The enhanced PS1 version of Chrono Trigger is already available on US PSN -- has been since October -- for the same price as the IOS port ($9.99). You can play it on PS3 and/or PSP, and are even able to swap progress back and forth between consoles (though not as elegantly as with iCloud, unfortunately, but at least it is possible). The SNES version is available on the US Wii's Virtual Console shop for 800 points, but since points must be bought in $10 increments, buying the game with no points in your Wii means spending $10 for 1000 points to deduct those 800 from, so you're always paying $10 for it, regardless of platform. (Unless you buy the $20 DS version, which this is mostly a port of, sans cutscenes.) Me, I'm trying to tell myself I'm not buying it AGAIN for ANOTHER SYSTEM, but I doubt the pep-talk's working.
Dodgy port or not, I admit I'm a huge squeenix fanboy so a classic rpg like this is a no brainer. I actually played this way back but never did finish the game thanks to a certain boss fight.. but I really don't mind investing the 10 bucks in this game to finish it and with the whole new game+ replayability. Either way, it's freaking Chrono Trigger on the iOS! Hopefully this paves the way for FF 4 some time in the future.
Thanks! I decided it was time to come out of lurking -- I did so much of it with the Junk Jack and IB2 threads!! -- and formally join the community. Keeping it on-topic, how smoothly does the game run? Better than Secret of Mana, I hope??
The soundtrack is honestly the only thing drawing me to this game... Check out this remix: I have no ties to any previous versions, no expectations and no excitement... I guess the RPG part of me is engorged in great games I still haven't finished... What is so amazing in this game to warrant a purchase over Bard's Tale, or even Mage Gauntlet?
It's what my empty wallet wants to hear, yeah. But is that really the case? How does the game run, really?
It runs beautifully for me. Itouch 4g, and I've yet to have an slowdowns. Loading time is insignificant too. All in all, runs well and smoothly.
Thanks for the feedback, guys. Good to hear it runs well, but-- --yeah, it kinda looks like that would be the case. Oh well. I'll probably end up buying it. AGAIN. (My body is strong, but my mind is weak--!!!)
The soundtrack, for one. The simple, but enjoyable battle system. Chrono Trigger is literally the best parts of old-school Final Fantasy -- characters, graphics (for the time), music -- and Dragon Quest -- light, playful, whimsical tone of adventure and discovery -- mixed into a eek: I'm sorry to do this!! ) timeless classic. Having said that, I must admit that I'm probably a tad biased when it comes to this game: I first fell in love with the SNES cart on release day oh so many years ago, and I've played it more times than I'd care to count (or admit). You could probably buy both Bard's Tale and Mage Gauntlet for the price of just Chrono Trigger, but: 1.) I never found Bard's Tale (PS2) that fun to play -- amusingly snarky main character, sure, but Champions of Norrath it most certainly wasn't!! -and- 2.) Mage Gauntlet, while full of excellent tailor-made-for-IOS-gameplay, just doesn't have the charm or character of Chrono Trigger to me. I know it was purposefully made to have that old-school 16-bit SNES charm, but having lived through that classic era of gaming, it never really sets off that nostalgic spark, seeming instead like a fairly reasonable facsimile of the real deal.
I played Chrono Trigger for the first time on a DS as an adult (okay, old fart), so it's appeal for me has nothing to do with nostalgia. I love the game for its characters (particularly Frog and Robo -- both equal parts heroic and tragic); for it's gameplay, which manages to be at once fast paced, approachable, and nicely varied; and for it's thematic depth. Ultimately, the game is about action and consequence, about the way even small choices define us and affect the world. It makes supposedly profound games like FF7 feel like so much adolescent angst.
That's because Chrono Trigger never really takes itself too seriously: another point in its favor. It treats all the necessary plot points with due gravity without forsaking its lighter interludes, which is something that the people at Square long ago forgot to do. Everything is self-important teenaged bombast nowadays, but not so with the Trigger. (I always reckoned that was part of the Dragon Quest DNA at work.)
yep, actually pixelated but sharp image would be much better, because graphics are really blurry on retina display.
Also, just to add to that, Mage Gauntlet is more comparable to Secret of Mana (both in spirit and going by what is available for iOS). So if that's where your heart lies, sure go with MG. The draw of CT for me is that it is meatier. I like the turn-based battle systems, the techs you can combine with other party members, having control over who is in your party, a lengthier quest, etc. Action RPGs, at least from the 16 bit era, always seemed shorter to me. I can rip through a Zelda-like game in a dozen hrs or less, depending on the game. A game like this is usually 20+ (and that's on the short side, god help us if they port FF6), depending on how many side quests you do. I mean, if you do a couple hrs grinding after Zeal and go right for the boss, you'll finish faster than if you wrap up all the character's personal side missions, get the ultimate equipment, and approach the boss via the Black Omen. But either way, your ten bucks nets you, literally, one of the best regarded traditional console RPGs of the 16 bit era. Right up there with he likes of Final Fantasy 6 and Phantasy Star 4. Also, this seems to be based on th DS version, from what I can tell so far. Which means bonus content and a much more accurate translation so long as one can wipe off their nostalgia glasses and let go of Frogs old accent. For those who don't know, Frog in Japan talks fairly boastfully. In the first English script, he was given an over the top old english dialect which NO ONE else in his era had, and was super polite and chivalrous. In the newer translation everyone in that era has a (less exaggerated) old English dialect, and Frogs personality is a bit closer to the original. This 600mb file size is complete bull though. Honestly, my iPad is jail broken and I can play Chrono Trigger (and Crimson Echoes) just fine on Snes9x, atmuch smaller file sizes. So the big draw for me is the DS translation and content. On price...ten bucks is big for th app store... But this game was seventy on SNES and forty on DS. Ten is the second cheapest option, and cheapest portable ( I'm assuming th wii virtual console is priced tight bucks, and I think the PSN version is ten but it's an inferior version of the game and probably a similar file size).
This is how it should look like... the blurr on retina displays is an insult to this lovely retro graphics. Still it's Chrono Trigger but the port is mediocre at best
Ok..Chrono Trigger is my fav RPG of all times.. Completed the game and got all the endings on SNES. I only spent $9.99 on an iOS game once and that was GTA Chinatown War. I declare myself $10 poorer now!
That graphic is an original creation based on the game's original assets (notice how the teleporters are in the wrong spot). It shows way more than is visible on a single game screen, and as a consequence it barely reads on an iPhone screen (it's tough to even recognize the characters). I much prefer to see some softness at the edges than have the whole game presented at that scale. There are games that have done a better job at upscaling the graphic for the retina screen (Aurum Blade and Zenonia 3, for instance) but they all involved a far smaller number of assets. In my view, there are two things that this port does very well: 1) Unobtrusive UI. The DS version dedicated an entire screen to the interface. Here they've kept things unobtrusive while still accessible. I also appreciate to read text that is not pixelated and treated with a drop shadow. I know the purists rage about the change, but IMO it's a big plus when it comes to gameplay. 2) A save system that works well on a portable platform. I don't know how often I lost progress on the DS version because I was stuck in a dungeon and my device ran out of battery in my bag. The iOS version manages to solve that problem without changing the original balance. The controls do take some getting used to, particularly to make the tiny adjustments that are sometimes required to interact with an object. Basically, like most SE ports, it's a mixed bag. That said, I stayed up till 3 am this morning playing this on my 4S, and whatever issues really did not get in the way of my enjoyment.
