Lagoon (SNES)

Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water... — Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water…

There’s something special about the earliest SNES titles. That first wave of first generation games… games in which developers dipped their toes into 16-bit water for the very first time. Looking back at those early games is very nostalgic for me, as I remember the time well. The 8-bit NES was still alive and kicking in late 1991, and the SNES was just beginning its run here in the US. It was an interesting time of playing your dear old favorite NES while slowly exploring what the SNES could do. One of the earliest titles on the SNES was an action RPG by the name of Lagoon. Developed by Zoom and published by Kemco, Lagoon hit the 16-bit market in December of 1991. Now the last SNES game I reviewed was the epochal Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Gamers in America didn’t get that one until April 1992. So, we had to make do with Lagoon, which was the first ARPG on the SNES North American market. And it came with mostly negative reviews, although there is a small camp of Lagoon backers. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s rewind to the beginning…

THE YEAR WAS 1991

The ad left a lasting impression on my eight-year-old being! — The ad left a lasting impression on my eight-year-old eyes!

At this point in time I wasn’t one for ARPGs or RPGs in general. Those genres were never my thing. My older brother enjoyed them, but I wanted more “immediate gratification.” I didn’t stray far from my platformers and beat ‘em ups. But upon seeing this ad in late 1991 in a GamePro Magazine, I actually wanted to play an action RPG for the first time in my life. I remember being drawn in by the various grotesque looking creatures and demons. The two in-game shots blew my eight-year-old mind. The green orbs seemed to bounce around in my mind and the ghoulish boss on the right was the stuff nightmares are made of. I was instantly intrigued. But of course, Lagoon became like about 300 other SNES games from my youth. As many titles as I played from 1991-1995 or so, there were so many more I always wanted to try out but never did.

One of the best things about this hobby is the ability to finally play all those games you were curious about from your youth. Even though Lagoon has a less than stellar reputation within the retro gaming community, I was still curious to check it out for myself. After all, you never know for sure how you feel about a game until you’ve played it yourself.

THE STORY GOES…

Lakeland. A peaceful kingdom, but not for long…

Who’s this geezer and what does he want?

One positive most can agree on: the music! — There’s something about first gen SNES titles

THE GAME

Players start out in Atland. Gather some clues from the locals to figure out what’s next on the agenda. It’s very simple stuff, and an ideal ARPG for novices.

An interesting aspect of Lagoon is how unlike many other games of the genre, when you enter a building here you don’t necessarily enter it. In most cases, there is no interior. You just get this type of scene. At first it was a little jarring, and I felt like I was getting robbed. This element gives off a vibe of low budget, but after a while I came to appreciate it. One could view this low budget move as a time saver and the game getting down to the nitty gritty. I came to actually not mind it, which isn’t a great compliment, but for this game and its world, it somehow works.

The shop system is very straight forward and things never get too cluttered.

Equipping weapons and armor is as easy as 1-2-3.

Eventually you find your way to the Mayor’s house where he sheds some light to you. Which is ironic considering you’re the Champion of LIGHT, but I digress. Hey, we all need help on the journey of life (and saving kingdoms, of course). After a bit of chit-chat you realize that Giles is in trouble. His parents named him Giles after having nine months to think about it.

I know, they had nine months to think of a name and…

What’s up with demons and caves, anyway? Well, it’s a good thing we’re armed with a sword that would make Link and the Master Sword proud…

Wait a second! Er, what the HELL is that? Yes, one of the biggest complaints about Lagoon is the incredibly pathetic butter knife you wield. Some sword, huh?

Expect to see this a lot early on. You’ll try to swipe at the enemy, but instead it’ll miss and you’ll end up eating damage. It’s easy to stop here and say, “Man this game blows!” But stick with it a while and realize the trick is not to go on the offensive but rather, wait back and let them come to you.

Once you do that, Lagoon becomes playable and actually somewhat enjoyable. Sure it’s a gameplay flaw, but nobody ever said this game was perfect. It’s just a different type of combat than what most folks are used to.

