MobyGames Classic: Chrono Trigger

MobyGames.com Classic returns with the Chrono Trigger, the beloved 1995 role-playing game for the SNES that has since seen numerous re-releases on multiple platforms.

22

Chrono Trigger is widely regarded as one of the best classic Japanese role-playing games ever made, due in no small part to its time-travelling storyline with multiple endings, memorable characters, and epic scope. Since its release on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995, the game has been ported to several other platforms, including the DS, PlayStation, and iPhone OS.

Today we add 1995's classic role-playing title Chrono Trigger to our growing list of video game classics, presented by MobyGames.com.

"Chrono Trigger masterfully uses the time traveling concept, which constantly keeps the game fresh, exciting, and fun," writes MobyGames reviewer Unicorn Lynx, who also notes that the game's story "has quite some twists up its sleeve, and a good deal of non-linearity."

The game also earns it's classic status for its ability to win over those who aren't typically enamored with the genre, as evidenced by Mattias Kreku's MobyGames review. "I usually stay away from anything resembling manga or anime in an RPG," he writes. "Because every such game I've played has been a dumbed down, linear affair with lots of badly translated, boring dialogue and a really screwed up and unintelligible story." For him, Chrono Trigger stands above the rest. "The story and game world are among the best I've ever seen and the characters are believable enough for you to start liking them," he concludes.

Yet another review on MobyGames by Little Yoda, also highlights the charm of Chrono Trigger's 16-bit art style. "As is indicated by famed Akira Toriyama's art direction," he says, "the game's overall style is humorous and cartoony and, while never taking itself too serious, leaves some room for drama."

Tell Us Your Stories! We want to hear about your experiences with Chrono Trigger. Tell us your stories. Why did you love it? What drove you crazy? Remember it fondly with us in the comments below. We'll select some of your thoughts and memories and add it to a Weekend Update to this feature.

Chrono Trigger on MobyGames.com

Chrono Trigger is a Japanese-style role-playing game in which a young man named Crono goes to the Millennial Fair, where his friend Lucca intends to demonstrate her newest scientific invention: a teleporter. Upon his arrival, Crono meets a young girl named Marle, who volunteers to be the first to test Lucca's new device. However, Marle's pendant influence the teleporter's mechanism in a mysterious way, and she is teleported four hundred years into the past. Crono and Lucca quickly recreate the time portal and follow Marle. They find out that her unexpected appearance in the past has created some confusion, and proceed to fix the error. This leads to unforeseen consequences, eventually compelling the heroes to travel to different time periods and change the history of the world.


    MobyGames Classic is our chance to look back at the games that helped shape the video game industry with the help of our sister site MobyGames.com. It combines a short history lesson on the title and anecdotes from the Shacknews community.

    Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group. 

    From The Chatty
    • reply
      December 14, 2011 4:30 PM

      Shack Staff posted a new article, Moby Games Classic: Chrono Trigger.

      MobyGames.com Classic returns with the Chrono Trigger, the beloved 1995 role-playing game for the SNES that has since seen numerous re-releases on multiple platforms.

      • reply
        December 14, 2011 6:08 PM

        That music still gives me chills.

        • reply
          December 14, 2011 6:11 PM

          Same here. Just one of the many things that made this one a great game.

        • reply
          December 14, 2011 6:51 PM

          which is why on iOS it's 500mb of lossless audio

      • reply
        December 14, 2011 6:13 PM

        I love the iphone port save for 2 things - sometimes I miss the tiny arrows to change enemies (why didn't they just let me touch the one I want to attack?) and the music is from the DS version, which is 'slightly' altered.

        • reply
          December 14, 2011 6:48 PM

          am debating buying it. How does it scale up to the iPad?

        • reply
          December 14, 2011 7:01 PM

          Sucks they didn't include the original SNES music

          • reply
            December 14, 2011 8:23 PM

            It's pretty damn close. Only a few tracks are noticeable, and unless you really know them (ie like me) you probably won't even notice

        • reply
          December 14, 2011 8:09 PM

          [deleted]

          • reply
            December 14, 2011 8:22 PM

            Oh you can swipe? That makes more sense then, thanks.

