When Chrono Trigger was first released on the Super Nintendo back in 1996, it was an instant classic. It is still considered by many today as the greatest game ever made. With an unforgetable cast of characters and the greatest storyline ever, can you blame them? If you played Chrono Cross before this, you should know that this is the story of that group of young adventurers who risked their lives to save the world from the wrath of Lavos long ago, as you hear a little about in CC. If you haven't played Chrono Cross yet, then you are in for one of the greatest gaming experiences you will ever have.

The graphics were some of the best on the system, and are still enjoyable to look at. The amazing spells and transparency effects pushed the SNES to it's limits.

Chrono Trigger has easily one of the greatest battle systems ever created. Some abilities only hit enemies in a certain area, or within a certain radius of the character. Some only hit enemies in a straight line, and some hit all of them. The creatures walk around in the middle of battle, and you have to time your attacks to hit the ones you want with the certain ability. This system is very strategic and fun.

The Technique system is absolutely awesome, and easy to understand. When you fight battles, you gain Experience Point) to level up, Tech Points to learn Techniques, and G for money. You learn a Tech skill once you gain enough Tech Points to do so. Tech skills are powerful physical attacks, magic attacks, and healing abilities. Whenever you perform a Tech, it uses up a little bit of your Magic Points. The more expensive the MP cost, the better the Tech.

The music is enchanting, some of the greatest music ever composed. The only competition this game has is Chrono Cross. And just like CC, the elimination of random battles is very welcome. This is one of the important aspects that make this series unique and a good breath of fresh air from the world of random battles we're used to. But knowing all of this, can you possibly think of any way they could make this game better? Well, they have. Squaresoft re-released Chrono Trigger on the Playstation in June 2001. It was called Final Fantasy Chronicles, and was a compilation of CT and Final Fantasy IV in one. This opened the doors of greatness to all who own a Playstaion or PS2. And since the game was disk based, they added anime cutscenes created by Akira Toriyama, who made Dragonball Z and designed the characters for CT. But that's not all. Once you beat the game, you can save something called a System File on to your memory card. Using this, you can view all of the endings you've achieved over and over again. You can also watch all the cutscenes you've seen again, listen to the entire game's soundtrack, view a complete bestiary and boss guide, look at all the art drawn by Akira Toriyama, and more. Of course, you have to beat the game alot more than once to get all of that stuff. Every different ending you get, you get something new on your System File. This is easier than it sounds using the New Game + feature. When you beat the game once, you can start a new game with all of the equipment and items from your last game. It is really cool being able to beat the first boss in one hit.

Chrono Trigger is in my opinion one of the finest games ever made. If you are an RPG fan, you should own this already. If you aren't, play it anyway. It may just be the game that gets you into RPGs.

Gameplay: 10
Graphics: 9
Music: 10
Originality: 10
Replay Value: 8
Sound: 9
Storyline: 10
Overall: 10