Star Wars : Rogue Squadron II : Rogue Leader Star Wars : Rogue Squadron II : Rogue Leader is a video game released in 2001 exclusively for the GameCube . Developed by Factor 5 and published by LucasArts , " Rogue Leader " was the first sequel to " " . Gameplay . " Rogue Leader " expanded on the 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 — " Beggar ' s Canyon " is included in the tutorial , the opening level " Battle of Yavin " was included in both games ( " Rogue Squadron " called the level " Death Star Trench Run " ) , and " Battle of Hoth " was made more authentic with the GameCube ' s advanced power . The other major battle in the original movie trilogy , " The Battle of Endor " , was arguably the biggest and most challenging scenario in the entire game . Plot summary . Early in the Galactic Civil War , Red Squadron , led by Luke Skywalker , becomes Rogue Squadron and participates in many of the most influential battles of the war . Skywalker flies as Red Five in his first battle of the fledgling Rebellion against the Galactic Empire , the Battle of Yavin , which leads to the destruction of the Death Star I . The Rebellion grew following this victory , as did Imperial retaliation . Red Squadron was escorting a convoy from Yavin 4 to Hoth , and was ambushed by imperial forces . After Skywalker is shot down during the Battle of Hoth , command of Red Squadron switched to Wedge Antilles . After the Battle of Hoth , Antilles took part in an investigation team in The Maw , to scout out an Imperial asteroid base ; where he and the rest of Rogue Squadron freed prisoners taken on Hoth . Bothan spies beamed the plans and the location of the Death Star II to the corvette " Razor " , which was captured by an Imperial Star Destroyer . The Rogues disabled the Star Destroyer and sent it crashing into the planet Kothlis where the Rogues provided support to a commando team moving into the burning hull of the cruiser after its destruction to retrieve the data . As the Rebellion prepared over Sullust for its operation against the Death Star II , Antilles led a strike team to capture tibanna gas for the Rebel fleet at Bespin , then moved to the climatic Battle of Endor against the Death Star . Development . When Factor 5 received early GameCube prototype hardware in the mid - 2000 , the development team then working on " " decided they next wanted to create a direct sequel to Factor 5 ' s most successful game to date — " Star Wars : Rogue Squadron " . With LucasArts ' approval , the team immediately began developing a tech demo to exhibit at Space World , a Nintendo - hosted trade show . In 19 days , Factor 5 produced an introductory cutscene that emulated a scene from Star Wars and a playable demo , which then premiered alongside Nintendo ' s GameCube hardware at the show . According to GameSpot , the cutscene " wowed audiences " , and IGN described the demo as " drop - dead gorgeous " . As with Rogue Squadron and Battle for Naboo , " Rogue Leader " was again co - developed by Factor 5 and LucasArts , however the bulk of the game ' s development was done by Factor 5 . Unlike past co - development efforts , the bulk of the level design , which was traditionally handled by LucasArts , was created by Factor 5 in addition to the game ' s engineering and programming . Factor 5 ' s in - house development team consisted of 25 members plus two freelance employees . One level designer as well as the game ' s lead artist were employed by LucasArts . Development of the game ' s art started that same year . In anticipation of the project , modelers immediately began building high - polygon models of the playable craft using Maya and in - house tools , and usable art was pulled from the archives . In late December , 2000 , mission designers met with director Julian Eggebrecht and producer Brett Tosti to start planning the game engine . The team eventually completed " Battle for Naboo " , and full - time development of Rogue Leader began in February 2001 . Draw distance , much improved over the first " Rogue Squadron " and " Battle for Naboo " , was drawn out as far as possible . A small amount of haze was deliberately added to create a sense of distance , but not to actually hide the drawing . The game also has three levels of detail ; the closer the player comes to objects , the more detailed they become . By utilizing the GameCube ' s Graphics processing unit ' s TEV pipeline , Factor 5 was able to create the shader needed to produce the visual effect employed by the game ' s targeting computer . The developers tried to make the game as close to the movies as possible , studying Industrial Light & Magic ' s special effects , using some of the same sound effects , music and voice acting from the films . The original actor , Denis Lawson , was also hired to record new lines for Wedge Antilles . With the development of the open - source Dolphin emulator , several HD texture packs were made . Reception . " Rogue Leader " was among the highest rated GameCube launch titles , and praised for its gameplay and graphics . " Rogue Leader " won the E3 2001 Game Critics Award for Best Action Game . In addition for being supplied with three " " issues ( 149 - 151 ) , " Rogue Leader " also won an overall rank of 5 stars in " Nintendo Power " Volume 150 ' s Now Playing section . Sales . " Rogue Leader " was the 7th - best - selling video game on the Nintendo Gamecube in November 2001 , the title ' s debut month . These sale figures made the game the best - selling third - party and second - best - selling overall GameCube game during the console ' s launch . LucasArts stated that the title had sold faster than any of its previously published games at the time . When both the game and console were launched in the United Kingdom over six months later , the title entered the charts at number one , making it the first ever third - party game to hit the top spot during a console ' s launch . In May 2003 , Nintendo added Rogue Leader to its best - selling Player ' s Choice collection . Rogue Leader sold over 873 , 000 copies in the United States , and over 100 , 000 in the UK .