Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III - Rebel Strike

Moby ID: 10746
Note: We may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made via eBay or Amazon links (prices updated 3/17 2:34 PM )

Description official description

Be a part of the epic battle between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire as a member of Rogue Squadron, an elite group of fighters who are the best chance for the Rebel's to destroy the Empire once and for all.

Taking the part of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Wedge Antilles, your mission is to re-live the battles of the original Star Wars trilogy, from escaping the first Death Star to riding Tauntauns on Hoth, to the final battle at Endor. For the first time you can fight the good fight in the air and on the ground, swapping between your X-Wing, a speeder bike and many other attack craft.

Included in the game is the complete version of Rogue Squadron II, specifically built for two player co-op play. Plus there are multiplayer battle modes and full cutscenes straight from the original trilogy.

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Videos

See any errors or missing info for this game?

You can submit a correction, contribute trivia, add to a game group, add a related site or alternate title.

Credits (GameCube version)

106 People (105 developers, 1 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 73% (based on 25 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 28 ratings with 3 reviews)

Rushed but good

The Good
Well for one thing the graphics in this game are the best seen on the Cube so far. All the ships are perfectly detailed and when you go into the cockpit view you can see all those cool little buttons and gadgets. Shadows of the Empire and the first two Rogue Squadron games all had the same Hoth battle but finally in this game they have re done it as a foot mission. It stands out as one of the best levels in the game. There are many, many great unlockables. All the unlockable ships from the previous games are there as well as The Jedi Starfighter, The Tie Bomber, and the Tie Interceptor. All three of the Star Wars arcade games are included (Jedi being the best one) possible the greatest extra in this game is that Rogue Squadron 2 is included as co-op. And the whole theme of this game you can finally get out of your ship!!!!

The Bad
Although the graphics are great everything is the same as Rogue 2, Menus, ship models, everything. 90% of the multiplayer dog fight maps are just the old Rogue Squadron 2 single player maps. The on foot missions are handled very poorly, you basically just stand and rapidly press the A button while the auto-aim kills everything. Plot is almost non-existent and unlike the last game Dennis Lawson (the original actor) wasn't brought in to play Wedge. This isn't a huge deal but the guy they got to replace him sounds NOTHING like Wedge should.

The Bottom Line
Good game but way rushed. Wait until the price goes down before you buy this.

GameCube · by MegaMegaMan (2257) · 2004

As good as it gets.

The Good
Rebel Strike is the third Rogue Squadron entry in five years. It is the second Rogue Squadron game for the GameCube and, coming just two years after Rogue Leader, it's fair to have a little healthy skepticism about it. After all, Rogue Leader's strengths made it a platform-seller and it's not like Rebel Strike is a technological leap forward. So is Rebel Strike its own game or just another example of blatant sequelization?

The biggest difference between Rebel Strike and its predecessor is evident from the start of the franchise's trademark Tatooine tutorial level: Luke Skywalker starts out on foot. Putting players closer to the action, much of Rebel Strike takes place on the ground. Whether on foot, on swoopbike, or in a commandeered AT-ST, players have the chance to engage the Empire via a somewhat limited third-person shooter mode.

Back to Tatooine, it doesn't take long for Luke to find transportation, racing through Beggar's Canyon in a T-16 Skyhopper, testing out a Landspeeder, and taking potshots at target droids with an AT-ST at an Imperial recruitment center. There's also a somewhat awkward portion where Luke, on foot, blasts Sandpeople—but that's probably not a harbinger of doom. After Luke hits all the test vehicles, Tatooine is ready for open exploration so Luke can spend the rest of this forty minute tutorial finding hidden items and completing other objectives.

Then it's on to the real game and the aftermath of the Battle of Yavin. The destruction of the Death Star was a Rebel poke into the Imperial hive of evil (sorry, I just channeled The Tick there), anyway the first mission is called "Revenge of the Empire" and it deals with Rogue Squadron providing enough cover for Rebel transports to flee a full-scale Imperial invasion. Before they reach the Massassi Temples, Rogue Squadron has to shoot down Imperial transports while dodging TIEs.

