Bahamut Lagoon

In keeping with Bamidele's "Old-School Tour", I'd like to take a look back at an old game that most don't know about it's called Bahamut Lagoon by Squaresoft for the Super Famicom System or the Super NES as it's known here in America. This was a game that was made a year after the release of Chrono Trigger was and it's easy to tell because the graphical qualities of both games are quite similar. Bahamut Lagoon was tactical RPG that started out as a basic tale of rebels trying to free thier world from the grasp of an evil empire. It soon evolves into something more than that as the player advances the story and devles deeper into the real causes of evil in the world of Bahamut Lagoon. I really enjoyed this game because it was quite different from some of the Squaresoft games that I had played in the past. Not to say I don't like Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger, but Bahamut Lagoon was just a breath of fresh air. The game featured a turn based system where one could use magic attacks and skills on a grid-based plain. These plains sometimes had obstacles and traps lying around to trip up or help the player. One of the things that I thought was most creative about the game was the ability to freeze parts of a river with ice magic to use as a bridge to cross. Before Bahamut Lagoon, I had never seen that kind of innovation in a game before and have yet to see it so tactfully used again. On the battle plain, there are several sprites, but each sprite is representative of a team. If I remember correctly, the player was allowed 6 groups of four characters. Depending on the composition of the teams, one could make a force to be reckoned with. Each team was accompanied by a dragon which was A.I. controlled and acted based on the mindset that each dragon has which can changed depending on what you feed them. The feed you can give them ranges from simple things like potions to swords and shields. This gives the played somewhat limited control over the behavior of their dragon companions which makes the game seem a bit more organic. Bahamut Lagoon remains as one of the biggest staples of my childhood and one of the few games that will forever remain on a pedestal in my mind. If you have a chance to to play this game, TAKE IT.