Chrono Trigger#Add-ons

Chrono Trigger features standard role-playing video game gameplay. The player controls the protagonist and his companions in the game's two-dimensional world, consisting of various forests, cities, and dungeons. Navigation occurs via an overworld map, depicting the landscape from a scaled-down overhead view. Areas such as forests, cities, and similar places are depicted as more realistic scaled-down maps, in which players can converse with locals to procure items and services, solve puzzles and challenges, or encounter enemies. Chrono Trigger{{'s}} gameplay deviates from that of traditional Japanese RPGs in that, rather than appearing in random encounters, many enemies are openly visible on field maps or lie in wait to ambush the party. Contact with enemies on a field map initiates a battle that occurs directly on the map rather than on a separate battle screen.{{Cite magazine |date=July 1995 |volume=74 |magazine=Nintendo Power |title=Epic Center: Chrono Trigger |page=53}}

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Players and enemies may use physical or magical attacks to wound targets during battle, and players may use items to heal or protect themselves. Each character and enemy has a certain number of hit points; successful attacks reduce that character's hit points, which can be restored with potions and spells. When a playable character loses all hit points, they faint; if all the player's characters fall in battle, the game ends and must be restored from a previously saved chapter, except in specific storyline-related battles that allow or force the player to lose. Between battles, a player can equip their characters with weapons, armor, helmets, and accessories that provide special effects (such as increased attack power or defense against magic), and various consumable items can be used both in and out of battles. Items and equipment can be purchased in shops or found on field maps, often in treasure chests. By exploring new areas and fighting enemies, players progress through Chrono Trigger{{'s}} story.

Chrono Trigger uses an "Active Time Battle" system—a recurring element of Square's Final Fantasy game series designed by Hiroyuki Ito for Final Fantasy IV—named "Active Time Battle 2.0".{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger |developer=Square Co. |publisher=Square Soft |date=August 22, 1995 |platform=Super NES |quote=Menu screen: Active Time Battle 2.0}} Each character can take action in battle once a personal timer dependent on the character's speed statistic counts to zero. Magic and special physical techniques are handled through a system called "Techs". Techs deplete a character's magic points (a numerical meter similar to hit points), and often have special areas of effect; some spells damage huddled monsters, while others can harm enemies spread in a line. Enemies often change positions during battle, creating opportunities for tactical Tech use. A unique feature of Chrono Trigger{{'s}} Tech system is that numerous cooperative techniques exist. Each character receives eight personal Techs which can be used in conjunction with others' to create Double and Triple Techs for greater effect. For instance, Crono's sword-spinning Cyclone Tech can be combined with Lucca's Flame Toss to create Fire Whirl. When characters with compatible Techs have enough magic points available to perform their techniques, the game automatically displays the combo as an option.

Chrono Trigger features several other distinct gameplay traits, including time travel. Players have access to seven eras of the game world's history, and past actions affect future events. Throughout history, players find new allies, complete side quests, and search for keynote villains. Time travel is accomplished via portals and pillars of light called "time gates", as well as a time machine named Epoch. The game contains twelve unique endings (thirteen in DS, iOS, Android and Steam versions); the ending the player receives depends on when and how they reach and complete the game's final battle.{{Cite magazine |volume=73 |date=June 1995 |magazine=Nintendo Power |title=Chrono Trigger: A New Standard for RPGs |page=37}}{{Cite book |last1=Lebowitz |first1=Josiah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7cLcB_LdzegC&q=endings+chrono+trigger+ds&pg=PA158 |title=Interactive Storytelling for Video Games: Proven Writing Techniques for Role Playing Games, Online Games, First Person Shooters, and more |last2=Klug |first2=Chris |date=September 10, 2012 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-136-12733-5 |page=158 |access-date=December 24, 2020|archive-date=March 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210322211456/https://books.google.com/books?id=7cLcB_LdzegC&q=endings+chrono+trigger+ds&pg=PA158|url-status=live}} The DS version of Chrono Trigger features a new ending that can be accessed from the End of Time upon completion of the final extra dungeon and optional final boss.{{cite book |year=2009 |editor=Studio BentStuff |title=Chrono Trigger Ultimania |page=581 |language=ja |publisher=Square Enix |url=http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Supporting_Material_Translation.html#Chrono_Trigger_Ultimania |isbn=978-4-7575-2469-9 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119231921/http://chronocompendium.com/Term/Supporting_Material_Translation.html |archive-date=November 19, 2010}} Chrono Trigger also introduces a New Game Plus option; after completing the game, the player may begin a new game with the same character levels, techniques, and equipment, excluding money, with which they ended the previous playthrough. However, certain items central to the storyline are removed and must be found again, such as the sword Masamune. Square has employed the New Game Plus concept in later games including Chrono Cross and Final Fantasy XV among others.{{Cite book |last1=Birlew |first1=Dan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f7gUe3NAxvQC&q=square+new+game++chrono+cross |title=Chrono Cross Official Strategy Guide |last2=Schmidt |first2=Ken |date=2000 |publisher=Brady Pub. |isbn=978-0-7440-0000-9 |page=73 |access-date=December 24, 2020|archive-date=March 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210322211434/https://books.google.com/books?id=f7gUe3NAxvQC&q=square+new+game++chrono+cross|url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Galvão |first=Bruno |date=December 21, 2016 |title=Final Fantasy XV recebe o New Game Plus |url=https://www.eurogamer.pt/articles/2016-12-21-final-fantasy-xv-recebe-o-new-game-plus|access-date=December 15, 2020 |website=Eurogamer.pt |language=pt-PT|archive-date=December 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224123423/http://www.eurogamer.pt/articles/2016-12-21-final-fantasy-xv-recebe-o-new-game-plus|url-status=live}}

Chrono Trigger takes place in an Earth-like world, with eras such as the prehistoric age, in which primitive humans and dinosaurs share the earth; the Middle Ages, replete with knights, monsters, and magic; and the post-apocalyptic future, where destitute humans and sentient robots struggle to survive. The characters frequently travel through time to obtain allies, gather equipment, and learn information to help them in their quest. The party also gains access to the End of Time (represented as year ∞), which serves as a hub to travel back to other time periods. The party eventually acquires a time-machine vehicle known as the Wings of Time, nicknamed the Epoch (this default name can be changed by the player when the vehicle is acquired). The vehicle is capable of time travel between any time period without first having to travel to the End of Time.

{{Main|Characters of Chrono Trigger}}

Chrono Trigger{{'s}} six playable characters (plus one optional character) come from different eras of history. Chrono Trigger begins in 1000 AD with Crono, Marle, and Lucca. Crono is the silent protagonist, characterized as a fearless young man who wields a katana in battle. Marle, revealed to be Princess Nadia, lives in Guardia Castle; though sheltered, she is at heart a princess who seeks independence from her royal identity. Lucca is a childhood friend of Crono's and a mechanical genius; her home is filled with laboratory equipment and machinery. From the era of 2300 AD comes Robo, or Prometheus (designation R-66Y), a robot with a near-human personality created to assist humans. Lying dormant in the future, Robo is found and repaired by Lucca, and joins the group out of gratitude.{{cite book |year=2001 |title=Final Fantasy Chronicles instruction manual |pages=32–33 |publisher=Square Enix |id=SLUS-01363}} The fiercely confident Ayla dwells in 65,000,000 BC. Unmatched in raw strength, Ayla is the chief of Ioka Village and leads her people in war against a species of humanoid reptiles known as Reptites.

The last two playable characters are Frog and Magus. Frog originated in 600 AD. He is a former squire once known as Glenn, who was turned into an anthropomorphic frog by Magus, who also killed his friend Cyrus. Chivalrous but mired in regret, Frog dedicates his life to protecting Leene, the queen of Guardia, and avenging Cyrus. Meanwhile, Guardia in 600 AD is in a state of conflict against the Mystics (known as Fiends in the US/DS port), a race of demons and intelligent animals who wage war against humanity under the leadership of Magus, a powerful sorcerer. Magus's seclusion conceals a long-lost past; he was formerly known as Janus, the young prince of the Kingdom of Zeal, which was destroyed by Lavos in 12,000 BC. The incident sent him forward through time, and as he ages, he plots revenge against Lavos and broods over the fate of his sister, Schala. Lavos, the game's main antagonist who awakens and ravages the world in 1999 AD, is an extraterrestrial, parasitic creature that harvests DNA and the Earth's energy for its own growth.

In 1000 AD, Crono and Marle watch Lucca and her father demonstrate her new teleporter at the Millennial Fair in the Kingdom of Guardia. When Marle volunteers to be teleported, her pendant interferes with the device and creates a time portal into which she is drawn.{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger |developer=Square Co |publisher=Square Soft |date=August 22, 1995 |platform=Super NES |level=Leene Square |quote=Taban: What's going on Lucca? WHERE IS SHE? / Lucca: The way she disappeared... It couldn't have been the Telepod! The warp field seemed to be affected by her pendant...}} After Crono and Lucca separately recreate the portal and find themselves in 600 AD, they locate Marle, only to see her vanish before their eyes. Lucca realizes that this time period's kingdom has mistaken Marle (who is actually Princess Nadia of Guardia) for Queen Leene, an ancestor of hers who had been kidnapped, thus putting off the recovery effort for her ancestor and creating a grandfather paradox. Crono and Lucca, with the help of Frog, restore history to normal by rescuing Leene. After the three part ways with Frog and return to the present, Crono is framed for kidnapping Marle and sentenced to death by the current chancellor of Guardia. Lucca and Marle help Crono escape prison, haphazardly using another time portal to evade their pursuers. This portal lands them in 2300 AD, where they learn that an advanced civilization has been wiped out by a giant creature known as Lavos that appeared in 1999 AD, and find the last remnants of humanity living in underground domes subsisting off of machine energy in place of food.{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger |developer=Square Co |publisher=Square Soft |date=August 22, 1995 |platform=Super NES |level=Arris Dome |quote=Marle: Say, what does this button do? / Lucca: 1999 A.D.? Visual record of The Day of Lavos... / 'Marle: Wh, what...IS that? / Lucca: Lavos?... Is that what's destroying our world?! / Marle: We must truly be in the future...}} The three vow to find a way to prevent the future destruction of their world. After meeting and repairing Robo, Crono and his friends find Gaspar, an old sage residing in an atemporal space known as the End of Time, who offers them the ability to travel through time by way of several pillars of light. (The party is able to challenge Lavos at any point after this scene, with completion of the game prior to its final chapter unlocking one of twelve different endings.)

The party discover that a powerful mage named Magus summoned Lavos into the world in 600 AD. To stop Magus, Frog requires the legendary sword, Masamune, to open the way to the mage's castle. In search of ore to re-forge the sword, the party travel to prehistoric times and meet Ayla, the chief of an ancient hunter-gatherer tribe. The subsequent battle with Magus disrupts his spell to summon Lavos, opening a temporal distortion that throws Crono and his friends to prehistory.{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger |developer=Square Co |publisher=Square Soft |date=August 22, 1995 |platform=Super NES |level=Heckran Cave |quote=Heckran: If only the great Magus who brought forth Lavos 400 years ago, had destroyed the human race!}} The party assist Ayla in battling the Reptites, enemies of prehistoric humans. The battle is cut short as the party witness the true origin of Lavos, who descends from deep space and crashes into the planet before burrowing to its core. Entering a time gate created by Lavos's impact, the party arrive in the ice age of 12,000 BC. There, the utopic Kingdom of Zeal resides on islands raised above the icy surface using energy harnessed from Lavos's body beneath the earth's crust via a machine housed on the ocean floor. The party are imprisoned by the Queen of Zeal on the orders of its mysterious Prophet, and are ultimately banished, with the time gate leading to 12,000 BC sealed by the Prophet. Seeking a way to return, the party discover a time machine in 2300 AD called the Wings of Time (or Epoch), which can access any time period at will. The party return to 12,000 BC, where Zeal inadvertently awakens Lavos, leading the Prophet to reveal himself as Magus, who tries and fails to kill the creature.{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger |developer=Square Co |publisher=Square Soft |date=August 22, 1995 |platform=Super NES |level=Heckran Cave |quote=Magus: I've waited for this... I've been waiting for you, Lavos. I swore long ago... that I'd destroy you! No matter what the price! It is time to fulfill that vow. Feel my wrath, Lavos!! [...] / Magus: Aaah!! My powers are being drained!}} Lavos defeats Magus and kills Crono, before the remaining party are transported to the safety of the surface by Schala, Zeal's princess. Lavos annihilates the Kingdom of Zeal, whose fallen continent causes devastating floods that submerge most of the world's landmass.

