Chrono Trigger DS: The Best of Each Era

Chrono Trigger is timeless. Wait, scratch that. Chrono Trigger is chock-full of time. In fact, time travel is a big part of the storyline. The main characters just can't stay in their own historical era. Likewise, the game itself has left a mark on several console generations.

Chrono Trigger first appeared on the SNES in 1995.  It was popular from the start, and is still regarded as one of the best Role-Playing Games for that system. In 2001, the Square Company ported Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy IV together for the PlayStation 1. Finally, in late 2008, the title made its handheld debut as Chrono Trigger DS.

For years, I anticipated the DS remake. I had a hunch that Square Enix would re-release Chrono Trigger again someday — sooner than Final Fantasy 7, at least. I waited fourteen years to play Chrono Trigger and I'm happy with my decision. By sacrificing the excitement of playing Chrono Trigger fresh upon release, I received an upgrade to the original with the choicest features of all three generations on a single DS cartridge.

SNES Era – the original

Before playing the DS version, I didn't know much about Chrono Trigger except that it was developed by a "Dream Team" of three Japanese designers. Back then, I thought the trio consisted of Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy series; Akira Toriyama, famous manga artist and character designer for the Dragon Quest games; and Nobuo Uematsu, the main composer for several Final Fantasy titles. As it turns out, I was off by one. Instead of Uematsu, the final member of the Dream Team was Yuuji Horii, a lead writer for Dragon Quest.

Nobuo Uematsu did in fact contribute to Chrono Trigger, but another composer named Yasunori Mitsuda made over 80% of the music. The soundtrack varies from fast and daring to haunting and dangerous. The standout songs are the various character themes. Each theme plays when its character is the center of attention, which helps associate the song to a personality and voice.

Aside from music, the characters are exemplified by their variety. From five different histories, the designers assembled the main party including a futuristic robot, a cavewoman from the ancient past, a gallant Frog Knight. The unique collection of heroes creates a diverse and cohesive team, both in and out of combat.
 

The battle system in Chrono Trigger focuses on the strength of teamwork. Your party can act individually or in unison with a Technique skill, which pools the strength of multiple characters together to unleash a more powerful attack. The system works well and has lots of variety. There are over 100 Techniques to learn between the seven playable characters.

My problem with the battle menu, however, stems from the abundance of attacks. There is no "quick scroll" feature when navigating the Technique or Item windows. Slowly scrolling through a long list of options is time-consuming and frustrating while fighting. Neither the L nor R button is used during combat, which is the perfect place for a Page Up or Page Down button.

Disregarding this small complication, Chrono Trigger is easy by JRPG standards. The hardest part is the micromanagement of your party in battle. If you have a dedicated healer, though, things should go smoothly. It's tough to run out of necessary items, since the enemies drop lots of money. The game progresses quickly, and level grinding is never an issue. I got lost for a few hours, and by the time I got back on the storyline, I was over-leveled for the rest of the game. On average, I leveled twice an hour. There is consistently a challenge and reward on the horizon, whether advancing your characters or the story.

Adventure is constantly on the horizon too – or on the wheel of time, perhaps. Throughout the story, your team bounces around chronology like a hyperactive kid on a pogo stick. With a complete disregard for reality-screwing paradoxes, your party will pop in and fiddle with every noteworthy moment in history to save the Land of Guardia from its biggest threat.

The main villain in Chrono Trigger is a giant parasite named Lavos. Each of Guardia's time periods has its own interpretation of the creature. For example, the people of the Middle Ages believe Lavos to be a demon summoned from Hell, while the age of Antiquity reveres Lavos as a powerful deity. Each of the time periods is fleshed out with its own dilemma that the heroes must right.

By far the most impressive aspect of Chrono Trigger's story is its numerous endings, of which there are thirteen in the DS version. The endings are distributed piecemeal throughout the storyline. While most of them are throwaway (a couple are just the credits with different presentation), they are nonetheless fun to search for and watch.

PS1 Era – the port 
 

I actually own the PS1 version of Chrono Trigger, so I can mention it with experience. I haven't played it for more than an hour, though, because it's a badly done remake. This version adds load times that weren't even in the original. Horrendous load times, like five seconds between fights, menus transitions and saving.

The PS1 port remains unplayable for me to this day, although it does have a couple of notable improvements. Akira Toriyama, character designer on Chrono Trigger, made a series of animé cutscenes, which were spliced in throughout the game. I'm not a fan of Toriyama's other animé work, but it was still interesting to see the usually pixelated characters move with animated fluidity. On top of this, a few of the songs were re-done as orchestral recordings. The PS1 version has some good in it, but not enough to warrant an entire playthrough.

DS Era – the refinement

Luckily for me, the DS version combines the SNES classic with the positive features of the PS1 port, and wraps it up with the functionality of a DS. The handheld factor is a comfort and the game looks great on the DS screen. The sharp resolution makes low detail, 16-bit textures pop. I was blown away the first time I saw the grass and water shimmer in the wind. The videos from the PS1 are there too. I'm amazed at how good full motion video can look on a single DS screen, despite the small size.
 

During gameplay, the double screens work like a charm. In a battle, one screen displays the action, while the other contains the fight menus. This setup leaves the main screen clutter-free. The touch screen is put to use especially well on the world map. All the normal menu choices, like Items, Equipment and Party, are laid out around the edges of the map screen. It was a blessing to simply tap the screen with my thumb and save the game. Chrono Trigger is a DS game that takes advantage of the system's capabilities in highly effective ways.

As for new content, Chrono Trigger DS throws us a new ending, a few new dungeons and a new multiplayer game called "Arena." Arena will be a throwaway feature for most users, but also an ok 5-minute time waster before booting up the real game. It's a one-on-one monster combat game, like a mix between Monster Rancher and Pokémon. You cannot choose from a diverse selection of creatures, but they do evolve. There is a move set at your disposal, but the options are only selectable through the use of items. Ultimately, Arena seems like a ditch effort to add multiplayer to the cartridge.

Despite a silly Arena mode, the DS version is the master copy of Chrono Trigger up to now. It trumps the initial remake in every way, and still contains the great game that first released on the SNES. Sure, it took me nearly a decade and a half to play Chrono Trigger, but I didn't lose much in the process. On the contrary, I gained quite a lot: improvements, new features and patience. Besides, it doesn't feel like much of a wait when dealing with a game that can travel through time.

(Originally posted on 1up.com)