One of the few bright points of Star Wars’ troubled gaming track record has been Rogue Squadron series, which has now dimmed and faded completely. Rebel Strike, the third game in the series (fourth, if you include Battle for Naboo), has utterly failed in living up to its predecessors. How could Factor 5 drop the ball, you may ask? I had a bad feeling about this…

The Rogue Squadron earned its good reputation by being the best arcade-style Star Wars (or otherwise) shooter out there. Solid control, great graphics and sound, and an immersive presentation were all elements that were the series’ trademarks. The fact that the incredible Rogue Leader was programmed in mere months gave indication that Factor 5 could work wonders- and whet the appetite for a game in which they had more time to create. They had that chance with Rebel Strike…and FAILED. Badly.

The principal problem with Rebel Strike lies with its TERRIBLE on-foot segments. Players are given a no-frills control interface for navigating your character while having to endure the WORST targeting and shooting interface EVER. The player has almost no control whatsoever over targeting and aiming their blaster. You could be next to a stormtrooper, and yet the auto-target picks the guy way in the distance. The only way to choose targets is to face your character towards it, and hope the computer agrees with your “suggestion”. After that, just rapidly tap the fire button and hope that you kill the target before it kills you. Pathetic.

The flight levels are still fun to play, but the level design is sorely lacking. Some levels are way too short. Others are repetitive. Certain levels are broken up with on-foot segments, which ruin them by default. In total, only two or three levels in the entire game are fun enough to warrant multiple plays. Getting medals is easier this time, but given the mediocrity of the design, medal earning isn’t worth the aggravation.

The good points: The graphics (though quite jagged) and sound are excellent; three old SW arcade games can be unlocked; and there is a two player version of Rogue Leader included. That’s about the extent of the good stuff here.

All in all, Rebel Strike is a downright BAD game. It joins the majority of Star Wars games as one that had the potential to be a contender, but ended up as a bum. How this game made it past Nintendo’s much vaunted quality control process is beyond me.

4.75