GRAPHICS
First off, let's acknowledge that today's
technology far surpasses that of the 32-bit SNES hit. But, for its time,
Chrono Trigger had great graphics. The battle animations were good and
the character sprites were very characteristic. Who can forget Crono's
spiky red hair or Ayla's playful tail? Some of the animations in this
game probably lived on in future Squaresoft games and the eventual
Square-Enix ones. The enemy sprites were fairly well-developed, as well.
There weren't any enemies that received less attention than the
characters: Azala, Masamune, and Giga Gaia are all well-known enemies in
the RPG world. The landscape was also created well: the ruins of the
future had the right damaged look to them as the low fog hung over the
world, the Millennium Fair at the start of the game held that festive,
vibrant atmosphere, and the Kingdom of Zeal held that spectacular
magical quality that is so well reflected in the people. Chrono Trigger
was probably one of the best-looking video games for the SNES other than
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and the Donkey Kong trilogy.
The only problems I had with the game were the lack of different weapons
shown. Though the attacks looked different, Crono's sword was the only
weapon to visually change and even then it only changed color. Though,
looking at everything else, it's easy to excuse this problem.

GAMEPLAY
Chrono
Trigger has an easy system to understand. Though there are very few
tutorials to learn, they are unnecessary for the player to understand
how controls work.

Battle System (5/5): The battle system was one
of the first games to introduce the concept of touching enemies in
order to enter a battle. Players could even avoid some fights if they
were sneaky enough. The battles did not change to a different screen,
either, which is much different from the commonly used Final Fantasy
battle system. Rather, the characters assumed a battle formation to
fight the enemies they ran into. Picky as I am, I considered it a shame
that the characters could not assume different battle formations for
different effects, much like Breath of Fire III. On the other hand,
Chrono Trigger more than made up for it with an ability called Combine
that allowed characters to put together their tech skills into single,
more powerful attacks. For example, Crono can learn Cyclone, an attack
that hits a group of enemies. After Lucca learns Flame Toss, the two of
them can combine their abilities for a more powerful Fire Whirl, an
attack that hits a group of enemies with a fire element. It can even be
done with the full party of three characters. Sometimes it becomes
necessary to learn the combination techniques in order to defeat some of
the more challenging foes. Unfortunately, as the player scrolls through
his/her choices, enemies can attack at will. Their attacks can vary
depending on the range; yes, that's right, the enemies can be at
different distances from the characters. And, to make things even far
more unique, the enemies wander around the screen, much like a
combination of Final Fantasy and Star Ocean's battle systems. Again, I
must point out that it would have been more ingenious to have the
ability for the characters to move about the screen, but I'm sure it
would have been much harder to program the already complex battle
system. Though the enemies can move about, you also have the wonderful
option of choosing whether enemies can attack you while you're moving
through your techniques or items. After all, it becomes quite annoying
if a player is down to one character and, just as he chooses to use a
revive, the enemy kills off his last character. Believe me, I've been in
the same situation in several games. Unfortunately, if you choose for
enemies not to attack, it also means the ATB gauge for other characters
also doesn't fill. Yes, that's right; the Active Time Battle gauge
commonly found in Final Fantasy is once again utilized. The last part I
want to point out is the idea of tech points. You see, techniques are
not learned through experience/levels; rather, they are learned by
achieving a certain amount of tech points per technique. And, sometimes,
more experience does not mean more tech points, so technique learning
can sometimes occur separately from level raising. Wrapping up the
battle system, the only major complaints I have seem to be that,
regardless of where the characters are, they can always attack enemies.
Sometimes the enemies are out of range of the characters and the
characters can still walk up, attack an enemy standing on a cliff
seemingly out of their reach, and jump back out of range of the enemy.
Kinda cheap if you ask me. But, then again, there are countless other
spectacular parts of the battle system that dwarf these considerations.
After all, if you have to seriously think about the placement of the
characters and the attack formations of the enemies when they are
unnecessary for the battle to be won, it's a bit overkill.

