ravinglunatic's Full Review: Chrono Trigger for PlayStation 1
I find it odd that the only place to review Chrono Trigger was under PSX, which is only available in Japan, or N64, which they never made the game for. The graphics have been cleaned up a little for the PSX release, with new cut scenes, which are great. If you don't want to import this game just to watch the cut scenes, you can download them at http://www.gaming-intelligence.com/snes/ct/ctmedia2.html.
Graphics
The graphics are some of the best ever released on the SNES, however they can't really hold up to the newer games of today. But the background graphics are still very beautiful, and I prefer this 2D look then many of the new 3D RPGs that are around today. The artist who designed Dragon Ball actually did much of the art for this game and it really shows. The characters are designed very well, and you can actually see what a character is like just by his appearance. The artwork in the new cut scenes are gorgeous, though I wouldn't really suggest importing the game just to see them.
Sound
The sound effects are OK in this game, but nothing really extraordinary, but the music is some of the best music I have listened to in a game. I especially loved Frog's theme, and I have actually downloaded much of the music from this game.
Gameplay
The gameplay is fairly fun, using the standards of most RPGs with a couple of extra features thrown in. On of these "new" features is being able to use double or triple attacks that require multiple party members to use. This has actually been done, before, but not successfully. Another great feature is the ability to avoid enemies. You can actually see the enemies ahead of time and avoid fighting with them, but sometimes they are unavoidable. The game is very easy to learn, and doesn't require that much knowledge to be able to use the system effectively. The New Game + feature is probably my favorite feature of the game. It allows you to take the character that you beat the game with, and import him back into the beginning, allowing you to view many different endings, including the very cool "programmers ending" which is done at the very beginning with only Crono and Marle. There are about 15 endings, a few with slight variations, and I have seen most of them, and most are very funny. The biggest problem is that the game is too easy. One problem, that is in many console games today, is that you cannot save whenever you want, but you must find a save point. This is one advantage PCs have over most console games, and I think developers for console games should give the player more power with this.
Overall
This is probably my favorite RPG to date. The character development is great, the gameplay is fun, the multiple endings really increase the replay value, and the music is near perfection. I strongly recommend this game to anyone that loves RPGs.
Storyline
The storyline is more character driven than plot driven, though it does have some heavy plot driven parts. The character development is done very well, and you start really liking the characters. The overall story really isn't that amazing, but the characters are what make it fun to play. Here's the basic story:
It is 1000 AD, and there is a fair going on near your house. You meet a girl, Marle, that wants to hang out with you, and you go with her to meet your friend, Lucca, who is an inventor who just created a teleportation device. When Marle uses the device, she disappears. You follow her, and end up in the past. You have to play the game to find out what happens after that, but it is a fairly good storyline that could have been improved.
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