If you can put up with the short length of Nasir’s “sword,” then Lagoon isn’t a bad game. The dungeons never get too big and confusing, and the game is a pretty simple straight forward ARPG.

One of the best aspects about Lagoon is the ability to save the game anywhere. This makes it an ideal game to play for 15, 20 minutes right before bed. Before you know it, you will have beaten it. Not like it’s a long adventure to begin with, either.

It’s fun to keep an eye on your status. Leveling up increases all of your stats, and there’s a certain satisfaction in watching your character grow stronger by the step. In addition, if you’ve taken damage, simply stand still and Nasir will automatically recover. It’s a pretty cool feature that makes Lagoon that much easier to beat. His magic points will also recover in a resting state. Give it a chance and pretty soon you’ll be hitting a sweet little rhythm of waiting for enemies to run into your sword, resting if need be, checking your status on occasion and repeat. I found it oddly addicting.

Tougher enemies soon appear, giving you more experience points when killed. There’s a definite simplicity to Lagoon that I appreciate.

The best part of Lagoon is hands down the music. It’s the one aspect of this game that is almost always universally praised. It’s funny… in that sense it reminds me a lot of Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest. Both games have a poor reputation but it’s generally agreed upon that the soundtrack rocks. Although Mystic Quest has a slightly better reputation than Lagoon and is the better, more redeeming game.

While the game is far from great, there IS a certain sense of satisfaction roaming the dungeons, killing the monsters, and rocking out to the awesome soundtrack.

Ah, it’s nice to see the sky and smell the air again after being in that dank, decrepit dungeon. Go on to find Giles.

I hope you found the Healing Pot prior. Otherwise you’ll have to do some backtracking and that’s never too fun.

After rescuing Giles, you’re not done yet. You have to guide him back to Atland. This son of a bitch moves like a grandma. If you go too fast he might get confused and lost, so always keep him in the line of sight.

Ah! Move it, you bastard! Thankfully, Giles can’t be hurt even if the enemies touch him. Weird. You would think then that he wouldn’t need you to save him. Shoot, if I were invincible too, the things I could do! Freaking Giles. This must be a rib or something.

Yes, I’m interested in acquiring Little Samson for the NES. And yes, I know it’s a DEMON of a game on the ol’ wallet. Thanks for nothing, old lady!

Now you can open the gateway to access Samson, the game’s first boss.

Shoot, I’m not surprised. With all the crazy dollars that collectors are throwing at Samson these days, one would think he got a little too big-headed for his own good!

Oh shit. You mean, you’re not Little Samson, as in the NES game? Heh, my bad. I’ll just head back out and close the door. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, big red scary guy…

Yeah, that’s just not a fair fight. God damn it… this is all messed up.

Samson sheds his helmet once he’s weakened up some. And it’s not a pretty sight, folks. In fact, I dare call it an eyesore…

Once conquered, Samson screams like an elephant, oddly enough. You get some fancy little explosion pixels going off all over him.

For your troubles you get your very first magic spell: the Fire Crystal.

This allows you to shoot fireballs, giving you a much welcomed long range attack. It eats up magic points but as I stated earlier, your MP recovers in a resting state. It definitely helps to flesh out the gameplay of Lagoon, making the pathetic short sword less annoying.

Hey wait a damn second here… where have I seen you before…

So you’re telling me there is a Princess, and she was kidnapped. Riiiight…

After Atland you head to the town of Voloh. Here you’ll meet a strange cat by the name of Thor. He’ll enlist your help to find the tablets.

As you progress in the game it’s fun to see the length of your energy bar increase as you continually level up.

There are your typical fire and ice dungeons to navigate and work through. The graphics aren’t anything to write home about, even back in late 1991 when it came out, but they’re alright and serviceable enough.

One thing I’ve always been a sucker for in video games are the mini-bosses, or the regular bad guys that are bigger and tougher than the rest of the regular bad guys. They look intimidating, but aren’t TOO hard to defeat. And yet they’re always satisfying to kill every single time. Lagoon does a decent job of throwing small, medium and even big monsters your way.

