History YMMV / RogueSquadron

* FriendlyFandoms: The series has quite a bit of appreciation from ''VideoGame/StarFox'' fans, as both series contain some of the most well-received flight shooters of all time.

** For a game that was released in '''2001''' and as a Platform/NintendoGameCube launch title, ''Rogue Leader'''s visuals hold up very well to this day.

** For a game that was released in '''2001''' and as a UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube launch title, ''Rogue Leader'''s visuals hold up very well to this day.

* EvenBetterSequel: ''Rogue Squadron'' was an amazing game ([[SeinfeldIsUnfunny for its time]]), but ''Rogue Leader'' improved upon it in almost every way and is, to this day, probably the best ''Franchise/StarWars''-themed flight game ever made.

* UnderusedGameMechanic: The first game had a button dedicated to changing the firing mode of your ship's blasters, letting you choose to fire one at a time, two at a time if you were in a ship with four blasters like the X-Wing, or all at once. Few players used this since it didn't improve damager-per-second that much and the slower firing rate punished missed shots. The later games made laser linking automatic, rewarding the player for pausing between shots instead of [[ButtonMashing just holding down A]].

* DisappointingLastLevel: Battle of Hoth in the first game is a decidedly underwhelming bonus level that not only barely represents the iconic scene its based on, but is also a very short, basic and relatively easy level (unless you're aiming to get a Gold Medal on it) compared to the downright brutal levels you had to get a Gold on to unlock it in the first place.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: ''Battle for Naboo'' fixes up the anticlimactic nature of the titular battle by having you take out key targets on the Droid Control Ship so that it doesn't look like the battle was won single-handedly by some kid with dumb luck.

** The World Devastators in the "Battle of Calamari" are this. Let's just say that taking them down is a LOT easier than how they were depicted as being taken down in the original source material of ''ComicBook/DarkEmpire''.
** Moff Seerdon, the arc villain the original game, faces off against you in the tough Thyferra level in a shuttle. While he's got more armaments than most Imperial ships (being one of the only flying enemies with seeker missiles), he's still a ''[[JokeCharacter shuttle]]'': a huge target that can easily be shot down with a few of your own seeker missiles or torpedoes. His laser cannons are a joke and even his seeker missiles have little chance of hitting you.

*** The heroic [[https://youtu.be/maZWYBCKgIg main theme]], which got [[https://youtu.be/WVbfd_RGCDs increasingly]] [[https://youtu.be/ZLFjl0GOLpI bombastic]] with each game. It's one of the most recognizable pieces of non-Williams ''Star Wars'' music for a reason.

* RetroactiveRecognition: An oddly in-universe case. Dak Rakler's voice actor is better known to Franchise/StarWarsLegends fans as[[VideoGame/StarWarsRepublicCommando Scorch]] or [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Carth]]

* CriticalResearchFailure: The opening of the ''Rebel Strike'' mission "Attack on the ''Executor''", has you escorting ''Home One'' past three Star Destroyers. Except the ship isn't ''Home One'', its ''Liberty''. Not only was the ''Liberty'' destroyed by this point in the battle, the two ships don't look anything alike. What makes this particularly bad is that ''Rogue Leader'' got it right.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: ''Battle for Naboo'' fixes up the anticlimactic nature of the titular battle by having you take out key targets on the Droid Control Ship so that it doesn't look like the battle was won single-handedly by some kid with dumb luck. Sadly this was retconned along with the rest of now-''Legends'' material when Disney bought out the ''Star Wars'' franchise.

* SixthRanger: Kasan Moor after her defection.

