'Chrono Trigger' unchanged, but never needed to be

"Chrono Trigger" for the Nintendo DS is a cleaner experience.

By Chase Koeneke

Published Dec. 1, 2008

When someone tells you that something is "the greatest," your first reaction is to be skeptical and inform him or her of something even better. When someone says "Gummy bears are the greatest candy ever!" you can tell them "No, Skittles are much better." When someone says "Roger Clemens is the best pitcher ever!" you can say "No, Bob Gibson is." When someone says "KU is the best university ever!" you can punch them in the face. But when someone tells you that "Chrono Trigger" is the greatest RPG of all-time, you should listen, because they're right.

If you haven't played the original "Chrono Trigger" on the Super Nintendo, then "Chrono Trigger" for the Nintendo DS is your opportunity to repent for your gaming sin. The 13-year old masterpiece has remained virtually untouched, save for small improvements to take advantage of the DS' two screens. Moving menu functions and statistics to the second screen really frees up the main screen to provide a better, cleaner experience while having the choice to use the face buttons instead of the stylus is a major plus.

Other than that, the game is basically the same as it was on the Super Nintendo. There are no silly "Final Fantasy" or Pokemon-esque random battles, enemies can be seen and avoided, and when you do get into a scuffle, you aren't taken to a separate battle screen. It feels so organic and ... right. It feels right.

The actual fighting is just as sublime. Instead of taking "turns" like in other RPGs, "Chrono Trigger" uses an ingenious active-time battle system. When a party member performs an action, they go through a cooldown period, the length of which is determined by the character's speed stat.

"Chrono Trigger" continues to break the mold in its story. No cookie-cutter "save the princess" story here (though you will save a princess, but that's beside the point). Instead, your main character, Crono (or whatever name you want to give him, for in classic RPG fashion you can change the names of all party members when you first meet them), goes on a time traveling journey to the past to stop the horrible events that lead to the destruction of the future. On your journey you will pick up party members from all sorts of time periods, all with well fleshed-out personalities and skills. It comes together so well and never feels forced.

And you can't talk about "Chrono Trigger" without mentioning its historic soundtrack. It's chock full of beautiful, orchestral tunes that won't exactly stick in your head, but hearing them a subsequent time will result in instant nostalgia. I usually keep my DS volume muted to be kind to my fellow man, but cranking my DS to 11 in this case might be doing everyone a favor.

As if you couldn't tell by the complete lack of negativity in this entire review, "Chrono Trigger" earns its place as one of, if not the best game on the DS. Go out and purchase it now — you won't be sorry. It's like a gaming history class, but unlike your regular history class, you won't fall asleep 20 minutes in.