Chrono Trigger was released on March 11, 1995, on the Super Nintendo. We are approaching 30 years since the initial release. The game was designed by famed video game personality Hironobu Sakaguchi, the “father of Final Fantasy”. The game was a smash hit critically, receiving glowing reviews from many of the outlets of the mid 90s. It also sold very well, becoming the second highest selling video game in 1995 in Japan.

Chrono Trigger is a legendary game and reviewing it is like reviewing a movie like Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. So, I am just going to provide my thoughts on specific things I liked the most.

What I liked

The Combat

Combat in Chrono Trigger is turn-based. But it isn’t a standard random encounter followed by a transition to a battle screen. Instead, encounters are always visible which allows you as the player to, for the most part, choose if you want to fight. In addition, once battle begins, you get into position and start the turn-based combat. No loading screen, no transition to a battle screen. This keeps the game feeling like it’s moving at a faster clip than other RPGs of this time and it’s much appreciated.

Another feature of the combat are the skills and combo moves. Each character has their own set of skills and spells that already provide lots of fun animations and deal significant damage. But Square added the ability to combine certain character’s powers together. These are called Dual (and even Triple) Techs. For example, Chrono, Marle and Lucca can combine their spells and perform Delta Force (sounds like a Chuck Norris movie, I know) which is a powerful Triple Tech that creates a triangle shaped beam that shoots down from the heavens. When you get to execute these moves, you feel an extreme sense of satisfaction that is hard to match in other RPGs.

Chrono Trigger uses an Active Time Battle system which I’ve recently learned is not well liked by some. I personally like it just fine, but I suppose that could be because I grew up on games like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI and ATB was a staple of those games.

Time Travel (You Invented a Time Machine…out of a Delorean?)

I love time travel stories. Back to the Future is one of my favorite movie series for that very reason. I love thinking about what would happen if we were actually able to travel through time. So, because Chrono Trigger has time travel, of course I would enjoy the story. One of our main characters, Lucca, ends up inventing a time machine that allows the player to travel backward and forward in time. We get to see the world as it is in 65 million BC but also in 2300 AD. In most RPGs, there is one world to explore. In Chrono Trigger, we technically get the same world but it’s so vastly different in each era that it feels like a handful of different worlds. In 65 million BC, there are active volcanos, dinosaurs and cavemen. In 2300 AD, the world is all but abandoned and there are robots and advanced technology. And, as if that wasn’t enough, the game treats us to the “End of Time” which is a location in which an old man resides. The party can travel to any time period from this hub location.

The Music

Nobuo Uematsu composed the score for this game. You may or may not know his name, but he was responsible for a lot of the amazing work done in the Final Fantasy series as well as a few lesser-known works such as Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. His partner on Chrono Trigger was Yasunori Mitsuda who is no slouch when it comes to video game score. Mitsuda’s name is attached to such legendary games as Xenogears, Shadow Hearts and Mario Party.

Chrono Trigger has one of those scores that are memorable, every track is great and hearing it takes you back to the exact scene where the music was played.

The titular song, “Chrono Trigger”, isn’t played until much later in the game. The players eventually get a vessel that they can use to hop through time. And so that song is sweeping and epic and urgent in its tone. But at the same time, it’s wonderous. The players are doing something that they haven’t been able to do up to this point.

On the flip side, “Peaceful Days” is one of the first songs you hear in the game. It’s serene and calm and sweet. The world is not in danger yet, Chrono is just a boy living in a town and excited about attending the Millennial Fair and spending some of his hard-earned money.

These are just two examples. The entire score is filled with memorable songs.

The Characters

There are technically seven playable characters in Chrono Trigger. Back when this game was new, I had never played an RPG that had that many playable characters outside of Final Fantasy VI. When you have that many characters, it can be challenging to make them all interesting and fun to play. But Chrono Trigger doesn’t appear to have an issue with this. Each of the characters are visually and narratively interesting thanks to really good writing but also masterful artwork provided by Akira Toriyama, the genius behind the visuals for the Dragonball Japanese anime series.

Chrono never speaks but this is on purpose. He is the player surrogate. You the player are Chrono in this game and thus you are meant to think for him and provide what few dialogue choices there are in the game.

Robo is a robot found in the far future. His story is quite painful. He was a robot made to help the existing population but the AI that controls the robots goes rogue and sends the robots to attack the humans. Robo, being a unique robot, goes against this protocol and is taken out. Years later, Lucca ends up repairing Robo and he joins the party. But the kind robot still struggles with helping humans and putting an end to the AI that caused the uprising.

Another great character is Frog, aka Glenn. This isn’t your fairy tale Toad Prince story. Glenn was a knight who was turned into a frog by the wizard Magus (a character you end up having the option to recruit, by the way). Glenn struggles with guilt, regret and revenge throughout.

All of the character arcs are good but the above are just a couple of examples of the depth of character that is on display in this game.

What I didn’t like

Before I started writing this post, I seriously tried to think of one thing that I didn’t like about Chrono Trigger. Try as I might, I honestly couldn’t think of anything. If you are like me and you enjoy JRPGs, I really think you will have the same trouble. It’s a legendary game for a reason, after all.

What would I change?

• Go back in time and make Square develop Chrono Trigger 2. For such a great game, there’s no reason why this wasn’t a franchise of games. All we got was Chrono Cross, which is a fine game, but we should have much more at this point. Geez…

Did you/have you played Chrono Trigger? Is it a game that is near and dear to your heart or is it just another RPG?