Magus confesses to the party that he used to be Prince Janus of Zeal, Schala's brother, and that in the original timeline, he and the Gurus of Zeal were scattered across time by Lavos's awakening in 12,000 BC.{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger |developer=Square Co |publisher=Square Soft |date=August 22, 1995 |platform=Super NES |level=North Cape |quote=Magus: Behold. Everything's at the bottom of the sea. Gone is the magical kingdom of Zeal, and all the dreams and ambitions of its people. I once lived there... But I was another person then. [...] / Marle: You're... ...Janus, aren't you? [...] / Magus: Ever since Lavos's time portal stranded me in the Middle Ages... I have waited to even the score.}} Stranded as a child in 600 AD, Janus took the title of Magus and gained a cult of followers while plotting to summon and kill Lavos in revenge for the death of his sister. Magus tried once more after the party's battle in his castle returned him to Zeal, where he disguised himself as the Prophet. At this point, Magus is either killed by the party, killed in a duel with Frog, or spared and convinced to join the party. The ruined Ocean Palace then rises into the air as the Black Omen, Queen Zeal's floating fortress. The group turns to Gaspar for help, and he gives them a "Chrono Trigger", a device that allows the group to replace Crono just before the moment of death with an identical doppelgänger (doing so is optional, and the game's ending will change depending on the player's decision). The party then gather power by helping people across time with Gaspar's instructions.{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger |developer=Square Co |publisher=Square Soft |date=August 22, 1995 |platform=Super NES |level=The End of Time |quote=Gaspar: Just as you touch the lives of every life form you meet, so, too, will their energy strengthen you.}} Their journeys involve defeating the remnants of the Mystics,{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger |developer=Square Co |publisher=Square Soft |date=August 22, 1995 |platform=Super NES |level=Ozzie's Fort |quote=Ozzie: Magus! You lied when you said you wanted to create a world of evil! You used me! / Magus: Oh, how dreadful. Say, can you hear that? It's the sound of the Reaper...}} stopping Robo's maniacal AI creator,{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger |developer=Square Co |publisher=Square Soft |date=August 22, 1995 |platform=Super NES |level=Geno Dome |quote=Mother Brain: Listen well humans. [...] / Mother Brain: We robots will create a new order... A nation of steel, and pure logic. A true paradise! Our «Species» will replace you... So stop your foolish struggle, and succumb to the sleep of eternity... [...] / Marle: What IS this?! We have to do something! / Magus: Hmm... A human processing plant? / Frog: What be this?! We must rescue them!}} giving Frog closure for Cyrus's death,{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger |developer=Square Co |publisher=Square Soft |date=August 22, 1995 |platform=Super NES |level=Northern Ruins |quote=Frog: Dear Cyrus... Thou must...think ill of me. / Cyrus: On the contrary! You have come far, my friend. When Magus defeated me, I thought of all those whom I had left behind. King Guardia, Queen Leene, and of course, you... Your skill and dedication is superior! I can rest now, knowing that everyone is in good hands. Good bye, my friend!}} locating and charging up the mythical Sun Stone, retrieving the legendary Rainbow Shell, unmasking Guardia's Chancellor as a saboteur, restoring a forest destroyed by a desert monster,{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger |developer=Square Co |publisher=Square Soft |date=August 22, 1995 |platform=Super NES |level=Fiona's Forest |quote=Robo: After 400 years of experience, I have come to think that Lavos may not be responsible for the Gates. / Marle: What do you mean? / Robo: I have come to think that someone, or something wanted us to see all this.}} and preventing an accident that disabled Lucca's mother. The party then enter the Black Omen and defeat Queen Zeal, after which they battle Lavos. They discover that Lavos is self-directing his evolution via absorbing DNA and energy from every living creature before razing the planet's surface in 1999 AD, so that it could spawn a new generation to destroy other worlds and continue the evolutionary cycle. The party slay Lavos, and celebrate at the final night of the Millennial Fair before returning to their own times.

If Magus joined the party, he departs to search for Schala. If Crono was resurrected before defeating Lavos, his sentence for kidnapping Marle is revoked by her father, King Guardia XXXIII, thanks to testimonies from Marle's ancestors and descendants, whom Crono had helped during his journey. Crono's mother accidentally enters the time gate at the Millennial Fair before it closes, prompting Crono, Marle, and Lucca to set out in the Epoch to find her while fireworks light up the night sky.{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger |developer=Square Co |publisher=Square Soft |date=August 22, 1995 |platform=Super NES |level=Leene Square |quote=Mom: Look, Crono! Your cat's running away because you haven't been feeding it! Hey, come back here! / Marle: Oh, great! Crono, that Gate will never open again! / Lucca: Well it looks like we have no choice but to go after them! / Marle: Go after them?! But the Gate's... Lucca, don't turn off your brain, yet! / Lucca: I forgot! We have a Time Machine!}} If Crono was not resurrected, Frog, Robo, and Ayla (along with Magus if he was recruited) chase Gaspar to the Millennial Fair and back again, revealing that Gaspar knows how to resurrect Crono; Marle and Lucca then use the Epoch to travel through time to accomplish this. Alternatively, if the party used the Epoch to break Lavos's outer shell, Marle will help her father hang Nadia's bell at the festival and accidentally get carried away by several balloons. If resurrected, Crono jumps on to help her, but cannot bring them down to earth. Hanging on in each other's arms, the pair travel through the cloudy, moonlit sky.

Chrono Trigger DS added two new scenarios to the game. In the first, Crono and his friends can help a "lost sanctum" of Reptites, who reward powerful items and armor. The second scenario adds ties to Trigger{{'s}} sequel, Chrono Cross. In a New Game Plus, the group can explore several temporal distortions to combat shadow versions of Crono, Marle, and Lucca, and to fight Dalton, who promises in defeat to raise an army in the town of Porre to destroy the Kingdom of Guardia.{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger DS |developer=Square Enix |publisher=Square Enix |date=November 25, 2008 |platform=Nintendo DS |level=Twilight Grotto |quote=Dalton: If it weren't for you, I'd have been the ruler of an age all my own! You robbed me of everything I'd worked so hard for! My wealth, my home, my loyal underlings... You took it all away! It's unforgivable! So come on! Have a taste of the suffering I've endured because of you! / Dalton: Hmph. I think that's enough for today. But don't you dare think this is settled! Just you wait! I'll raise the greatest army the world has ever seen in Porre, and use it to wipe your pitiful little kingdom off the map!}} The group can then fight the Dream Devourer, a prototypical form of the Time Devourer—a fusion of Schala and Lavos seen in Chrono Cross. A version of Magus pleads with Schala to resist; though she recognizes him as her brother, she refuses to be helped and sends him away. Schala subsequently erases his memories and Magus awakens in a forest, determined to find what he had lost.{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger DS |developer=Square Enix |publisher=Square Enix |date=November 25, 2008 |platform=Nintendo DS |level=Twilight Grotto |quote=Magus: Hmph. If this is to be the way of things, then let me abandon all that was and fade away as well. Should a part of me somehow even then remain, then perhaps that will be the birth of something new—something with greater meaning than all this. / Magus: Who...who am I? What's happened? I...I don't remember anything. There was something...something I needed to do. Something I needed to...to find. / Magus: I must find a way to remember. I will.}}

Chrono Trigger was conceived in October 1992 by Hironobu Sakaguchi, producer and creator of the Final Fantasy series; Yuji Horii, writer, game designer and creator of the Dragon Quest series; and Akira Toriyama, character designer of Dragon Quest and creator of the Dragon Ball manga series.{{cite video |date=1994 |url=http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Alpha_Version_Screenshot.html |title=V Jump Festival 1994 |medium=VHS tape |location=Japan |publisher=Shueisha |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080103204100/http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Alpha_Version_Screenshot.html |archive-date=January 3, 2008}} Traveling to the United States to research computer graphics, the three, that Square dubbed the "Dream Team",{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger |developer=Square Co. |publisher=Square Soft |date=August 22, 1995 |platform=Super NES |quote=Keizo Kokubo: Well then, open the Gates to the Dream Team! [...] / Developer's Ending: Cheers! You made it to one of the endings! You're now a member of the Dream Team!}} decided to create something that "no one had done before". Toriyama's editor, Kazuhiko Torishima, later credited the concept to a fusion of "Dragon Quest plus Final Fantasy", and arranged for Enix to lend Yuji Horii to Squaresoft for development.{{cite web |url=https://news.denfaminicogamer.jp/projectbook/torishima/2 |date=April 4, 2016 |title=Interview with Kazuhiko Toshirama |website=Denfaminicogamer.jp |access-date=November 23, 2022 |archive-date=November 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123072150/https://news.denfaminicogamer.jp/projectbook/torishima/2 |url-status=live}} After spending over a year considering the difficulties of developing a new game, the three received a call from Kazuhiko Aoki, who offered to produce. The four met and spent four days brainstorming ideas for the game. Square convened 50–60 developers, including scenario writer Masato Kato, whom Square designated story planner; development started in early 1993.{{cite magazine |magazine=Edge |date=April 1995 |issue=19 |page=41 |title=Prescreen: Chrono Trigger |publisher=Future Publishing |location=Bath}} An uncredited Square employee suggested that the team develop a time travel-themed game, which Kato initially opposed, fearing repetitive, dull gameplay. Kato and Horii then met several hours per day during the first year of development to write the game's plot; Horii desired a silent protagonist from the outset. Square intended to license the work under the Mana franchise and gave it the working title Maru Island; Hiromichi Tanaka (the future producer of Chrono Cross) monitored Toriyama's early designs.{{cite video |date=September 14, 2011 |url=http://www.squareenixmusic.com/features/liners/seikendensetsubox.shtml |title=Seiken Densetsu Music Complete Book Liner Notes (translated by Gerardo Iuliani) |publisher=Square Enix|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809061646/http://www.squareenixmusic.com/features/liners/seikendensetsubox.shtml |archive-date=August 9, 2014}} The team hoped to release it on Nintendo's planned Super Famicom Disk Drive; when Nintendo canceled the project, Square reoriented the game for release on a Super Famicom cartridge and rebranded it as Chrono Trigger. Tanaka credited the ROM cartridge platform for enabling seamless transition to battles on the field map. While Chrono Trigger had been planned for a 24-megabit cartridge, Square ultimately chose a 32-megabit platform, enabling additional graphics and music.{{cite magazine |magazine=Marukatsu Famicom |date=September 9, 1994 |issue=14 |page=26 |title=We get a closer look at the real image of the new RPG "Chrono"! |url=https://www.chronocompendium.com/images/wiki/d/dc/20191016011640.jpg |access-date=November 23, 2022 |archive-date=November 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123073503/https://www.chronocompendium.com/images/wiki/d/dc/20191016011640.jpg |url-status=live}} Torishima later reflected that at least one early revision of the game had been scrapped.

Aoki ultimately produced Chrono Trigger, while director credits were attributed to Akihiko Matsui, Yoshinori Kitase and Takashi Tokita. Toriyama designed the game's aesthetic, including characters, monsters, vehicles, and the look of each era. Masato Kato also contributed character ideas and designs. Kato planned to feature Gaspar as a playable character and Toriyama sketched him, but he was cut early in development.{{cite book |year=1995 |title=Chrono Trigger V Jump Player's Guide |page=189 |language=ja |publisher=V Jump}} The development staff studied the drawings of Toriyama to approximate his style. Sakaguchi and Horii supervised; Sakaguchi was responsible for the game's overall system and contributed several monster ideas. Other notable designers include Tetsuya Takahashi, the graphic director, and Yasuyuki Honne, Tetsuya Nomura, and Yusuke Naora, who worked as field graphic artists.{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger (Credits) |url=http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Chrono_Trigger_Credits.html |developer=Square Co |publisher=Square Soft |date=August 22, 1995 |platform=Super NES}} Yasuhiko Kamata programmed graphics, and cited Ridley Scott's visual work in the film Alien as an inspiration for the game's lighting. Kamata made the game's luminosity and color choice lay between that of Secret of Mana and the Final Fantasy series. Features originally intended to be used in Secret of Mana or Final Fantasy IV, also under development at the same time, were appropriated by the Chrono Trigger team.{{cite journal |journal=Level |issue=6 |pages=114–121 |language=sv |last=Schaulfelberger |first=Frederik |date=September 2006 |publisher=IDG |title=Sanningen om Mana}} According to Tanaka, Secret of Mana (which itself was originally intended to be Final Fantasy IV) was codenamed "Chrono Trigger" during development before being called Seiken Densetsu 2 (Secret of Mana), and then the name Chrono Trigger was adopted for a new project.{{cite web |title=インタビュー『ファイナルファンタジーIII』 |url=https://dengekionline.com/soft/interview/ff3/ |website=Dengeki |year=2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140218213510/http://dengekionline.com//soft/interview/ff3/ |archive-date=February 18, 2014 |access-date=June 18, 2019 |url-status=live}} [https://legendsoflocalization.com/final-fantasy-iv-secret-of-mana-and-chrono-trigger-had-a-connection/ Alt URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419071941/https://legendsoflocalization.com/final-fantasy-iv-secret-of-mana-and-chrono-trigger-had-a-connection/ |date=April 19, 2019 }} After its release, the development team of Final Fantasy VI was folded into the Chrono Trigger team.{{cite web |url=http://shmuplations.com/chronotrigger2/ |title=Chrono Trigger – 1995 Developer Interview Collection |website=Shmuplations |access-date=August 5, 2021 |archive-date=November 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181124172004/http://shmuplations.com/chronotrigger2/ |url-status=live}}

