Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron or Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D is an arcade-style flight action game co-developed by Factor 5 and LucasArts. The first of the Rogue Squadron trilogy, it was published by LucasArts and Nintendo and released for Microsoft Windows and Nintendo 64 in December 1998. The game's story was influenced by the Star Wars: X-wing – Rogue Squadron comics and is set in the fictional Star Wars galaxy, taking place primarily between events in the films Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. The player controls Luke Skywalker, commander of the elite X-wing pilots known as Rogue Squadron. As the game progresses, Skywalker and Rogue Squadron fight the Galactic Empire in 16 missions across various planets.
Gameplay is presented from the third-person perspective, although the player can switch to first person if they prefer. The game's objectives are divided into four categories: search and destroy, reconnaissance, rescue, and protect. The player can control up to five standard craft, with an additional two unlockable bonus craft on PC version, and three on 64 version. Each offers a unique armament arrangement, as well as varying degrees of speed and maneuverability. Bonus power-ups that improve these craft's weapons or durability are hidden in different levels throughout the game. After each level, the player's performance is checked against three medal benchmarks. Acquiring these medals promotes the player's rank and helps unlock hidden content.
Rogue Squadrons focus on flight combat was directly inspired by a level in Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire that allowed the player to pilot a snowspeeder. Working together during development, Factor 5 designed the game engine, the music, and worked closely with Nintendo, while LucasArts produced the game's story and gameplay and ensured it was faithful to Star Wars canon. Before the game's release, Factor 5 appealed to Nintendo to commercially release the Nintendo 64's newly developed memory Expansion Pak. Consequently, Rogue Squadron was one of the first games to take advantage of the Expansion Pak, which allows gameplay at a higher display resolution.
Upon release, critics praised the game's technical achievements and flight controls, but its use of distance fog and the lack of a multiplayer mode drew criticism. The game's sales exceeded expectations; by August 1999, more than one million copies had been sold worldwide. It spawned two sequels developed and released for the GameCube—Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader and Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike—as well as Star Wars Episode I: Battle for Naboo, a spiritual successor released for Windows and Nintendo 64.
Gameplay
Unlike the Star Wars: X-Wing series that emphasizes space combat simulation, Rogue Squadron is a fast-paced, arcade-style flight action game. Each of the game's 16 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, TIE Bombers and TIE Interceptors. Ground defenses are more varied and include three different walkers, laser and missile turrets, tanks, probe droids, shuttles, stormtroopers, and speeder bikes.Gameplay is presented from the third-person perspective; a view from a craft's cockpit is available. The heads-up display features a health meter, a radar, and an ammunition count for secondary weapons. The player can control five craft: 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 a level is completed, it can be replayed with any available craft. Levels set on non-atmospheric moons expose the player's craft to space; thus disallowing the speeder and V-wing from being used; 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 on completion. Acquiring these medals promotes the player's rank and helps unlock hidden content.
Unlockable content
Rogue Squadron includes many unlockable secrets. The player can unlock three bonus levels: "Beggar's Canyon", "The Death Star Trench Run", and "The Battle of Hoth". These levels are made available when the player obtains all bronze, silver, or gold medals, respectively, on each level. Alternatively, they can be unlocked via passcode. Unlike the game's primary levels, the bonus levels are adaptations of events from the Star Wars films. "Beggar's Canyon" allows the player to reenact the race mentioned in A New Hope, while "The Death Star Trench Run" allows the player to execute an alternate version of the film's climactic battle. In the "Battle of Hoth" bonus level, the player can join the Rebel Alliance's combat against Imperial troops, as depicted in The Empire Strikes Back.Several craft are available when unlocked. Both the Millennium Falcon and a TIE interceptor are initially present in the craft selection screen. However, neither may be selected until the player enters the correct passcodes or achieves all bronze or silver medals, respectively, on the bonus levels. Two other craft can be unlocked, but each is confined to a specific level. One is the T-16 Skyhopper in "Beggar's Canyon", and an AT-ST is playable in a basic demonstration level unlocked only via passcode. A playable model of a 1969 Buick Electra 225 based on a car owned by the game's sound designer, Rudolph Stember, is included in the game as an Easter egg.
