Star Wars: Rebel Assault (1993). Play Free Online

Summary

Rebel Assault was a groundbreaking CD‑ROM title that let me watch actual Star Wars footage blended with CGI‑rendered battle scenes. It was the first Star Wars game to feature full‑motion video, using digitized movie clips and newly filmed sequences that were woven into the gameplay. Almost all of the visuals were pre‑rendered 3D, which gave the hardware of the time a cinematic reach it could never achieve in real‑time.

The game swaps between three spaceflight perspectives—overhead, third‑person and first‑person—while a single targeting cursor steers my blaster across the screen. In first‑person runs the ship can’t dodge, so I have to blast enemies within a timed window, a mechanic that feels more like a light‑gun arcade. There’s also one on‑foot mission where I slide horizontally through static scenes, and some levels split into branches similar to Panzer Dragoon II, rewarding accuracy and hidden objectives with extra points.

The Sega CD version trims the adventure, omitting the Imperial Probe Droid chapter and renumbering the remaining segments. Its video is softer and the sprite detail drops noticeably compared with the PC and 3DO releases, and the option to play as the female Rookie One disappears altogether.

Storyline

Star Wars: Rebel Assault (often just Rebel Assault) drops you in as Rookie One, a fresh Rebel pilot. After the Rebel forces win their first skirmish, you begin training in a T16 Skyhopper through Beggar's Canyon, learning to dodge asteroids and blast TIE fighters.

The campaign quickly moves to the captured Star Destroyer Devastator, which seized the Tantive IV, and then to the icy tundra of Hoth where you help defend the Rebel base against a fleet of AT‑AT walkers. Commander Jake Farrell, piloting an A‑wing, swoops in to rescue you before the final push.

The climax mirrors the iconic Death Star assault: you take Luke Skywalker's place in a kamikaze trench run that destroys the battle station and Vader’s forces. The game is split into 15 chapters, each offering a brief alternate ending if you run out of lives.

Edited by Maya Carter