Bahamut Lagoon

"A Breath of fresh air from Squaresoft!"

Bahamut Lagoon is sqaure RPG game. It was never released in North America, and it is quite a shame, because it is a very good game. Fortunately, through the wonders of emulation, a English translation patch has come out and made the game playable for us English speaking gamers. So, I decided to write up what I felt about this game.

Gameplay: Well, this is a square RPG, and they do tend to play very well! In this game, you have to train dragons, and make them stronger. Before each battle, you have an option to feed your dragons. When you feed them, they gain strength or magical powers. The key to victory in Bahamut Lagoon is training your dragons well. Each dragon should be fed well and kept strong, or you may end up loosing you're battles.

Battle System: The battle system is much like the one in Tactic Ogre. You're characters are combined into partys, and you move them about on a map. Once you get close enough to an enemy, you can attack the enemy party. You can attack head on, in an RPG style battle, or you can attack from far away with a magical attack. The key to winning a battle is what style of attack you use. If you're character is weak, you should attack from afar, or you run the risk of being knocked out.

Visuals: In terms of the SNES, Bahamut Lagoon has some of the greatest visuals on the system. They are comparable to even Final Fantasy 6. Each battle background is nicely animated and the characters are quite detailed. The magic attacks look swell, but can get kind of annoying after seeing them time after time.

Sound: Ahh... The music is superb in Bahamut Lagoon. Would you expect any less from Square? :) You'll definitely be humming the battle tune when you're finished playing, and that is a good thing. As for the sound affects, they are good as well. Whether its the slice of your sword, or the crackle of a lightning attack, Square hits a gold-mine in this category!

Fun Factor: I found this game a little weird at the beginning. I really didn't like the battle system after the first battle, but after giving it more of a chance, I began to enjoy it a lot. If your an RPG fan, or a strategy fan, you'll definitely love this game.

Storyline: The story line is.... ok. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and the story seems a bit complicated. You'll get used to it though, believe me. After about the 5th chapter I began to understand things more clearly and I started to get into the story. Although, the story seems a bit like FF6's.

Replay: I deducted points from Bahamut Lagoon because of this. I didn't feel compelled to play the game after I completed it. Maybe over time, but I really didn't want to rush into a new game directly after I finished. Oh well, you can't have everything, right?

Recommendations: RPG fan? Play this game. Strategy fan? Play this game! Neither of the above? well, I would suggest at least trying this out. It's a very very fun, yet complex game that had me hooked from the beginning. Maybe you'll be the same way!

Overall, I'll give Bahamut Lagoon a 9/10!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/09/02, Updated 06/09/02