Racing Lagoon (レーシングラグーン, Rēshingu Ragūn) is a 1999 video game developed and published by Square. The game is unique in that it combines street racing with role-playing elements. The game's story follows a new member of a street racing team in 1999 Yokohama, Japan as he tries to learn about his forgotten past and a mysterious race that took place ten years prior to the game's opening.
Released for the PlayStation, the game is compatible with the Sony PocketStation. The game's music was composed by Noriko Matsueda as a jazz/techno fusion; she was joined by Takahito Eguchi as his first compositional role, and the soundtrack was released as an album. The game received mixed reviews in Japan and was never released outside of the country, but still sold over 140,000 copies.[1] An English fan translation for the game was released in November 2021.[2]
The game features street races that are initiated by flashing headlights at other drivers. Players are able to customize their car colors and other parts, and beating another driver entitles the player to pieces of the defeated car.[3] The game features two modes: a "High Speed Driving RPG" mode, where the player drives around taking missions and racing other drivers, and a "2 Warriors Battle Mode", where the player simply competes in races. The RPG mode is the primary portion of the game.[4]
Storyedit
Racing Lagoon takes place in Yokohama, Japan, in 1999, and centers on several groups of street racers. 10 years prior to the game an event called "Fastest Legend" took place. One night, Team Bay Lagoon Racing (BLR), a five-member team led by "The Ace", Ikki Fujisawa, holds a race against Night Racers Honmuku (NR). The story follows one of BLR's newly joined members, Sho Akasaki, who is just beginning his racing career. Akasaki is determined to find out about the mystery of the "Fastest Legend", as well as his forgotten past.[5]
Developmentedit
The game's story was greatly influenced by the illegal street racing that occurred in Japan during the 1980s, and many of the cars used were recreated exactly for the game,[1] although it did not feature any automaker licensing. The game is also noted for its linguistics, where monologues and dialogues (including loading screen quotes) are written in a poetic manner and often features words written in English; this accent, called Lagoon-go (ラグーン語), has been cited as a challenge in creating a fan translation for the game.[6]
Musicedit
The game's soundtrack was composed by Noriko Matsueda, with a few tracks contributed by Takahito Eguchi; it was Eguchi's first compositional role.[4] The music has been described as a jazz/techno fusion, with "fast-paced" music that includes live recordings of saxophones.
Releaseedit
Racing Lagoon was released on June 10, 1999 for the Sony PlayStation.[7] The game managed to sell over 141,000 copies in Japan by the end of 1999.[8] The soundtrack was released as an album on June 19 the same year by DigiCube. The two-disc album features 62 tracks and covers a duration of 2:31:03.[9] The game was re-released on March 20, 2002 for the PlayStation under the PS One Books line.[7]
In 2014, a Racing Lagoon event was held in Square Enix's mobile game Spirit Yankee Soul. Racing Lagoon's scenario writer, Motomu Toriyama served as scenario director for the event.[10]
The game was not well received by the Japanese gaming publication Famitsu PS, scoring only a 21 out of 40.[11]Weekly Famitsu was a bit more favorable, giving it a score of 26 out of 40.[7] The game was voted #45 for "most wanted sequels" by Famitsu's readers.[15]
A retro review by Kotaku noted that the game's jazz-fusion soundtrack was one of the best of the PlayStation era.[1]
Referencesedit
^ abcKelly, Andy (April 26, 2018). . Kotaku UK. Archived from the original on 2018-04-29. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
^Stanton, Rich (2021-11-12). "Square's cult street racing RPG has been translated into English after 22 years". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
^IGN Staff (28 January 1999). "Hey! You Flashing at Me?". from the original on 19 September 2016.
^ abDave. "Racing Lagoon Original Soundtrack :: Review by Dave". Square Enix Music Online. from the original on 2010-03-23. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
^Gill, Charles P. (July 26, 2017). "Racing Lagoon". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
^Fenlon, Wes (2021-11-12). "How the fan translation of Squaresoft's utterly bizarre Racing Lagoon came together in just 6 months". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
^ abcd"レーシングラグーン [PS]". Famitsu. from the original on 2014-11-09. Retrieved 2018-08-19.
^"1999年ゲームソフト年間売上TOP300" [1999 Game Software Annual Sales Top 300]. Famitsū Gēmu Hakusho 2005 ファミ通ゲーム白書2005 [Famitsu Game Whitebook 2005] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Enterbrain. 2005-05-13. p. 416. ISBN4-7577-2307-5. from the original on 2015-06-28.
^Gann, Patrick (2001-03-23). "Racing Lagoon OST". RPGFan. from the original on 2011-12-13. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
^"Square Enix's Latest Countdown Wasn't As… Badass As Expected". Siliconera. November 7, 2014. from the original on March 6, 2016.
^ abIGN staff (June 1, 1999). . IGN.com. Archived from the original on 2007-11-09. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
^"Zoom: Racing Lagoon". Joypad (in French). No. 89. France: Yellow Media. September 1999. p. 114.
^Daxer, Christian (August 1999). "Import: Racing Lagoon". Video Games (in German). No. 93. Germany: Future-Verlag. p. 66.
^"Flash Game: Racing Lagoon". Gamers (in Portuguese). No. 42. Brazil: Editora Escala. June 1999. p. 58.
