its sequel, Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, was released two years later, however, all of Rogue Leaders missions were included in the game only as a two-player cooperative mode. These co-op Rogue Leader levels underwent several changes from the originals. Graphically, Rebel Strikes new, more detailed landscape engine was utilized for any levels set in a planet's atmosphere. The new engine better simulates how light scatters in an atmosphere and allowed for more particle effects. Game models also feature more polygons. Additionally, in the original Rogue Leader, Factor 5 used a simple texture to simulate water. In the Rebel Strike release, water physics were simulated in real-time in conjunction with complex shaders. The gameplay was also reworked in almost all of the missions to better suit co-op, and the difficulty was increased to account for the second player. Reception The game was met with critical acclaim, as GameRankings gave it a score of 90.04%, while the Metacritic score was 90 out of 100. David Trammell of Nintendo World Report gave it nine out of ten and called it "a visual and aural masterpiece. The game has all the bells and whistles you'd expect from a next-generation game including bump mapping and 480p support on the visual end, and five channel surround sound via Dolby Pro Logic II on the aural end." Marc Saltzman of Playboy gave it a score of 90% and stated that, "The combined package of beautiful graphics, intense action (including force-feedback rumble support in the controller!) and familiar Star Wars ditties all work together to create an immersive, outstanding experience from beginning to end." In The Cincinnati Enquirer, he gave the game four stars out of five and stated that, "If there was ever a reason to purchase this compact new console, this is it... [but] there's no multiplayer mode. It would have been fun to fly alongside or against another player in some of the missions." Alex Porter of Maxim gave it a similar score of eight out of ten and said: "More than a Jedi mind trick to make you buy Nintendo's new whiz-bang console, this is the closest a video game has come to recreating a Star Wars movie." Rogue Leader was among the highest rated GameCube launch titles, and praised for its gameplay and graphics. Official Nintendo Magazine ranked it the 100th best game available on Nintendo platforms. The staff called