Chrono Trigger is widely regarded as one of the best games of all time, and now, nearly 14 years after its original release on the Super Nintendo, it is now available for the Nintendo DS. The new game has portability, a fresh script and some extras, but it is still the same masterpiece it was during the early 1990s.
Time travel is at the core of Chrono Trigger’s plot. Three children from the year 1000 named Crono, Marle and Lucca discover that a cataclysm will occur in 1999, transforming the planet into a bleak version of its former prosperity. These three youths travel through the ages and recruit comrades from different time periods to find the origin of the 1999 catastrophe and prevent it from occurring. Eventually, your team includes a prehistoric cave girl, a medieval knight cursed to a froggy form and a heavily-armed robot.
Chrono Trigger’s basic gameplay elements boil down to those of a typical role playing game — you control a team of heroes, traveling across world maps and through dungeons and occasionally pausing to engage in combat with enemies. Chrono Trigger sets itself apart from similar games with its colorful, varied environments and lack of battle cut scenes that would otherwise break the game’s flow. Combat does not begin at random intervals as it does for many RPGs; Chrono Trigger positions foes at specific points, making many fights avoidable or at least sensible. Managing characters’ equipment and techniques is all done with clean interfaces that are easily understood and accessible.
This combination of an engaging storyline, appealing characters and streamlined gameplay made Chrono Trigger a favorite of many SNES owners in the 1990s. While in production, Japanese gaming giant Square Co. referred to Chrono Trigger as “The Dream Project.” The Chrono Trigger team was a coalition between the writer and artist of rival company Enix’s popular Dragon Quest video game series and several veterans of Square’s own Final Fantasy series. In this respect, Chrono Trigger could be considered the first Square-Enix game, despite its release eight years prior to the merger of the two companies. The new DS version of the game has succeeded both critically and financially in large part because of the nostalgia shared by Chrono Trigger’s large fan base. An earlier port of CT for the Sony PlayStation was criticized for long load times and a lack of worthwhile changes. Chrono Trigger DS has no noticeable load times and adds some new bonus material to the main game — an arena for training monsters Pokémon-style, plus a few extra dungeons that yield useful new equipment. The DS port also completely retranslates Chrono Trigger’s English script. A new secret ending also adds plot information that helps tie the events of Chrono Trigger to its 2000 PlayStation sequel Chrono Cross.
The new material in Chrono Trigger DS, while entertaining, is an afterthought. The real draw is the original game itself — not its new dialogue or extra features. If you want to experience or re-experience one of the greatest RPGs ever made, here’s your chance. 3
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