Reviews

14 years after Chrono Trigger made its debut on the SNES, the epic RPG has 'finally' come to European shores on the DS. For those who are not familiar with the time travelling adventure, it's hailed by many as the best game ever made*. Back in the day, it was complimented for its breathtaking story, graphical detail, innovative battle system, characters and multiple endings. So as Nintendo continue their reign in bringing much loved games to a new generation, has Chrono Trigger stood the test of time to redeliver the ground-breaking adventure it did back in '95?

Set in the Kingdom of Guardia, you play as the young, spiky haired Chrono (or Cloud, Ginger, Elvis or Richard, depending if you like to customise your character's names). Waking up late one morning, Chrono rushes to the Millennial Fair to see his friend Lucca's new teleportation invention. Before he gets to the show he crashes into Marle, an energetic young girl who instantly attaches herself to him. The two go to the show together and it's not long before they're trying out the teleport device themselves. Of course things go wrong and Marle is teleported into the distant past, leaving it up to Chrono to go back in time to find Marle and bring her back to the present. This is merely the beginning, as these events trigger an epic time travelling quest to stop the evil Lavos and prevent a devastating predestined future.

Do exciting things ever happen anywhere other than market towns?

The story is an absorbing roller coaster ride that spans across several time periods, from the beginning of time to the Middle Ages, all the way to the distant future. Each one is uniquely brought to life and a pleasure to explore. For instance, in the Middle Ages you'll encounter knights and candle lit castles, while in the future the world is in an apocalyptic state engulfed with craters and plagued with famine. Each period has its own set of friends and enemies, each with a different story to tell, but ultimately suffering from the same destructive power of Lavos.

Along the way you'll team up with various odd and unique characters, each with their own personal skills and back story that are relevant to your quests, including a medieval knight transformed into a frog and a robot from the future. All of these are assets, but with only 2 of them allowed to join you in your battles, the others can be used as back up and called in when required.

Most RPGs use a turn based battle system, with the heroes and villains standing in line facing off against each other. Chrono Trigger breaks from the norm in favour of in-game turn based battling, none of this fading to a battle screen nonsense. The team and enemies strategically place themselves around a small area, meaning you'll be surrounded with no exit route. Double or triple Combos can be created with team-mates to cause devastating attacks and, if the enemies are placed accordingly (in line with you, for instance), special attacks can cause damage to more than one of them. Of course, the same can also work against you.

* The best game ever made is clearly anything with The Legend of Zelda in the title, well almost anything.