The bosses were intimidating due to a combination of their size, their menacing sprite work, your puny sword and their massively long health bar. They might be tough at first, but nothing you can’t work around with a little persistence. It’s just a matter of finding their sweet spots. Although it should be noted that during boss battles you can’t heal or use your magic. This could lead to some frustrating moments.

By the end of the game your health bar should be as long as theirs. Speaking of which, it took me 11 hours to beat Lagoon on my first attempt. It’s a game one could probably beat in under 10 hours (I like to grind here and there). So it’s definitely on the shorter side, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

The game moves along at a brisk pace, much like Mystic Quest. In that way it never wears out its welcome. It’s an easy title to pick up and play. Saving anywhere is a big bonus, as you can always pace yourself rather than being at the mercy of having to go to an inn to save.

There are plenty of weird locales to hit up, and some entertaining NPC’s to interact with when you’re not bashing baddies and blowing through dungeons.

As an aside, I also remember Lagoon for being the first game I played following the Teacher’s Fair in March of 2012. At the time I was teaching part time and acting in a Broadway-esque play. My goal was to become a full time teacher. I gathered my portfolio earlier that morning, put on my best suit and shook hands all day long following a two hour morning rehearsal. It was a memorable time in my life as I was living out my passion (acting) while pursuing my real life goal of becoming a full time teacher. Later that night, with over 500 SNES games from which to choose, I picked Lagoon. The urge to finally quell this longstanding childhood curiosity overcame me at long last. So anytime I think of Lagoon, I’m instantly transported back to that exciting time in my life. And yes, I got a full time position thanks to attending that Teacher’s Fair. I’m still teaching at the same school, going on five years. Man, where does the time go?

WHAT THE CRITICS SAID

Lagoon was not well received by the public. Most panned it, calling it a frustrating and boring Zelda clone. Super Play Magazine gave Lagoon a score of 56% when it hit the UK mindbogglingly late in May of 1993. On Youtube there are two excellent video reviews of this game which I highly recommend viewing. One is from The CG Dudes and the other is from Stop Skeletons From Fighting (formerly known as The Happy Video Game Nerd). Both video reviews pretty much sum up my feelings toward this game.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Lagoon is far from a hidden gem, but far from a dud as well. A lot of people dislike it, and they’re well within their bounds to do so. However, I feel a lot of the hatred toward this game is due to a lack of understanding rather than anything else, as the game itself is fairly manageable once you get the nuances down and operate within that world. Such qualifiers are signs of a flawed game, sure, but not an entirely wasteful effort. I’ve played plenty worse on the Super Nintendo. Once I understood the mechanics of the game and employed the best strategies, I had a pretty good time making my way through this early first generation SNES title.

The magic spells really open the game up, and make killing the monsters much easier. I didn’t have to worry about the puny butter knife so much, and shooting various projectiles at enemies across the screen became rather addicting. If you’re looking for something new on your SNES and you’ve already beaten the rest, give Lagoon a chance. It’s a quick action RPG that can hold you over for a week or two. It’s rather flawed, but not without some “first generation charm.”

Graphics: 5
Sound: 8
Gameplay: 5
Longevity: 5

Overall: 5.5

Give it a shot if you've overlooked it. It's not so bad... — Give it a shot if you’ve overlooked it. It’s not so bad…

13 thoughts on “Lagoon (SNES)”

StarBoy91 says:

May 9, 2016 at 9:18 AM

Good review, Steve =)

I like Lagoon a lot (a bit moreso than other people do I have to admit), and while it is by no means a masterpiece and requires close proximity sword swings (which admittedly is not a comfortable prospect for swordplay) there is that strange indecipherable charm about it that makes me come back to it once a year (circa 2014): its lingering sense of atmosphere and mood, the fact that Nasir’s various armor are different colors and his shields are differently designed (I’m a sucker for that), the dungeons and villages which are fun to explore, the various character and monster designs, its fantastic Ys-style rock soundtrack (which on certain occasions could be upbeat and sometimes moody), and the scarce usage of sound effects that makes for an unusually quiet A-RPG experience for me. And while the story might not have been groundbreaking I find myself to be quite invested in Lagoon’s world, and for Zoom’s only A-RPG I felt that it ended on a good self-contained (bittersweet) note.

