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: Rogue Squadron (series)
"Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader" was released as launch game in 2001 for the Nintendo GameCube. Developed by Factor 5 and published by LucasArts, "Rogue Leader" expanded on the original game with improved graphics and a new tactics menu that allows the player to form up their squadron or set a target for their squadron such as laser turrets or enemy TIE fighters. The game also expanded on the unlockable levels of the original--"Beggars Canyon" is included in the tutorial, the opening level "Battle of Yavin" was included in both games, and "Battle of Hoth" was made more authentic with the GameCube's advanced power.