Editor’s note: This review was written by Noel Frias, who grew up when arcade machines were still popular — when Street Fighter 2, SNK games and others ruled the scene as mobs of players would gather to compete. Ever since then, Noel has been a huge fan of videogames. One might say Noel is a retro-game fanatic, but he still enjoys some of the newer games, mostly PC or indie. Noel grew to enjoy this hobby so much that he is now pursuing a career in the industry. Noel attends the University of Houston for Media Production and Fine Arts but is enrolled in the game design undergraduate program at Full Sail University.

There comes a time when a game will come out as the complete package — a well-rounded game that has all the right elements, including an engaging story, fun gameplay, memorable music, interesting characters and timelessness. Chrono Trigger is one of those games.

Originally released in 1995 by SquareSoft for the Super Nintendo, Chrono Trigger is a role-playing game that follows the adventures of Crono, a young swordsman, and his friends travelling through time to save the world. I remember Chrono Trigger being an excellent game when I played it 15 years ago, and it’s still a great game — even by today’s standards. I have to say that it has truly withstood the test of time. Some people consider Chrono Trigger the best RPG of all time. Personally, I think it is. However, I will say that it is one of the best ever, most RPG fans can agree with that.

The story begins as the main character Crono is awoken by his mother, reminding him that the millennia faire is about to begin. Crono heads to the millennia fair to watch his best friend Lucca demonstrate her latest invention, a teleportation device. Once at the faire, Crono bumps into a young girl named Marle. They quickly become friends, and Marle tags along with Crono to see Lucca’s demonstration. Marle volunteers as Lucca’s test subject for her teleportation device, but something goes wrong. The pendant Marle is wearing reacts with the teleportation device, and she disappears. In the process, a portal is created. Crono and Lucca decide to go in after her. Soon they discover that a time portal was created from the pendant reacting to the teleportation device, ultimately triggering a chain of events that has them traveling through time to save the world from a terrible future.

Along their travels, they encounter many friends and foes alike. Some even join their party, including Frog (my favorite character), an anthropomorphic, medieval, chivalrous frog-knight whose eloquent speech gives him a unique persona; Ayla, a prehistoric woman who is stronger than any man — or beast for that matter; Robo, a futuristic robot who doesn’t look futuristic at all but is quite powerful and humorous. They also meet the powerful mage Magus. Friend or foe? You decide. The time-traveling aspect of Chrono Trigger is what makes the story interesting and unique. You basically travel between time periods, triggering different events that affect the future. Here is where the game really shines, though. The ability to travel through time gives the story different paths. In essence, depending on your own choices, there are roughly 13 different possible endings. Essentially, you are able to change the outcome of the story.

The gameplay has all the features of an old-school RPG. Fight enemies, talk to characters, explore, acquire new weapons, gain new abilities, etc. But what I really love about the gameplay is the combat. The combat in Chrono Trigger is one of the most fun and unique experiences I have ever had. To my knowledge, no other RPG has done combat like Chrono Trigger. Most RPGs offer random enemy encounters, but Chrono Trigger gets rid of that. Enemies are visible and engage you on site. In addition, combat takes place on the same map; it does not switch to a combat screen. This is a great quality, because there aren’t any pauses in the game; combat just flows. Why most RPGs don’t implement this, I don’t know, but I wish they would. Another great combat feature is the combination attacks dubbed “techs.” Characters are able to perform team attacks with certain designated abilities. You can perform dual and triple techs. The team attacks available depend on who you currently have in your party. Different characters offer different tech combinations.

The graphics in Chrono Trigger are top-notch for the time it was released. I believe they still hold well today because the games during that time were stylized, so they age rather well, unlike most realistic-style graphics. Old-school RPG fans will be very comfortable with these graphics. New RPG fans might have trouble getting into the game because they may be used to highly detailed 3-D graphics. However, I believe the story and gameplay alone can hook them enough if they give it a chance.

Overall, if you’re an RPG fan, Chrono Trigger is a must buy. I highly recommend you experience this fantastic RPG. Since it is a 15-year-old game, the original may be hard to find. However, it was re-released a couple of times. First, it was re-released as part of Final Fantasy Chronicles for the original PlayStation along with Final Fantasy IV. Recently, it was also re-released for the Nintendo DS with some added extras, so now you can even play it on the go. Anyone looking to get a copy should have no problem. My preferred version is still the original for Super Nintendo. If you can find a copy, get it. I guarantee it’s worth it.