, yet again, Rogue Squadron isn't and never was canon.

[@nivozero8989]

@@dylives7667 of course it shouldn't happen, and i'm fairly sure they knew it but they probably couldn't afford to make another hangar (besides were are the speeders supposed to launch from on planets where they have no base, some kind of landing craft?).

[@NerdDumb]

Great video! Love it! Keep it up sir!

[@cropathfinder]

The walker wasn't actually limited to the test level. On PC you could bring most craft to any level with big limitations being in some cases the Y wing and speeder iirc. Yes that means the AT-ST could be brought to any mission cuz i remember trying to beat other levels with it.

[@mikelondakos9723]

Theres one thing that no one has seemed to notice. When you fire your lasers, they are closer together or further apart depending on what camera position you are using. I like using cockpit cause its more realistic than 3rd persom view. But shooting down enemy fighters is much easier in 3rd person because your shot group will be tighter. Try it and see for yourself.

[@ja8ames]

This was my favorite SW gaming experience, on the N64. I was a fan of the Expanded Universe so the tie-ins were enjoyable, but more than anything it's just a playable way to be a starfighter pilot. I had to use the Falcon for the Mon Calamari level, though. Those V-Wings are glitchy indeed (in-universe, I'll say, no disrespect to the game).

[@Bladeclaw00100]

The V-Wing air speeder in my opinion is the best. Once you have the cluster seeker missiles you can clear multiple enemies with one shot. Your laser auto aims at flying enemies very well and the rapid-fire mode is amazing for ground targets. I use this ship to get Gold Medals in practically every mission. Too bad you can't use it in Taloran as its an air speeder and not made to fly very high above the clouds.

[@shanesmentek1702]

Everyone forgets the cheat code for the MIB car 😂

[@lmno567]

Based off of George Lucas's Buick he had at the time (I or so I heard)

[@nivozero8989]

was the N1 actually included on N64? i'm pretty i remember an update to have it on PC?

[@tylerherney2682]

the v wing had a rapid fire mode

[@stormthrush37]

If you enjoyed Rogue Squadron check out 2 and 3. Even better, though a shame they were never ported to PC.

[@lmno567]

2 was great. 3 was terrible except for its co-op mode, which was just Rogue Squadron 2 with co-op.

[@stormthrush37]

@@lmno567 Really? 3 looked great from the Let's Plays I've seen, or so I thought I remembered.

[@Rschr101]

One of the best games ever. Died many, many times but loved every second of it as a kid.

[@deanvillarreal147]

trying to get gold on all levels is fun and frustrating. this game is precise , you can miss gold by 1 second at times or by one kill, or just by being 1 percent off your accuracy . lol.. you watch every shot you take. and i appreciate the upgrades for the blasters and seeker missiles.

[@johnathan651]

I played this game SOOOO much as a kid!

[@eddyeddyd]

Good ol rogue squadron

[@creepycraiyons3519]

The TIE drones on Mon Cala were no joke.

[@rudechef1]

I've been enjoying your videos on Star Wars games, you might want to try getting a dreamcast and trying the Star Wars games for that. They where better on that system then they where on the N64 or PS1, ie Pod Racer and Jedi Battles , are much better on the Dreamcast then the other consoles, but where better on PC then a console. However you get a different feeling while playing on a console vs a PC

[@willlauzon3744]

So if you had trouble at all with this game I HIGHLY recommend playing Star Wars TIE Fighter on PC. I loved this game but TIE Fighter was just so good. But you don't have lives. If you die, that's it. Restart mission. And early game you don't even have shields or missiles at all. Skill is everything and often not enough to get the job done especially in THOSE missions. The ones where the programer got chewed out by his boss or had to work one too many late shifts and decided he hated the gamers and wanted to punish them

[@taylorpayne8269]

Don’t forget about the Buick Roadster

[@adammatis5527]

Idk how I missed this one! I played the hell out of this when I was a lad.

[@timhorn3829]

I own this game for N64 and I love it still

[@jamessmyth3952]

Link the V-wings lasers and then go ham

[@WillLauzon]

Where did this guy learn t shoot? Having heart palpatations over here just watching him chase that bomber around.

[@marctherrien2181]

That was one of the very first games I ever played!

