Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
Many reviews compared "Star Wars: Rogue Squadron" to one of its inspirations, the Battle of Hoth flight combat level in "Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire", considered one of that game's best elements. "GamePro" remarked that "Rogue Squadron" "enhanced the flight model with true pitch, roll, and bank mechanics". IGN praised its inclusion of "upgrades, more enemies, better sound, and stunning second-generation graphics". The Nintendo 64 version received mostly positive reviews, and received an aggregate score of 85 percent from both GameRankings and Metacritic. "GamePro" named it one of the best games released in 1998. In a 2008 retrospective, IGN's Levi Buchanan stated that the game revived the "Star Wars" license on consoles through well-paced gameplay, a story tied into the "Star Wars" canon and visuals that made it "one of the generation's top stunners".
Star Wars Arcade
"Electronic Gaming Monthly" scored the 32X version at 6.25/10, describing it as a decent but disappointing launch title for the console. They cited excellent graphics but repetitive gameplay and complained about the limited movement. "GamePro" similarly assessed that the game is a decent demonstration of the 32X's graphical capabilities but suffers from repetitive gameplay. They also criticized that the controls are convoluted when using a standard three-button gamepad and that in cooperative mode the second player's cursor is difficult to see against certain backgrounds. "Next Generation" rated the 32X version of the game at three stars out of five, calling it "An excellent translation of a good game, and a good hint of what to expect from 32X."