Menu
System (4/5): Then there is the menu system. Oftentimes a player will
play two different RPGs and discover the menus to be remarkably similar.
Unfortunately, Chrono Trigger is one of them. The menu holds all the
basics: Characters and what is equipped, items, save, party change,
techs, configuration...you know, the works. Fortunately for Square, they
managed to make Chrono Trigger's unoriginal menu unique with
alterations to its looks; it no longer presents the common party/menu
combination, but an overview menu with the different choices viewed
behind it. A bit confused? You'll see what I mean if you play the game.
Believe me, the developers definitely tidied the menu up. Ignoring the
unoriginality, though, like most RPGs, the menu gets the job done and is
effective for the fresh player or the ancient Chrono Trigger fan (like
myself).

Gameplay (10/10): Of course, nothing in the game matters
if you can't PLAY it. Chrono Trigger manages to make the game fun in
this aspect. The handling is wonderful; the characters are not
constricted to single tile movement like Final Fantasy, but not the
completely free movement available in Zelda: LttP. In Chrono Trigger,
complete free movement is unnecessary, but the semi-free movement
presents a more realistic atmosphere for the player. The characters move
across a series of three different sprites as they move. Then there's
the ability to run; unlike other games, running does not threaten pincer
or back attacks. Instead, it is just an easier way to get from place to
place. Though it seems unrealistic for a character to run for long
periods of time, let's face it: the developers didn't want players to
become bored walking forever to get to places. Some players could care
less about battles and just run into them, fight, and continue on at a
sprint. The game is more intended for the characters to run and the
option to have them walk in careful situations. I must say that this is
perhaps the best game put out by Square for the SNES in terms of
player-control. I mean, sure, Final Fantasy had great control, but
nothing compared to the near-perfection in Chrono Trigger. Dialogue is
also optional in some ways; unless it is necessary for the storyline to
proceed, characters can usually speak to a NPC and walk off in the
middle of the dialogue. It is much more realistic than having to stand
there and listen to the whole conversation. The dialogue even cuts off
if the character walks a certain distance away from the NPC. Lastly,
Chrono Trigger uses the less commonly used caterpillar system; that is,
the other characters in the party follow the leader. It's quite
interesting to watch characters move about in the same manner as the
leader and can even become irritating after some time, but it makes
interaction much more realistic. I mean, what gamer hasn't questioned
the idea of having characters appear and disappear inside the leader to
show their evident presence? Other than the small things I noticed, the
gameplay is great for a SNES game. I'd play Chrono Trigger before I'd
play anything for the PS2.

MUSIC
Let me tell you why
Chrono Trigger got a 15/15 in seven words: Nobuo Uematsu composed part
of its music. Now, with that point out of the way, let me tell you
specifically about the music, mostly in consideration of the fact that
some gamers have not heard of this famous composer. Put in the Chrono
Trigger cartridge. Turn the power ON. Watch the opening pendulum scene.
Now, wait about fifteen seconds. What happens? The scene shifts to a
view of a wonderful island in the sky city-like place with one of the
best pieces of music ever created. The main theme to Chrono Trigger is
one of power, confidence, and legend. The music pulls you into the story
and the characters. It's vibrant chords and certain drum beats pound
out the heart of the game and introduce the player to different views of
the game. Then, to make things better, after starting the game, Crono
awakens to a beautiful soft melody that makes the player want to wake
up, as well. From there the music takes on the many faces of the game.
Frog's Theme reflects the noble and loyal characteristics of the
character, Magus's Theme reflects the shady and confident
characteristics, and the light piano tune that plays at the End of Time
reflects the very idea of coming to the end of all things. The music is
phenomenal and, even more amazing, is the fact that it was all done with
the restrictions of the SNES. The music is appropriate in all the right
places; I don't think I can pinpoint a place in the game ANYWHERE where
the music does not fit. It is most certainly one of the most memorable
parts of the game. For Chrono Trigger fans who have not played Chrono
Cross yet, do so. Now. You will suffer from nostalgia after an hour or
so into the game. Anyway, Chrono Trigger just seems absolutely flawless
in the music department. The only complaint I have is that some music is
heard only once or twice throughout the whole game (like the ending, To
Faraway Times). In that case, I recommend getting the OSV. Do not get
the Playstation version; you will not get the full effect. Oh, yes. The
music is wonderful. Case closed.

