I have to wonder if Battle for Naboo would've been an official Rogue Squadron entry if that series had been established as a series at the time. I suppose the absence of the titular squadron might have been a disqualifying factor but that's the kind of thing only Wookiepedia editors would quibble over. Everything else is there: mission structure, menus and HUD, medal system and corresponding unlockables, surprisingly high quality audio for the N64, cheeky passcodes, and most importantly, the Buick.
Perhaps because the setting is locked to one planet, Battle for Naboo opts for more ground-based missions and vehicles than its predecessor, but it also notably features two entirely space-based missions where you strike an orbitting installation, something conspicuously absent from the first Rogue Squadron. There's even a (very cool) boat mission! This variety in setting helped the missions themselves feel much more varied. You're still regularly protecting civilians and buildings on a timer of course, but I think many of the level maps were a bit larger with more breathing room between objectives. Hidden upgrades were also more cleverly hidden: one is a gift from a grateful civilian you can rescue, and another awaits you behind a large but oddly purposeless volcano way out in the middle of nowhere. Apparently the volcano is the trademark easter egg of one of the level designers? Or it could just be a reference to Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Anyway, while I enjoyed the missions more, at the same time I felt like the vehicle variety was oddly lacking. I think this is mostly because the Police Cruiser and Flash Speeder, your primary vehicles for air and ground missions, both get entirely replaced partway through the game by the Naboo Starfighter and the Gian Speeder, which are pure upgrades in almost every way. While this lends itself narratively to your resistance group growing stronger over the course of the game, I think I prefer the more balanced ship selection in the main Rogue Squadron games, where being able to choose your vehicle when replaying a level has a bit more weight to it. Also I was mistaken, the dreaded missile turrets do return from the first game, but they are far less aggressive and annoying this time around.
Unlike the original Rogue Squadron, I did have Battle for Naboo as a kid and played it quite a bit. I think I managed to get at least a silver medal on every mission? Oh that reminds me of a little tweak the developers made to the medal requirements. In both games you can enter a cheat code to get infinite lives, so in Rogue Squadron you can kinda cheese some missions by deliberately crashing to refill your limited secondary weapons. But starting with Battle for Naboo they made Lives Lost a medal criterion, so you can still use the code if you're struggling just to finish a level but you won't qualify for any medals if you lose more lives than you're supposed to have. Okay back to my childhood. Confession time: ...I like Episode I. I really dig the architecture and construct designs, the evil battle droids are so cute and the Naboo and Gungan ships all look so cool. So even though I had Shadows of the Empire and Battle for Naboo as a kid, I played the latter a lot more, and I think that might be why I was kinda bufuddled by Rogue Squadron when I rented it but was more willing to learn Battle for Naboo. Or maybe I was just older and better at video games, who knows.
Game Number: 145
Year Played: 2024 (replay)
Platform: N64 (emulated)