True, this A-RPG is not for everyone and it might not hold a candle to the likes of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (as you said), Ys IV: Mask of the Sun, or any installment of the Gaia trilogy to name a few; but as an Ys clone (and primarily on its own merits) I found Lagoon to be solid fun while it lasts. Sure, it could’ve been better but hey, it could’ve been a lot worse.

Looking forward to your next review whatever it is, my RVGFriend =D Take care!

Reply
1. StevieL says:
  
  May 9, 2016 at 7:20 PM
  
  Well said, StarBoy! Yes, you hit upon a good point. It’s more of a Ys clone than a Zelda clone. The original 1990 game on the Sharp X68000 is very Ys-esque. Some people look at Lagoon and think it’s a Link to the Past clone but they don’t realize LTTP came out November 1991 and SNES Lagoon came out only a month later. Speaking of Ys, I’m looking forward to finally playing the Ys SNES games too!
  
  I agree that Lagoon has its fair share of (first generation) charm, and it’s such a fast moving, short game that I’m not surprised you revisit it once a year. I fully expect myself to go through it at some point again in the future. But right now, my backlog is so deep that once I beat a game, it’s on to the next!
  
  Reply
Brock says:

May 18, 2016 at 3:52 PM

Stupid Lagoon

Reply
1. StevieL says:
  
  May 22, 2016 at 8:54 PM
  
  Hey Brock, thanks for leaving a comment. Heh, guess you didn’t like Lagoon much, eh? No worries. It’s very much a like or hate game. Not unlike Brandish, also on SNES.
  
  Reply
Josh says:

December 17, 2016 at 6:15 PM

Hey it’s good to see you’re back at it! I had been checking your old site every so often and didn’t realize you started this up until today.

It’s strange too, because over the last week or two I’ve found myself drawn to Lagoon again, which has always stood as a paragon for me of that special first run SNES feel you mentioned. I’ve tried it before and didn’t get far, but I don’t hate it. I want to like it.

In the last couple of days I’ve watched two different speedruns, an Awesome Games Done Quickly and a Tool-Assisted. Now here I am still investigating, and it’s lead me here. Clearly Lagoon still holds some appeal for me.

Thanks for covering it. Your style complements the SNES era magic.

Reply
1. StevieL says:
  
  December 17, 2016 at 7:01 PM
  
  Hey Josh! Aw thanks man, your words mean a lot. Yeah, the old site (RVGFanatic.com) is still up but I can no longer update it. My last update for it was September 2015. No way for me to leave a message redirecting readers to my new site (RVGFanatic.com/wordpress) so that’s been kind of a bummer for people who drop by and wonder if I dropped dead, lol. Anyway, I’m glad to hear my writing style complements the SNES era’s magic. Praise just doesn’t get much cooler than that, so thanks. Regarding Lagoon, yeah, it came during that early wave of SNES releases… before the games changed in feel and style. It’s hard to explain, but playing Lagoon puts it in perfect perspective! There is something charming indeed about those early generation SNES games, flawed though many of them might be. Anyway, glad you were able to find the new site and yeah man, can you believe a couple weeks from now marks 10 years since I’ve been writing on RVGFanatic? (in one form or another). Crazy! Where has the time gone? I’m planning to honor the 10 year anniversary with a very special piece. Stay tuned!
  
  Reply
Kuro-chan says:

January 6, 2019 at 1:45 PM

The mountain of differences between ZOOM’s X68K version and KEMCO’s SNES version is quite a tall one to climb.