^. Archived from the original on August 4, 2009. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
External linksedit
Official website (in Japanese)
January 01, 1970
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Racing Lagoon レーシングラグーン Reshingu Ragun is a 1999 video game developed and published by Square The game is unique in that it combines street racing with role playing elements The game s story follows a new member of a street racing team in 1999 Yokohama Japan as he tries to learn about his forgotten past and a mysterious race that took place ten years prior to the game s opening Racing LagoonDeveloper s Square Product Development Division 2Publisher s SquareDirector s Hitoshi SasakiProducer s Akitoshi KawazuDesigner s Tsukasa FujitaProgrammer s Tetsuji IwasakiArtist s Takaharu MatsuoWriter s Motomu ToriyamaComposer s Noriko MatsuedaTakahito EguchiPlatform s PlayStationReleaseJP June 10 1999Genre s Racing video gameRole playingMode s Single player multiplayerReleased for the PlayStation the game is compatible with the Sony PocketStation The game s music was composed by Noriko Matsueda as a jazz techno fusion she was joined by Takahito Eguchi as his first compositional role and the soundtrack was released as an album The game received mixed reviews in Japan and was never released outside of the country but still sold over 140 000 copies 1 An English fan translation for the game was released in November 2021 2 Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Story 3 Development 4 Music 5 Release 6 Reception 7 References 8 External linksGameplay editThe game features street races that are initiated by flashing headlights at other drivers Players are able to customize their car colors and other parts and beating another driver entitles the player to pieces of the defeated car 3 The game features two modes a High Speed Driving RPG mode where the player drives around taking missions and racing other drivers and a 2 Warriors Battle Mode where the player simply competes in races The RPG mode is the primary portion of the game 4 Story editRacing Lagoon takes place in Yokohama Japan in 1999 and centers on several groups of street racers 10 years prior to the game an event called Fastest Legend took place One night Team Bay Lagoon Racing BLR a five member team led by The Ace Ikki Fujisawa holds a race against Night Racers Honmuku NR The story follows one of BLR s newly joined members Sho Akasaki who is just beginning his racing career Akasaki is determined to find out about the mystery of the Fastest Legend as well as his forgotten past 5 Development editThe game s story was greatly influenced by the illegal street racing that occurred in Japan during the 1980s and many of the cars used were recreated exactly for the game 1 although it did not feature any automaker licensing The game is also noted for its linguistics where monologues and dialogues including loading screen quotes are written in a poetic manner and often features words written in English this accent called Lagoon go ラグーン語 has been cited as a challenge in creating a fan translation for the game 6 Music editThe game s soundtrack was composed by Noriko Matsueda with a few tracks contributed by Takahito Eguchi it was Eguchi s first compositional role 4 The music has been described as a jazz techno fusion with fast paced music that includes live recordings of saxophones Release editRacing Lagoon was released on June 10 1999 for the Sony PlayStation 7 The game managed to sell over 141 000 copies in Japan by the end of 1999 8 The soundtrack was released as an album on June 19 the same year by DigiCube The two disc album features 62 tracks and covers a duration of 2 31 03 9 The game was re released on March 20 2002 for the PlayStation under the PS One Books line 7 In 2014 a Racing Lagoon event was held in Square Enix s mobile game Spirit Yankee Soul Racing Lagoon s scenario writer Motomu Toriyama served as scenario director for the event 10 Reception editReceptionReview scoresPublicationScoreFamitsu26 40 7 Famitsu PS21 40 11 Joypad5 10 12 Video Games4 5 13 Gamers12 20 14 The game was not well received by the Japanese gaming publication Famitsu PS scoring only a 21 out of 40 11 Weekly Famitsu was a bit more favorable giving it a score of 26 out of 40 7 The game was voted 45 for most wanted sequels by Famitsu s readers 15 A retro review by Kotaku noted that the game s jazz fusion soundtrack was one of the best of the PlayStation era 1 References edit a b c Kelly Andy April 26 2018 Remembering Racing Lagoon Square s Weird Street Racing Car PG Kotaku UK Archived from the original on 2018 04 29 Retrieved April 21 2020 Stanton Rich 2021 11 12 Square s cult street racing RPG has been translated into English after 22 years PC Gamer Retrieved 2021 11 20 IGN Staff 28 January 1999 Hey You Flashing at Me Archived from the original on 19 September 2016 a b Dave Racing Lagoon Original Soundtrack Review by Dave Square Enix Music Online Archived from the original on 2010 03 23 Retrieved 2011 05 12 Gill Charles P July 26 2017 Racing Lagoon Hardcore Gaming 101 Retrieved April 21 2020 Fenlon Wes 2021 11 12 How the fan translation of Squaresoft s utterly bizarre Racing Lagoon came together in just 6 months PC Gamer Retrieved 2021 11 13 a b c d レーシングラグーン PS Famitsu Archived from the original on 2014 11 09 Retrieved 2018 08 19 1999年ゲームソフト年間売上TOP300 1999 Game Software Annual Sales Top 300 Famitsu Gemu Hakusho 2005 ファミ通ゲーム白書2005 Famitsu Game Whitebook 2005 in Japanese Tokyo Enterbrain 2005 05 13 p 416 ISBN 4 7577 2307 5 Archived from the original on 2015 06 28 Gann Patrick 2001 03 23 Racing Lagoon OST RPGFan Archived from the original on 2011 12 13 Retrieved 2011 05 12 Square Enix s Latest Countdown Wasn t As Badass As Expected Siliconera November 7 2014 Archived from the original on March 6 2016 a b IGN staff June 1 1999 Now Playing in Japan IGN com Archived from the original on 2007 11 09 Retrieved 2008 11 13 Zoom Racing Lagoon Joypad in French No 89 France Yellow Media September 1999 p 114 Daxer Christian August 1999 Import Racing Lagoon Video Games in German No 93 Germany Future Verlag p 66 Flash Game Racing Lagoon Gamers in Portuguese No 42 Brazil Editora Escala June 1999 p 58 Famitsu Readers Voted Their Most Wanted Sequels PS3Hyper Archived from the original on August 4 2009 Retrieved May 5 2009 External links editOfficial website in Japanese Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Racing Lagoon amp oldid 1206666886, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