File:Hironobu Sakaguchi 20070706 Japan Expo 2.jpg

Yuji Horii, a fan of time travel fiction (such as the TV series The Time Tunnel), fostered a theme of time travel in his general story outline of Chrono Trigger with input from Akira Toriyama.{{cite web |title=Yuji Horii interview |url=http://www.playmagazine.com/index.php?fuseaction=SiteMain.showGamePage&Game_ID=169 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060325111040/http://www.playmagazine.com/index.php?fuseaction=SiteMain.showGamePage&Game_ID=169 | archive-date=March 25, 2006 |author=Play staff |publisher=Play online | access-date=February 16, 2007}} Horii liked the scenario of the grandfather paradox surrounding Marle. Concerning story planning, Horii commented, "If there's a fairground, I just write that there's a fairground; I don't write down any of the details. Then the staff brainstorm and come up with a variety of attractions to put in." Horii also devised Lavos as the final boss, having wanted the final boss to be an ancient evil. Sakaguchi contributed some minor elements, including the character Gato; he liked Marle's drama and reconciliation with her father. Masato Kato subsequently edited and completed the outline by writing the majority of the game's story, including all the events of the 12,000 BC era.{{cite web |date=November 1999 |title=Procyon Studio: Interview with Masato Kato |url=http://mitsuda.cocoebiz.com/friends/kato.html |publisher=Cocoebiz.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724162937/http://mitsuda.cocoebiz.com/friends/kato.html |archive-date=July 24, 2011 |access-date=June 3, 2007 |url-status=dead}} He took pains to avoid what he described as "a long string of errands [...] [such as] 'do this', 'take this', 'defeat these monsters', or 'plant this flag'." Kato and other developers held a series of meetings to ensure continuity, usually attended by around 30 personnel. Kato and Horii initially proposed Crono's death, though they intended he stay dead; the party would have retrieved an earlier, living version of him to complete the quest. Square deemed the scenario too depressing and asked that Crono be brought back to life later in the story. Kato also devised the system of multiple endings because he could not branch the story out to different paths. Yoshinori Kitase and Takashi Tokita then wrote various subplots. They also devised an "Active Time Event Logic" system, "where you can move your character around during scenes, even when an NPC is talking to you", and with players "talking to different people and steering the conversation in different directions", allowing each scene to "have many permutations."{{cite web |author=blackoak |url=http://shmuplations.com/chronotrigger/ |title=Chrono Trigger: 1994/1995 Developer Interviews |website=Shmuplations |date=1994 |access-date=February 14, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170411121836/http://shmuplations.com/chronotrigger/ |archive-date=April 11, 2017}} Kato became friends with composer Yasunori Mitsuda during development, and they would collaborate on several future projects. Katsuhisa Higuchi programmed the battle system, which hosted combat on the map without transition to a special battleground as most previous Square games had done. Higuchi noted extreme difficulty in loading battles properly without slow-downs or a brief, black loading screen. The game's use of animated monster sprites consumed much more memory than previous Final Fantasy games, which used static enemy graphics.

Hironobu Sakaguchi likened the development of Chrono Trigger to "play[ing] around with Toriyama's universe," citing the inclusion of humorous sequences in the game that would have been "impossible with something like Final Fantasy." When Square suggested a non-human player character, developers created Frog by adapting one of Toriyama's sketches. The team created the End of Time to help players with hints, worrying that they might become stuck and need to consult a walkthrough. The game's testers had previously complained that Chrono Trigger was too difficult; as Horii explained, "It's because we know too much. The developers think the game's just right; that they're being too soft. They're thinking from their own experience. The puzzles were the same. Lots of players didn't figure out things we thought they'd get easily." Sakaguchi later cited the unusual desire of beta testers to play the game a second time or "travel through time again" as an affirmation of the New Game Plus feature: "Wherever we could, we tried to make it so that a slight change in your behavior caused subtle differences in people's reactions, even down to the smallest details [...] I think the second playthrough will hold a whole new interest." The game's reuse of locations due to time traveling made bug-fixing difficult, as corrections would cause unintended consequences in other eras.{{Cite journal |date=March 1995 |journal=Gamest |publisher=Shinseisha |url=http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Supporting_Material_Translation.html#Chrono_Trigger_Gamest_Coverage |pages=211–215 |title=Chrono Trigger Development Team Special Talk |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119231921/http://chronocompendium.com/Term/Supporting_Material_Translation.html |archive-date=November 19, 2010}}

{{Main|Music of Chrono Trigger}}

{{Listen

|header=Music samples:

|filename=Chrono trigger sample.ogg

|title="Chrono Trigger"

|description=A 30-second sample of the game's main theme, illustrating Chrono Trigger{{'s}} aural style and aesthetic.

|filename2=Chrono trigger brink of time sample.ogg

|title2="Zeal Palace"

|description2= A 30-second sample of "Zeal Palace" from The Brink of Time, demonstrating the acid-jazz style of the arranged album.

}}

Chrono Trigger was scored primarily by Yasunori Mitsuda, with contributions from veteran Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu and one track by Noriko Matsueda. A sound programmer at the time, Mitsuda was unhappy with his pay and threatened to leave Square if he could not compose music.{{Cite book |year=2004 |first=Chris |last=Kohler |title=Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=0-7440-0424-1}} Hironobu Sakaguchi suggested he score Chrono Trigger, remarking, "maybe your salary will go up." Mitsuda composed new music and drew on a personal collection of pieces composed over the previous two years. He reflected, "I wanted to create music that wouldn't fit into any established genre [...] music of an imaginary world. The game's director, Masato Kato, was my close friend, and so I'd always talk with him about the setting and the scene before going into writing." Mitsuda slept in his studio several nights, and attributed certain pieces—such as the game's ending theme, "To Far Away Times"—to inspiring dreams. He later attributed this song to an idea he was developing before Chrono Trigger, reflecting that the tune was made in dedication to "a certain person with whom [he] wanted to share a generation". He also tried to use leitmotifs of the Chrono Trigger main theme to create a sense of consistency in the soundtrack. Mitsuda wrote each tune to be around two minutes long before repeating, unusual for Square's games at the time. Mitsuda suffered a hard drive crash that lost around forty in-progress tracks.{{cite magazine |year=2008 |magazine=Famitsu |title=Chrono Trigger DS |url=http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/July_2008_Weekly_Famitsu_Interview_with_Yasunori_Mitsuda.html |pages=67–70 |language=ja |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090613004048/http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/July_2008_Weekly_Famitsu_Interview_with_Yasunori_Mitsuda.html |archive-date=June 13, 2009}} After Mitsuda contracted stomach ulcers, Uematsu joined the project to compose ten pieces and finish the score. Mitsuda returned to watch the ending with the staff before the game's release, crying upon seeing the finished scene.

File:Yasunori Mitsuda (2019).jpg composed the bulk of the music for Chrono Trigger and would later serve as composer for Chrono Cross.]]

At the time of the game's release, the number of tracks and sound effects was unprecedented—the soundtrack spanned three discs in its 1995 commercial pressing.{{Cite magazine |date=July 1995 |volume=74 |magazine=Nintendo Power |title=Epic Center: Chrono Trigger |page=52}} Square also released a one-disc acid jazz arrangement called The Brink of Time by Guido that year. The Brink of Time came about because Mitsuda wanted to do something that no one else was doing, and he noted that acid jazz and its related genres were uncommon in the Japanese market. Mitsuda considers Chrono Trigger a landmark game which helped mature his talent.{{cite web |url=http://palgn.com.au/5478/yasunori-mitsuda-interview/ |title=Yasunori Mitsuda Interview |access-date=May 22, 2007 |first=James |last=Gay |date=October 13, 2006 |website=PALGN|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203045727/http://palgn.com.au/5478/yasunori-mitsuda-interview/ |archive-date=February 3, 2014}} While Mitsuda later held that the title piece was "rough around the edges", he maintains that it had "significant influence on [his] life as a composer". In 1999, Square produced another one-disc soundtrack to complement the PlayStation release of the game, featuring orchestral tracks used in cutscenes. Tsuyoshi Sekito composed four new pieces for the game's bonus features which weren't included on the soundtrack.{{cite web |date=November 24, 2008 |title=Yasunori Mitsuda Talks Chrono Trigger |url=http://www.originalsoundversion.com/?p=915 |publisher=Original Sound Version |access-date=March 13, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110324012728/http://www.originalsoundversion.com/yasunori-mitsuda-talks-chrono-trigger-mysteries-solved-clarifications-made/ |archive-date=March 24, 2011}} Some fans were displeased by Mitsuda's absence in creating the port, whose instruments sometimes aurally differed from the original game's. Mitsuda arranged versions of music from the Chrono series for Play! video game music concerts, presenting the main theme, "Frog's Theme", and "To Far Away Times".{{cite web |date=May 30, 2006 |first=Brandon |last=Driker |title=Play! A Video Game Symphony |url=http://www.n-sider.com/contentview.php?contentid=352 |publisher=N-Sider |access-date=January 7, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125053157/http://www.ymm.co.jp/ |archive-date=January 25, 2013}} He worked with Square Enix to ensure that the music for the Nintendo DS would sound closer to the Super NES version. Mitsuda encouraged feedback about the game's soundtrack from contemporary children (who he thought would expect "full symphonic scores blaring out of the speakers"). Fans who preordered the DS version received a special music disc containing two orchestral arrangements of the game's music directed by Natsumi Kameoka; Square Enix also held a random prize drawing for two signed copies of Chrono Trigger sheet music.{{cite web |title=Chrono Trigger Fan Club |url=http://member.square-enix.com/jp/special/chronotrigger/ |publisher=Square Enix |access-date=February 20, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219223950/http://member.square-enix.com/jp/special/chronotrigger/ |archive-date=February 19, 2009 |url-status=dead}} Mitsuda expressed difficulty in selecting the tune for the orchestral medley, eventually picking a tune from each era and certain character themes.{{cite web |title=Chrono Trigger DS |format=Flash |url=http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/December_2008_-_CT_DS_Video_Interview_with_Yasunori_Mitsuda.html |publisher=Square Enix |access-date=March 13, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226222516/http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/December_2008_-_CT_DS_Video_Interview_with_Yasunori_Mitsuda.html |archive-date=February 26, 2009}} Mitsuda later wrote:

{{Blockquote|I feel that the way we interact with music has changed greatly in the last 13 years, even for me. For better or for worse, I think it would be extremely difficult to create something as "powerful" as I did 13 years ago today. But instead, all that I have learned in these 13 years allows me to compose something much more intricate. To be perfectly honest, I find it so hard to believe that songs from 13 years ago are loved this much. Keeping these feelings in mind, I hope to continue composing songs which are powerful, and yet intricate...I hope that the extras like this bonus CD will help expand the world of Chrono Trigger, especially since we did a live recording. I hope there's another opportunity to release an album of this sort one day.}}