Different direction in the art style:
– X68K’s art style was very consistent between the sprites, small animations, cutscenes, even the manual (which is amazing in the sense of how plentiful the art is). Maybe it can be argued it is not the ‘best’ style around and I can agree, but I like that it IS consistent. With the SNES version, they redid all the cutscenes, many of the bosses, other close-up shots and stuff, with an end result that looks like a mismatch of art styles. Maybe no one really noticed, but I certainly did and it kinda leaves the SNES looking more sloppy and amateurish. I figure it was probably done to cut down on the overall size of the game, with the 1990 version being 3x floppy disks (Keeping in mind, ROM chips in 1991 of a specific size would cost a lot more than in 94/95, leaving it more economical to make bigger games later in the console’s run). There was also the usual censorship applied to the SNES version, given Nintendo’s policy regarding religious references.

Re-write of the plot/story; KEMCO changed a LOT of stuff:
– Altand was made a much shorter visit + you were unable to return to it once you bet SAMSON.
– Nassel’s family + bakery shop were removed + bread sub-quest was removed.
– Thor was changed to being a supporting character who was eventually controlled by Zerah, rather than all-out evil. This added Ella to the mix. This allowed them to add the tablet sub-quest to get into Philips Castle.
– Removed an early-game meeting with Zerah in Voloh where you could actually talk to him.
– Felicia is kidnapped by Ella, instead of Thor.
– The town of Popoe was originally a lost cause you could do nothing about. They added a sub-quest so you could save the town from the plague.
– A much bigger reference to why the Evil Spirit should NEVER be resurrected was removed, making it sound more of a casual issue.
– Truth Fire was removed, making it easier to get the fur mantle.
– The final battle had Zerah and a 2nd round of the Evil Spirit added.

I have no doubt there is stuff I missed along the way, but that was what I could come up without digging through the game.

Combat mechanics, oh where to start… :
– X68K’s version of the game was more or less an Ys-clone/wanna-be/ripoff/etc. Combat was bump action with magic support, though you had to draw your sword first before you could do any damage. On the plus side, you could recover HP anywhere (except a boss room) by standing still while your sword was sheathed. KEMCO changed that with introducing a swinging sword while not really paying attention to the weapon’s range. I suppose they wanted to disassociate the game from coming across as an Ys-clone/wanna-be/ripoff/etc.
– X68K’s magic system combined your equipped sword and equipped staff to use a spell. There were 12 spells and you also had to have the appropriate magic crystal. SNES’s version combined the magic crystal and staff to give the player 16 different spells.
– Both versions of the game have drastically different enemy stats., ways to calculate weapon & spell damage.
– X68K enemies have resistance levels to magic elements and some of them can even have weaknesses. The SNES version’s monsters are either affected by a specific spell or not. Bosses being damaged by magic was also removed in the SNES version.

In a way, it’s kinda too bad what KEMCO did to Lagoon for the SNES version. They polished up a few of the game’s weakness, most in magic category and how damage was calculated, but they ruined a LOT of other things, leaving the original game to be the far superior version.

Reply
1. Steve says:
  
  January 6, 2019 at 10:59 PM
  
  Hi Kuro-chan, thank you for sharing such amazingly thorough information on the differences! Wow, makes me want to try Lagoon the way it was originally intended to be experienced. Sounds like KEMCO really dummied it down for American audiences. A shame, even though I still kinda like the North American version of Lagoon — in a guilty pleasure sort of way however.
  
  BTW, out of curiosity, what are some of your favorite Super Nintendo games?
  
  Reply
  1. Kuro-chan says:
    
    January 6, 2019 at 11:45 PM
    
    KEMCO ‘dummied’ it down for the SNES version and that applied to all regions/languages. All Non-JP versions were censored slightly, given most of the censorship happened between the X68K and SNES versions.
    
    As for why Lagoon was chosen as one of the early SNES games, I suppose it makes sense. Since it was made only the year before it was still a fairly new game and performed well on the X68K. That leaves you with an established story, concept, graphics, etc. Rather than a port, they simply used resources from the original game and built their own engine, mechanics and other various specs. I imagine part of the problem would have also been the size of the game; had to keep it small so the size of ROM chips would not make it cost-prohibitive.
    
