The review for the best SNES game ever made.

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Chrono Trigger (Note if you read this.. God Bless.)

The majority of the gaming world and certainly RPG enthusiasts consider Final Fantasy to be the best game ever created. I was once as part of this overwhelming flood of gamers, both casual and serious, but now I realize the truth that has been hidden for so long. I have uncovered it from its hiding place on the dusty retro shelf, and let me announce to the world: Final Fantasy 7 can not surpass Chrono Trigger!
Chrono Trigger was made long before the concept of Final Fantasy 7 was even thought up, before the basic artwork was designed, even before there were even plans on continuing the legendary series up to such a high number. Still though, it arguably reigns supreme in the RPG genre.
All great games have a great storyline, and this is one of the numerous aspects where Chrono Trigger excels. The plot and scripting is amazing, with the constant twists and various unexpected happenings making the game even more suspenseful and far more enjoyable. Every time I thought I'd seen it all, something new happened changing the course of events significantly. The writers must have spent months just brainstorming and trying to work out the best possible story. It was well worth it too. The addition of time travelling just completed what I considered to already be as close to perfect as humanly possible.
You are Crono, a young man in his golden years, long red hair, and a lethal sword to boot. Think Goku crossed with Tapion and Trunks and you've got the right idea. After going to the millennium fair to celebrate the victory of humans over mages, you run into a young lady whom you offer to help out. After walking around with her for a while you meet up with a lady friend, and agree to test out her latest invention - A matter transporter. Inevitably the experiment goes wrong, ripping open an inter-dimensional portal that a friend of yours is sucked into. It's all up to you to save her…
This is where the real adventure starts, with an insanely easy first quest to make it easy to get used to the controls. Throughout the game new elements are added, introduced slowly so that you can adapt to them seamlessly. Magic and Techniques are examples of this, entering the game in the early stages and seemingly unimportant, but becoming essential to victory as you continue onwards, progressing through the epic game. Basically the learning curve is very simple, and even the most casual of gamers will quickly adjust to it.
During the course of the game, you'll have many paths and choices lying ahead of you, with each decision you make having some sort of effect on your future. You may decide to fight the final boss before you venture throughout the game, and will undoubtedly meet an early demise if it's your first time playing through. This is one of the great concepts of Chrono Trigger though, as you have the option to fight the final boss at almost any point in the game, with a portal to it becoming accessible about half way through. Depending on when you fight it you will get a different ending scene, which is well worth seeing.
It will probably take the average gamer around 30 hours to complete this game, and everyone knows that if you spend that long playing anything you expect an awesome ending sequence. Obviously there's no beautifully rendered FMV, it just wouldn't be practical as the chances of it fitting on a cartridge is slim. I seriously doubt that this technology had even been invented when the game was created actually, giving it an excuse for not including it. It doesn't matter though, because the ending that most are likely to get first time is average, nothing too special but enough to satisfy you. Apparently though, you once again can go through the game with your characters starting on the ridiculously high levels that they finished on, in order to beat Lavos, the last boss, earlier and gain a different ending. These get a lot better, and make it worthwhile playing the game again, increasing its life span.
I am immensely surprised that they fit all of this on one cartridge come to think of it, considering how the game is an epic, huge even by today's standards. There are so many different choices for you to make, and it is exciting all the way through. Square should be commended for such an incredible feat. The fact that practically the whole game in non-linear too, with the exception of occasional buildings where there is only one way to get to the end, makes it even better. The fact that you can roam around on the world map and go to places in any order that you desire makes it addictive, showing that you don't have to go to a certain place before you go elsewhere. When exploring buildings the same applies, as you can venture throughout them going in different directions to the usual straight-forward-following-the-main-path-one. Of course you could stick to going through in a linear way, but that'd be boring, and you'd miss out on some of the excitement that has been hidden away off the 'main road'.
Before I go on, I just want to talk about the cut scenes a bit more, whilst I've mentioned the ending one, I neglected to say that various other ones are dotted about the game. They are all well done, and invoke emotion as you feel sorry for the characters, or gain great rushes of happiness as certain things happen. Every time one of these sequences came on, I was on the edge of my seat. An example of this was when an ally of yours - Robo - was getting beaten up by some of his old friends who considered him a traitor due to the fact that he'd been reprogrammed for good. You get semi-control during this scene, able to try to go in to break it up, only to get thumped backwards straight away. It feels agonizingly painful to watch your friend get destroyed by these fiends, as you desperately want to jump in and break it up. I actually felt anger during this, such is the extent of the scenes brilliance.
None of this would be possible without the memorable characters. They are all developed excellently, but not only that, they are designed amazingly. Akira Toriyama, known for his artwork on DB/Z, Kajika, and Sandland designed them, and did a fantastic job. They all look top notch, and the addition of changing emotions depending on spoken dialogue is amazing. Many times I found myself laughing out loud as Crono's, or, in fact, any of the other character's faces became surprised and their bodies jumped into the air in a shocked state.
