Homebrew developer Frogbull – the same person who got Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy running on the Saturn – has announced that he is making a new Star Wars game for the Dreamcast, entitled Star Wars: Dream Of The Rebellion.
Inspired by the excellent Rogue Squadron series by Factor 5, Dream Of The Rebellion puts you in the cockpit of the iconic X-Wing fighter and tasks you with taking down waves of TIE fighters to restore peace to the galaxy.
Frogbull explains that the project came about thanks to the connection between Sega and Star Wars, which was sadly under-exploited on Dreamcast:
Sega crafted fantastic Star Wars arcade gems at the end of the '90s, such as Star Wars Trilogy: Arcade and (my personal favourite) Star Wars: Racer Arcade. Sadly, these games never made their way to the Dreamcast, and we were left with only three Star Wars titles on Sega's 128-bit console: Jedi Power Battles, Demolition, and the excellent Episode I: Racer. Surprisingly, none of these Dreamcast games allowed players to take control of an X-Wing, a missed opportunity given the console's capabilities.
The release of Rogue Squadron on the N64 around the same time struck Frogbull as a missed opportunity; it was also released on PC, and he would have dearly loved to see it on the Dreamcast. Alas, it wasn't to be, so over 20 years later, he's righting that wrong with his own project.
Frogbull explains how he has pulled the project together on his Patreon account:
I've utilized 3D models from different Star Wars games to recreate iconic vehicles and environments. For the X-Wing, TIE Fighter, and Star Destroyer models I ripped them from the masterpiece developed by Pandemic Studios: Star Wars: Battlefront. Additionally, I ripped the Mission Control and Hangar Bay HF-201 from the good old Star Wars Rogue Squadron with the modified GLideN64 plugin made by Luctaris that allows for scene ripping from N64 games.
To "add an extra layer of authenticity", Frogbull has used AI technology for both the radio messages and the voice of C-3PO. "The immersive soundscape is crafted using music and sounds from classic Star Wars games such as Rogue Squadron, Rogue Leader (ripped by iteachvader, thanks to him!), and X-Wing Alliance."
Our friends over at Sega Guys have gone hands-on with the demo, and you can see the footage below.