            It's really not that big of a deal, combat is easy enough for me. Only some bosses need you to even target. The original also had some issues with hitting left/right and ending up somewhere random, so that's nothing new. I just kept trying to hit the arrows heh

      • reply
        December 14, 2011 6:35 PM

        Oh, Hai! I didn't know Mobygames was under the Gamefly umbrella. Was this a relatively recent occurrence or did I just not notice, all the times i went there?

      • reply
        December 14, 2011 6:49 PM

        This was my favourite RPG until Mass Effect came along.

      • reply
        December 14, 2011 7:29 PM

        I'm 14 hours into my first ever Chrono Trigger playthrough and am loving it.

      • reply
        December 14, 2011 7:51 PM

        would it hold up for someone without nostalgia? JRPG is the worst genre but i want to see what all the hype is about

      • reply
        December 14, 2011 8:07 PM

        Chrono is second in my mind to Final Fantasy 6, but we're talking a cunt hair's length between the two. I just got my hands on ff6 1st, so it has that special place.

        I think a person could own Final Fantasy 6 & Chrono Trigger and say they own the 2 greatest rpgs from that console era.

        The time-travel mechanic was beautiful, leaving stuff in the past to pick up better in the future, and the whole Magus/Frog dynamic and that descent into the Lavos chamber, the music, the fires lighting up....

        • reply
          December 14, 2011 8:25 PM

          Chrono edges out ahead a bit for me, as I have a hard time picking out parts of the game I wouldn't replay. Whereas in FFVI there are a few blah spots in the world of ruin that hurt the pacing big time. In fact many times I replay it I don't even finish.

          • reply
            December 14, 2011 8:28 PM

            For me, I think CT's first trip to the future and FF6's first big party split are the parts that just stop me dead half the times I've tried to replay.

            • reply
              December 14, 2011 9:06 PM

              Exactly the same for me with the 1st trip to the future. The party split in 6 didn't bother me though, getting my ass kicked by ultros and literally going in circles forever before I understood how to play RPGs

        • reply
          December 14, 2011 8:28 PM

          Both are great games, but there's also fantastic stuff we never got in English like Seiken Densetsu 3, Star Ocean, Tales of Phantasia, Dragon Quest 5 and 6, probably some others I'm forgetting.

      • reply
        December 14, 2011 8:56 PM

        Only one other game so consumed my teenage years (Final Fantasy 6). What strikes me most about this game is just how well it holds up, now ~15 years since its release. I played the DS version last summer, and it feels like it's only gotten better. The fantastically varied story, the charming characters, and the (still!) amazing soundtrack work together to create a game that is about as close as this industry gets to timeless. Even better is just how replayable it is! All RPGs should have New Game+ options, and I wish more games with multiple endings would go as far as Chrono Trigger does to make each of ending so divergent from the others.

        I wonder if this is the kind of game that simply couldn't be made today--it's so big, it has so many ways to branch the content, and it's so simple to play.

      • reply
        December 14, 2011 9:03 PM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        December 14, 2011 11:48 PM

        played this game about six years ago, at nineteen or twenty, and it kind of changed my life. was never really interested in RPGs before this, but i've been obsessing over anything chrono-related since then, and have gone on to play and love several titles in the final fantasy series as well. so it's definitely a gateway drug. the most rewarding thing about it is the way you see your actions affecting the world. you grow to care about the characters, so it feels good when you make their lives better. if you haven't played this game, do it, and absolutely do all of the side quests -- they're the best part!

      • reply
        December 15, 2011 2:08 AM

        I'd love to give square my 10 dollars for this, but apparently my iphone 3g is too old to run a SUPER NINTENDO GAME.

        Sigh.

        • reply
          December 15, 2011 7:19 AM

          It's not a super nintendo game though, since it's not emulated. Even if it looks blurry/smoothed it's running in retina resolution for the font and menus.

          • reply
            December 19, 2011 12:40 PM

            Ok that's fair, but it still makes no sense that I can run a 3D rpg like Chaos Rings but not this.

      • reply
        December 15, 2011 7:18 AM

        [deleted]

        • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
          reply
          December 15, 2011 7:35 AM

          I hope they get better as they go because there have been so many infuriating moments so far. I get that they've never played Chrono Trigger before, but Ryan is just plain terrible at JRPGs.

    Hello, Meet Lola