Vimm's Lair: SNES Reviews - Bahamut Lagoon
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Bahamut Lagoon

Graphics:
Sound:
Gameplay:
Overall:		 8.59
8.50
8.64
8.69
Votes: 78
Reviews: 3


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Reviewer: Chombie Date: Dec 27, 2007
Genre: Strategy/RPG

First off, this game was not sold in the US. This is makes for one of the best hard to find game out there.

Graphics: 10
As far as SNES games go, I am going as far as to say this has the best graphics for any game. The characters are well done, although nothing to special. Likewise with the battlefield sprites. However, the in-battle sprites are incredible. Your own dragons are beautifully done. Even better are the enemy animations. More then once I sacrificed a character just to watch the Chimera's Bite.

Sound: 9
I never really enjoy soundtracks for game, but this surprised me, Not annoying and ambient.
The spell effects sound just like every other RPG, but when I say this I mean it in a comforting way, know that fire will always sound like "Fwoosh".

Gameplay: 9
This game is a Strategy/RPG game so it plays different then either one alone. You have several parties on a field, each having 4 people and corresponding to a dragon. You control the groups casting spells and RPG type battles. The dragons are not so easily controlled. There are 3 commands: GO(makes the dragon go and attack), COME(attacks enemies near its owner party), and WAIT(makes your dragon avoid conflict and heal itself). This is just the battles.

Feeding:
The strength of your dragon depends on what you feed it. They can be fed any item you have. Magic items raise magic stats, weapons raise attack, armor raises defense and so on. Dragons CAN evolve depending on what was fed to them.

Did I mention interactive environments, lightning-struck mountains anyone?

Overall: 10
I recommend this to any RPG gamer or amateur spriter. Everyone else should at least try this game. Too bad it was not released in the States, there would be a second one by now.

I intend to review every game on this site, and this is my first, so cheers.

 

Reviewer: PDaddy Date: Jul 12, 2004
The game Bahamut Lagoon is one of the best RPG games for the SNES. The graphics, gameplay, and music are all completely awesome. This is no normal RPG for you have to comand an army against the forces of another country and another dimension. With the help of your forces of good and the dragons you will come across in your journey.

Graphics: 10
The graphics are amazing. The graphics for the dragons are amazing. They are very detailed and when the dragon changes due to the food you give it the new form will be even cooler then the last. The overview scenes used for moving your forces is kind of cheesy, but the battle sequences are finely detailed.

Sound: 10
Sound is amazing for you can close your eyes and just listen and it won't be anayoning after awhile. The music in this game is probably one of the best that is one a SNES game around.

Gameplay: 10
The gameplay is great. Even though it is hard to get experience and money first off. That challenge brings in a new effect into the game for you have to really try your best to survive. As time goes on sidequests open up which can be used to gain experience and money. The fighting can cause water to freeze, mountains crumble, buildings collapse, and forests burn. These are just some effects that you have to deal with in this game besides the enemies.

Overall: 10
The game is just awesome to play. The unfortunate thing is that it was never releashed in the U.S. Which is a same for I believe this game could have had an outstanding following to it. This is why I gave this game a straight 10.

 

Reviewer: ArchDuke Date: Jun 22, 2002
Bahamut Lagoon is a marvelously detailed Strategy RPG. Like most of the really good games for the SNES, it was never released in the US, and the only option is a translation.

You have direct controll over up to six parties of four characters, and each party has a dragon assigned to follow it. Dragons themselves have their own AI, which is effected by how you raise them.

Graphics: 10
The graphics are good, although some of the map sprites are cheezy. But what really got me was the sheer attention to detail in terrain effects!

In most strategy games, battles can rage enlessly and the land under them is unchanged. But in Bahamut Lagoon, you can light forests ablaze, freeze rivers, destroy buildings, and even grind mountains to dust.

Sound: 9
The music sounds good, although a lot of times, it doesn't seem to fit the mood (mostly between missions).

Gameplay: 10
The game itself progresses in linear missions, with most of the storyline and management taking place in between.

Between missions, you have to equip your forces (which get to be fairly large) and feed your dragons. Depending on what and how much you feed your dragons, they change into various forms as they become stronger, and it also effects how they act (feeding them weapons will make them attack the enemy head-on, feeding them armor will make them attack from a distance, feeding them books will make them smarter in avoiding terrain hazards).

Money and experience is not easy to come by, as it is in most traditional RPGs, so this process can be time consuming. As you progress through missions, you begin to gain access to sidequests, which are basically bonus missions. These are vital to get enough experience and money to fund your army.

In battles, your parties and dragons can move around. You can attack enemies from a distance with magic, or engage them in Final Fantasy-style battles. Such battles will only last one round, so it can take several turns to take down a powerful enemy.

Terrain in battles is spectacular. There are towns, towers, and fortresses that heal units inside them. Much terrain can be modified by magic - Ice magic freezes water, lightning destroys structures, and can even destroy mountains, and fire can light forests ablaze. Terrain hazards like fires and collapsed bridges make for amazing stragegic opportunities.

Overall: 10
Bahamut Lagoon captures the feel of war a lot better than most other RPGs who's plot centers around a war. Most maps have key locations that you should either capture or destroy, and there is a lot of jockying for good position with the enemy, and you have to deal with the fury of nature as much as your enemies.

The storyline isn't quite what you'd expect from Square usually. It isn't as deep and twisting as, say, Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy III, and most of it comes in bursts between missions. However, it is still a good storyline.

Most of the characters are poorly developed, but this is actually a benefit in this game rather than a hinderance, as it is in traditional RPGs. It lends itself to the feeling that they are troops under your command, rather than equals.

Bahamut Lagoon is a great change from the pig-pile-on-the-enemy-base of traditional strategy games, and a departure from the norm of its RPG contemporaries. I personally consider it the best game in the Strategy RPG genre.