Chrono Trigger

"THE Classic RPG Experience"

I've been a hard-core gamer since 1983. My gaming goes back to the Atari 2600 and before. I've seen a lot of good games and a lot of bad ones. Mark it down, to date Chrono Trigger is one of the best games that I have ever played.

If you have never played this game and were reading through the reviews to try and see if going through the trouble of getting an original SNES copy or Final Fantasy Chronicles for the PSX is really going to be worth it, I will tell you to get the game and play it today. This is one of the best games that has ever come out, on any platform. I have only played a few games that comes close to this games greatness. Final Fantasy 7 is one game that is in this game's category of greatness. Zelda: Link to the Past is another.

Please keep in mind that this game was released in 1995, so if you are totally turned off by old-school graphics and game play, you will probably be disappointed in the end. But if you are able to overcome these factors and see the game for what it is, you'll be happy you spent the money, (or borrowed your friend's copy).

Graphics: For its day, awesome. My mouth literally dropped when I was taken into Chrono's room in the first scene of the game. Colorful, bright textures and detail, detail, detail. The characters were drawn by the same guy that developed the Dragon Ball Z series, and works right into the game. One thing I like about the game is that it is not overly dark in its presentation, you get the feeling that some RPG's try to "spook" you. But CT doesn't. In fact, I greatly prefer the way CT presents itself, somewhere between monsters and beating up your sister's stuffed animal ... never mind. Just play it and you'll see what I'm talking about. Added, most of the enemies do funny things when they are hit. So do your allies. Final Fantasy III, (6), comes close but does not achieve the level of CT. Also, the Chronicles version has cartoon quality cut scenes as you progress through different parts of the story. My personal favorite is when Frog .... oh, sorry, I almost blew a part of the game. I'll let you play it to see if you agree. The one thing that I like about cart version better is the opening scenes of the game before you actually start the game. Added, the SNES cart doesn't have the load problems of the PSX. I guess it's whatever you dislike the most. If it were me, I would prefer the SNES cart, but that's just me.

Story: Granted, this is a let's come together to save the world theme, but the story really does pull you in and keep you interested. The characters are memorable and each plays a role. Like most RPG's, some things that you do in the game will have a negative or positive outcome in your fun of playing. I will tell you right now that you can put Magus into your list of allies and use his attacks and Techs in the game, if you do things right. But, you cannot use Duel Techs with Magus. Techs are explained later in this review.

Music: It's my personal opinion that this game has the best soundtrack of any SNES game, and it probably better than 98% of games even produced today. I have personally loaded several songs of this game on my computer and listen to them while I work on a regular basis. A little nerdy, you say. Maybe. But I'm a gamer to the core, and the producers of the game spent a lot of time putting together the music/themes. In fact, the thing I probably love about this game more than anything else is the level of attention to each detail of the game: nothing was "thrown" together. There is no fluff. Each character has their own theme, and not a bad one in the lot. Themes go from moody, cheerful and downright catchy. One nice thing about the version on Chronicles is that after you complete the game, you can listen to the music through a saved file. The files grow as you get more and more of the different endings. No joke, it's that good.

The sounds of each Tech being preformed is very good also. You will want to turn up your surround sound when the Techs start rolling.

Control: Control is very good. Basic eight directional SNES. You can choose different types of setups for your battle system. You can even choose the option of the game remembering your last command/Tech so that you don't have to go through the whole menu thing each time you fight. You can choose the Active Time Battle System or the wait and choose method of fighting. Go with the Active Time. It's much better.

Game Play: Simply put, very cool and a ton of fun. Absolutely the best part of this outstanding game. Standard Final Fantasy type of set up with a time gauge and attack, defend or item. That's where the similarities end. After each battle, you earn experience and tech points. The tech points build to enable Tech Skills for each character. As the other characters enter the game and you are fighting together, a Tech Skill will eventually develop using Tech Skills from both characters, called a Duel Tech. One thing that is overlooked in this game is that before a battle starts, you can usually see the enemy. When the battle begins, your characters do not line up, Final Fantasy style. They stay on the screen where they are. Fighting becomes two dimensional as if you have a Tech that hits multiple enemies, your position actually matters. Also, if you are standing right next to your enemy, your attack on them will change if you have a long-range weapon.

Every character has a different type of weapon that does different things. Eventually, you will get to the point to where you can envoke a Triple Tech, using the Tech Skills of three allies. Some Triple Techs can only work if an ally has a certain relic attached. The movement and sounds of the Techs are very cool and sometimes funny. That's another thing I love about this game, it doesn't take itself too seriously. 16 different endings will keep you playing for quite a while, and the New Game + feature allows you to keep all your experience and Tech Skills from your previous saved / completed game. I haven't even talked about the mini-games and side quests or hard to get weapons. As with all games this good, play through it one time with no helps, hints. Then after doing that, gets the cheats and all the cool weapons to beat down the enemy to a pulp, and work your way back through the game in a breeze. By the way, my favorite relic is the Gold Stud, cutting your magic usage by 75%. Very cool.

I had to include this, another nice thing about CT is that the Tech's dooo notttttt takkkkkke forrrrrrrevvverrrr tooooooo dooooooooo. This is my biggest gripe about Final Fantasy 7. The first time, OK, that's pretty cool. After the 50th time of watching it, you're heading for the kitchen to grab a drink and coming back to see if the Summon is over.

To sum up, I have probably put more hours into Chrono Trigger than any other game I have ever played. In my opinion, there are four games that everyone should take some time to enjoy from the SNES: Zelda: Link to the Past, Donkey Kong Country, Final Fantasy III (6) and Chrono Trigger. Maybe I should also include Final Fantasy V (5), which I think may actually be better than Final Fantasy III (6). There are obviously lots of very good games that came out for the SNES, but these are the elite.

P.S. - To be fair, no game is totally perfect. I suppose that the bosses could be a little harder; and the FF Chronicles version has a pretty slow battle loading time. There, I was somewhat unbiased about it! If you can get the SNES cart, go for it!!!

Ok, ok, I will give you one very useful hint. At the beginning of the game at the Millennial Fair, play the game where you have to mimic the clone of Chrono. Keep playing until you win. I won't reveal why this is so helpful, but you'll just have to take my word for it. If not, you'll "pay" in the end.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/12/05