[@lurkerrekrul]

I bought a used copy of this game back in the early 2000s, for Windows. I liked the game itself, but the whole method of unlocking the bonus levels annoyed me. To unlock all three, you have to get gold on every level. I got Gold on a few levels, but on the rest, I didn't come anywhere close to it. The two biggest hurdles for me were the tight time limits and the shot accuracy. I'm expected to shoot down something like three dozen tie fighters, do it within a really tight time limit and make sure I don't miss more than a small percentage of shots? Come on! After replaying those levels several times each, I came to the conclusion that it was an impossibility for me to get gold in them, so I resorted to using cheat codes to unlock the bonus levels. I'm always disappointed when I have to do that, because it means I'm not skilled enough to unlock them the proper way, which is a blow to my game-playing ego. I found Begger's Canyon to be quite hard to do within the given time limit. The trench level was kind of cool, but I hated the 90 degree turns. Not because they made it harder, but because they made no sense. If it had been some other ship, I could have accepted it, but we know the Death Star trench is completely straight. The Hoth level was OK, although I always had a problem using the tow cables. Turn just a bit too wide and it fails, then you have have to start the attempt all over again. I did manage to finish the game without cheats. I don't remember if it had skill levels, and if so, what level I played on, but I do know that I did finish every level without cheats. Not gold though. I've had the urge to install it and play it again, but I only have the original disk and I've read that it's a royal PITA to get working properly on anything past Windows 98.

[@JimmyDThing]

I loved this game when it came out. Unlocked everything as soon as possible and didn't stop playing. One thing I always wished for was a b-wing. I had flown the naboo starfighter in this game before The Phantom Menace came out and it was pretty cool to see it in the movie. I do think, though, some clips of R2 in the fighter released before I played it. I don't think you needed cheats to unlock the ships, though did you? I thought you could unlock. I'm surprised you found the game difficult enough to have to cheat to beat.

[@janwitkowsky8787]

Worth pointing out, that Rogue Squadron was difficult to run on N64 emulators, for the longest time, not only because of the expansion pack goodies, but also because Factor5 actually made the game "hack" the hardware.

[@77philesposito]

I loved this entire series

[@WTFisTingispingis]

Wedge having a British accent throws me off so hard.

[@CyrusCageSCWS]

Crazy you were too young to remember episode 1. I remember the special editions of the original trilogy coming out in theatres. But I'm sure that would spin out people who were around for the originals too.

[@Chrisx954]

3.4K Subs with quality? No way, Let me buy shares before ya blow up.

[@evprince]

Let's goooo

[@redratcrawford]

Well there's one code that turns the v-wing into a caddy so.....additional ship ?

[@darkblades1201]

You missed a special vehicle! There's a car you can fly. Yeah. Just a car

[@lmno567]

Not just a car, it was George Lucas's Buick.

[@BigRed0059]

Did he mentioned the Tie Fighter?

[@SOLIDSNAKE.]

My first pc game 😢

[@creepycraiyons3519]

Real OG’s prefer to fly the Cadillac…

[@nivozero8989]

you got the timeline very wrong i think. the 64 WAS released in 96. the PSX in 94. the gamecube in 2001. so why are you saying by this time the psx was already out?

[@xCori91x]

because the Rogue Squadron game itself was released in 1998. It's a badly worded sentence but we know what he is talking about.

[@creepycraiyons3519]

Ooooo my member berries 🥴

[@brandonguffey5959]

Those are not V-Wings, those are E-wings..

[@lmno567]

It's a V-Wing Airspeeder, not to be confused with the V-Wing in the Galactic Republic.

[@lmno567]

I hope he gets to 2 and 3 on the GameCube. 2 is great, 3 was awful, in my opinion.

[@ryanlemmon6728]

Why did my man spell out hard r when it came to the cheats

[@evprince]

Lmao how did I not notice that. "HARDROCK" is a cheat code in the game.

[@ryanlemmon6728]

@evprince lol what is hard rock for also this is one of my favorite games

[@evprince]

@@ryanlemmon6728 It changes the menu.

[@RacerC45]

Was spoiling the story really necessary?

[@zigzag8949]

It disables the gamepad after the start menu. 0/100. Buy a N64 instead