A wonderful and different RPG by square, it is too bad they didn't release it in the states.
Gameplay: 9
The controls in this game are standard for square (similar to older Final Fantasy's) and therefore work just fine. There arn't really any puzzles in Bahamut lagoon but that is because most the action takes place in battles. There are lots of hidden items though, so make sure to investigate everything when walking around.
As I mentioned earlier the battle system is what made Bahamut Lagoon so unique. At the core, this is a strategy rpg, so the map you will be playing on is like a chess board as usual. However, each character on the map is actually the leader of a party of up to 4 characters. When the leader of a party engages the enemy you shift to a typical turn based rpg screen (also identical pre-playstation Final Fantasys) and battle for a set number of turns. There are several classes of characters in this game you can use to build your parties such as knights, wizards, summoners, assassins, and more. Each character class has different skills which are governed by the dragon associated with their party. Some classes can even do field commands with which your enemy can't counter, to do damage to the enemy before attacking them. The only drawback to this is you don't get any experience if you kill enemies with field commands.
Well, as I just said each party has to have a dragon associated with it. Your dragon determines what skills your party has and it also helps you fight. You get to name your dragons when you first get them and you can raise your dragon by feeding it whatever you can find (it will literally eat anything). The dragons stats change depending on what you feed it. When you feed it certain things or when certain stats get to certain levels your dragon may also transform. There are many cool transformations for all of your dragons in this game. When your dragon fights, you give it general orders, your options are Come!, Go!, or Wait!, then it basically does what it wants with those guidelines. You can make your dragon more obedient by feeding it. I know all of this may sound confusing right now, but it works very well and provides a gaming experience different from anything even today. The only problem with the gameplay is that the difficulty fluctuates throughout the game. In the beginning it can be really hard, but then it can become really easy once your dragons become more powerful (one dragon can even become invincible).
Graphics: 9
The Graphics in Bahamut Lagoon are some of my favorite on the snes. All the characters look great (and they each have a very unique look matching their character), the dragons look cool, the enemies are very detailed , and the special effects are surprisingly good. The battle maps are kind of simple looking like the first shining force games, but they work. Basically, like myself, I bet you will be pleasantly surprised by the graphics of Bahamut Lagoon.
Sound: 9
The sound effects in bahamut lagoon are simple but the music is fantastic. That's really all I have to say about the sound.
Value: 8
By today's standards Bahamut Lagoon is a relatively short game, lasting about 15-25 hours. There is a few optional dungeons though and a new game + option. So while there is not a whole lot to do, you can find reasons to play this game for as long as you want to.
Tilt: 9
The story in Bahamut Lagoon is also very solid. You are in control of a dragon squad for the kahna empire (or something like that). The game throws you right into the story which is simple, but unique. The story is hard to understand and follow at times, but it is good enough to keep you interested.
The characters in Bahamut Lagoon are very eclectic, meaning there is a very wide range of very unusual personalities. It is fun to walk around your ship and talk to everybody to see what is on their mind. You also get a lot of characters throughout the course of this game each very useful to your army. This is definitely another high point in this game.
Conclusion
Since Bahamut Lagoon was never released in the U.S. the only way to play it in english is to get a snes emulater and play the Bahamut Lagoon rom which is translated in english. To do this legally you have to buy the Japanese cartrige, put it is worth it to find a way to play this game. If you like RPG's or Squaresoft games at all you owe it to yourself to play this game. It is one of the most unique games I have ever played and I will definitely always remember it for that reason.