There are games that age. And then there's Chrono Trigger, which the years seem to give a wide berth. When Square released this title on the Super Nintendo in 1995, it assembled the so-called Dream Team: writer Hironobu Sakaguchi (Final Fantasy), creative mind Yuji Horii (Dragon Quest), and artist Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball). On the Nintendo DS it returned in 2008 in a carefully carried-over version that supplemented the original marvel with touch controls and two new dungeon locations.
The story follows a band of heroes who accidentally tumble through time and discover that in the distant future the planet faces destruction. Traveling through the eras isn't just scenery but the very heart of the game: an intervention in one century changes the world in another, and the characters visit prehistory, the Middle Ages, and a post-apocalyptic future. Battles play out without a transition to a special screen, right there in the field, and their highlight is the Techs, combined attacks in which two or three characters join their spells into flashy displays of teamwork.
The hallmark that keeps Chrono Trigger remembered with reverence to this day is its system of many endings. The game can be finished at various stages, and depending on when and how you defeat the final enemy, you get one of many epilogues. Tied to this was the then-unusual New Game Plus mode, which let you start over with your accumulated experience. This willingness to experiment made the title a textbook example of how playful and generous the JRPG genre can be.
The artistic side carries Toriyama's unmistakable signature, and Yasunori Mitsuda's music ranks among the most-cited soundtracks in gaming history. The DS version also brought translated dialogue and a polished localization, thanks to which the game reached a new generation of players. For many critics and players it is one of the best JRPGs ever made, and the handheld version is today regarded as one of the most approachable ways to reach it.
Chrono Trigger, in short, remains a benchmark. It showed that a story-driven game can be both dense and lighthearted, technically daring and humanly warm. And that a trio of geniuses, when you give them a free hand, can create a work that outlives its creators and the consoles it was made for.
Why play: One of the highest-rated JRPGs of all time, on the DS with touch controls and bonus content. An ideal gateway into the genre and a treasure for veterans.
Game 17 of 150 for Nintendo DS
