Chrono Trigger was originally released back in 1995 on the Nintendo Entertainment System but got re-released on the PlayStation in Japan in 1999 and in 2001 in America. You might notice here that a European release is missing, Chrono Trigger only made it to Europe in 2009 on the Nintendo DS. Even when it was released on the PlayStation Network in 2011 for Japan and America, Europe was left out again. Thanks to the consoles being region free, European players can still get their hands on it but it’s disappointing that it never got its own European release on the PlayStation Network as it is an outstanding RPG.

I only played it in 2009 and it still was impressive, aging excellently. 2D sprites are certainly more appealing as the years go by than the early 3D games; those clunky graphics don’t stand the test of time half as well. Fans of Dragon Ball will find the art style familiar as the same artist, Akira Toriyama, was responsible for it. Chrono Trigger uses a lot of RPG staples such as the overhead view, a world map and turn based fighting with Square’s Active Time Battle System. Thankfully it avoided the random battles and instead you could see the enemies walking around on the screen, battles only began if they came into contact with you. One of the main plot points was time travel; you went through seven different stages of time in the past and future gathering different party members on your journey.

Chrono Trigger had thirteen distinctive endings which offered massive replayability. Different choices you made during the game would affect this as well as when you decided to defeat the final boss, who you could actually challenge quite early on in the game. The new game plus option meant once you had completed the game you could restart it with all the equipment you had when you finished and at the same level. I took advantage of this, restarting the game as soon as I had finished it.

Chrono Trigger is a game I’d recommend to anyone who is a fan of RPGs, particularly now that you can have the option of playing it on your Vita.