During Rogue Squadron development, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace—the first Star Wars film in more than 15 years—was less than one year from its scheduled release date. To take advantage of this marketing opportunity, Factor 5 included content from the upcoming film in Rogue Squadron. Lucasfilm provided the developers with design art for the Naboo Starfighter, a ship prominently featured in the new film. These designs were used to create an in-game model. Because the game was scheduled to be released six months before the film, Factor 5 was required to keep the ship's inclusion a secret. As a result, most of the game's development team at Factor 5 and LucasArts were not informed of its inclusion. A complex scrambling system was developed to help hide the ship's code from gamers using cheat cartridges such as GameShark or Action Replay. More than six months after the release of Rogue Squadron, LucasArts unveiled the code to unlock the Naboo Starfighter as a playable craft. The code has been named the Nintendo 64's most well-hidden code because of the length of time before its discovery.
Synopsis
Setting
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron is set in the fictional Star Wars galaxy, where a war is fought between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance. The game's first fifteen levels occur six months after the Battle of Yavin—as depicted in A New Hope—and before the events of The Empire Strikes Back. 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.The sixteenth and final level of the game takes place six years after Return of the Jedis 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
The story is divided into four chapters, each of which starts with an opening crawl resembling those featured in the Star Wars films. Further story details are presented through the game's instruction manual, pre-mission briefings, character conversations during the game, and in-game cutscenes. The game begins with Rogue Squadron briefly encountering the Empire at the Mos Eisley spaceport on Tatooine. The team executes escort and rescue missions on Barkhesh and Chorax, respectively.File:Olivia Hussey, at the Cinema City Film Festival 2008.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Screen actress Olivia Hussey provided voice work for Kasan Moor.
The Rebels learn that Imperial officer Crix Madine wishes to defect to the Rebel Alliance. The Empire launches an attack on Corellia, where Madine is stationed, to prevent his departure. Rogue Squadron, with the help of Han Solo and Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon, fights off the Empire and helps escort Madine safely off the planet. 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. They encounter the 128th TIE interceptor Squadron and disable Kasan Moor's TIE. When Rogue Squadron tells Moor that she has been taken prisoner, she offers to defect and provide the Rebel Alliance with Imperial intelligence.
With the help of Kasan Moor's intelligence, the Alliance launches 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 is ambushed by a group of TIEs and is taken captive. The Rebel Alliance tracks Wedge to an Imperial prison complex on the planet of Kessel. The remaining members of Rogue Squadron travel to Kessel and rescue him and other Rebel prisoners.
With Wedge Antilles free and Rogue Squadron again at full strength, the Rebel Alliance turns its attention to a new Imperial threat — Moff Kohl Seerdon. Seerdon is consolidating Imperial power in preparation for an attack aimed at capturing Thyferra, a planet that produces the healing substance bacta. Rogue Squadron is ordered to disrupt his operation with hit-and-run missions against key targets on Taloraan and Fest. In retaliation, Seerdon attacks and holds a city on the planet of Chandrila hostage. Rogue Squadron and the Alliance strike back by initiating a Kasan Moor-engineered raid on an Imperial base located inside a volcano on Sullust. While still on Sullust, however, General Rieekan informs the Squadron that Moff Seerdon has used their raid as a diversion and begun his attack on Thyferra. With Seerdon in control of the planet's bacta and their supply threatened, Rogue Squadron quickly reaches Thyferra, kills Seerdon, and frees the planet.
In the final chapter, the game moves into the future, six years after the Battle of Endor. Rogue Squadron, now under the command of Wedge Antilles, continues to fight the wounded Empire. On the planet of Mon Calamari, new Imperial weapons called World Devastators are destroying the planet. Rogue Squadron is deployed, disables all three Devastators and destroys the Imperial presence.