** In ''Rogue Leader'', if you fail at any point in [[https://youtu.be/c0wGKsJDCVM "Death Star Attack"]], you'll see Yavin IV explode. While lifting the explosion wholesale from the Alderaan explosion is understandable, the screen seems to awkwardly fade from the view of the planet to the explosion footage. Furthermore, the iconic green beam is nowhere to be found; it could be that the laser was fired from behind the planet, but why wouldn't the developers show it?
** Another one from ''Rogue Leader'': Running out of time on [[https://youtu.be/c0wGKsJDCVM "Triumph of the Empire"]] shows the Death Star going kaboom, just like in canon, but it also shows Vader's TIE being blown away by the wreckage. Problem is, it's painfully obvious that Vader's TIE moves in the game's native 60 FPS while the explosion is taken straight out of the 24 FPS source material.
** In the same game, failing [[https://youtu.be/c0wGKsJDCVM "Revenge on Yavin"]] by letting too many Rebel Transports escape shows Vader [[YouHaveFailedMe plugging a blaster shot into one of his wingmen]]. Not only is the bolt a PainfullySlowProjectile, but it freezes in place once the entire trail is shown and Vader's ship flies through it after the poor henchmen is killed.

** If you fail near the end of [[https://youtu.be/c0wGKsJDCVM "Defiance on Dantooine"]], you get a brief cutscene where the Rebel starfighters are destroyed by Imperial gunfire. Sarkli falls over and dies as if he's been hit. But if you pauses just a frame before Sarkli dies, you'll see that the laser clearly hit his ''X-Wing'', not himself.

** In ''Rogue Leader'', if you fail "Death Star Attack" by failing to fire torpedoes into the exhaust port, you see Yavin IV explode. While lifting the explosion wholesale from the Alderaan explosion is understandable, the screen seems to awkwardly fade from the view of the planet to the explosion footage. Furthermore, the iconic green beam is nowhere to be found; it could be that the laser was fired from behind the planet, but why wouldn't the developers show it?
** Another one from ''Rogue Leader'': Running out of time on "Triumph of the Empire" shows the Death Star going kaboom, just like in canon, but it also shows Vader's TIE being blown away by the wreckage. Problem is, it's painfully obvious that Vader's TIE moves in the game's native 60 FPS while the explosion is taken straight out of the 24 FPS source material.
** In the same game, failing "Revenge on Yavin" by letting too many Rebel Transports escape shows Vader [[YouHaveFailedMe plugging a blaster shot into one of his wingmen]]. Not only is the bolt a PainfullySlowProjectile, but it freezes in place once the entire trail is shown and Vader's ship flies through it after the poor henchmen is killed.

** If you fail near the end of "Defiance on Dantooine", you get a brief cutscene where the Rebel starfighters are destroyed by Imperial gunfire. Sarkli falls over and dies as if he's been hit. But if you pauses just a frame before Sarkli dies, you'll see that the laser clearly hit his ''X-Wing'', not himself.

*** And in case that wasn't enough, the game dumps ''two'' Star Destroyers on you at the end, and unlike Razor Rendezvous above, you're probably not using a ship equipped to handle them like the B-wing. Oh, and you can only die three times (unlocking the Naboo starfighter and getting all the Tech Upgrades prior makes it slightly more bearable, but still by no means a cakewalk).[[SarcasmMode Have fun.]]

** In ''Rebel Strike'' [[spoiler:Sarkli]] is the final opponent to fight as you escape from the exploding shield generate bunker in "Triumph of the Rebellion". You can just spam him with blaster bolts, as his shots do next to no damage, and the explosions from the bunker aren't particularly damaging either.
* AuthorsSavingThrow: ''Battle for Naboo'' fixes up the anticlimatic nature of the titular battle by having you take out key targets on the Droid Control Ship so that it doesn't look like the battle was won single-handedly by some kid with dumb luck. Sadly this was retconned along with the rest of now-''Legends'' material when Disney bought out the ''Star Wars'' franchise.

** The Tie-D Fighters in ''Battle for Calimari''. Theyre small, fast, very hard to hit with the V-Wings cannons, and they are ''smart'' and will literally fly circles around you if you don't shoot them down ASAP.

** ''The Queens Gambit'' in ''Battle for Naboo'' starts off easy, but the second half, where you're saddled with the Naboo Bomber, is aggravating, especially on medal runs. The bomber is near useless--it moves slow as molasses, only has six bombs (two of which are needed to take out the MTTs before they reach their destination) and its slow firing laser cannons are pathetic. Did we mention there are lots of turrets and mines scattered arond to distract you as well? Being able to replay the level with the N-1 Fighter doesn't make it much better either, since its whole load of missiles won't take down a single MTT, and your lasers take even longer to chew through them.

