Chrono Trigger for Nintendo DS: Port, Extras and Score

Chrono Trigger on the Nintendo DS is a 2008 port of Square’s 1995 role-playing game, programmed by Tose and published by Square Enix. Metacritic prints a Metascore of 92 for this edition.

Overview

The original Chrono Trigger came out for the Super Nintendo in 1995. Its development team was nicknamed the “Dream Team” by Square: Hironobu Sakaguchi of Final Fantasy, Yuji Horii of Dragon Quest and the artist Akira Toriyama. Masato Kato wrote most of the story, which follows a group that travels through time to prevent a global catastrophe.

Square Enix announced the DS version on 2 July 2008. Wikipedia reports that composer Yasunori Mitsuda greeted the news with “finally!”, and that Kato oversaw the port with Tose handling the programming. Kato said he wanted it based on the Super Nintendo release rather than the PlayStation port, while reworking the extras from the latter into a complete edition.

How it plays

Gameplay follows the original. Enemies are visible on the field map, and contact starts a battle right there instead of on a separate screen. Battles use the Active Time Battle system, in which each character acts once a speed-dependent timer runs out. Special moves, called Techs, spend magic points, and characters with matching Techs can combine into Double and Triple Techs that the game offers automatically when the points are available.

The story spans seven eras, from a prehistoric age to a ruined future, connected by time gates and by a time machine called the Epoch. Choices and timing change what happens next, and the original has twelve endings. The DS edition has thirteen. A New Game Plus option keeps levels and equipment for a second run.

What the DS version adds, according to Wikipedia: the bonus material from the PlayStation port, a revised translation by Tom Slattery, a dual-screen mode that keeps menus off the top screen, a self-completing map and a default run option. Two control schemes are offered, one copying the Super Nintendo buttons and one using the touch screen. Kato supervised a monster-battling Arena, two new areas named the Lost Sanctum and the Dimensional Vortex, and an ending that foreshadows Chrono Cross.

Release and credits

Dates in the Wikipedia infobox are 20 November 2008 in Japan, 25 November in North America, 3 February 2009 in Australia and 6 February 2009 in Europe. Metacritic gives the North American release as 25 November 2008 too.

Credit varies by source. Wikipedia names Square as the developer of the franchise entry and says the DS edition was ported by Tose, while Metacritic lists TOSE as developer and Square Enix as publisher. Both are accurate descriptions of different layers of the project.

This DS edition was also the basis of later releases: Wikipedia states that the iOS version is based on it, and that the 2018 Windows release keeps most of its content apart from the Arena.

Reception

Metacritic’s score of 92 draws on 57 critic reviews, and its user score is 9.2 from 1,231 ratings at the time of the page read for this entry. Reception of the original release was also strong. Nintendo Power and Next Generation called its design innovative, and Electronic Gaming Monthly praised the graphics and music. Edge and GamePro thought it easier than Final Fantasy VI, and Super Play and Next Generation judged its character arcs weaker than that game’s.

Mitsuda’s soundtrack, with contributions from Nobuo Uematsu, is routinely singled out, and Wikipedia says the various editions have shipped more than five million copies altogether.

Can you still play it?

The Chrono Trigger card runs on a DS, DS Lite or DSi, and the Nintendo 3DS handles it through its DS mode. A Wii U or Switch offers no way to use it. Under Wikipedia’s description of region locking, DS cards are free of regional restriction unless the software is DSi-exclusive, and this is not, so any regional copy will boot.

Nothing in the game depended on a server, so the Wi-Fi shutdown of 20 May 2014 did not touch it. Square Enix has since put the game on phones and PC, but the DS card remains the one that keeps the dual-screen mode and the Arena. The 3DS line ended on 16 September 2020, which makes cartridges the main supply.