Saturday, January 24, 2015

Lagoon for SNES (1992)

Lagoon for SNES advertisement
Original ad published in the March 1992 edition of EGM (no. 32)


Historical Background and Graphical Analysis



Lagoon (1991), developed by ZOOM Inc and published by Kemco, was an unforgiving action-RPG for the Super NES in the vein of the acclaimed Ys games for TurboGrafx CD-ROM. 

But while Ys I and Ys II where definitive products for NEC’s machine, early Super NES adopters had little to satisfy their RPG appetite with. Sure, The Legend of Zelda. A Link to the Past (late 1991) and Final Fantasy II (mid 1991) had been released already to wide acclaim, but the SNES had nothing that gamers of the period identified as a fresh series of action play. 

Both Zelda and Final Fantasy were very different from Lagoon. The first was more of an action-adventure game and the second was a traditional JRPG. The middle ground was covered by games like Lagoon, which combined action elements with JRPG number-crunching. 

Japanese RPGs were not very popular in America at the time Lagoon was released. Final Fantasy II (IV in canon nomenclature) would be a sort of sleeper-hit only to be revalidated with the released of Final Fantasy III in 1994 (VI in Japan). It’s only comparison was the awesome Ys series and those featured full CD music and animated cut-scenes. So Lagoon was forgotten as a solid action-RPG and little else. 

You can sense this middle-ground in the graphical elements of the ad. Run-on-the-mill monsters are prominently displayed while two game-screens are hidden in the upper-right corner. Kemco supposed American gamers would be attracted to the fantasy elements of the game and little else, certainly not its RPG elements. The ad is colorful, but generic.





Lagoon for SNES print ad copy:

Come on in,

the water's fine.

Here’s one RPG game where you can dive right in. And you know what you must do. Only you can save Lakeland from the dark forces that possess Lagoon. Instantly you’ll be submerged in your quest. Wade through complex labyrinths, battling evil at every twist and turn. Whether you’re and experienced RPG player or just looking for hours of Super NES adventure, it’s time to test the waters.

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