Each character has something that sets themselves apart from the rest, and I'm not just talking about their appearance. They all have distinctive personalities, and a trademark walk. Frog does his hop, Robo does his odd exaggerated arm shaking trot, and Crono just looks immensely cool as he strides along. These aren't the only things specific to each character though, as they all have their own attacks, with different sword thrusts and magic, but that'll be explained in a bit more detail later on.
The bad guys are similar, all having their own special attacks, and a different appearance to them. There are a vast number of minions who tend to attack throughout the buildings or maps when you're on a quest, with variations of different species frequently popping up. Not only this, but they're also extremely loathsome. Every time you see a boss you are led to really hate them, especially Magus and Lavos, two of the main bad guys. This adds to the atmosphere of the game, and makes it all the more enjoyable.
To combat these terrible villains, you are allowed three characters in your party at any one time, with the ability to frequently switch members outside of battles, using a system almost exactly the same as Final Fantasy 7's. This is a nice little touch, as you can adapt your strategy depending on people in your team.
This all sounds impressive, but unfortunately there is a well known fact about the majority of computer games, and that is that attractive graphics sell, regardless of how bad the game is. This is a fatal flaw of Chrono Trigger though, as the graphics are clearly dated, pathetically blocky and hideously ugly by today's standards. With that said though, for a SNES game it looks amazing, far better than anything else that has ever been produced for that console. Naturally though, reviews are all about comparison, and when you look at any of the recent Final Fantasy games, or even the Baldurs Gate franchise, then you realize that your eyes are being subjected to torture with the game in question.
The character sprites are blocky, and the backgrounds are bland and dull. When looking at it for long enough your eyes will start to sting, and you will desperately want to play something modern to soothe them. Whilst it would scare Medusa and force her to throw up in disgust at the mere sight of the horrible graphics, the animation is actually quite impressive. The walking is spot on, and the movement seems to be natural, with no noticeable mistakes. The attacking sequences look excellent during battles, with the sword swipes clearly hitting or missing, and showing a realistic cut through the air.
Of course, whilst everything has a plus side to it, it'll always have a negative one too. It's the law of life, everything must be perfectly balanced - Good is cancelled out by evil, Nerds are cancelled out by Jocks, and T.V is cancelled out by books (To a lesser extent). My point is that nothing is ever 100% dominant in terms of pros, and Chrono Trigger's fighting scenes are perfect examples of this theory.
Some of the magic looks appallingly pathetic, such as a few of the cures, but at the same time some of it looks awe-inspiring such as the lightning attacks, which have some amazing effects. Developers would struggle to compete with it in terms of the well-presented attacks, but unfortunately the badly done ones are the things that really show up. It is hard not to notice how the water looks merely like a blue streak of spilt paint, and the laser beams look more like a cactus with extended, red, immensely rigid needles merely spinning around aimlessly. This is easily ignored though, and can be avoided by choosing only the best looking attacks to perform which, fortunately, seem to do a higher damage and are therefore more useful.
On the subject of attacks, it would be foolish for me not to mention the vastness of the range of them. Depending on a characters element they can learn different techniques and magic, which can then evolve if enough experience is gained. Crono, for example, is a lightning specialist, and he first learns…lightning of course. This can be upgraded to lightning 2 which attacks all enemies for an upped magic points cost. He also learns various bolt-related double team moves too.
The double team moves are perhaps the most innovative part of the whole game. You can combine one characters skill with another ones, which can be used massively to your advantage. It allows you to strengthen your physical and magical attacks, and do double damage to what you'd usually do in half the time. Triple attacks can also be used by all three of your party members, and whilst there isn't as many, they still look awesome, with every member doing their own part. It's amazing that this feature hasn't been added to any of the recent Final Fantasy games, as it's such a novel idea.
The physical attacks are more advanced than most would expect too, with the occasional critical hit doing double the damage, and giving you the advantage in battles. It can be a great stroke of luck for this to happen, as it can completely tip the battle in your favour. It's a familiar feature which was wisely included in the battles.
Seeing how I'm talking about the battles, I guess I'd better explain them more fully. They basically involve the same type of interface as Final Fantasy 7 (I'm frequently referring to that because most people are familiar with it, by the way), with similar commands but with different names in most areas. The actual system is basically the same, which isn't at all a bad point, as it's quite possibly the most enjoyable and satisfying thing in any game to crush a boss of some description by using an awesome strategy consisting of cunning use of magic and physical techniques alike. Items also tend to be essential to the outcome of fights, as occasionally you run into people far stronger than yourself and are forced to constantly heal or defend yourself with things that you've picked up or purchased. Let me give you a hint for free right now: Spend wisely, but lots of tonics to heal your people, and eat your vegetables, it'll do you good.