** The Battle of Hoth bonus level in the first game is a breeze on its own, but getting a gold medal on it is a pain due to the very tight criteria. You're given just barely enough time to finish the level, so if you flub up even once with taking down the [=AT-ATs=], you may as well just start over. On top of that, the accuracy requirements are unusually high, which can be an extra pain in the neck despite the precense of three huge targets to shoot at due to the aforementioned time requirements.
** When it comes to brutal levels that don't involve the Snowspeeder, nothing matches the sheer insanity that is ''Raid on Sullust''. There are missile turrets ''everywhere'' and they will begin firing on you ''as soon as you start the level''. Even the heavily armored Y-Wing will barely last a few seconds if you dont stay on your toes. And aiming for a gold medal turns it into the hardest level in the entire game. ''Moff Seerdon's Revenge'' is barely any more forgiving due to its extremely open ended structure and low margin for error, especially in regards to medal requirements.

** The "Death Star Attack" level may be a great opening level for ''Rogue Leader'' on a casual playthrough, but a Gold Medal run instantly escalates it into one of the hardest levels in the entire game. Besides having an insanely tight time requirement where you have mere ''seconds'' of error, you have to kill a very high number of targets at the same time (90 enemies total). Theres no way to cheese this mission with another ship either; you're stuck with either the X-Wing or the Y-Wing (which has its Proton Bombs swapped out for proton torpedoes for the occasion).

** ''Rogue Leader's'' "Strike At The Core". '''[[NintendoHard Seriously!]]''' You can fail ''seconds'' after starting the level as a flurry of TIE Fighters and laser turrets rip you and the Millennium Falcon to shreds. After that you have to chase the Falcon and protect it from fighters ''while'' flying through a tight winding tunnel. Missing any TIEs for a few seconds results in an instant fail. You have to do all of this while flying at breakneck speeds because the Falcon slams on the gas the ''entire damn level''! It all culminates with having to race all the way through the tight, turning, winding tunnel ''again'' with an instant death fireball chasing you on the way out. For an added wrinkle: the Falcon can- and will- bump you into a wall and kill you instantly as you flee. For an extra kick in the soul you can replay this mission with the Millennium Falcon, which barely fits in the tunnel you have to race through to begin with.

** In ''Rebel Strike'' "Battlefield Hoth", a few AT-ATs fall over as you run back to base. The problem is that there are very clearly no Snowspeeders tripping them with cables. They just randomly stop walking and fall over.

*** First off, it's a Y-Wing mission, which obviously requires the player to fly the Rebels' slow, lumbering bomber that will most likely get shot down at least once through an astroid field for added "fun". The first half of the mission requires the player to use the ship's ion cannons on three generators powering a forcefield, which gets pretty tedious.

** ''Rebel Strike'' added sonic mines (first seen in Film/AttackOfTheClones) to the game-breaker arsenal. Just shoot a few in random directions, and boom--[[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sonic_mines big blue waves of doom that cut through shields]]. Putting them on the ''Slave 1'' makes a little sense due to the ship's flaws (slow, worthless lasers, and made of paper) but it really goes into broken territory when they're equipped on the fast-and-small Jedi Starfighter.

** The inclusion of the 70's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Itmi2R0ytfI Disco remix]] of the Star Wars theme for the opening of Rebel Strike. It's also used as the theme for the arcade room, so you can [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments make Darth Vader shake to the music in the Death Star hanger.]]

** Moff Seerdon, the arc villain the original game, faces off against you in the tough Thyferra level in a shuttle. While he's got more armaments than most Imperial ships (being one of the only flying enemies with seeker missiles), he's still a ''[[JokeCharacter shuttle]]'': a huge target that can easily be shot down with a few seeker missiles. His laser cannons are a joke and even his own seeker missiles have little chance of hitting you.

*** Try it in multiplayer. Split screen AND the useless Falcon!