There was a strong argument to be made that Star Wars: Squadrons should take a place in this list, given it's dead to rights the most immersive starfighter experience you could hope to find - particularly if you have VR.
But come on, there was only ever going to be one starfighter title in the top tier of Star Wars games, and that's Factor5's Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader.
An improvement over the original and still superior to the misjudged Rebel Strike, Rogue Leader let players take control of a myriad of iconic Star Wars starfighters as either Luke Skywalker or cult favourite Wedge Antilles, commanding the rest of Rogue Squadron as they partake in all the famous battles of the Original Trilogy (plus some extras).
It's an arcade flight game with a lot of heart and some great features, and while it may not be able to match Squadrons in terms of gameplay depth or authenticity, it's still the definitive starfighter experience on consoles.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
