[floatleft]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/rebelstrike/cover.jpg[/floatleft]The first Rogue Squadron, released during the N64’s heyday, garnished a plethora of high reviews, as not only was it well made, but in a genre of half-assed attempts and poorly conceived gameplay, Rogue Squadron was like a shining beacon of hope for the much-vaunted Star Wars license.

Fast forward to the GCN’s debut, coinciding with the release of Rogue Leader. Much like its predecessor, Rogue Leader pushed Nintendo’s hardware like no game at the time, and even added new vehicles and film clips from classic Star Wars moments. Not choosing to wait to leap to next generation hardware again, Factor 5 debut’s its latest Star Wars game in its Rogue Squadron series, Rebel Strike.

Like Rogue Leader, Rebel Strike brings over the branching paths you can take to progress through the game. The two characters you will play as, Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles, each have their own route through the game. In general, Luke’s campaign comes across as land vehicle heavy, while in Wedge’s campaign you dogfight more using the X-Wing etc. This is a nice change from past Rogue Leader’s where you were mainly forced to only fly spacecraft, and if you became stuck on a level, tough. Thankfully, this branching pathway mechanic allows you to alternate campaigns at any time if you happen to get stuck or just want a refreshing change in scenery.

Rebel Strike’s story picks up right after the Death Star is destroyed. Imperial convoys and a massive air sortie impend upon Yavin-4 to strike back, and it’s your duty to show them just how much the TIE fighter sucks. From here, the story takes the usual backseat to the action, relying on the tried-and-true Star Wars clichA