Music from the game was performed live by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra in 1996 at the Orchestral Game Concert in Tokyo, Japan. A suite of music including Chrono Trigger is a part of the symphonic world-tour with video game music Play! A Video Game Symphony, where Mitsuda was in attendance for the concert's world-premiere in Chicago on May 27, 2006. His suite of Chrono music, comprising "Reminiscence", "Chrono Trigger", "Chrono Cross~Time's Scar", "Frog's Theme", and "To Far Away Times" was performed. Mitsuda has also appeared with the Eminence Symphony Orchestra as a special guest.{{cite web |url=http://www.squarebrain.net/2007-01/passion-by-eminence-symphony-orchestra-review/ |title=Passion by Eminence Symphony Orchestra Review |date=January 13, 2007 | access-date = April 26, 2014|url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192617/http://www.squarebrain.net/2007-01/passion-by-eminence-symphony-orchestra-review/|archive-date=October 29, 2013}} Video Games Live has also featured medleys from Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross.{{cite web |date=April 8, 2009 |title=Video Games Live Pulls the Trigger: Chrono Medley Added to Repertoire |url=http://www.originalsoundversion.com/?p=2404 |publisher=Original Sound Version | access-date=August 10, 2009 |author=David Hsu|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170707230540/http://www.originalsoundversion.com/video-games-live-pulls-the-trigger-chrono-medley-added-to-repertoire/|archive-date=July 7, 2017}} A medley of Music from Chrono Trigger made of one of the four suites of the "Symphonic Fantasies" concerts in September 2009 which was produced by the creators of the Symphonic Game Music Concert series, conducted by Arnie Roth.{{Cite book |publisher=Symphonic Fantasies |url=http://www.symphonicfantasies.com/post/78838894/jonne-valtonen-the-award-winning-finnish-composer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627120617/http://www.symphonicfantasies.com/post/78838894/jonne-valtonen-the-award-winning-finnish-composer |archive-date=June 27, 2009 |title=Music from classic games arranged by Jonne Valtonen |date=January 22, 2009 |access-date=June 1, 2009}} Square Enix re-released the game's soundtrack, along with a video interview with Mitsuda in July 2009.{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B002B5WW58 |title=[DS版]クロノ・トリガー オリジナル・サウンドトラック(DVD付) [CD+DVD] |date=July 29, 2009 |access-date=July 30, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319085341/http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B002B5WW58 |archive-date=March 19, 2015}} "Frog's Theme" and "Robo's Theme" were among the video game music performed during the 2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.{{Cite news |last=Steen |first=Emma |date=July 24, 2021 |title=Explained: the Japanese symbolism you missed at the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony |work=Time Out |url=https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/explained-the-japanese-symbolism-you-missed-at-the-tokyo-olympics-opening-ceremony-072421 |access-date=January 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724160051/https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/explained-the-japanese-symbolism-you-missed-at-the-tokyo-olympics-opening-ceremony-072421 |archive-date=July 24, 2021 |issn=0049-3910 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last=McWhertor |first=Michael |url=https://www.polygon.com/22590146/olympics-2020-games-athletes-parade-of-nations-video-game-music-dragon-quest-kingdom-hearts |title=The Olympic opening ceremony was full of video game music |work=Polygon |date=July 23, 2021 |access-date=January 30, 2024 |archive-date=July 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724131448/https://www.polygon.com/22590146/olympics-2020-games-athletes-parade-of-nations-video-game-music-dragon-quest-kingdom-hearts |url-status=live}} In 2022, the main theme continued to feature in the setlist of the 8-Bit Big Band, led by Charlie Rosen.{{cite web |url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-8-bit-big-band/2022/north-beach-bandshell-miami-beach-fl-73be1251.html |title=The 8-Bit Big Band Setlist at North Beach Bandshell, Miami Beach, FL, USA on November 5, 2022 |website=setlist.fm |access-date=December 7, 2022 |archive-date=December 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207184327/https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-8-bit-big-band/2022/north-beach-bandshell-miami-beach-fl-73be1251.html |url-status=live}}{{Clear}}

The team planned to release Chrono Trigger in late 1994, but release was pushed back to the following year. Early alpha versions of Chrono Trigger were demonstrated at the 1994 and 1995 V Jump festivals in Japan.{{cite web |title=Alpha Versions |url=http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Alpha_Version_Screenshot.html |publisher=Chrono Compendium |access-date=January 14, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080103204100/http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Alpha_Version_Screenshot.html |archive-date=January 3, 2008}} A few months prior to the game's release, Square shipped a beta version to magazine reviewers and game stores for review. An unfinished build of the game dated November 17, 1994, it contains unused music tracks, locations, and other features changed or removed from the final release—such as a dungeon named "Singing Mountain" and its eponymous tune.{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger (Prerelease) |url=http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Chrono_Trigger_Prerelease.html |developer=Square Co |publisher=Square Soft |date=November 17, 1994 |platform=Super NES}}{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger (Prerelease) |url=http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Chrono_Trigger_Prerelease.html |developer=Square Co |publisher=Square Soft |date=November 17, 1994 |platform=Super NES |level=[http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Singing_Mountain Singing Mountain]}} Some names also differed; the character Soysaw (Slash in the US version) was known as Wiener, while Mayonnay (Flea in the US version) was named Ketchappa.{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger (Prerelease) |url=http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Chrono_Trigger_Prerelease.html |developer=Square Co |publisher=Square Soft |date=November 17, 1994 |platform=Super NES |level=[http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Translated_Text_(CTP).html Medina Elder's House] |quote=私は、ケチャッパ。日夜、魔王様をあがめて、魔族がこの地を手に入れる日を願い続けているのよ。 / オレは、ワイナー。魔族がその力を取り戻す日にそなえて剣の修行にいそしんでいるのだ。}} The ROM image for this early version was eventually uploaded to the internet, prompting fans to explore and document the game's differences, including two unused world map NPC character sprites and presumed additional sprites for certain non-player characters. Around the game's release, Yuji Horii commented that Chrono Trigger "went beyond [the development team's] expectations", and Hironobu Sakaguchi congratulated the game's graphic artists and field designers.{{cite book |year=1995 |editor=V Jump |title=Chrono Trigger: The Perfect [Translation] |url=http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Chrono_Trigger:_The_Perfect.html |page=290 |language=ja |publisher=Shueisha |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306175353/https://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Chrono_Trigger%3A_The_Perfect.html |archive-date=March 6, 2016}} Sakaguchi intended to perfect the "sense of dancing you get from exploring Toriyama's worlds" in the event that they would make a sequel.

Chrono Trigger used a 32-megabit ROM cartridge with battery-backed RAM for saved games, lacking special on-cartridge coprocessors. The Japanese release of Chrono Trigger included art for the game's ending and running counts of items in the player's status menu.{{cite web |url=http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Translation_Differences.html |title=Translation Differences |access-date=February 8, 2008 |date=April 2007 |publisher=Chrono Compendium |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080205053944/http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Translation_Differences.html |archive-date=February 5, 2008}} Developers created the North American version before adding these features to the original build, inadvertently leaving in vestiges of Chrono Trigger{{'s}} early development (such as the piece "Singing Mountain").{{cite web |author=Yasunori Mitsuda |url=http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Singing_Mountain.html |title=Singing Mountain (Music) |access-date=April 2, 2007 |publisher=Chrono Compendium |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070426154538/http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Singing_Mountain.html |archive-date=April 26, 2007}} Hironobu Sakaguchi asked translator Ted Woolsey to localize Chrono Trigger for English audiences and gave him roughly thirty days to work.{{cite web |author=Ted Woolsey |url=http://www.playeronepodcast.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=145 |date=February 16, 2007 |title=Interview with Ted Woolsey | access-date=January 14, 2008 |publisher=Player One Podcast | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071222172357/http://www.playeronepodcast.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=145 | archive-date=December 22, 2007}} Lacking the help of a modern translation team, he memorized scenarios and looked at drafts of commercial player's guides to put dialogue in context. Woolsey later reflected that he would have preferred {{frac|2|1|2}} months, and blames his rushed schedule on the prevailing attitude in Japan that games were children's toys rather than serious works. Some of his work was cut due to space constraints, though he still considered Trigger "one of the most satisfying games [he] ever worked on or played".{{cite web |author=Ted Woolsey, Bob Rork |url=http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Bob_Rork_Woolsey_Interview.html |title=Interview with Ted Woolsey |access-date=April 2, 2007 |publisher=Chrono Compendium |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060713020606/http://chronocompendium.com/Term/Bob_Rork_Woolsey_Interview.html |archive-date=July 13, 2006}} Nintendo of America censored certain dialogue, including references to breastfeeding, consumption of alcohol, and religion.

The original SNES edition of Chrono Trigger was released on the Wii download service Virtual Console in Japan on April 26, 2011, in the US on May 16, 2011,{{cite web |last=Moriarty |first=Colin |title=Chrono Trigger Wii-Bound in America |url=http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/116/1167812p1.html |website=IGN |access-date=May 13, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120613031401/http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/116/1167812p1.html |archive-date=June 13, 2012}} and in Europe on May 20, 2011.{{cite web |title=Chrono Trigger Hits European Virtual Console on Friday |url=http://vc.nintendolife.com/news/2011/05/chrono_trigger_hits_european_virtual_console_on_friday |author=nintendolife |date=May 16, 2011 |access-date=May 20, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519134444/http://vc.nintendolife.com/news/2011/05/chrono_trigger_hits_european_virtual_console_on_friday |archive-date=May 19, 2011}} Previously in April 2008, a Nintendo Power reader poll had identified Chrono Trigger as the third-most wanted game for the Virtual Console.{{Cite magazine |date=June 2008 |magazine=Nintendo Power |volume=229 |publisher=Future US |page=25 |title=Wii Channels: Wanted!}} The game has also been ported to i-mode,{{cite web |date=January 2011 |title=Chrono Trigger | Square Enix |url=http://www.square-enix.co.jp/mobile/sem/chronotrigger/ |publisher=Square Enix |access-date=February 2, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219044846/http://www.square-enix.co.jp/mobile/sem/chronotrigger/ |archive-date=February 19, 2011}} the Virtual Console,{{cite web |author=Siliconera Staff |date=March 2011 |title=Chrono Trigger Time Warps to Virtual Console Next Month | Siliconera |url=http://www.siliconera.com/2011/03/25/chrono-trigger-time-warps-to-virtual-console-next-month/ |website=Siliconera |access-date=March 26, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110402042159/http://www.siliconera.com/2011/03/25/chrono-trigger-time-warps-to-virtual-console-next-month/ |archive-date=April 2, 2011}} the PlayStation Network,{{cite web |title=Chrono Trigger Coming to PS3 |date=April 22, 2011 |url=http://ps3.ign.com/articles/116/1163570p1.html |access-date=April 22, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428232024/http://ps3.ign.com/articles/116/1163570p1.html |archive-date=April 28, 2011}} iOS,{{cite news |title=TGS '11: Square Enix announces Chrono Trigger for iOS and Android, Dragon Quest Monsters and Ithadaki Street also revealed |newspaper=Pocket Gamer |url=http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Multiformat/Chrono+Trigger/news.asp?c=33458 |date=September 16, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220095805/http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Multiformat/Chrono%2BTrigger/news.asp?c=33458 |archive-date=December 20, 2016}} Android,{{cite web |year=2011 |title=Square Enix Market – Chrono Trigger |url=http://www.square-enix.co.jp/smart/market/game005.html |publisher=Square Enix |access-date=June 25, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120620070735/http://www.square-enix.co.jp/smart/market/game005.html |archive-date=June 20, 2012}} and Windows.{{cite web |url=https://kotaku.com/chrono-trigger-gets-surprise-release-on-pc-1823359578 |title=Chrono Trigger Gets Surprise Release On PC |first=Jason |last=Schreier |authorlink=Jason Schreier |date=February 27, 2018 | access-date=February 27, 2018 |work=Kotaku |url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227173625/https://kotaku.com/chrono-trigger-gets-surprise-release-on-pc-1823359578 |archive-date=February 27, 2018}}

Square released an enhanced port of Chrono Trigger developed by Tose in Japan for the Sony PlayStation in 1999. Square timed its release before that of Chrono Cross, the 1999 sequel to Chrono Trigger, to familiarize new players with the story leading up to it. This version included anime cutscenes created by original character designer Akira Toriyama's Bird Studio and animated at Toei Animation, as well as several bonus features, accessible after achieving various endings in the game. Scenarist Masato Kato attended planning meetings at Bird Studio to discuss how the ending cutscenes would illustrate subtle ties to Chrono Cross. The port was released in North America in 2001—along with a newly translated version of Final Fantasy IV—as Final Fantasy Chronicles. Reviewers criticized Chronicles for its lengthy load times and an absence of new in-game features.{{Cite magazine |date=August 2001 |editor=Sam Kennedy |magazine=Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine |issue=47 |page=107 |title=Chrono Trigger |publisher=Ziff Davis Media Inc.}}{{cite web |title=Final Fantasy Chronicles for PlayStation Review |url=http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/final-fantasy-chronicles-review/1900-2783150/ |website=GameSpot |author=Shoemaker, Brad |access-date=December 27, 2008 |date=June 6, 2001 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904102224/http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/final-fantasy-chronicles-review/1900-2783150/ |archive-date=September 4, 2015}} This same iteration was also re-released as a downloadable game on the PlayStation Network on October 4, 2011, for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and PlayStation Portable.{{cite web |url=http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/09/29/chrono-trigger-hits-psn-this-tuesday/ |title=Chrono Trigger Hits PSN This Tuesday |work=PlayStation.Blog |date=September 29, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907001849/http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/09/29/chrono-trigger-hits-psn-this-tuesday/ |archive-date=September 7, 2015}}

On July 2, 2008, Square Enix announced that they were planning to bring Chrono Trigger to the Nintendo DS handheld platform.{{cite web |url=http://na.square-enix.com/ctds/ |title=Chrono Trigger for Nintendo DS |publisher=Square Enix |access-date=February 16, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510035803/http://na.square-enix.com/ctds/ |archive-date=May 10, 2013}} Composer Yasunori Mitsuda was pleased with the project, exclaiming "finally!" after receiving the news from Square Enix and maintaining, "it's still a very deep, very high-quality game even when you play it today. I'm very interested in seeing what kids today think about it when they play it." Square retained Masato Kato to oversee the port, and Tose to program it. Kato explained, "I wanted it to be based on the original Super NES release rather than the PlayStation version. I thought we should look at the additional elements from the PlayStation version, re-examine and re-work them to make it a complete edition. That's how it struck me and I told the staff so later on." Square Enix touted the game by displaying Akira Toriyama's original art at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show.{{cite web |title=【ブースリポート】スクウェア・エニックスブースでは『FFXIII』ほかの最新映像を上映 |publisher=Famitsu |date=October 9, 2008 |url=http://www.famitsu.com/event/tgs/2008/1218697_1829.html |access-date=October 13, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012051722/http://www.famitsu.com/event/tgs/2008/1218697_1829.html |archive-date=October 12, 2008 |language=ja}}