    A couple other things I forgot to mention:
    Music:
    – The music is very different in the X68K version. The original has a fair number of unused music tracks; some of them ended up used as tracks in the SNES version. Many rooms were changed:
    – Elf’s Field and Voloh
    – Dwarf Cave (Used the Gold Mine theme in the original)
    – Secret Place
    – All boss rooms keep their music intact even after the boss has been defeated (Possibly an oversight by the developers). Fixed for the SNES version.
    In addition to the tracks themselves, the sound fonts used in the original sound MUCH better (in my opinion) and stronger, especially in the bass. I think there are some youtube videos of the X68K music kicking around. The game itself includes a ‘Music Room’ where you can listen to the various effects and music tracks, including the ones not used in the game. Information on how to access it can be found at TCRF and GameFAQs.
    
    Resolution:
    SNES: 256 x 224. X68K: 256 x 256, 512 x 512 for end credits.
    
    End Credits:
    – Far more detailed in the SNES version. They include a list of enemies and bosses with their full names.
    
    There are a few games I am partial to on the SNES. The ones I keep going back to include: Bust A Move, Drakkhen, Dragon View (I think you would like), Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, Lagoon, Lennus(Paladin’s Quest), Secret of Mana, Super Mario World. There are others I know I go back to, but I cannot think of them off the top of my head. While I like Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger, I sometimes wonder if they are given ‘too much’ praise. Super Metroid, while I like, I find it’s rather easy-ish, at least compared to the first two which I played and beat long before I ever played Super. Ogre Battle is amazing, but I doubt I could ever sit through long enough to actually play it from start to end.
    
    Reply
    1. Kuro-chan says:
      
      January 7, 2019 at 10:57 PM
      
      My bad. I meant the X68K version had a far better set of end credits THAN the SNES version.
      
      Reply
    2. Steve says:
      
      January 8, 2019 at 10:50 PM
      
      Good stuff. I haven’t played Dragon View yet but I’ve heard good things about it over the years. Might have to check that out one day.
      
      Ah, another fan of Mystic Quest. I feel as a starter kit of an RPG (for a lack of a better term), it was pretty darn solid. Especially since it was basically advertised as such. Plus, the music was stellar in that one. A fun little RPG that I intend to fully revisit one of these days. Since you like Lennus, you should check out Lennus II on the Super Famicom. I personally enjoyed part II more than I did Paladin’s Quest. Although Lennus II loses the unique pastel look of the original.
      
      Reply
Kuro-chan says:

January 10, 2019 at 11:08 PM

Dragon View is a pretty good ‘average’ action RPG. The battle sequences feel a bit like Street Fighter, even includes a couple custom attacks. While Mode 7’s world map may leave a bit much to be desired, the 2-D graphics are quite good. I liked the little details they added to NPCs, like animation frames for gossip time between ladies, little stuff like that.
Mystic Quest has an odd sort of appeal to me. It’s easy, but it does have a little opportunity for strategy if you want to try something besides mashing the attack button. There is also the music and platforming elements which give it a charm many other RPGs do not have.
I have not played Lennus II, yet. I have heard it is a better game, but without all the weird pastel colours, I dunno…

Reply
1. Steve says:
  
  January 10, 2019 at 11:28 PM
  
  Lennus II’s graphics are fairly unique too. It has a look not many SNES games have but yes, Paladin’s Quest with its pastel colors and worlds really gave it an exotic atmosphere, like you were truly roaming around on distant planets. I’d recommend seeking out a fan translated copy of Lennus II. It’s a solid RPG and you can save anywhere, making it the perfect RPG to play in 15-20 minute spurts. It really spoils you since you can save anywhere and most 16-bit RPGs you can only save while in town at an inn.
  
  Anyway, thanks again for all the Lagoon information! I’ll be transferring over my Mystic Quest review at some point in 2019 for sure
  
  Reply

13 thoughts on “Lagoon (SNES)”

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