Universal Chrono Trigger (by Square Enix)

Lol glad you took that the right way, realized that it could come across wrong so I went back and added a : p, but by then you'd already seen it.

 

[opinion]

yeah, I can see why people (especially those without a DS) would prefer the iOS port over the DS port. unlike jeffmd, I've actually played the DS and iPhone ports and I agree that the font is clearer on the iOS version but that's about it. the change to the UI while nice isn't enough (for me) to ignore the mediocre but minor joystick controls.

The thing that gets me the most in addition to the joystick control, is the horrendous targeting on an iPhone 4S screen. the arrows are so small, I mistarget constantly unless I slow down and do it carefully, which is a major and unforgivable annoyance since I like fast paced/active battles. to reiterate, the new UI is nice but not enough to overlook the minor joystick control and major targeting issues. it was just annoying to hear some kid (WHO IS IGNORED BTW) say the new UI was enough to overshadow the poor controls and compare it to the DS version right after say that he's rarely played CT on an emu with zero progress and has owned 0 CT games. it's just irritating to see people who can lie so brazenly so I called him out on it and then some.

As for the graphics, maybe it is nostalgia, maybe not, but the iOS graphics just look blurry to me--but it's a tolerable issue when compared to the aforementioned flaws. Although, SE should have done much more in that department... 600MB of FLAC audio? come on! how many iPhone gamers carry around or even own FLAC quality headphones?

The quick-save (bookmarking?) option is definitely a plus and I can see why iOS gamers would want/need one. But saving is a non-issue for me, save points are littered everywhere in the game and with the short dungeons and the world map-- it's like shooting fish in a barrel.

[/opinion]

 

Don't have a DS, never played CT before

I agree about targeting and joystick. Annoying. And about the audio. I don't know how the old graphics looked, nor how they looked on the DS. But to me, It looks great. I normally prefer sharp graphics, but I like the look of this on my Itouch 4g. Maybe it's my eyes. Am i completely missing something about how it looked before whatever SE did to it, or were people expecting FF3 level graphics?

 

...It should be an instant-buy for me. MG controls are perfect.

 

Saddly you just start off ignoring people on your own ASSumptions, but I kind of played the hell out of the snes version, uncovering about 5 of the 7 endings in it. So yea, I kind of know what i am talking about. The emu play was only for nostalgia. I can see where you are coming from on the targeting.. but its always been one of the caveats of touch screens. You just need to remember to swipe to change targets. I am sorry its now harder to play your fast pace no wait action life style because of it.

Who has flac quality headphones? I have flac quality headphones! Infact I think its a disservice to the music industry and criminal for people to run around with crappy headphones. Btw I don't think its lossless.. its still compressed audio. All of squares final fantasy releases are the same way, none of them emulated the realtime music.

As for the bookmark feature, clearly you only play at home or something. -_-

 

if it matters, I also have headphones that are VERY nice... can definitely tell the difference between FLAC and mp3...

 

Game Impressions

This game is amazing; story-wise, gameplay-wise, soundtrack-wise, etc! Okay, enough with good and on to the not so good.

Despite my initial qualms about the joystick, I am content with the way it's working out. That said, I still occasionally run into walls, run when I want to walk, and vice versa. No big deal. However, I'm not fond of having to scroll through the item inventory during combat. An actual paging option like the one used for abilities would have been fantastic. Nevertheless, I would have much preferred a directional pad but the joystick is working just fine.

Aside from the joystick issue, I had a little trouble targeting enemies and allies. That was until I found out that you can tap the "TARGET" button instead of the tiny arrows.

I'm still not a fan of the font, whatever. As for the graphics, they most definitely could have been better but I don't really care. Maybe because I've never played this game on a DS or VC? Anyway, this is a pretty decent port of an absolutely incredible game! I'm just glad it didn't turn out like FFT or SoM.

 

Hmm, the game just got a critical review on Touchgen. I'm quite surprised actually. Most of iTunes reviews are positive, and majority of people in this thread is enjoying the game despite that it is the usual Square Enix port, so it is not perfect.

I’m currently in an advanced state of hovering-over-the-buy-button . Only 15 bucks on my iTunes account, seems like I will need a gift card before Christmas sales anyway. The nostalgia of playing this game as a 7-8 year old boy is too freaking strong

 

couldn't keep you on ignore - I was too tempted to read the hidden post.

you do realize that the UI differences between the SNES and DS version are worlds apart, right? thanks for the swipe tip though— I didn't bother trying to swipe, this makes targeting much easier for my "fast pace no wait action life style." LOL

yeah, ALAC is great and all but if I wanted the entire soundtrack that much, I'd buy it and I have (the three disc SNES OST from 1995 5021-3), i mean that's what a CT loving, audiophile would do right? win/win for the audiophiles and non-audiophiles! but to be honest, I don't even care about the file size. I just think that a bit more effort should have gone into the graphics department.

yup, I only play CT when I'm at home or when i travel for work (long layovers usually). basically, whenever I can get a good chunk of playtime in. if I only have a few minutes to play, i'd rather play age of zombies or angry birds.

 

Yes, I also had that strange feeling about DS written between the lines when I was reading this review.

Well whaddaya know, I have a hunch that my iTunes account will be -10$ in a couple of minutes

 

Weren't we just talking about respecting points of view earlier

Kidding aside, I think the review had merit. I think he rated on the low side, but the points on the blurry visuals and hit or miss controls are valid. I think they based this on the DS version. It would explain why it looks blurry on larger display. Lord knows my TV over a decade ago had no trouble displaying the game, and that's much larger than any iOS device. The controls are serviceable, roughly on par with any other traditional rpg port of theirs. However, there are some minor interface issues. One is, and I'm assuming this is because of the joystick vs d-pad, but you can get stuck trying to walk into a location if you aren't careful. I didn't notice at first, but I left the fair to grind a bit. When I came back, I overshot the fair's entrance a couple of times. A problem unique to this version. Also, when going to say hey to the old man up front, I noticed a sort of dead space box around him if you approach from the side. You won't notice this head on, and I haven't checked in another version to be sure, but I'm pretty sure at some point in the last 13 yrs since I first played this game I would have noticed that.

