Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D

The Good
Rogue Squadron is quite frankly a remarkable game. It's premise is quite simple: take the ships from the original Star Wars trilogy and go fly around completing earth-based missions for the Rebel Alliance as Luke. However, unlike other similar games like X-wing that take the "serious" approach to starfighting, Rogue Squadron takes all the hassle and puts you into fast and furious fights with minor thinking required. Just fly, aim and shoot! Add to that mix the eternally cool Star Wars myth, excellent sound effects, great and fast graphics and you got yourself a winner pal.

Each mission has an usual set of objectives that range from "blow X thing up" to "blow everything up" and, as annoying as that would get on a regular space sim in Rogue Squadron it works perfectly. It puts the emphasis on the fun aspect of the game and keeps the lighthearted, non-ambitious gameplay in the front seat because let's face it, you don't buy this game to learn the new adventures of Luke and co. written by the developers, you buy this game to take on hordes of Tie fighters while zipping through trenches at high speeds! And that's just what you get! 19 missions filled with low altitude flying, trenches, crevices, and lots of imperial forces to blow up! (and yes, for those of us with enough skills there are reproductions of the trench run and the battle of Hoth awaiting!!).

The Bad
From a design point of view I would have to say that the game is too short. The 19 missions get completed fairly fast, and yes, I even completed them all with Gold medals, so I want more dammit!

Technically speaking the game suffers from legacy problems product of it's N64 origins. First you've got some fogging that could have been removed on the trip to the Pc, but more importantly you have to contend with the midi-like music which is okay on a machine that can't properly handle sounds but is downright insulting on a Pc. I mean, c'mon! John Williams... on Midi??

The Bottom Line
Want some clever, fast-paced, non-ambitious action? Get Rogue Squadron. This game is fun, and it's Star Wars man! When was the last time you could place those three words together, huh? (yes, I'm looking at you, Phantom Menace). It is not the smartest kid in the block, but you are still gonna have a great time with him.