Star Wars: Rogue Squadron or Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D is an arcade-style flight action game co-developed by Factor 5 and LucasArts. The first of the Rogue Squadron trilogy, it was published by LucasArts and Nintendo and released for Microsoft Windows and Nintendo 64 in December 1998. The game's story was influenced by the Star Wars: X-wing – Rogue Squadron comics and is set in the fictional Star Wars galaxy, taking place primarily between events in the films Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. The player controls Luke Skywalker, commander of the elite X-wing pilots known as Rogue Squadron. As the game progresses, Skywalker and Rogue Squadron fight the Galactic Empire in 16 missions across various planets.

Gameplay is presented from the third-person perspective, although the player can switch to first person if they prefer. The game's objectives are divided into four categories: search and destroy, reconnaissance, rescue, and protect. The player can control up to five standard craft, with an additional two unlockable bonus craft on PC version, and three on 64 version. Each offers a unique armament arrangement, as well as varying degrees of speed and maneuverability. Bonus power-ups that improve these craft's weapons or durability are hidden in different levels throughout the game. After each level, the player's performance is checked against three medal benchmarks. Acquiring these medals promotes the player's rank and helps unlock hidden content.

Rogue Squadron's focus on flight combat was directly inspired by a level in Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire that allowed the player to pilot a snowspeeder. Working together during development, Factor 5 designed the game engine, the music, and worked closely with Nintendo, while LucasArts produced the game's story and gameplay and ensured it was faithful to Star Wars canon. Before the game's release, Factor 5 appealed to Nintendo to commercially release the Nintendo 64's newly developed memory Expansion Pak. Consequently, Rogue Squadron was one of the first games to take advantage of the Expansion Pak, which allows gameplay at a higher display resolution.

Upon release, critics praised the game's technical achievements and flight controls, but its use of distance fog and the lack of a multiplayer mode drew criticism. The game's sales exceeded expectations; by August 1999, more than one million copies had been sold worldwide. It spawned two sequels developed and released for the GameCube—Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader and Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike—as well as Star Wars Episode I: Battle for Naboo, a spiritual successor released for Windows and Nintendo 64.

Unlike the Star Wars: X-Wing series that emphasizes space combat simulation, Rogue Squadron is a fast-paced, arcade-style flight action game. Each of the game's 16 levels introduces mission objectives that must be completed to progress to the next level. These objectives are divided into four categories: search and destroy, reconnaissance, rescue, and protect. Enemy aircraft are primarily composed of TIE fighters, TIE Bombers and TIE Interceptors. Ground defenses are more varied and include three different walkers, laser and missile turrets, tanks, probe droids, shuttles, stormtroopers, and speeder bikes.

Gameplay is presented from the third-person perspective; a view from a craft's cockpit is available. The heads-up display features a health meter, a radar, and an ammunition count for secondary weapons. The player can control five craft: X-wing, A-wing, Y-wing, snowspeeder and V-wing. Each vehicle offers a unique armament arrangement, as well as varying degrees of speed and maneuverability. The game initially restricts the player to a particular craft for each level; however, after a level is completed, it can be replayed with any available craft. Levels set on non-atmospheric moons expose the player's craft to space; thus disallowing the speeder and V-wing (which are repulsorcraft) from being used; but as on other levels, the craft is vertically confined. Nine bonus power-ups are hidden in different levels throughout the game. These bonuses improve a craft's weapons or durability and are applied to each eligible craft for the remainder of the game.

The player's performance is measured throughout the game, and performance statistics are checked after each level against three medal benchmarks. Each benchmark contains five categories: completion time, number of enemies destroyed, shot accuracy, number of friendly craft and structures saved, and number of bonuses collected. If a player's performance exceeds one of the level's three benchmarks in all five categories, a medal—bronze, silver, or gold—is awarded on completion. Acquiring these medals promotes the player's rank and helps unlock hidden content.

Rogue Squadron includes many unlockable secrets. The player can unlock three bonus levels: "Beggar's Canyon", "The Death Star Trench Run", and "The Battle of Hoth". These levels are made available when the player obtains all bronze, silver, or gold medals, respectively, on each level. Alternatively, they can be unlocked via passcode. Unlike the game's primary levels, the bonus levels are adaptations of events from the Star Wars films. "Beggar's Canyon" allows the player to reenact the race mentioned in A New Hope, while "The Death Star Trench Run" allows the player to execute an alternate version of the film's climactic battle. In the "Battle of Hoth" bonus level, the player can join the Rebel Alliance's combat against Imperial troops, as depicted in The Empire Strikes Back.