Bahamut Lagoon

Bahamut Lagoon is a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom. Set in the sky world of Orelus, where humanity lives on floating islands called lagoons, the story follows Byuu, captain of the Kahna Dragon Squad. The evil Granbelos Empire conquers Kahna, murders the king, and kidnaps Princess Yoyo. Byuu joins the Resistance to free the princess and reclaim their homeland. Gameplay blends strategy RPG with turn-based combat. On grid-based maps, you organize characters into parties of four, each accompanied by a dragon. You move squads across terrain, engaging enemies for Final Fantasy-style battles. The environment is interactive—you can burn forests, freeze rivers, and destroy bridges for tactical advantage. Between battles, you feed items to your dragons, affecting their stats and evolution.

SNES

Released exclusively in Japan on February 9, 1996, Bahamut Lagoon arrived very late in the Super Famicom's lifespan, as Square shifted focus to PlayStation. Contemporary Japanese critical reception was generally positive. Reviewers praised the stunning graphics, pushing SNES hardware with vibrant colors and detailed sprite work, as well as the innovative fusion of strategy and RPG mechanics. The interactive battlefield and dragon-raising system were noted as fresh additions. The soundtrack by Noriko Matsueda received mixed reviews—some found it solid, others felt it lacked memorable melodies. Criticism focused on the uneven difficulty curve: early chapters are very easy, but later stages become punishingly hard. Some reviewers noted that dragon AI can be frustrating, as you cannot control them directly. Despite flaws, Bahamut Lagoon is remembered as one of Square's most ambitious and visually impressive late-era SNES titles.