The DS re-release contains all of the bonus material from the PlayStation port, as well as other enhancements.{{cite web |url=http://www.gamespot.com/ds/rpg/chronotriggerds/news.html?sid=6194298 |title=E3 2008: Chrono Trigger DS Hands-On |website=GameSpot |first=Sophia |last=Tong |date=July 16, 2008 |access-date=October 2, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202035742/http://www.gamespot.com/chrono-trigger/previews/e3-2008-chrono-trigger-ds-hands-on-6194298/ |archive-date=February 2, 2012}} The added features include a more accurate and revised translation by Tom Slattery, a dual-screen mode which clears the top screen of all menus, a self-completing map screen, and a default "run" option.{{Cite magazine |magazine=Nintendo Power |volume=233 |page=62 |date=October 2008 |title=The Big 15: Chrono Trigger |first=Justin |last=Cheng |publisher=Future US}} It also features the option to choose between two control schemes: one mirroring the original SNES controls, and the other making use of the DS's touch screen.{{cite video game |title=Chrono Trigger DS |developer=Square Enix |publisher=Square Enix |date=November 25, 2008 |platform=Nintendo DS}} Masato Kato participated in development, overseeing the addition of the monster-battling Arena,{{cite web |url=http://www.thegamingvault.com/2008/09/exclusive-chrono-trigger-ds-receives-monster-battling-addition/ |title=Chrono Trigger DS receives Monster Battling addition |publisher=The Gaming Vault |first=Michael |last=O'Connor |date=September 21, 2008 |access-date=October 1, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924051624/http://www.thegamingvault.com/2008/09/exclusive-chrono-trigger-ds-receives-monster-battling-addition/ |archive-date=September 24, 2008}}{{cite web |year=2008 |title=Chrono Trigger Multiplayer Hands-on |url=http://ds.ign.com/articles/924/924699p1.html |access-date=May 4, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110626122243/http://ds.ign.com/articles/924/924699p1.html |archive-date=June 26, 2011}} two new areas, the Lost Sanctum and the Dimensional Vortex, and a new ending that further foreshadows the events of Chrono Cross.{{cite web |title=ニンテンドーDS版の追加要素が判明 『クロノ･トリガー』 |publisher=Famitsu |date=October 7, 2008 |url=http://www.famitsu.com/game/coming/1218561_1407.html |access-date=October 13, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081009234221/http://www.famitsu.com/game/coming/1218561_1407.html |archive-date=October 9, 2008}} One of the areas within the Vortex uses the "Singing Mountain" song that was featured on the original Chrono Trigger soundtrack. Additionally, one of the dungeons absent from the original game was remade within the Vortex. These new dungeons met with mixed reviews; GameSpot called them "frustrating" and "repetitive", while IGN noted that "the extra quests in the game connect extremely well."{{cite web |last=Anderson |first=Lark |title=Chrono Trigger Review |url=http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/chrono-trigger-review/1900-6201545/ |work=Gamespot.com |access-date=April 26, 2014 |date=November 21, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326114510/http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/chrono-trigger-review/1900-6201545/ |archive-date=March 26, 2014}}{{cite web |last=Bozon |first=Mark |date=November 20, 2008 |title=Chrono Trigger for DS review |url=http://ds.ign.com/articles/932/932438p1.html |website=IGN |access-date=December 8, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205110745/http://ds.ign.com/articles/932/932438p1.html |archive-date=December 5, 2008}} It was a nominee for "Best RPG for the Nintendo DS" in IGN{{'}}s 2008 video game awards.{{cite web |title=IGN DS: Best RPG 2008 |url=http://bestof.ign.com/2008/ds/7.html |website=IGN |access-date=April 26, 2014 |date=December 15, 2008|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219041632/http://bestof.ign.com/2008/ds/7.html|archive-date=December 19, 2008}} The Nintendo DS version of Chrono Trigger was the 22nd best-selling game of 2008 in Japan.{{cite magazine |title=JAPANESE 2008 MARKET REPORT |url=http://www.mcvuk.com/interviews/403/JAPANESE-2008-MARKET-REPORT |magazine=MCV |access-date=January 9, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122135649/http://www.mcvuk.com/interviews/403/JAPANESE-2008-MARKET-REPORT |archive-date=January 22, 2009}}

A cellphone version was released in Japan on i-mode distribution service on August 25, 2011.{{cite web |title=スクエニ、iモード「クロノ・トリガー」時をめぐる壮大な物語が展開する名作RPG |date=April 25, 2011 |language=ja |url=http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20110425_441736.html |publisher=Game Watch |access-date=May 15, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514162650/http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20110425_441736.html |archive-date=May 14, 2013}} An iOS version was released on December 8, 2011. This version is based on the Nintendo DS version, with graphics optimized for iOS.{{cite web |title=Chrono Trigger iOS Available Now |url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/12/08/chrono-trigger-ios-available-now |website=IGN |date=December 8, 2011 |access-date=May 15, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220133037/http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/12/08/chrono-trigger-ios-available-now |archive-date=February 20, 2014}} The game was later released for Android on October 29, 2012.{{cite web |title=Oh Man, Chrono Trigger Is On Android Now For $10 – This Is Even Better Than Final Fantasy |url=http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/10/29/oh-man-chrono-trigger-is-on-android-now-for-10-this-is-even-better-than-final-fantasy/ |publisher=Android Police |date=October 29, 2012 |access-date=May 15, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508184420/http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/10/29/oh-man-chrono-trigger-is-on-android-now-for-10-this-is-even-better-than-final-fantasy/ |archive-date=May 8, 2013}}{{cite web |title=スクエニ、「クロノ・トリガー」 Android/EZweb版も配信開始!! |language=ja |url=http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20111222_501023.html |publisher=Game Watch |date=November 22, 2011 |access-date=May 15, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514154047/http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20111222_501023.html |archive-date=May 14, 2013}} An update incorporating most of the features of the Windows version—including the reintroduction of the animated cutscenes, which had been absent from the initial mobile release—was released on February 27, 2018, for both iOS and Android.{{cite web |title='Chrono Trigger' Updated with Cloud Saves, Controller Support, and More Alongside Steam Release |url=https://toucharcade.com/2018/02/27/chrono-trigger-iphone-android-update/ |publisher=TouchArcade |date=February 27, 2018 |access-date=March 25, 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325182807/https://toucharcade.com/2018/02/27/chrono-trigger-iphone-android-update/ |archive-date=March 25, 2021}}

Square Enix released Chrono Trigger without an announcement for Windows via Steam on February 27, 2018. This version includes most content from the Nintendo DS port besides the arena mode, as well as the higher resolution graphics from the mobile device releases, support for mouse and keyboard controls, and autosave features, along with additional content such as wallpapers and music.{{cite web |url=https://www.polygon.com/2018/2/27/17058294/chrono-trigger-windows-pc-release-date-trailer-steam |title=Now play one of the best RPGs ever on your PC |first=Allegra |last=Frank |date=February 27, 2018 | access-date = February 27, 2018 |work=Polygon | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227182740/https://www.polygon.com/2018/2/27/17058294/chrono-trigger-windows-pc-release-date-trailer-steam | archive-date = February 27, 2018}}{{Cite web |last=Arevalo |first=Moises |title=Play a RPG for PC low performance |url=https://chgeeks.com/5-juegos-de-rpg-para-pc-pocos-requisitos/ |website=Chgeeks|access-date=July 12, 2021|archive-date=July 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712062608/https://chgeeks.com/5-juegos-de-rpg-para-pc-pocos-requisitos/|url-status=dead}} The PC port initially received negative reception due to its inferior graphical quality, additional glitches, UI adapted for touchscreens, and failure to properly adapt the control scheme for keyboards and controllers.{{cite web |url=https://www.polygon.com/2018/2/27/17059510/chrono-trigger-pc-mobile-port |title=Chrono Trigger fans can't stand its PC port |first=Ben |last=Kuchera |date=February 27, 2018 | access-date = March 2, 2018 |work=Polygon | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228001815/https://www.polygon.com/2018/2/27/17059510/chrono-trigger-pc-mobile-port | archive-date = February 28, 2018}}{{cite web |first=Alex |last=Donaldson |title=Chrono Trigger on PC is a perfect example of how to not re-release a classic game |url=https://www.vg247.com/2018/03/01/chrono-trigger-pc-perfect-example-not-re-release-classic-game/ |website=VG247 |date=March 1, 2018 |access-date=February 1, 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302014818/https://www.vg247.com/2018/03/01/chrono-trigger-pc-perfect-example-not-re-release-classic-game/ |archive-date=March 2, 2018}}{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2018/02/28/the-classic-chrono-trigger-has-been-ported-to-pc-and-its-not-good-at-all/#ad30bf041582 |title=The Classic 'Chrono Trigger' Has Been Ported To PC And It's Not Good At All |first=Ollie |last=Barder |date=February 28, 2018 | access-date = March 2, 2018 |work=Forbes | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228202114/https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2018/02/28/the-classic-chrono-trigger-has-been-ported-to-pc-and-its-not-good-at-all/#ad30bf041582 | archive-date = February 28, 2018}}{{cite web |url=https://kotaku.com/oh-no-chrono-trigger-looks-awful-on-pc-1823364933 |title=Oh No, Chrono Trigger Looks Awful On PC |first=Jason |last=Schreier |authorlink=Jason Schreier |date=February 27, 2018 | access-date = March 2, 2018 |work=Kotaku | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180301122117/https://kotaku.com/oh-no-chrono-trigger-looks-awful-on-pc-1823364933 | archive-date = March 1, 2018}}{{cite web |url=http://gametyrant.com/news/chrono-trigger-is-now-available-on-the-pc-but-fans-are-not-happy |title=CHRONO TRIGGER Is Now Available On The PC, But Fans Are Not Happy |first=Ramon |last=Hara |date=March 1, 2018 | access-date = March 2, 2018 |work=Game Tyrant | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302225322/http://gametyrant.com/news/chrono-trigger-is-now-available-on-the-pc-but-fans-are-not-happy | archive-date = March 2, 2018}}{{cite web |url=http://www.gamerevolution.com/features/371917-chrono-trigger-pc-big-piece-garbage |title=Chrono Trigger for PC is a Big Piece of Garbage |first=Jason |last=Faulkner |date=February 28, 2018 | access-date = March 2, 2018 |work=Game Revolution | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180301152803/http://www.gamerevolution.com/features/371917-chrono-trigger-pc-big-piece-garbage | archive-date = March 1, 2018}} In response, Square Enix provided various UI updates and several other improvements including adding an original graphics option based on the game's original version, fixing glitches introduced, and adding a true 16:9 widescreen presentation for the first time, to address the aforementioned complaints. In total, five major updates were released—the first on April 10, 2018, and the last on August 3, 2018—all of which have substantially improved its overall reception.{{cite web |url=https://www.gematsu.com/2018/04/chrono-trigger-for-pc-first-update-now-available |title=Chrono Trigger for PC first update now available |last=Romano |first=Sal |website=Gematsu |date=April 10, 2018 |access-date=March 27, 2021 |archive-date=December 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216133101/https://www.gematsu.com/2018/04/chrono-trigger-for-pc-first-update-now-available |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://gematsu.com/2018/05/chrono-trigger-for-pc-second-update-now-available |title=Chrono Trigger for PC second update now available |last=Romano |first=Sal |website=Gematsu |date=May 16, 2018 |access-date=March 27, 2021 |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612140037/https://gematsu.com/2018/05/chrono-trigger-for-pc-second-update-now-available |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://gematsu.com/2018/06/chrono-trigger-for-pc-third-update-now-available |title=Chrono Trigger for PC third update now available |last=Romano |first=Sal |website=Gematsu |date=June 6, 2018 |access-date=March 27, 2021 |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612162247/https://gematsu.com/2018/06/chrono-trigger-for-pc-third-update-now-available |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.gematsu.com/2018/06/chrono-trigger-for-pc-fourth-update-now-available |title=Chrono Trigger for PC fourth update now available |last=Romano |first=Sal |website=Gematsu |date=June 27, 2018 |access-date=March 27, 2021 |archive-date=November 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127143043/https://www.gematsu.com/2018/06/chrono-trigger-for-pc-fourth-update-now-available |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.gematsu.com/2018/08/chrono-trigger-for-pc-fifth-update-now-available |title=Chrono Trigger for PC fifth update now available |last=Romano |first=Sal |website=Gematsu |date=August 3, 2018 |access-date=March 27, 2021 |archive-date=July 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708234839/https://www.gematsu.com/2018/08/chrono-trigger-for-pc-fifth-update-now-available |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.vg247.com/2018/08/08/chrono-trigger-pc-rescued-disaster/ |title=Chrono Trigger on PC has been rescued from disaster – and could even be argued as one of the best versions |last=Donaldson |first=Alex |website=VG247 |date=August 8, 2018 |access-date=March 27, 2021 |archive-date=August 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809113944/https://www.vg247.com/2018/08/08/chrono-trigger-pc-rescued-disaster/ |url-status=live}} On March 11, 2022, a sixth major patch was released; it added ultrawide 21:9 support and other quality of life features and improvements.{{cite web |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/chrono-trigger-update-on-mobile-and-pc-adds-extra-features |title=Chrono Trigger update on mobile and PC adds extra features |last=Nightingale |first=Ed |website=Eurogamer |date=March 9, 2022 |access-date=February 1, 2024 |archive-date=February 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240201210802/https://www.eurogamer.net/chrono-trigger-update-on-mobile-and-pc-adds-extra-features |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/4-years-after-its-final-patch-chrono-trigger-on-pc-is-getting-a-new-update-with-219-support/ |title=4 years after its final patch, Chrono Trigger on PC is getting a new update with 21:9 support |last=Chalk |first=Andy |website=PC Gamer |date=March 10, 2022 |access-date=February 1, 2024 |archive-date=February 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240201210803/https://www.pcgamer.com/4-years-after-its-final-patch-chrono-trigger-on-pc-is-getting-a-new-update-with-219-support/ |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://ftw.usatoday.com/2022/03/chrono-trigger-pc-mobile-update-ultrawide-years |title=Chrono Trigger PC and Mobile receives first update in four years |last=Campbell |first=Kyle |website=USA Today |date=March 10, 2022 |access-date=January 30, 2024 |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204021257/https://ftw.usatoday.com/2022/03/chrono-trigger-pc-mobile-update-ultrawide-years |url-status=live}}

