Rebel Strike was developed as a sequel to Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader. Rebel Strike added the ability for players to leave their starfighters to participate in ground battles as well as enter and pilot other vehicles during certain missions. The game also has a two-player multiplayer mode allowing co-operative play for all but two missions from Rogue Leader. Since Rebel Strike would be a "second generation game" (as producer Julian Eggebrecht stated in a documentary), the production team felt the need to expand upon the game's predecessor by adding enhanced atmospheric effects, more impressive explosions and the capability of having many more enemies on-screen at once than Rogue Leader could handle, among other improvements.