Bahamut Lagoon
Bahamut Lagoon | |
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Developer(s) | Square |
Publisher(s) | Square |
Director(s) | Kazushige Nojima |
Producer(s) | Tadashi Nomura |
Writer(s) | Motomu Toriyama |
Composer(s) | Noriko Matsueda |
Platform(s) | Super Famicom |
Release |
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Genre(s) | Tactical role-playing |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Bahamut Lagoon (バハムート ラグーン, Bahamūto Ragūn) is a Japanese tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom and released on February 9, 1996.[1]
Bahamut Lagoon was released on the Virtual Console in Japan on September 29, 2009 for the Wii and on February 5, 2014 for the Wii U.
Gameplay[]
Bahamut Lagoon's gameplay blends 2D RPG grid-based combat with turn based combat.[2] Players have the ability to raise and battle dragons to fight alongside a player's other characters.[3] A player has a squadron of four characters in combat, and players have six different squadron leaders they can choose from.[4] Each squad leader has a dragon which can be evolved into different types by feeding it weapons, armor, accessories, and items.[4] Feeding dragons foods they like will increase their loyalty, and food they don’t like will decrease loyalty, but players can still use foods dragons do not like to make a dragon more powerful.[5] Dragons are not controlled by the player, but are given general guidelines such as “Go!” or “Wait!”.[5]
Plot[]
In the world of Orelus, continents called “lagoons” float in the sky, and war is threatened when the kingdom of Kahna is invaded by the Granbelos Empire.[5] This leads Captain Byuu of the Dragon Squad to fight to repel this invasion, but after the initial victory, Kahna is overrun, and Byuu, the game's silent protagonist, leads a continued campaign against the Granbelos Empire.[5][4] In dialogue, players can choose between earnest and sarcastic responses when speaking as Byuu.[5]
Development[]
The game's development staff included many key members from the Final Fantasy series of video games, including Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi as a supervisor, Kazushige Nojima as director, and Motomu Toriyama as story event planner.
Release[]
Bahamut Lagoon was released in Japan toward the end of the Super Famicom's lifespan. It was released on February 9, 1996.[1] Bahamut Lagoon sold 474,680 copies in Japan in 1996, making it the 17th best selling game of the year.[6] The game was re-released on Nintendo's Virtual Console; on September 29, 2009 for the Wii,[7] and again on February 5, 2014, for the Wii U.[8]
Reception[]
Upon release, four reviewers from Famitsu gave it a score of 29/40.[9]
In a retro review, Hardcore Gaming 101 praised the game highly, calling it a part of Squares “renaissance” in the mid-1990s, with charming characters, a cohesive plot, and details graphics that are “a real treat”.[5] Nintendo Life also called the game a “lost treasure”, and bemoaned that there has never been an official English language localization.[10] Siliconera has noted that an unofficial English fan translation was done years later for the game.[4] 1Up.com called the game one of the top six “must play” titles to import, citing its nuanced story, lush graphics and extensive amounts of gameplay.[11]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b "バハムート ラグーン [スーパーファミコン] / ファミ通.com". www.famitsu.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-25. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
- ^ Siliconera Staff (September 4, 2008). "Is Square Enix working on a Bahamut Lagoon remake?". Siliconera. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
- ^ Bivens, Danny (February 5, 2014). "Japan eShop Round-Up". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Rolando (February 11, 2007). "RPG In Memoriam: Bahamut Lagoon". Siliconera. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Taylor, Brandon (July 28, 2017). "Bahamut Lagoon". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
- ^ "1996 Top 30 Best Selling Japanese Console Games". The-MagicBox.com. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
- ^ Spencer (August 28, 2009). "Bahamut Lagoon Leads September's Virtual Console Lineup". Siliconera.com. Archived from the original on 2009-09-01. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
- ^ "Matters of Import: Bahamut Lagoon Roars Onto The Japanese Wii U eShop - Nintendo Life". nintendolife.com. Archived from the original on 2014-03-27. Retrieved 2014-05-27.
- ^ "バハムート ラグーン [スーパーファミコン] / ファミ通.com". www.famitsu.com. Archived from the original on 2015-11-07. Retrieved 2019-06-03.
- ^ Brunskill, Kerry (February 5, 2014). "Matters of Import: Bahamut Lagoon Roars Onto the Japanese Wii U eShop". Nintendo Life. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
- ^ Mackey, Bob (August 19, 2011). "Six Must-Play Super Nintendo Imports". 1UP. Archived from the original on May 27, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
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External links[]
- 1996 video games
- Fantasy video games
- Japan-exclusive video games
- Single-player video games
- Square (video game company) games
- Super Nintendo Entertainment System games
- Tactical role-playing video games
- Video games about dragons
- Video games developed in Japan
- Video games scored by Noriko Matsueda
- Virtual Console games
- Virtual Console games for Wii U