The preference for the DS version is evident in the article, but is that really controversial? The DS version is largely regarded as the quintessential version to play, and the iOS version largely seems like a port of that with lower-res visuals and missing content. It is typical in reviews of multi-plat games to mention relevant differences, and this goes the same when comparing ports/remakes to their predecessors. The PSX and DS versions were compared to the SNES version, and this version will naturally be compared to either the SNES or DS version's. It goes with the territory.

ANd maybe the Touchgen reviewer was channeling the Stone Temple Pilots.

I really do find the file size odd. Not a deal breaker. Just..odd. I mean, Secret of Mana is an RPG from the same era, and was bleeding edge for the SNES. It was supposed to be an early release for the disc add-on that would become the Playstation, after all. The port of Mana manages to look better than this port even on an iPad, and only be about 75mb. That's why I theorize that the skeleton for this was the DS version rather than SNES. It must have been harder to translate that version to iOS, I guess.

 

If you really want to play Chrono Trigger, you have several easy to access options that are not the SNES cart:

1. The PC. I'm not discussing this one in depth for obvious reasons, but everyone here knows what I mean. Personally I think this is most superior of all the versions, especially thanks to save states and flawless image scaling (that can be output to a TV no less).

2. The PS3/PSP. There's a perfect port of the PS1 edition of the title available. Again, this has superior scaling, better controls, and doesn't require a complicated setup to get it working on your TV. It's also the same price.

3. The DS. This version was ported flawlessly and has all of the additional content. It has a perfect 1:1 pixel ratio with the original (although the viewing area is a smidge smaller) and superior controls. It's also portable.

There you have it. Three far better versions of the game that are all easy to get a hold of right now. They don't have the awkward movement controls, the text is just as legible, and their scaling isn't a lazy stretch of the screen. The visuals remain crisp and clear without the fuzzy outlines or washed out pixels.

While I understand some might want to play this game on their phone because it's the only mobile device they carry, I still have to wonder why you would opt to pay $10 to experience the worst version of this game produced. The porting process was clearly lazy. They did nothing to offer alternate, or more accurate control schemes, and they didn't offer to play the game with a different visual setting (at least the PSP/PS3 version allows you to play it at its original 4:3 aspect, a full screen 4:3 aspect, or a stretched full screen version). Instead of rebuilding the game to suit the iOS platform, as was done with the DS port, they just stretched everything out and added a UI overlay. Not to mention they forgot this is a phone game. Where is the ability to save on the fly?

If you absolutely need to play it for some reason, or nostalgia gets the better of you, have at 'er I guess... I know I bought it based on nostalgia alone (beat this game three times, plus the DS version). Having paid $10 for it now, though, I can honestly say I wish there was some way of getting a refund. I would easily sacrifice the ability to play this on my phone for the chance to play one of the better versions again.

Like I said before, I wish Square would oversee the quality of it's iOS ports better. Whatever company they're outsourcing these ports to is doing a poor job. It pains me that some people are experiencing these classic games for the first time in this manner... This isn't how they were meant to be played, and it's not how they were meant to look. I don't even like that they're putting a Megaman X remake on the iPad, but at least I can commend Capcom for taking the time to rebuild the visuals. Square is doing no one such favors.

 

I saw reviews of the ds version, and while I see the 2nd screen shows meters for the player characters and mobs on the screen, the main screen still contained the same giant text, menus, and health bars that the original snes had. So while it had new ui elements, it didnt get rid of the old ones.

I'm an even bigger audio nerd.. I have a large collection of the chip music (files that play through a winamp plugin that emulates the original sound chip) from many snes, genesis, PS1, and PS2 games (Yes, PS2 had chip music! very few games used it but final fantasy 10, 10-2, I think 11.. and 12! all had chip music). Its alot easier to keep around then tons of cd albums or mp3's ^^.

I've been playing it on my breaks at work, I think ct will be a good game that I can just keep playing and leveling up and kicking out all the extra content with.

 

While I agree, I still say Chrono Trigger > no Chrono Trigger. Regardless of porting laziness. If the iOS device is all you've got, it's a must-have game.

 

I've never played this game before on any platform, and I'm largely loving it on iOS. I don't mind the controls 99% of the time... but I've just reached Death Peak, and they're driving me mad. Has anyone successfully scaled it in this version yet?

I obviously can't comment on anything comparatively, but I certainly think this game has been well worth the money I paid for it from my perspective.

Edit: Okay, another ten-odd tries and I made it. Just needed some lucky exact positioning.

 

@Luuthian-I think one draw of the iOS version over the other non-DS version is that it is based on the DS version. So, it has two extra areas and a superior translation (a big selling point for a game known for it's story). If you play the SNES version (which, pc aside, you can get on VC too) you just get the original release. Which is an awesome game, but you do get less content, lose one music track, and get a translation from 16 yrs ago when strict content advisors and character space limitations colored everything. If you play the PSX version, you get some truly annoying load times.

@jeffmd- don't just go off reviews, man. Have you played/watched someone play? The game has an option for classic mode which is as SNES as possible, and DS mode, which shifts the battle stuff to the bottom screen and reworks the menus. I used to play on SNES mode out of nostalgia, but really th DS mode UI is very intuitive and unobtrusive