"The Force is strong in this one..."

I'll get right into this one, a review of quite possibly the best Gamecube launch title...and called such for a good reason!

Presentation: 10/10

Let's face it...it's Star Wars. And it's Star Wars done WELL. Do I really need to say more? Everything in the game, from the grime on your Y-Wing to the glow of a Star Destroyer's turbo lasers to the scream of a TIE's engines as it zooms past you, everything in the menus from the little video clips to the R2D2 whistles...all of it is screaming Star Wars. The presentation of the game is absolutely beautiful because Factor 5, despite a relatively short time spent on the game, has paid special attention to nearly EVERYTHING. Even the mission select screen, which I abhorred in the original Rogue Squadron, has been made bearable by the other pilots sitting around the holographic view screen, pondering their mortality as they see their next life-threatening mission laid before them.

Graphics: 10/10

Simply put this is probably the most beautiful game I've ever seen. Everything...EVERYTHING in this game looks simply immaculate. This game has so much detail in it that I can actually see hands on the ant-sized Storm Troopers, that I can see every little wind-carved wave in the sand of Tatooine, the toes wiggling on the AT-ATs as they fall on their sides, and every shard of a TIE fighter's wing after I blow it to pieces with a linked laser shot. The explosion affects are gorgeous, the ship models are the most beautiful vehicles I've ever seen on ANY system, the lighting affects are mind-boggling, the texture-mapping and all that other technical crap I can't name....well, it all comes together to be just really, really nice-looking. Add that in with a (mostly) silky-smooth frame rate and you have something special. You can tell that Factor 5 and Lucas Arts really know how to use the system, even this early in its life. These guys know how to pull off some really cool-looking stuff. I'll leave it at that.

Sound: 10/10

This is Factor 5, people. If anybody knows sound, it's these guys. I don't know what kind of deal they made with Satan to do it, but this is also the single most beautiful game I've ever heard, as well as seen. The most orchestrated soundtrack with excellent MIDI undertones is a very nice mixture, and every sound....every sound, no exceptions...sounds like something out of Star Wars. From Han Solo (where is Harrison Ford when you need him?) to Luke Skywalker, all of the voice actors sound true to the characters in the movies (especially Wedge, for obvious reasons). The sound affects...aside from the graphics, the sound affects are the most impressive part of this game's package. It's all recreated perfectly from the movie....when Vader comes up from behind and blows you to the big hangar in the sky, you'll think you were watching the movies again. Us a Y-Wing in the Death Star Trench Run for added goodness in that scene. Heheheheheh

Gameplay: 9/10

Amazingly, this is where the game is hurting the most. Which isn't saying much, actually. The game plays and controls beautifully, and I've loved every minute of it...but some parts are really tedious. When you're trying to blow away the Death Star and you have four TIEs behind you, guns blazing, and you're blown away entirely unless you do some REALLY fancy flying...it's actually one of the most fun things I've done in a long time. But for people who never played Rogue Squadron, this would be incredibly hard for the first level. See, I love this game's difficulty level. It's great. I can barely scrape by, and I played all the way through Rogue Squadron. I'm only on level eight right now. But for somebody new to the games, it's going to be next to impossible, and I really do hope that they have the patience to keep from breaking that masterful work of art in their Gamecube controller. In short, the only real flaw is the frustration level, which I personally love. How screwed up is that?

Replay Value: 10/10

Ten normal missions. God knows how many secret ships. Several extra levels. Four levels of achievement. Eight, after you factor in both difficulty levels. Oh yeah, I'm gonna be coming back for a long time.

Overall: 10/10

Except for the fact that this game is going to be frustrating for some newbies to the games, the thing is almost completely flawless. Beautiful graphics, lovely sound, great gameplay, tight control, high difficulty, more replay value than I can shake a stick at, and the whole Star Wars atmosphere and charm. Good God, only thing I could ask more of it is to let me pilot the Death Star.

Rent/Buy: Buy it. Now. Turn off your computer, get in your car, go to the store, and buy it now. Nag your parents. Mooch off of friends for cash. I don't care how you do it (within legal boundaries), just buy this game. You'll thank me for it.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/19/01, Updated 11/19/01