Up to this point, Rebel Strike felt more like a Rogue Leader add-on than a standalone game. It looked like Rogue Leader, sounded like Rogue Leader, and controlled like Rogue Leader—except for the fact wingmen were more effective this time around, I could have sworn I was playing the same game. But then, I had to land and rescue/escort General Jan Dodonna from a swarm of Stormtroopers. Once again the third-person shooting was very awkward, but it was soon over and probably not an indication of anything to come.

After the early levels, the game dovetails into Luke Skywalker's story and Wedge Antilles story (and eventually reunites). There actually is a cohesive story this time, Luke's loosely following his Jedi path and Wedge's covers the runs the standard Star Wars gamut of new TIEs, secret Imperial bases, and the like. Successfully completing missions may earn Gold, Silver, or Bronze medals and respective points players can use to unlock bonus missions. Like the other franchise entries, there's a difference between finishing Rebel Strike and COMPLETING Rebel Strike. Expect to play and replay levels to earn Gold medals, find all the power-ups, unlock all the ships, and more.

I didn't explore the Co-op mode, but it's there—featuring the levels from Rogue Leader. I did explore the coolest features ever: the original arcade versions of Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi! Okay, the longevity of these classic games is a little questionable, since they are basically a looped handful of stages with some variation and increasing difficulty, but they offer a fun trip down memory lane. If you haven't seen these before, you'll probably scratch your head and wonder why you can't shoot the Ewoks.

The Bad
After making the same game (basically) for the third time in five years, you'd expect Factor Five to be pretty good at it and you'd be right… almost. Even I couldn't complain about the starfighter levels in Rebel Strike. The controls are great, tying up AT-ATs is less frustrating, TIEs leap visually off the starfield, missions are varied and challenging, and everything that takes place off the ground is fine. On foot is another matter.

For being a really good starfighter arcade game, Rebel Strike is also a really bad third person shooter. Players have to rely on auto-targeting since the camera doesn't move to allow better control of aiming. The controls are unresponsive compared to some of the organic third person games out there. Frankly, the whole thing feels primitive.

The Bottom Line
Rebel Strike is the best of the Rogue Squadron bunch, but the on foot levels are an albatross. Another way of looking at this is to say that the parts of Rebel Strike that don't feel like a Rogue Leader add-on are crap. While I've never loved the Rogue Squadron series, I had the most fun playing this—from the Disco opening to the terrific extras. I can't strongly recommend this, but it's as good as it gets.

GameCube · by Terrence Bosky (5397) · 2004

I sense the light and darkside in this one.......

The Good
Boy, if there was ever a game that was a mixed bag, this is it. The graphics are AWESOME. TOTALLY. REALLY! The missions where you are in a ship like an A-Wing are incredible, just like the two previous ones. The two original Star Wars arcade game classiscs can be unlocked. You get a multiplayer version of Rouge Leader too! The beggining cutscene is a disco with the Star Wars characters!!

The Bad
Like alot of previous Star Wars games, the voices suck. Finally, the ground missions are horrible. This was hawked as a new feature in the Rouge Squad series, but it just made this game a lot worse than it should have been. First, on the ground missions, the camera is permenantly stuck on one angle, so you will fall off cliffs u didn't know were there etc. Fighting stormtroopers etc. s even worse. Half the time the camera obscures your view so you just fire randomly hoping your shots hit them. The enemies will gang up on you, surround you and kill you in 7 seconds because you can't walk around them. Lightsaber is awful with a slash that looks like a 4 year old could do it. (no offense to you kids.) I could just keep going on and on about the problems that plauge the ground campaign, so let's just suffice to say that they are horrible and you should avoid them.

The Bottom Line
If you are a Star Wars fan, you should get this, but if not, just get Rouge leader instead.

GameCube · by James Kirk (150) · 2004

Trivia

Two classic Star Wars arcade games feature as extras in Rebel Strike (the wireframe Atari titles Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back) and are fully emulated from their original form.

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D
Released 1998 on Nintendo 64, Windows
Star Wars: Rebel Assault
Released 1993 on DOS, 1994 on SEGA CD, 3DO
Star Wars: Republic Squadron
Released 2009 on Dedicated console
Star Wars: Battlefront - Elite Squadron
Released 2009 on Nintendo DS
Rogue Wars
Released 2020 on Macintosh, Windows, Linux
Star Wars: Blaster Strike
Released 2015 on Dedicated console

Related Sites +

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 10746
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Kartanym.

Game added October 23, 2003. Last modified December 15, 2023.