Chrono Trigger
Introduction
Chrono Trigger was developed and published by Square, released on the SNES in Japan in March 1995, created by a self-described “Dream Team” bringing together Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii, and character designer Akira Toriyama of Dragon Ball fame. The game follows a group of adventurers who discover time travel and journey across multiple eras, from prehistory to a ruined future, to prevent an ancient parasitic being named Lavos from ultimately destroying the world, with player choices and side actions across different time periods able to alter later events in the story. Its combat system placed battles directly on the same field the player was exploring rather than switching to a separate screen, and dual and triple techniques let party members combine their abilities for more powerful attacks. Chrono Trigger’s innovative time-travel narrative structure, multiple possible endings, and tightly crafted combat and pacing earned it near-universal critical acclaim on release, and it remains widely regarded as one of the finest role-playing games ever made for any system.
