Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike

The continuing adventures of Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles against the Empire.

NA release: 21st October 2003
EU release: 7th November 2003
JP release: 21st November 2003
Developer: Factor 5
Publisher: LucasArts
NGC Magazine Score: 83%
Mods Used: Widescreen Code

Factor 5 did a lot with the GameCube with the US launch title Rogue Leader, so when the next game in the series came around, the developers used every trick to squeeze even more power out of the GameCube. This created a great looking game, but as it does stuff in unorthodox ways, even the beefiest gaming rigs have trouble emulating this game. Thankfully, I do have a copy of this game that I can play on original hardware, and I managed to get it running somewhat (though not playable) for some screenshots. The Rogue Squadron games are in desperate needs of a remaster.

Now, the big problem Factor 5 had was how to improve upon the previous game. They had already covered the iconic ship moments from the original trilogy, so where else could they go? The only answer was on foot, which leads to Rebel Strike’s biggest issue. It’s a shame as trying something new is something to be commended, but these sections use strange Robotron-inspired controls and they don’t really jive well with the ship controls. These sections aren’t bad, and if they were constrained to a few bonus levels would be fine, but even the ship missions can have on-foot segments and it kills the pacing.

The ship sections are still extremely great, though, with more levels then the previous game, including a brief trip to Geonosis from Episode 2 – you even get a Jedi Starfighter, which is immensely fun to fly, and it can fire seismic charges with the amazing sound effect from the film. The climax is, once again, the final battle in Return of the Jedi, with you fighting Star Destroyers in space, and taking park in a speeder base and using an AT-ST walker on the ground, which functions better than the on-foot segments, and the forest moon looks lovely.

Another big addition to Rebel Strike is multiplayer, with a few different versus modes. With the GameCube running at max for the singleplayer, I don’t think it was possible to have co-op in the main levels, so instead Factor 5 included the entirety of Rogue Leader to play in 2-player split screen (there’s no way to play it in singleplayer). It’s a wonderful extra feature.

On top of other bonus features, such as documentaries, music and a host of bonus ships, you can also unlock three Star Wars arcade games. Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back are wireframe on-rails shooters (Empire Strikes Back was a conversion kit for the original) while Return of the Jedi is an isometric game where you move left and right to dodge and shoot obstacles. A nice little bonus. Especially as this was the only time these games were re-released in an affordable manner (you could buy an Arcade1up with them).

Overall, it makes for a very great package, but the on-foot sections just get in the way.

Great

Ultimately, despite these gifts, Rebel Strike is a disappointment. An often brilliant, air-punchingly enjoyable disappointment, admittedly, but a disappointment nonetheless. Away from the on-foot bits the rest of the game blooms like a particularly lovely flower, but there’s no getting away from the face that there’s some rubbish in here.
Jes Bickham, NGC Magazine #88

Remake or remaster?

This game is desperate for a remaster. Especially if all three games can be combined. There was a new version of the games made for Wii – with revised on-foot segments – but it was cancelled after it was finished. This series desperately needs a new version.

Official Ways to get the game

There’s no official way to get Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike.