Chrono Trigger - Review

Chrono Trigger

By: Jade Falcon

Review Breakdown
Battle System	10
Interface	10
Music/Sound	10
Originality	10
Plot	9
Localization	9
Replay Value	10
Visuals	10
Difficulty	Very Easy
Time to Complete	5-40 hours
Overall
Criteria

   Chrono Trigger. Let's break down that name, shall we? Chron(o) = Time. Trigger = Something that causes a reaction. I'd say this is one of the greatest reactions that ever came into being. This game is my most favorite game of all time (like that means anything), even outdoing FF6 (which I actually found extremely boring). Square, why can't you make any more games like this?

    The battle system in this game started a trend of innovative battle systems. Instead of having annoying, random battles where you have no idea when you're getting into one, the enemies appear on the screen in CT and you have a choice of battling them or not, for the most part. Another innovation, which almost no other games have, is the Double and Triple Tech. This combines a tech of two or three characters. While it made the a whole lot easier, it still is a great thing to have in a battle.

   This is the first game made by Square that incorporated an equip screen in shops. This helped the annoying task of closing the shop, re-equipping members, and selling off the old crap. The menus are very compact and functional, doing a whole lot with no excess stuff which is not really needed. The controls, as with almost all RPGs, are very responsive. You can walk in eight directions as opposed to FF6's four directions.

CT: Taking you to the past...

   All hail the great Mitsuda! His compositions are so great in CT that I actually bought a soundtrack and piano book for. Each piece of music fits the mood perfectly. Whether it is fighting Magus or running around at the fair, the music is there. Sound effects are excellent for a 16-bit game. The cat is cute and the enemies are somewhat frightening and ugly. It's exactly how it should be.

   This game had so much stuff that was new in 1995. The New Game + gave replay a whole new name with the ability to start of with previous stats and items and the ability to attain new endings. It was this that made it very popular from the get-go. Also, the battle system, as stated before was innovative with its techs. Also, time travel was the focus of the game, which it brought out excellently. Time travel had never been used before, and it should be used more often.

   If you don't know what happens in CT, you've been sleeping in a cave, but here goes. You start off as Crono in Truce Village in 1000 AD, living a perfectly good life. When you go to the Millennial Fair, you bump into Marle. You walk around a bit until you meet Lucca and her Teleport device. When Marle gets on, she's flung to a different time period. Think of it as Temporal Pinball. You gather a group of sev... *achem* six persons to defeat the planetary parasite, Lavos.

   Translation was top-notch in CT. It was the best-translated game of its time, with good localization. Square didn't distance you from what was happening by keeping in Japanese traditions, but replacing them with more American ones.

...To the present...

   With some 10-15 endings and the New Game +, replay is also top-notch. You could go on for years getting each ending, or going for ** (100) in all stats, and still have lots of fun doing it. I've been through the game about 20 times, and I still have fun playing it.

CT featured the best graphics for any SNES game ever. That with Mr. Toriyama, the famed DBZ animator doing character designs, presented an awesome spectacle for the eyes to take in. My favorite piece of visual in this game is the triple tech "Omega Flare." It's just awesome.

This is the only part of the game that lacks. It isn't very difficult, even the first time through. I took about 15 hours, with most of the secret items, to complete it the first time. It may only take you 5-10 hours to go through everything in New Game +, but of course, you have everything.

...and the future. What a classic.

If only all games were like this, I would buy every one of them. Go to your local EB or GameCo or FuncoLand or whatever and get you a copy if you don't have one. Who cares if you have to pay $80 or more? It's worth it. Now if only Square would release the PSX remake...