Rebel Strike is a great game when it sticks to what it knows.
The game improves upon its predecessor in a number of ways. First of all, there are many more missions, including two different story arcs; one follows Luke Skywalker and is a mix of flying and on-foot missions, and one follows Wedge Antilles and is primary composed of flying missions, although there are a few on foot. There are also many more unlockable missions, including interesting scenes from the original Star Wars trilogy that you wouldn't think of having in this sort of game, like escaping Cloud City and saving Princess Leia from the first Death Star. There are a few subtle improvements in the gameplay, such as the fact that now when you're using your targeting computer, friendlies appear in green, and that now many more units can appear on the screen at once, making for much bigger battles. There are also a ton of unlockables in the game, such as more ships, a documentary, and even old Star Wars arcades from the '80s.
The flying missions are as good as ever and right on par with other installments in the Rogue Squadron series. Since most of the big space battles were done in Rogue Leader, Rebel Strike has to rely on mostly made-up missions. They're very well designed, but sometimes lack the iconic feel of the scenes from the movies. However, there are some notable exceptions, such as playing as Luke on the ground during the Battle of Hoth and playing as Han Solo during the battles on Endor.
With all this said though, it shows where the game has its strong points.
The flying missions are as strong as ever for the Rogue Squadron series, but the on-foot portions are somewhat less satisfying. The auto-aim feature seems to make it far too easy, and is overall much less engaging than the intense, epic air and space battles. In addition, the final mission of the game (blowing up the second Death Star's shield generator) is quite easy and not nearly as memorable as Rogue Leader's final mission, actually destroying the second Death Star.
An extensive 2-player mode is included, a first for the Rogue Squadron series. There are a number of versus modes, which are fun for short bursts of arcadey action. However, the strongest part in the entire game isn't even Rebel Strike. The game includes Rogue Leader in its entirety in a 2-player co-op mode. The number of baddies in each mission has increased from the original game to even out the fact that you're controlling two people instead of one, which makes for a tough, rewarding experience which requires tons of teamwork.
Overall, Rebel Strike is a good game, but I can't help but wish the on-foot missions would have been scrapped in favor of more of those delicious flying missions. But if you're a Rogue Squadron and/or Star Wars fan, this game is a must-buy.