Chrono Trigger turns back DS clock on November 25

by Jason Dobson { Aug 18th 2008 at 4:45PM }

Thanksgiving this year will include both turkey and time travel, a magical cocktail made possible by Square Enix. The company said that it'll ship its DS throwback to SNES favorite Chrono Trigger in North America on November 25, just two days before families sit down for the annual feast.

Giving players plenty to keep them busy while fighting off the adverse effects of tryptophan, Chrono Trigger's DS debut promises new dungeons, touchable controls and an arena mode. Additionally, as the RPG keeps with the original's pixelated sense of style, Square Enix has all but ensured that Thanksgiving 2008 will play out much the same way as it did some thirteen years prior, as we ignore seldom seen family members in favor of the more interesting trio of Crono, Lucca and Frog.

Tags: chrono-trigger, chronotrigger, port, remake, snes, square-enix, squareenix, thanksgiving

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Fernando Rocker @ Aug 18th 2008 4:49PM

Oh yeah...

Now I just need a Super Mario RPG remake =p

Fernando Rocker @ Aug 18th 2008 4:51PM

And Illusion of Gaia please.

religiousjedi @ Aug 18th 2008 4:53PM

No more RPGs please...

Zertoss @ Aug 18th 2008 4:55PM

Super Mario RPG needs a sequel more than a remake.

Fernando Rocker @ Aug 18th 2008 4:57PM

Well... Illusion of Gaia is more like an action adventure game.

And is awesome!

Raikage (GOLDEN Gun Of The Patriots) @ Aug 18th 2008 5:08PM

This is my first opportunity to play Chrono Trigger, so I (hopefully) will be thankful for this port, as will many other people I can imagine.

(Nothing against ROMs but they drive me nuts :P)

Levi @ Aug 18th 2008 5:57PM

Right on Fernando! Illusion of Gaia is EPIC!!!

Markez @ Aug 18th 2008 7:37PM

@ Raikage

Seems to be a minority opinion, and I agree wholeheartedly. ROMs absolutely suck, and personally I can't imagine play a full game like that on a PC.

Boo-urns. (Just me tho)

finaldarklord @ Aug 18th 2008 10:42PM

Illusion of Gaia was one of the most depressing games I've ever played.

Theres just such a sense of death and dreariness about the entire game. Pretty much all of Will's friends die, his parents die, even Kara's pig dies. But what really gets you is the way its worked into the theme. The game has a way of saying "thats life" as opposed to using those deaths as major plot points.

Pretty heavy shit for the time in which I played it (5th grade, IIRC)

atrimus @ Aug 18th 2008 4:56PM

remakes are overrated, unless they come with enhanced HD graphics and are made cheap and available for PSN or XBL.

Fernando Rocker @ Aug 18th 2008 5:06PM

The DS Dragon Quest V remake sold over a million in the last two weeks...

I don't think they are overrated, and I don't think a remake on PSN or Live Arcade would sell that amount of copies. The most downloaded game on Live Arcade is Aegis Wing with 1.2 million, and is a free game.

JeepersCreepers @ Aug 18th 2008 5:17PM

I'm in agreeance with you for the most part. Ports are acceptable in two cases

1) HD remake so my game doesn't look like its warped on acid, possibly spiffing up the joint (MegaMan remakes on PSP were good examples of spiffing done right).

2) For portable gaming sake. Funny seeing Fernando so on board with this, despite his previous slaps in the face for PSP's only games being ports or rehashes.

Either way, only beat this game once before. Never really struck any amazing gameplay or story chords for me. Just a solid game, probably one of my least favorite offerings from Squaresoft's portfolio.

atrimus @ Aug 18th 2008 5:30PM

pretty interesting facts Fernando. still, my opinion is that remakes are overrated, unless they have enchanced graphics (Bionic Commando), are cheap ($5-$10, not the $30+ asking price for NDS and PSP games) and are on PSN/XBL. i simply don't do handhelds. i accept that my opinion is subjective and partial though, so...to each his own.

Koopaknight29 - (Nintendo Loyalist) @ Aug 18th 2008 7:20PM

I'm sure Chrono Trigger is a willing exception right, atrimus? I mean it's a classic. (and I haven't played it yet...)

Eh, we all got our perceptions of value.

bm @ Aug 19th 2008 2:21PM

Well that's great. Except this is not a remake, it's a port. FF4 DS is a remake.

juju187 @ Aug 18th 2008 4:54PM

ill take secret of mana with some multiplayer

BigD145 @ Aug 18th 2008 6:16PM

Absolutely. Local and net.

Ayrkain @ Aug 18th 2008 7:56PM

Exactly!

ice~ @ Aug 18th 2008 5:07PM

never played chrono trigger. Is this a remake or a sequal??
I might pick it up if its a remake

Zertoss @ Aug 18th 2008 5:10PM

More of a port of the original with support for the DS and some new content added.

ice~ @ Aug 18th 2008 5:10PM

I hate this stupid comment system =(

Jakka - The Heavy wants his sandwich back! @ Aug 18th 2008 5:15PM

Remake.

ice~ @ Aug 18th 2008 5:09PM

I never played Chrono Trigger, but i wanna. Is this a remake or a sequal? If it's a remake i'll pick it up to give me something to do when i get bored of VP: Pocket Paradise

Massmass @ Aug 18th 2008 5:14PM

This is more of a port than remake.

