I had the N64 version of this and loved the feel of the aerial combat, especially the ability to loop-de-loop to get behind an enemy on your tail. I finally bought the GOG download despite the warning from GOG that it would not work on my Debian GNU/Linux machine. Given that several of the reviews here say the game is garbage in Windows 10 and requires workarounds, I didn't have high hopes for an unsupported platform like Debian. Fortunately, my worries were mistaken. I downloaded it directly — instead of through Galaxy — and ran it under WINE 4.12 on Debian 10: it's perfect as far as I can tell. My bluetooth playstation gamepad was even detected and works properly (with rumble!). Other than mapping the controller buttons where I wanted them, there was no extra setup or configuration needed. There were some spurious warnings during the install, but they can be safely ignored. The game seems about the same as I remember it, although the 3-D models haven't held up so well in the decades since this was released. It would be nice if the GOG version had newer models with subdivided surfaces and higher resolution textures, but I'm satisfied with it. Quirks: some ships that should require unlocking are available from the start, such as the Naboo Starfighter. I feel like this wasn't a good choice as it makes some of the earlier levels too easy. Also, one time I accidentally got the game into red-blue stereovision mode somehow. I remember there was a cheat code for the N64 that did that, but it happened when I used alt-tab to switch to a program on my other monitor and then switched back. I tried to reproduce it, but couldn't. Would I recommend this game despite its age and low-polygon models? In truth, what I love about this game is the way it *feels* when I'm playing it: I zoom and swoop through the air just as I do every night in my sleep. It feels both completely natural and exhilarating. So, yes, if you ever dreamt of flying, you should try Rogue Squadron.
I bought this game from GOG just because I wanted to support awesome 2-D animation. I didn't think it'd actually work on my machine (Debian 9 GNU/Linux), but it works great without having to install any proprietary drivers or anything. Just `apt install wine-development` and you'll be slaughtering vegetables in no time!
Many people have already raved about how great these games are, so I'll hold off on that and instead mention that they work fabulously in GNU/Linux. Although WINE works to run these program in GNU/Linux, these are actually DOS programs, so there's no need to emulate Microsoft Windows. I have an older machine and when I ran them in WINE, the framerate was too slow, however they run perfectly using dosbox. Unfortunately, GOG currently only offers the install file as a Microsoft Windows executable, so you'll need WINE just to extract the files. However, once you have the files, you can just cd to the appropriate directory and type: $ dosbox -conf EWJ1.conf to run them. If you prefer to launch your games using a GUI, you can easily make an icon on your desktop that will run dosbox for you. Here's an example of the file named "EWJ1.desktop" on my computer: [Desktop Entry] Name=Earthworm Jim 1 Comment=A fabulous platformer from GOG.com (runs in dosbox) Exec=dosbox -conf EWJ1.conf Type=Application Path=/home/hackerb9/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/GOG.com/Earthworm Jim 1 and 2/Earthworm Jim/ Icon=/home/hackerb9/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/GOG.com/Earthworm Jim 1 and 2/Earthworm Jim/EWJ1.ICO Categories=Game;ArcadeGame; (This is my first review, so I hope GOG doesn't mangle the formatting of that too much... there's no preview button.)