{{Video game reviews

| na = true

| SNES = true

| DS = true

| iOS = true

| GR_DS = 92%{{cite web |url=http://www.gamerankings.com/ds/950181-chrono-trigger/index.html |title=Chrono Trigger for DS |website=GameRankings |publisher=CBS Interactive |access-date=June 7, 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201163548/http://www.gamerankings.com/ds/950181-chrono-trigger/index.html |archive-date=December 1, 2017}}

| GR_SNES = 96%{{cite web |url=http://www.gamerankings.com/snes/563538-chrono-trigger/index.html |title=Chrono Trigger for Super Nintendo |website=GameRankings |publisher=CBS Interactive |access-date=June 7, 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202085401/http://www.gamerankings.com/snes/563538-chrono-trigger/index.html |archive-date=December 2, 2017}}

| MC_DS = 92/100{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/chrono-trigger/critic-reviews/?platform=ds |title=Chrono Trigger for DS Reviews |website=Metacritic |publisher=CBS Interactive |access-date=September 2, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926021106/http://www.metacritic.com/game/ds/chrono-trigger |archive-date=September 26, 2013}}

| MC_iOS = 71/100{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/chrono-trigger/critic-reviews/?platform=ios-iphoneipad |title=Chrono Trigger for iPhone/iPad Reviews |website=Metacritic |publisher=CBS Interactive |access-date=June 7, 2018 |archive-date=June 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626145019/http://www.metacritic.com/game/ios/chrono-trigger |url-status=live}}

| 1UP_DS = A{{cite web |url=http://www.1up.com/games/nintendods/chrono-trigger/ |title=Chrono Trigger for Nintendo DS from 1UP |access-date=August 23, 2013 |archive-date=October 1, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001062648/http://www.1up.com/games/nintendods/chrono-trigger/ |url-status=live}}

| Edge_SNES = 7/10{{cite magazine |url=https://retrocdn.net/images/a/af/Edge_UK_026.pdf |title=Testscreen: Chrono Trigger |magazine=Edge |issue=26 |pages=71 |date=November 1995|access-date=March 29, 2024|archive-date=September 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230925172413/https://retrocdn.net/images/a/af/Edge_UK_026.pdf|url-status=live}}

| EGM_SNES = 37/40{{cite magazine |last1=Carpenter |first1=Danyon |last2=Manuel |first2=Al |last3=Semrad |first3=Ed |last4=Sushi-X |date=August 1995 |title=Chrono Trigger review |magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly |issue=73 |page=34 |issn=1058-918X}}

| EGM_DS = A{{cite magazine |last=Pfister |first=Andrew |date=December 2008 |title=Timeless |magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly |issue=235 |page=84 |issn=1058-918X}}

| EuroG_DS = 10/10{{cite web |last=Parkin |first=Simon |date=November 28, 2008 |title=Chrono Trigger Review |url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/chrono-trigger-review?page=2 |website=Eurogamer |access-date=January 7, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201174903/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/chrono-trigger-review?page=2 |archive-date=February 1, 2009}}

| Fam_SNES = 34/40おオススメ!! ソフト カタログ!!: クロノ・トリガー. Weekly Famicom Tsūshin. No.335. Pg.114. May 12–19, 1995.

| GI_SNES = 9.25/10{{cite magazine |url=http://www.gameinformer.com/aug95/chrono.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970811113837/http://www.gameinformer.com/aug95/chrono.html |title=A Magical Adventure Through Time |magazine=Game Informer |date=August 1995 |access-date=August 3, 2011 |archive-date=August 11, 1997 |url-status=dead}}

| GI_DS = 9/10{{cite magazine |last=Juba |first=Joe |date=December 2008 |title=Chrono Trigger |magazine=Game Informer |issue=188 |page=130 |issn=1067-6392}}

| GamePro_SNES = 20/20{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/game-pro-issue-74-september-1995_202308/page/78/mode/2up |last=Neves |first=Lawrence |title=Chrono Trigger |magazine=GamePro |date=September 1995 |issue=74 |pp=78, 80}}

| GamePro_DS = {{rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine |last=Herring |first=Will |date=December 2008 |title=Chrono Trigger review |magazine=GamePro |issue=233 |page=130 |issn=1042-8658}}

| GSpot_DS = 8.5/10{{cite web |url=https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/chrono-trigger-review/1900-6201545/ |last=Anderson |first=Lark |title=Chrono Trigger Review |website=GameSpot |date=November 21, 2008 |access-date=February 15, 2025}}

| GSpy_DS = {{rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web |year=2013 |title=Chrono Trigger (DS) |url=http://ds.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/-chrono-trigger-rumored/936751p1.html |publisher=GameSpy |access-date=September 2, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030152729/http://ds.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/-chrono-trigger-rumored/936751p1.html |archive-date=October 30, 2013}}

| GRadar_DS = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite web |author=Words: Henry Gilbert, GamesRadar US |url=http://www.gamesradar.com/ds/chrono-trigger/review/chrono-trigger/a-20081121174852575091/g-20080707171133771014 |title=Chrono Trigger, Chrono Trigger Review, DS Reviews |date=November 22, 2008 |publisher=Games Radar.com |access-date=August 3, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616001647/http://www.gamesradar.com/ds/chrono-trigger/review/chrono-trigger/a-20081121174852575091/g-20080707171133771014 |archive-date=June 16, 2011}}

| IGN_DS = 8.8/10 (US){{cite web |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/11/20/chrono-trigger-ds-review |last=Bozon |first=Mark |title=Chrono Trigger DS Review |website=IGN |date=November 20, 2008 |access-date=February 15, 2025}}
9.1/10 (AU){{cite web |last=Kolan |first=Nick |title=Chrono Trigger DS AU Review |url=http://uk.ds.ign.com/articles/950/950717p1.html |website=IGN |access-date=February 7, 2012 |date=February 3, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304021916/http://uk.ds.ign.com/articles/950/950717p1.html |archive-date=March 4, 2009}}

| NGen_SNES = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/nextgen-issue-009/page/n105/mode/2up |title=RPG Whiz: Chrono Trigger |magazine=Next Generation |date=September 1995 |issue=9 |p=105}}

| NP_DS = 9/10{{cite magazine |last=Hoffman |first=Chris |date=December 2008 |title=Chrono Trigger review |magazine=Nintendo Power |issue=236 |page=82}}

| award1Pub = Electronic Gaming MonthlyElectronic Gaming Monthly's Buyer's Guide 1996

| award1 = Best Super NES Game,
Best Role-Playing Game,
Best Music in a Cartridge-Based Game

| award2Pub = GamePro{{cite magazine |title=Editor's Choice Awards 1995 |magazine=GamePro |issue=89 |publisher=IDG |date=February 1996 |page=26}}

| award2 = Best RPG Game

| award3Pub = Nintendo Power Awards{{Cite magazine |date=May 1996 |title=The Nintendo Power Awards |url=https://archive.org/details/NintendoPower1988-2004/Nintendo%20Power%20Issue%20084%20%28May%201996%29/page/n39/mode/2up |magazine=Nintendo Power |issue=84 |pages=40–45}}

| award3 = Best Super NES Game,
Best Epic Game,
Best Story, Best Ending,
Coolest Transportation (Epoch),
Worst Baddie (Juggler)

}}

Chrono Trigger received critical acclaim upon its original SNES release.{{cite web |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/chrono-trigger-coming-to-ps3-psp |last=Dutton |first=Fred |title=Chrono Trigger Coming to PS3, PSP |website=Eurogamer |date=April 25, 2011 |access-date=February 11, 2025}} The gameplay received praise, with Nintendo Power and Next Generation considering it innovative. Both magazines and Super Play cited the visibility of enemies in the overworld map and the use of combos as reasons for their enjoyment.{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/nintendo-power-issue-074-july-1995/page/52/mode/2up |title=Chrono Trigger |magazine=Nintendo Power |date=July 1995 |issue=74 |pp=52–57}}{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/a466a1cd-15cb-4aa2-a150-7a198ae77d97/ |last=Overton |first=Wil |title=The Only Way We'll Win is If We Combine our Powers |magazine=Super Play |issue=37 |date=November 1995 |pp=42–43}} Both Edge and GamePro felt the game was easier than Final Fantasy VI, though GamePro enjoyed it nonetheless. The graphics and music received praise by Nintendo Power, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and Nintendo Magazine System.{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/nintendo-magazine-system-au-28-july-1995/page/16/mode/2up |title=Chrono Trigger |magazine=Nintendo Magazine System |issue=28 |date=July 1995 |pp=16–21}} GamePro found them better than in prior role-playing video games such as Final Fantasy VI, and Game Informer felt the graphical upgrades shortened the quests, though Edge considered them lacking Final Fantasy VI{{'s}} grandness. Evaluations of the story and characters were more mixed. The critics for Electronic Gaming Monthly generally found the storyline compelling, and Game Informer felt that the game's character arcs were well-developed. Next Generation and Super Play disagreed; they both negatively compared the character arcs to Final Fantasy VI, with Super Play finding Frog's story to be the only meaningful one.

In contrast to the critical acclaim of Chrono Trigger's original SNES release, the 2018 Windows port of Chrono Trigger was critically panned. Grievances noted by reviewers included tiling errors on textures, the addition of aesthetically intrusive sprite filters, an unattractive GUI carried over from the 2011 mobile release, a lack of graphic customization options, and the inability to remap controls. In describing the port, Forbes commented: "From pretty awful graphical issues, such as tiling textures and quite a painful menu system, this port really doesn't do this classic game justice." USGamer characterized the Windows release as carrying "all the markings of a project farmed out to the lowest bidder. It's a shrug in Square-Enix's mind, seemingly not worth the money or effort necessary for a half-decent port."{{cite web |first=Nadia |last=Oxford |date=March 1, 2018 |title=Chrono Trigger Deserves Better Than This Flaccid PC Port |url=https://www.usgamer.net/articles/chrono-trigger-deserves-better-than-this-flaccid-pc-port |website=USGamer |access-date=March 1, 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302012921/https://www.usgamer.net/articles/chrono-trigger-deserves-better-than-this-flaccid-pc-port |archive-date=March 2, 2018}} In a Twitter post detailing his experiences with the Windows version, indie developer Fred Wood derisively compared the port to "someone's first attempt at an RPG Maker game", a comment which was republished across numerous articles addressing the poor quality of the rerelease.{{cite web |first=Rachel |last=Kaiser |date=February 28, 2018 |title=Classic SNES game Chrono Trigger gets godawful PC port |url=https://thenextweb.com/gaming/2018/02/28/classic-snes-game-chrono-trigger-gets-godawful-pc-port/ |publisher=The Next Web |access-date=March 1, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302014545/https://thenextweb.com/gaming/2018/02/28/classic-snes-game-chrono-trigger-gets-godawful-pc-port/ |archive-date=March 2, 2018}} Square Enix released six major updates to address the complaints, thus improving its overall reception;{{cite web |url=https://kotaku.com/chrono-trigger-pc-looks-way-better-now-1825171895 |title=Chrono Trigger PC Looks Way Better Now |last=Schreier |first=Jason |authorlink=Jason Schreier |work=Kotaku |date=April 11, 2018 |access-date=March 31, 2021 |archive-date=April 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412122857/https://kotaku.com/chrono-trigger-pc-looks-way-better-now-1825171895 |url-status=live}} Alex Donaldson of VG247, commenting on the improvements, wrote that "Square Enix took the criticism to heart and over the course of a string of hefty patches have slowly turned this into something that actually could be argued as the best version of Chrono Trigger."

