Long ago, back in the 90’s when Seth Green had a girly haircut and we all used “rad!” to describe something cool, the 16-bit era was the golden age for gamers around the world. This fantastic RPG now considered to be one of the greatest of the genre was made, Chrono Trigger.
Squaresoft released this classic RPG for the Super Nes and later on made its way to the Playstation back in 1999, a version often criticized due to nasty loading times. So how does it feel to have a classic in a new generation console? Let’s find out!
Story
The year 1000AD, Lucca and her father are about to show at the local fair their new invention, a teleporter. Marle volunteers to test the device, it goes all wrong and she disappears into thin air.
Now Crono and company will travel in time, in search of Marle, meet new companions and start an adventure throughout the past, present and future, facing danger and a lot of menaces to defeat the ultimate evil, Lavos!
I’m afraid to say they never cross paths with Marty McFly nor Doctor Who, but still an amazing story most of us know and remember.
Gameplay
Chrono trigger is an RPG that was revolutionary for so many aspects; including time travel and how it influenced the game mechanics, the (back in the day) concept of multiple endings, playing with time paradoxes and what not.
The time travel mechanics influencing gameplay are unique; our heroes need a massive source of energy, they find one in the present, it’s depleted and will need hundreds of years to be recharged, they leave it in the past, travel to the distant future and they find it fully charged. That is, but one of many examples i can bring up in here, the developers played a lot with this and they landed the concept in a way that excelled.
The battle system was also unique letting you do special attack with 2 different characters, not to mention the diversity of characters to select and the build for each one of them. Unlike traditional RPG’s; this one did not have random encounters, was easy to spot moving bushes or places where enemies were waiting to ambush your character, some were easily avoidable and others not, this was something that made Chrono Trigger unique back in the day.
Squaresoft did a great job with the amount of choices at your disposal, including tons of customizables, which made this one of the iconic games of the genre, now dated compared to other titles ChronoTrigger still remains a winner!
Graphics 7/10
Before the overrated 3D… 2D sprites ruled, even so and after the years playing Chrono Trigger in glorious p2d pixel art, brings back memories and looks great just as it did back in the 90’s, with fantastic designs by Akira Toriyama’s Bird Studio.
Being a port from the Playstation we have the fantastic anime cutscenes Toei Animation, did for the videogame, simply Great!
If you like a game with an awesome retro feeling or care more for the excellent gameplay over graphics you won’t have a reason to complain.
Sound 7/10
What you can expect from a game made in the 16-bit era, no voice acting and sounds helped to set the mood and they did it quite right, priceless and evokes nostalgia.
Downside
This is of course a direct port from the Playstation 1 console and not the Super Nes, so the hatred for lengthy load times are there.
I truly love the anime cutscenes, but is a shame this release is an untouched port from the Playstation, meaning there will be issues with pixelation and the animations, do not shine properly as it should on HD, probably with some time put into development a HD treatment could have been fantastic.
Overall
I am glad to see a classic like this making a comeback, Chrono Trigger was amazing back in the 90’s and still is nowadays, proving not everything needs to be latest generation graphics to hook the players with a great story.
If you loved this RPG or if you never had the chance to play it before and you wonder, about the game everyone glorifies as one of the best in the genre, it’s a real bargain on the Playstation Network Store and you will not regret buying it.
If you cannot stand the load times you may want to go for the wiiware release which is direct Super NES port, if you don’t own a Wii, cannot afford or don’t want to invest in buying the original release then PSN is your best choice!
Chrono Trigger as a digital download is available for the Wii Virtual Console, the PlayStation Network, iOS and Android devices. So whatever your cup of tea is, you have no excuse not to play the game. Sadly the game is not available for the Sega Game Gear but oh well… Enjoy!
Giving the game an 8 out of 10
**A review code was provided by the publisher for this review
