Lagoon is one of my favorite old school games. It's simple, but really intense. Don't judge its poor graphics, because pretty much everything else makes up for it in the game. I'm gonna tell you why.

Graphics - 7.0: The graphics are not so good as you can see. But you have to keep in mind the first lagoon game was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System console, the NES, This is only a Super Nintendo adaptation to that game. And I'm very thankful to that! Even with the poor graphics the game is very lively and the bosses are pretty well designed.

Sound - 10: Lagoon has one of the most amazing soundtracks I've ever listened to. Atland's theme (the first city's) is awesome and I fell in love with it immediately. As I continued playing, more and more catchy songs arrived. I like almost them all! The little sounds effects can be kinda annoying but you won't pay much attention to them as you play.

Addictiveness - 8.0: I found the game pretty addicting as I played. The graphics are not so motivating but the story is reaeelly good. It has this tense atmosphere that keeps you curious. People disappearing and dying because of monsters in the middle earth? That's totally my type of game! 

Story - 10.0: The story... Is awesome. You're a wizard's apprentice named Nasir and is sent by your master on a mission to investigate evil throughout the world of Lakeland. As you come across mysteries surrounding the villages' water that suddenly turned out muddy and caused monsters to appear, you start a quest to eliminate the sources of chaos and save the villagers from their terrible fate. During your journey you come across a lot of people that help you and tell you stories of the legend of the Champion of Light, the hero that will save the land (who could it be?). You also meet the princess that was kidnapped and has an important part in the villain's plans (very cliché, but still...). I'm not telling any spoilers but I really enjoyed the game's story. It was really surprising and the final act was just stunning!

Depth - 9.0: This is a pretty long game, although it doesn't have any side quests for you to do. Everything you find in the game (like in dungeons or trading sequences) is necessary for you to keep advancing in the main plot. So all you have to do is follow the game's history. I didn't mind the fact that there wasn't any side stories because I was too curious about what would be happening next but for some people it can be sad.

Gameplay - 8.0: At first you're just a young traveler talking to the villagers in a small town, so everything is nice and easy but, as you enter the first dungeon, you'll notice a little detail: Nasir's sword is absurdly short. It looks almost like a knife. So you're probably gonna have a hard time beating the first monsters until you get used to the gameplay. Nasir's actions are just hit with the knife - I mean, sword -, jump and use magic (that you'll obtain later). As you get used to the controls, it won't be so hard to defeat the monsters. It's all about you getting used to the it. You'll find different kinds of staffs and magic spheres, all of them from different elements (yeah, some magics are more effective against some monsters but trust me, it won't make a difference to you. I almost never used magic). Another useful item are the rings, that even though they consume A LOT of MP (as you equip it, the MP number will start to go down until it reaches zero), they give you temporary effects like HP restoration, power amplification and more. The items available to buy in the shop are pretty expensive and you can only carry a single one of them with you. Pretty lame, right?

Difficulty - 9.0: I'd say the game is hard because of the graphics and the circumstances since the controls are pretty easy and simple to understand. Getting used to the sword's range will be a hard task and you'll probably get really mad at first but once you understand the easiest way to defeat the monsters, it'll be a piece of cake; although some of them can be ultra fast or really tricky (like if they suddenly throw things at you), those can be annoying... Luckily you'll also have your magic power by then. Also, you have a pretty much useless shield so I wouldn't count on it to defend yourself. Another thing are the sudden deaths. You know when you're walking around happily exploring the place and you see a big crater? You try to jump but you fall down and then... it's game over. Yeah, you don't lose health and get back to where you were last standing when you jumped, It's.Game.Over. So you should save all the time and specially if you come across a crater, because you never know. The dungeons are really confusing because they have a lot of ways for you to explore and most of them leads you to chests with gold or items (that you can't carry) or simply to a dead end so be prepared to spend a couple of minutes, maybe hours inside them. But here comes some good news: your HP and SP is restored when you don't move! This allows you to take your time to defeat the monsters in the dungeons by simply fleeing, waiting for your HP to restore and then finishing them up. It's hard, but has its tricks.

My overall score for this game is 9.4 because I enjoyed playing it A LOT. It's one of my favorite action rpg games for the SNES (or the NES) and I'd recommend it for everyone that enjoys a nice story in the middle earth, with fairies, elves, dwarfs and magic with a little bit of suspense. I'm pretty sure you're gonna like Lagoon.