Do a barrel roll?
Rogue Flight is a breathtaking arcade space combat game inspired by the landmark style of 80’s and 90’s prestige anime. Traverse the Sol system and join a flight force voiced by a veteran cast, featuring Japanese talent from Sailor Moon, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gundam, Naruto & One Piece, and English voice talent featured in Overwatch and Fallout 76, League of Legends and Marvel’s Avengers. Jump into true stylish arcade action with a huge host of spacecraft upgrades, game modes and multiple narrative paths.
Rogue Flight takes its inspiration from old-school anime in its design, cutscenes and overall theme but the gameplay itself is inspired by the likes of StarFox and other on-rails arcade shooters. Your ship can do all the typical things like locking on missiles, blasting lasers and of course, doing a barrel roll. Each stage has a boss at the end as you would expect and they aren’t pushovers either, so be wary as what I’d recommend.
That being said, you can pick your difficulty depending on how confident you are. There is a New Game+ option that unlocks once you beat the story and a permadeath mode if you are either after the Platinum, or just a glutton for punishment. The game makes good use of the DualSense’s haptic feedback when you are shooting, while the controls feel smooth overall. The campaign may be a bit short overall, but because you can take multiple paths, you will want to replay it to see them all.
The story is pretty good too, even if it isn’t the most original. The visuals are inspired by old-school space combat games, but does it in a flattering way. I was impressed with the framerate and soundtrack, while voice-acting was better than I was expecting.
The Verdict
While it’s not the most original space blaster out there in terms of story or gameplay, it does provide a classic arcade experience that holds it own against its competitors. With multiple paths and other modes to play through, it’s a worthwhile addition to any anime or space combat fans.