During the battles I often found myself smirking an impressed smile as the enemies demonstrated awesomely advanced artificial intelligence. I gazed on in awe as one particularly species bit its ally in order to absorb its hit points and save its own hide, thus resulting in his team mate dying. This is a very dog eat dog attitude, and is only used when absolutely necessary. The intelligence is also boasted in the form of bosses, healing themselves when their hit points are low, and pulling out more extreme attacks when their life was slowly draining away. Every time I fought anyone they seemed to eventually adapt to my strategy and combat it in some way, constantly keeping me on my toes. This made it all the more enjoyable. There were odd instances where the computer decided not to take the intelligent option and instead do something that led to its destruction. Fortunately this didn't happen with any major characters, so minimally affected the gameplay.
All this on the battle system already, and I haven't even got to the best part, that really shows how good this system is, doesn't it now? The rarely repetitive fights work incredibly well, with boredom only really setting in if you've gone to the wrong place and have been forced to go back and fight all the same people again in the same order. This is a rarity though, but it does contribute to some of the annoying little niggles in the game.
You've probably worked out by now that there are numerous bosses in Chrono Trigger, with each one looking and acting like a daunting feat, requiring intelligence, ingenuity, a damn finely sharpened sword, and little bit of luck to defeat. You can usually tell their strength just be looking at their appearance; that's how well they've been designed. More on that later though, the point I wanted to make was that bosses often have something protecting them, such as an extra little hovering robot-style thing which either heals them occasionally, or adds massive damage to their attacks. You have to take these things out first I you want any chance of survival, and as you progress on through the game you become more and more dependant on hoping that you can destroy one of the bosses' allies before it can do some major damage to your chances of victory. It gives a feeling of impending doom thus hastening you to kill it. A truly amazing feature which adds depth to the boss fights and makes them twice as enjoyable (Albeit occasionally frustrating when you don't know how to destroy them, as some are immune to magical or physical attacks. All a matter of trial and error).
Now with all this mentioned about the battles, I must have finished talking about them by now, right? Nope, still got to mention the most refreshing part of them: They're not at all random! Those annoying fights when you were trying to go somewhere quickly on Final Fantasy have disappeared, replaced with strategically positioned enemies, and the odd ambush which temporarily shocks you. These small additions may not sound like such a big deal, but they really brightened up my day as I noticed yet another excellent touch in this fantastic game. The fact that you can avoid some unwanted battles is cool as well, as you can sneak past enemies to conserve hit points and magic points, or to save time. Of course, if you want to become stronger you're going to have to compete in these fierce engagements, so creeping past all the time would be foolish.
The battles are complimented perfectly by an excellent musical score which is essential to the game. Unlike the majority of computer games I've played recently, I actually enjoyed the absorbing, atmospheric music, which played melodically in the background. The fact that it was always appropriate to the situation made it all the more better, changing when the mood changed, and switching to a different, faster paced beat when the action stepped up a notch. I found it all very immersive, and had the speakers turned up loudly.
The sound is done pretty well too, despite the occasional bleeping annoyance when certain things are done. The noticeable difference between the sound of a hit and a miss helps you realize what has happened far quicker, and despite the fact that I tried to look for a problem during the misses, I just couldn't find one - It sounded like it hit nothing but air, and you could see the sword hitting nothing.
The gunshots and opening of doors sounded slightly tinny so to speak, but due to space restrictions not a lot could have been done about that. Whilst the general quality and clearness of it wasn't particularly impressive, the varied noises and interesting sounds made listening to it seamlessly easy.
I have to say, all of the described features in this review have contributed to Chrono Trigger's brilliance, merged into one fantastic game, but the general excellence of it doesn't end there. Perhaps the best touch of the whole thing, are the mini-games. They were so enjoyable, and a great distraction if you want a quick break from the serious playing throughout. My personal favourite was a racing one, where you have to beat your opponent through strategic uses of your boosts. It may be pretty easy, but it's still great fun.
Almost all the mini-games have some sort if relevance to the continuance of your quest, usually with a goal at the end which you must reach by completing the game. Some though, are there purely for the fan's entertainment, such as betting on races, and taking tests of strengths. Admittedly none of them can compete with the great Chocobo racing from Final Fantasy 7, but they're still massive fun. If you see one then I strongly advice you go try it out. You're given the opportunity right at the start during a fair, where you can go into a tent and do various tasks for various prices.
The added element of the mini-games really is the icing on the grand cake, making it all the more complete, deep and fun, complimenting Squaresoft's already impressive portfolio.
Everything seems to be so well done, from the brilliant battles to the magnificent mini-games. The gameplay is nothing short of superb, and the plot is close to perfect. The only thing that drags this awe-inspiring genre-breaking game down is the dated graphics which are an eyesore at times. If you can forget about that though, you'll be on a non-stop, addictive ride through the most wonderful RPG ever. Remember folks, this was made before Final Fantasy 7, meaning most of it's ideas were emulated by the playstation giant, and not the other way round.
This is being re-released on the playstation as far as I understand, in a double pack with one of the early Final Fantasy games, so either purchase it like that or buy the SNES version. You really have to play this game, it's the greatest thing to ever grace the Earth! Buy it now, no excuses.
Overall: 97%
Pros: Great story, fun mini-games, excellent battles, large lifespan, great characters, atmospheric music.
Cons: Dated graphics, sound quality a little poor in areas.