STORY
There's gotta
be a bad part to the game, right? I mean, so far the game in phenomenal,
so the story must be terrible. Nope. Sorry, but I can't go along with
that. First of all, Chrono Trigger begins the game with a bang. Crono
awakens in his home, chats with his mother, greets his cat, and then
rushes to the Millennium Fair, a celebration in honor of the coming
millennium, 1000 A.D. Along the way, he can visit the town, go to the
nearby castle, and fight monsters in the forest. Sounds fairly boring?
Most gamers would be disappointed that it doesn't begin in some dire
circumstances (like almost all the Final Fantasy games, Breath of Fire,
Zelda: LttP, and most other RPGs), but I found it to be quite appealing.
For once, the main character is not directly involved in some crazy
dilemma in the opening scene. Matter of fact, the main character never
even realizes his eventual destiny until far into the game. But let us
not get ahead of ourselves. After going to the fair, Crono bumps into a
strange girl, Marle, who carries a pendant of some sort. Again, you may
take her out and train with her, but once that is finished, Crono
proceeds to visit Lucca, his best friend. She has put together an
invention that Crono is allowed to try out. Excited, Marle decides to
try out the invention, but her pendant reacts strangely to it and sends
her through some sort of portal. Suddenly determined to get her back,
Crono grabs the pendant that was left behind and goes after her. Let me
warn you, though: the game's action keeps going from the beginning until
the end. There are always sidequests or events for the characters to
enter and the game never becomes boring. Mysteries are often created and
aren't answered until the game is played over. The characters are
actually well-developed for the SNES and extra sidequests are available
for each character to attempt in order for the player to understand more
about the personality. And then again, who doesn't love a flying time
machine named Epoch? If you don't...I have nothing to say to you.

REPLAY VALUE
Replay
value? This game even has a replay option! Upon completion of the game,
a new option opens: New Game +. New Game + allows the player to choose a
saved file to be used with a new game. In the new game, all the
character stats, skills, and items are retained from the saved game.
Yes, that means Crono can start out with his most powerful weapon and
armor at the start of the game. This makes the game much more fun; now
the player can fly through the game without too much effort so that
he/she can better understand the plot and unlock those mysteries he/she
hadn't understood the first time through. It's also quite a feat to get
the characters to level ** (two stars side-by-side). It took me five or
six run-through to do so. But, to make the replay value even greater, in
New Game + there are secret endings that can be achieved at various
parts of the game. You obviously cannot fight the final boss with only
Crono at the begging of the game at level one. That's suicide. Instead,
when he's strong enough, you can fight the final boss very early in the
game and manage to win, even if you only have two in your party or Crono
by himself! There are also no "true" endings to the game. Depending on
what actions are taken throughout the game, the ending can alter just a
bit. I calculated once that there were somewhere around thirty-two
different endings at the end of the game. Some aren't much different
from others, but just the fact that they are a tad different makes it
that much more interesting. I once set out to get all of the endings. I
got twelve of them before I forgot which endings I had or hadn't gotten.
But the fact remains: with thirty-two endings and ten special endings,
who can argue that Chrono Trigger does not have any replay value?

OVERALL
Positives: This game is phenomenal.
Negatives: Some things could have been better, but there's not enough negatives to even BEGIN to outweigh the positives.

This
game is a MUST for any RPG fan. Chrono Trigger was also among the first
games to be remade for another system. The original cartridge is quite
hard to find and even more expensive to buy, but Final Fantasy
Chronicles contains both FFIV and Chrono Trigger for the PSX. I'd
recommend getting Chronicles to save your money. If you have played
Chrono Cross, but have never played Chrono Trigger, do so. Then play
Chrono Cross again. If you don't suffer from nostalgia, then I must be
out of my mind. Regardless of anything else, Chrono Trigger is one of
the best, if not THE best, out there. Get it now. Or borrow it from a
friend. Find some way to play it. And then sigh in happiness at the
great 32-bit sprite graphics in all its glory.

You plagiarised another review from GameFAQs. 

http://www.gamefaqs.com/snes/563538-chrono-trigger/reviews/83223

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