The game was a best-seller in Japan,Dengeki PlayStation sales chart, January 2000, published in Official UK PlayStation Magazine issue 54 where two million copies were sold in only two months.{{Cite magazine |magazine=Nintendo Power |issue=73 |date=June 1995 |title=Chrono Trigger: A New Standard for RPGs |pages=36–37 |url=https://archive.org/details/Nintendo_Power_Issue001-Issue127/Nintendo%20Power%20Issue%20073%20June%201995/page/n41/mode/2up}} It ended the year as the second best-selling game of 1995 in Japan, below Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation.{{cite web |title=1995 Top 100 |url=https://sites.google.com/site/gamedatalibrary/games-by-year/1995-top-100 |website=Game Data Library |publisher=Famitsu |access-date=September 17, 2021 |archive-date=September 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917102733/https://sites.google.com/site/gamedatalibrary/games-by-year/1995-top-100 |url-status=live}} Chrono Trigger was also met with substantial success upon release in North America, and its re-release on the PlayStation as part of the Final Fantasy Chronicles package topped the NPD TRSTS PlayStation sales charts for over six weeks.{{cite web |editor=GameRankings staff |title=Chrono Trigger Reviews |url=http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/563538.asp |publisher=GameRankings |access-date=May 7, 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060519045221/http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/563538.asp |archive-date=May 19, 2006}}{{cite web |date=July 4, 2001 |author=IGN staff |title=IGN: Final Fantasy Chronicles Review |url=http://psx.ign.com/articles/166/166322p1.html |website=IGN |access-date=May 7, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805230122/http://psx.ign.com/articles/166/166322p1.html |archive-date=August 5, 2011}}{{cite web |date=August 15, 2001 |last=Wollenschlaeger |first=Alex |title=Final Fantasy Chronicles Tops Sales Charts Six Weeks in a Row |url=http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q3-2001/081501d.html |publisher=RPGamer |access-date=May 8, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050307181456/http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q3-2001/081501d.html |archive-date=March 7, 2005}} By March 2003, the game's SNES and PS1 iterations had shipped {{nowrap|2.65 million}} copies worldwide, including 2.36 million in Japan and 290,000 abroad.{{cite web |url=http://www.square-enix.com/jp/ir/e/explanatory/download/0404-200402090000-01.pdf#page=27 |title=February 2, 2004 – February 4, 2004 |date=February 9, 2004 |access-date=November 24, 2021 |publisher=Square Enix |page=27 |format=PDF |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213144948/http://www.square-enix.com/jp/ir/e/explanatory/download/0404-200402090000-01.pdf |archive-date=February 13, 2012}} The PS1 version was re-released in 2003 as part of Sony's Greatest Hits line. The original SNES version had sold 2.5 million copies by 2006.{{Cite web |url=https://www.jp.playstation.com/software/title/slpm87395.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060828215733/https://www.jp.playstation.com/software/title/slpm87395.html|archive-date=August 28, 2006 |website=PlayStation Official Site |title=アルティメット ヒッツ クロノ・クロス|trans-title=Ultimate Hits Chrono Cross |language=ja |access-date=April 18, 2023}} Chrono Trigger DS sold 790,000 copies worldwide, as of March 2009, including 490,000 in Japan, 240,000 in North America and 60,000 in Europe.{{cite web |url=http://www.square-enix.com/eng/pdf/news/20090525_01en.pdf#page=7 |title=Results Briefing Session for the Fiscal Year ended March 31, 2009 |date=May 25, 2009 |access-date=July 16, 2010 |publisher=Square Enix |page=28 |format=PDF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826110608/http://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/pdf/news/20090525_01en.pdf#page=7 |archive-date=August 26, 2014}} The SNES, PS1 and DS versions shipped a combined {{nowrap|{{#expr:2.65+0.79}} million}} copies worldwide by March 2009. Excluding the PC version, the game had shipped over 3.5 million copies worldwide by February 2018.{{Cite web |url=https://www.4gamer.net/games/411/G041119/20180228002/ |title=PC版「クロノ・トリガー」の配信がSteamで突如スタート。日本語対応，早期購入で3大特典も |website=4Gamer.net |date=February 28, 2018 |access-date=November 24, 2021 |archive-date=November 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124213543/https://www.4gamer.net/games/411/G041119/20180228002/ |url-status=live}} As of March 2025, all versions together have shipped more than 5 million copies worldwide.{{Cite web |last=Square |first=Push |date=2025-03-25 |title=Legendary JRPG Chrono Trigger Surpasses 5 Million Sales Worldwide |url=https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2025/03/legendary-jrpg-chrono-trigger-surpasses-5-million-sales-worldwide |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=Push Square |language=en-GB}}

Chrono Trigger is frequently listed among the greatest video games of all time. In 1997 Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked it the 29th best console video game of all time; while noting that it was not as good as Final Fantasy VI (which ranked 9th), they gave superlative praise to its handling of time travel and its combat engine.{{cite magazine |title=100 Best Games of All Time |magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly |issue=100 |publisher=Ziff Davis |date=November 1997 |pages=140–141}} Note: Contrary to the title, the intro to the article (on page 100) explicitly states that the list covers console video games only, meaning PC games and arcade games were not eligible. It has placed highly on all six of multimedia website IGN{{'}}s "top 100 games of all time" lists—4th in 2002, 6th in early 2005, 13th in late 2005, 2nd in 2006, 18th in 2007, and 2nd in 2008.{{cite web |author=IGN staff |year=2006 |title=The Top 100 Games Ever |url=http://top100.ign.com/2006/001-010.html |website=IGN |access-date=August 8, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150425073430/http://top100.ign.com/2006/001-010.html |archive-date=April 25, 2015}}{{cite web |author=IGN staff |year=2007 |title=The Top 100 Games Ever |url=http://top100.ign.com/2007/ign_top_game_18.html |website=IGN |access-date=February 2, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071203032033/http://top100.ign.com/2007/ign_top_game_18.html |archive-date=December 3, 2007}}{{cite web |author=IGN staff |year=2008 |title=IGN Top 100 Games 2008 – 2 Chrono Trigger |url=http://top100.ign.com/2008/ign_top_game_2.html |website=IGN |access-date=March 13, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217225935/http://top100.ign.com/2008/ign_top_game_2.html |archive-date=February 17, 2009}} Game Informer called it its 15th favorite game in 2001. Its staff thought that it was the best non-Final Fantasy game Square had produced at the time.{{cite magazine |title=Game Informer's Top 100 Games of All Time (Circa Issue 100) |url=https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2009/11/16/game-informer-s-top-100-games-of-all-time-circa-issue-100.aspx |magazine=Game Informer |last=Cork |first=Jeff |date=November 16, 2009 |access-date=December 10, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100408113757/http://gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2009/11/16/game-informer-s-top-100-games-of-all-time-circa-issue-100.aspx |archive-date=April 8, 2010}} GameSpot included Chrono Trigger in "The Greatest Games of All Time" list released in April 2006, and it also appeared as 28th on an "All Time Top 100" list in a poll conducted by Japanese magazine Famitsu the same year.{{cite web |date=April 17, 2006 |editor=GameSpot editorial team |title=The Greatest Games of All Time |url=http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/all/greatestgames/index.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060616044830/http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/all/greatestgames/index.html | archive-date=June 16, 2006 |website=GameSpot | access-date=May 6, 2006}}{{cite web |author=Campbell, Colin |date=March 3, 2006 |title=Japan Votes on All Time Top 100 |url=http://www.next-gen.biz/features/japan-votes-all-time-top-100 |publisher=Edge online | access-date=October 2, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110224117/http://www.next-gen.biz/features/japan-votes-all-time-top-100|archive-date=January 10, 2012}} In 2004, Chrono Trigger finished runner up to Final Fantasy VII in the inaugural GameFAQs video game battle. In 2008, readers of Dengeki Online voted it the eighth best game ever made.{{cite web |first=Brian |last=Ashcraft |date=March 6, 2008 |title=Dengeki Readers Say Fav 2007 Game, Fav of All Time |url=http://kotaku.com/364353/dengeki-readers-say-fav-2007-game-fav-of-all-time |publisher=Kotaku |access-date=March 29, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090807024238/http://kotaku.com/364353/dengeki-readers-say-fav-2007-game-fav-of-all-time |archive-date=August 7, 2009}} Nintendo Power{{'s}} twentieth anniversary issue named it the fifth best Super NES game.{{Cite magazine |date=August 2008 |magazine=Nintendo Power |volume=231 |title=Best of the Best |page=73 |publisher=Future US}} In 2009, Official Nintendo Magazine ranked the DS version of the game 31st on a list of greatest Nintendo games.{{cite web |author=East, Tom |date=February 24, 2009 |title=100 Best Nintendo Games: Part 4 |url=http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/article.php?id=7276 |work=Official Nintendo Magazine |publisher=Future plc | access-date=September 9, 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226213643/http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/article.php?id=7276 | archive-date=February 26, 2009 | url-status=dead}} In 2012, it came 32nd place on GamesRadar's "100 best games of all time" list,{{cite web |title=The 100 best games of all time |url=http://www.gamesradar.com/best-games-ever/ |publisher=GamesRadar |access-date=June 30, 2012 |date=April 20, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120154914/http://www.gamesradar.com/best-games-ever/ |archive-date=January 20, 2017}} and 1st place on its "Best JRPGs" list.{{cite web |title=Best JRPGs |url=http://www.gamesradar.com/best-jrpgs/ |publisher=GamesRadar |access-date=August 5, 2012 |date=July 19, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130122200149/http://www.gamesradar.com/best-jrpgs/ |archive-date=January 22, 2013}} GamesRadar named Chrono Trigger the 2nd best Super NES game of all time, behind Super Metroid.{{cite web |title=Best Super Nintendo games of all time |url=http://www.gamesradar.com/best-snes-games-all-time/ |author=GamesRadar staff |publisher=GamesRadar |date=April 17, 2012 |access-date=February 25, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319153243/http://www.gamesradar.com/best-snes-games-all-time/ |archive-date=March 19, 2015}} In 2023, Time Extension included the game on their "Best JRPGs of All Time" list.{{cite web |last1=Bell |first1=Lowell |title=Best JRPGs Of All Time |url=https://www.timeextension.com/guides/best-jrpgs-of-all-time |website=Time Extension |publisher=Hookshot Media |access-date=February 25, 2023 |date=February 25, 2023 |archive-date=September 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921031638/https://www.timeextension.com/guides/best-jrpgs-of-all-time |url-status=live}}

Chrono Trigger inspired several related releases; the first were three games released for the Satellaview on July 31, 1995.{{cite web |year=1995 |title=Weekly Famitsu |volume=347 |page=191 |url=http://superfamicom.org/blog/2013/07/dig-iii-chrono-trigger-bs-specials-naba-chan-and-more/ | access-date=July 28, 2013 | archive-date=July 29, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729215428/http://superfamicom.org/blog/2013/07/dig-iii-chrono-trigger-bs-specials-naba-chan-and-more/ | url-status=live}} They included Chrono Trigger: Jet Bike Special, a racing video game based on a minigame from the original; Chrono Trigger: Character Library, featuring profiles on characters and monsters from the game; and Chrono Trigger: Music Library, a collection of music from the game's soundtrack. The contents of Character Library and Music Library were later included as extras in the PlayStation rerelease of Chrono Trigger. Production I.G created a 16-minute OVA, Dimensional Adventure Numa Monjar, which was shown at the Japanese V Jump festival of July 31, 1996.{{cite web |script-title=ja:時空冒険ぬうまもんじゃ～ |url=http://www.production-ig.co.jp/contents/works_sp/0330_/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927174948/http://www.production-ig.co.jp/contents/works_sp/0330_/index.html |archive-date=September 27, 2007 |author=Production I.G staff |publisher=Production I.G |language=ja |access-date=September 27, 2007}}{{cite web |title=Dimensional Adventure Numa Monjar |url=http://www.production-ig.com/contents/works/07_/000133.html |author=Production I.G staff |publisher=Production I.G |access-date=May 20, 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070919215915/http://www.production-ig.com/contents/works/07_/000133.html |archive-date=September 19, 2007}}

