RetrOS- Review of Rogue Squadron (N64, PC)

 Ladies and gentlemen, fire up your emulators and get that Domino's Pizza on order it's time for another episode of our retro gaming series, RetrOS. 

 In this episode, we turn the clocks back to 1998, as we review Factor 5's first game, then this game make its mark on history? or should this game be long forgotten?

Let's kick off the nostalgia, and let's find out!

 George Lucas' Star Wars is a juggernaut of the film industry today. The franchise started in 1977 when the first film of the original trilogy, dubbed A New Hope was released. The film attracted a worldwide phenomenon, raking in a massive $775 million at the box office.

FUN FACT: did you know that Lucas had a massive bet with the director of E.T, Stephen Spielberg? 

 George Lucas was so convinced that A New Hope would be a flop, that the two directors made a bet that the movie were to be bigger than the film that Spielberg was directing Close Encounters, Lucas would have to give 4.5% of the film's earnings to Spielberg.

 Of course, Lucas lost said bet, and the film's revenue received a massive Alderaan-sized $41 million disturbance in the force.

SORCE- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poB1Pw8r8Zw&ab_channel=Alltime10s

Of course, the franchise also had a lot of videogame adaptations. Rogue Squadron was one of them.

This classic fan-favourite title was originally released for the Windows PC, on December 4, 1998, the game was then ported to the Nintendo 64 on January 10, 1999. The game is set between a new Hope, and the Empire Strikes Back. 

You play as one of the most recognisable characters in the entire franchise, Luke Skywalker, leader of a group of elite Rebel pilots, known as Rogue Squadron, as you take the fight against the Galactic Empire in 16 missions across various planets in the Star Wars universe. 

The accessibility scores are as follows –

Visibility 7

Let's start off with the biggest, glaring problem with this game. When using the radar, friendly ships will be represented with green dots, Empire units are displayed as red dots on the radar. 

You know, as well as I do, in red and green, contrast is a definite no-no when it comes to colourblind people. However,  the rest of the on-screen elements are pretty accessible. A cone while pointing in the direction of your nearest objective will appear at all times. The wider the cone, the closer you are to the objective. So, you should be able to keep track of objectives as a mission progresses.

So, a player with a visual impairment should be able to play this game with no issues, but, a different colour contrast when determining friend from foe could make this game a lot more accessible.

Audibility 10

This game has a subtitle function which can be enabled and disabled the the game's options menu. That way, I hearing impaired player can immerse himself in a mission as it plays out. Also, in the briefing screen, you can press the Y button for the briefing in a text format, allowing you to understand what each mission entails. 

So, a player with a hearing impairment will be able to play this game with no issues.

Mobility 11

On the PC version, the keyboard controls can be fully customised to suit your impairments. However, keyboard and mouse controls are not recommended. Luckily enough, this game has full controller support out of the box, and an Xbox One controller works like a charm. When using a controller, the button layouts can be fully customised to suit your impairments. So, a mobility-impaired player will be able to play this game with no issues.

Gameplay  10

For its time, this game is an excellent arcade-style dogfight simulator. With a grand total of 16 missions (three of which are unlockable). This game has a fair bit of lifespan for N64 era  standards,

When a certain mission is cleared for the first time, additional spacecraft will be available to fly on a particular mission. This makes you want to replay the missions. Also, the medal system also incentivises you to replay missions.

They give medals like rankings. At the end of every mission, you are graded on your performance through variables such as enemies defeated, clear time and overall accuracy. This mechanic keeps you playing as you strive for that gold medal.

The game's graphics hold up pretty well, despite the game's age. Sure, it may not have the features that you would normally expect from a modern PC game like dynamic lighting, anti-aliasing, or even HD resolution support, it still does look pretty gorgeous. Even for N64 standards.

In summary, Star Wars Rogue Squadron is a timeless classic in its own right. The story is engaging, and the combat is very smooth, even for N64 standards.

Due to the game's age, it doesn't require lots of horsepower in your  PC to play it, hell, even a laptop can run this game, and is currently under £10 on Steam.

So, if you are a Star Wars fan, and are looking for a low-spec, cheap 3-D arcade-style action game to play on the run to the Christmas period, this game could be an excellent choice.

OVERALL SCORE 95%