Presentation
Despite its release in 1995 Chrono Trigger still stands as one of the greatest games in terms of presentation in the SNES library, let alone the 16-bit generation. Square Enix were able to take the awesome sprite work of Final Fantasy 6 a step further, increasing the size and number of animations. For god sakes even the tiny field sprites have a number of animations! The time travel hook allows the exploration of the same environment in different periods and is put to great effect. Seeing how the world progresses from the prehistoric era to the magic age of 12000 B.C. all the way to the future i astounding and the variety never lets up. There are a number of scenes that have been burned into videogame history; the court room is one, the magic kingdom of Zeal is another. If there were one word I could use to sum up the backgrounds it would be “picturesque”.
The spell effects use nearly every trick in the SNES arsenal and stretch that color palette to the limit. Mode 7, color cycling, transparency, there’s shit going on that I can’t even describe. And the dual and triple techs take it step further. I can guarantee every time you learn a new spell you’ll initiate battles just to see what crazy effect will get thrown around.
The soundtrack is simply put one of the finest crafted in gaming history. Every theme matches the scene and tone perfectly, from the somber to the upbeat. The fast paced battle music matches the flow of combat perfectly, and the boss battle music is epic in tone. The individual character themes as well do an excellent job of summing up their personalities. There are far too many instances where I lingered in an area just because I didn’t want the music to end. I can’t say enough good things, so I’ll just say that composers Yasunori Mitsuda and Nobuo Uematsu truly outdid themselves.
In closing
It’s one of the greatest games ever made, let alone one of the best RPGs of all time. There is something for everyone, a great story, graphics, music, and more replay value than you can imagine. Absolutely no one should miss out on one of the video game industry’s finest gems. With its numerous re-releases in recent years now is the time for everyone to experience history at its best.
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