The game would have benefited more from a better translation or entirely reworked script. Still the DS is the most appropriate spot for such an obvious cash-in and sadly, I will end up supporting them by buying it.

Another Chrono Cross is definitely needed more than these ports of CT.

atrimus @ Aug 18th 2008 5:40PM

agreed. but from what i hear the original team split up, and there are some tug-o-wars going on about certain rights with the franchise (including members of Mistwalker). at least this is what i've gathered from internet swimming. still, i always wondered why Square/Squenix decided to continue the Star Ocean series but not the Chrono series. i never really got around to playing Chrono Trigger on FF Chronicles on PS1 (one of the many PS1 games i would like to revisit), but Chrono Cross was a damn fine rpg.

Tridus @ Aug 19th 2008 9:18AM

Please no, Chrono Cross was absolutely awful compared to CT.

Snowblind @ Aug 18th 2008 5:17PM

Way too many awesome games coming this year, I'll probably hold off on this and just wait for the European release, making it the first DS game I haven't just imported from the US. :P

samfish @ Aug 18th 2008 5:17PM

I will definitely buy this, assuming Square understands that the game is no longer worth $40.

Mr Khan @ Aug 18th 2008 5:57PM

But that is the law of Square. DS games must equal $40

To not do so would be to evoke some sort of wrath

Who's i am not sure, but someone's

uncmoose187 @ Aug 18th 2008 5:44PM

Haha for those who requested a new Illusion of Gaia, for that, I love you. One of the best games I've ever played on the SNES, I probably rented it about 10 time and beat it 10 times. Also, Secret of Mana with WIFI support please, when's that gonna make an appearance? Those two right there along with Chrono are an SNES RPG fanboys wet dream.

Chrono's new dungeons better be worth a damn...why not add more magic and techs? The games so memorable to me that I'm in need of a few surprises :-\ Magus here we come!

AwesomeTown @ Aug 18th 2008 5:50PM

Dear Diary,

Jackpot.

unfriendly_cat @ Aug 18th 2008 5:58PM

It's up for preorder on Amazon for $39.99, release date is listed as December 30 for some reason.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001E27DLM/qid=1219096434

livewire_19 @ Aug 18th 2008 6:18PM

I really want Chrono Trigger for anything. But it is a good start.

Thanatos @ Aug 18th 2008 6:33PM

Sweet just in time for my birthday!

SteveoSchwartzo @ Aug 19th 2008 3:01AM

GARGH! I really hate the fact that everyone and their grandma say "Illusions of Gaia is DA BOMB!!!1!" and completely ignore its sequal, Terranigma. I mean, ok, it was only released in Europe and Japan, but the story, gameplay, and music (oh, the music was so very, very good) were far superior to Illusions. I want a Terranigma remake DANGIT!

Oh, and this is gonna be pretty awesome, I haven't beaten CT in a couple years, looking forward to another romp through it!

And before you all get mad, I love Illusions of Gaia as well, I just loved Terranigma more!

LaughingTarget @ Aug 18th 2008 7:02PM

If this game is being sold for more than $10, I seriously hope no one who reads this buys it. If it sells like hotcakes, all that'll tell SquareEnix to do is spend all their time doing no-frills ports of old catalog games and neglect the new stuff.

Why not a sequel?

Psaakyrn @ Aug 18th 2008 8:33PM

Because the sequal to CT sucked. (compared to CT)

CitizenSnips @ Aug 19th 2008 1:15AM

they've been doing that already for some time now. They re-released Final Fantasy 1 and 2 three times. You can get it on the PSX, GBA, and the PSP.

Cesaria (Pitchfork Fest 2008 FTMFW!) @ Aug 18th 2008 7:47PM

I've only played a bit of this, so this will be a day one purchase to add to my ever expanding DS games list. DS just may be the best system ever.

Tom @ Aug 18th 2008 8:50PM

Honestly, couldn't they have picked a better day- this is the worst day of the year...it's freaking BLACK FRIDAY! I wasn't going to pre-order this, but now I'll definitely be slapping $5 down for it next time I'm at gamestop so I can avoid the stupid crazy crowds that day.

JerJer @ Aug 18th 2008 11:42PM

....and that folks, is why they charge 40 dollars and release on black friday.

phillosmaster @ Aug 18th 2008 8:51PM

I bought this game for over 70 bucks back in the day, and I never regretted it. 30-40 bucks is a steal for a portable version of this game. You haters are crazy if you think otherwise. It still looks better than most games on the DS currently, and it's a classic. If your only exposure to this game was the PS1 port than you got a raw deal (the audio issues and long load times killed it). I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about playing this game agian. The soundtrack alone is worth the price of admission. Though it is my favorite game of all time, so maybe you want to take my advice with a grain of salt.

In any event it isn't just a straight port. They are tweaking the translation, Mitsuda is reworking the audio to ensure it's quality, they are adding an extra dungeon, and they are reworking the interface to take advantage of the dual screens/touch pad. Though I hear you can turn interface stuff off if you want to be a purist.