There have been two notable attempts by Chrono Trigger fans to unofficially remake parts of the game for PC with a 3D graphics engine. Chrono Resurrection, an attempt at remaking ten small interactive cutscenes from Chrono Trigger, and Chrono Trigger Remake Project, which sought to remake the entire game,{{cite web |date=September 6, 2004 |author=Chrono Trigger: Resurrection staff |title=Project discontinued |url=http://www.opcoder.com/projects/chrono/ |publisher=Chrono Trigger: Resurrection |access-date=May 7, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060507142747/http://www.opcoder.com/projects/chrono/ |archive-date=May 7, 2006}}{{cite web |author=Chrono Trigger Remake Project staff |title=CTRP Closes its doors |url=http://www.chrono-trigger.com/ |publisher=Chrono Trigger Remake Project | access-date=May 7, 2006 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060503221829/http://www.chrono-trigger.com/ | archive-date=May 3, 2006}} were forcibly terminated by Square Enix by way of a cease and desist order.{{Cite book |date=October 2004 |author=Jones, Darran |title=Games; issue 24 |publisher=Highbury Publishing |page=130}}{{Cite magazine |author=Baker, Chris |magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly |date=February 2005 |title=Chrono Resurrection |publisher=Ziff Davis Media}}{{cite web |date=March 20, 2006 |author=Ragan, Jess |title=Singin' the Brews: The History and Philosophy of Homebrew Game Development |url=http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=6&cId=3148820 |website=1UP.com |access-date=November 9, 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120629135142/http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=6&cId=3148820 |archive-date=June 29, 2012}}{{cite web |date=April 17, 2006 |author=Shoemaker, Brad |title=The Greatest Games of All Time: Chrono Trigger |url=http://www.gamespot.com/features/6147770/index.html |website=IGN | access-date=November 9, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830220701/http://www.gamespot.com/features/6147770/index.html |archive-date=August 30, 2011}} Another group of fans created a sequel via a ROM hack of Chrono Trigger called Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes; developed from 2004 to 2009; although feature-length and virtually finished, it also was terminated through a cease & desist letter days before its May 2009 release. The letter also forbade the dissemination of existing Chrono Trigger ROM hacks and documentation.{{cite web |date=May 9, 2009 |author=ZeaLitY |title=Crimson Echoes |url=http://crimsonechoes.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090610205718/http://crimsonechoes.com/ |archive-date=June 10, 2009 |access-date=May 9, 2009 |url-status=dead}} After the cease and desist was issued, an incomplete version of the game was leaked in May 2009, though due to the early state of the game, playability was limited.{{Cite web |title=Chrono Fan Game: Crimson Echoes 98% Complete Leaked |date=May 30, 2009| url-status= unfit |website=Gossip Gamers |url=http://www.gossipgamers.com/chrono-fan-game-crimson-echoes-98-complete-leaked/|access-date=March 10, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606053219/http://www.gossipgamers.com/chrono-fan-game-crimson-echoes-98-complete-leaked/ |archive-date=June 6, 2009}}

This was followed by a more complete ROM leak in January 2011, which allowed the game to be played from beginning to end.{{Cite web |title=Fan-made Chrono Trigger sequel finds release |date=January 18, 2011 |last=Schramm |first=Mike |website=joystiq.com| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20150131112645/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/18/fan-made-chrono-trigger-sequel-finds-release/ |archive-date=January 31, 2015 |url=http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/18/fan-made-chrono-trigger-sequel-finds-release/| url-status=dead}}

{{Main|Chrono (series)}}

Square released a related Satellaview game in 1996, named Radical Dreamers. Having thought that Trigger ended with "unfinished business", scenarist Masato Kato wrote and directed the game. Dreamers functioned as a side story to Chrono Trigger, resolving a loose subplot from its predecessor.{{cite web |year=1999 |title=Weekly Famitsu |url=http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Weekly_Famitsu.html |publisher=Chrono Compendium |access-date=July 3, 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060721173402/http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Weekly_Famitsu.html |archive-date=July 21, 2006}} A short, text-based game relying on minimal graphics and atmospheric music, the game never received an official release outside Japan—though it was translated by fans to English in April 2003.{{cite web |date=April 15, 2003 |title=Chrono Trigger 2: Radical Dreamers |url=http://radicaldreamers.sourceforge.net/ |publisher=Demiforce |access-date=July 2, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060429004050/http://demiforce.parodius.com/home.html |archive-date=April 29, 2006}} Square planned to release Radical Dreamers as an easter egg in the PlayStation edition of Chrono Trigger, but Kato was unhappy with his work and halted its inclusion.{{cite book |year=1999 |editor=Studio BentStuff |title=Chrono Cross Ultimania |url=http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Ultimania_Developer_Interviews.html |pages=476–477 |language=ja |publisher=Square Enix |isbn=4-925075-73-X |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418044713/http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Ultimania_Developer_Interviews.html |archive-date=April 18, 2009}}

Square released Chrono Cross for the Sony PlayStation in 1999. Cross is a sequel to Chrono Trigger featuring a new setting and cast of characters.{{cite web |date=January 6, 2000 |first=Andrew |last=Vestal |title=Chrono Cross Review |url=http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/chrono-cross-review/1900-2545933/ |website=GameSpot |access-date=April 26, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203083234/http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/chrono-cross-review/1900-2545933/ |archive-date=December 3, 2013}} Presenting a theme of parallel worlds, the story followed the protagonist Serge—a teenage boy thrust into an alternate reality in which he died years earlier. With the help of a thief named Kid, Serge endeavors to discover the truth behind his apparent death and obtain the Frozen Flame, a mythical artifact. Regarded by writer and director Masato Kato as an effort to "redo Radical Dreamers properly", Chrono Cross borrowed certain themes, scenarios, characters, and settings from Dreamers. Yasunori Mitsuda also adapted certain songs from Radical Dreamers while scoring Cross.{{cite web |date=December 18, 2000 |title=Chrono Cross OST Liner Notes |url=http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Music_(Chrono_Cross).html |publisher=Chrono Compendium |access-date=July 24, 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060705222749/http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Music_%28Chrono_Cross%29.html |archive-date=July 5, 2006}} Radical Dreamers was consequently removed from the series' main continuity, considered an alternate dimension.Kid: Radical Dreamers...!? And me name's on here, too! What the bloody hell is goin' on? [...] / Kid: ......This seems to be an archive from a different time than our own. Aside from the two worlds we already know about...there may be other worlds and times which exist... {{cite video game |title=Chrono Cross |developer=Square Co |publisher=Square EA |date=August 15, 2000 |platform=PlayStation}} Chrono Cross shipped 1.5 million copies and was widely praised by critics.{{cite web |title=GameRankings: Chrono Cross |url=http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages4/196917.asp |publisher=GameRankings |access-date=July 27, 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020052718/http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages4/196917.asp |archive-date=October 20, 2007}}{{cite web |title=Rotten Tomatoes: Chrono Cross |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/g/playstation/chrono_cross/ |website=Rotten Tomatoes | access-date=July 27, 2007| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070320044123/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/g/playstation/chrono_cross/| archive-date = March 20, 2007}}

There are no plans {{as of|lc=y|2025}} for a new title, despite a statement from Hironobu Sakaguchi in 2001 that the developers of Chrono Cross wanted to make a new Chrono game.{{cite web |author=Shahed Ahmed |date=July 3, 2001 |title=New Chrono game in planning stages |url=http://www.gamespot.com/news/2782608.html?q=chrono |website=GameSpot | access-date=July 1, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118221013/http://www.gamespot.com/news/2782608.html?q=chrono|archive-date=January 18, 2012}} The same year, Square applied for a trademark for the names Chrono Break in the United States and Chrono Brake in Japan. However, the United States trademark was dropped in 2003.{{cite web |date=November 13, 2003 |title=Latest Status Info |url=http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=76345716 |publisher=Trademark Applications and Registration Retrieval |access-date=July 1, 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051123102906/http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=76345716 |archive-date=November 23, 2005}} Director Takashi Tokita mentioned "Chrono Trigger 2" in a 2003 interview which has not been translated to English.{{cite web |date=July 16, 2003 | script-title=ja:【ゲームな人々】第11回 長きに渡って活躍する凄腕プロデューサー 時田貴司氏(後編) |url=http://game.goo.ne.jp/contents/news/NGN20030716exp03/index.html | access-date=January 15, 2008 |publisher=game.goo.ne.jp |language=ja |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060307204754/http://game.goo.ne.jp/contents/news/NGN20030716exp03/index.html |archive-date=March 7, 2006}} Yuji Horii expressed no interest in returning to the Chrono franchise in 2005, while Hironobu Sakaguchi remarked in April 2007 that his creation Blue Dragon was an "extension of [Chrono Trigger]."{{cite web |author=Alex Fraioli, Sam Kennedy |date=December 2, 2005 |title=Dragon Quest vs. America |url=http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=1&cId=3146024 |website=1UP.com | access-date=October 1, 2007 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927193154/http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=1&cId=3146024 | archive-date=September 27, 2007}}{{Cite magazine |date=June 2007 |volume=216 |page=53 |magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly |publisher=Ziff Davis |title=Blue Dragon}} During a Cubed³ interview on February 1, 2007, Square Enix's Senior Vice President Hiromichi Tanaka said that although no sequel is currently planned, some sort of sequel is still possible if the Chrono Cross developers can be reunited.{{cite web |date=January 31, 2002 |title=Interview vidéo Final Fantasy III |url=http://www.gamekyo.com/news18999.html |publisher=Gamekyo |access-date=October 2, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807151516/http://www.gamekyo.com/news18999.html |archive-date=August 7, 2011}} Yasunori Mitsuda has expressed interest in scoring a new game, but warned that "there are a lot of politics involved" with the series. He stressed that Masato Kato should participate in development.{{cite web |first=Sam |last=Kennedy |date=January 28, 2008 |title=Radical Dreamer: Yasunori Mitsuda Interview from 1UP.com |url=http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=0&cId=3162780 |website=1UP.com | access-date=February 8, 2008 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://archive.today/20121205003225/http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=0&cId=3162780 | archive-date=December 5, 2012}} The February 2008 issue of Game Informer ranked the Chrono series eighth among the "Top Ten Sequels in Demand", naming the games "steadfast legacies in the Square Enix catalogue" and asking, "what's the damn holdup?!"{{Cite magazine |date=February 2008 |title=Top Ten Sequels in Demand |magazine=Game Informer |pages=24–25 |publisher=GameStop}} In Electronic Gaming Monthly's June 2008 "Retro Issue", writer Jeremy Parish cited Chrono as the franchise video game fans would be most thrilled to see a sequel to.{{Cite magazine |date=June 2008 |first=Jeremy |last=Parish |magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly |title=Retro Issue: Missing in Action |page=95 |publisher=Ziff Davis Inc.}} In the first May Famitsu of 2009, Chrono Trigger placed 14th out of 50 in a vote of most-wanted sequels by the magazine's readers.{{Cite magazine |date=May 2009 |magazine=Famitsu |title=Famitsu Readers Vote Their Most Wanted Sequels |url=http://www.ps3hyper.com/news/famitsu-readers-voted-their-most-wanted-sequels/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504023116/http://www.ps3hyper.com/news/famitsu-readers-voted-their-most-wanted-sequels/ | archive-date=May 4, 2009}} At E3 2009, SE Senior Vice President Shinji Hashimoto remarked, "If people want a sequel, they should buy more!"{{cite web |first=Alex |last=Donaldson |date=June 5, 2009 |title=Square: Want more Chrono Trigger? Buy More! |url=http://www.rpgsite.net/news/342-square-want-more-chrono-trigger-buy-more |access-date=June 15, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612201144/http://www.rpgsite.net/news/342-square-want-more-chrono-trigger-buy-more |archive-date=June 12, 2012}}

In July 2010, Obsidian Entertainment designer Feargus Urquhart, replying to an interview question about what franchises he would like to work on, said that "if [he] could come across everything that [he] played", he would choose a Chrono Trigger game. At the time, Obsidian was making Dungeon Siege III for Square Enix. Urquhart said: "You make RPGs, we make RPGs, it would be great to see what we could do together. And they really wanted to start getting into Western RPGs. And, so it kind of all ended up fitting together."{{cite web |author=Siliconera Staff |title=Square: Obsidian Would Like To Work On Chrono Trigger |date=July 6, 2010 |url=http://www.siliconera.com/2010/07/06/obsidian-would-like-to-work-on-chrono-trigger/ |website=Siliconera |access-date=July 16, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711143200/http://www.siliconera.com/2010/07/06/obsidian-would-like-to-work-on-chrono-trigger/ |archive-date=July 11, 2010}}{{cite web |last=Sterling |first=James Stephanie |title=Square: Obsidian wants to make Chrono Trigger |date=July 6, 2010 |url=http://www.destructoid.com/obsidian-wants-to-make-chrono-trigger-178305.phtml |access-date=July 16, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100709015726/http://www.destructoid.com/obsidian-wants-to-make-chrono-trigger-178305.phtml |website=Destructoid |archive-date=July 9, 2010}} Yoshinori Kitase stated that he used the time travel mechanics of Chrono Trigger as a starting point for that of Final Fantasy XIII-2.{{cite magazine |last=Lees |first=Matt |title=Final Fantasy XIII-2: remaking FF7, Kinect RPGs and killing the "girly" feel |url=http://www.oxm.co.uk/36521/interviews/final-fantasy-xiii-2-remaking-ff7-kinect-rpgs-and-killing-the-girly-feel/?page=3| access-date=April 21, 2013 |date=November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120102122314/http://www.oxm.co.uk/36521/interviews/final-fantasy-xiii-2-remaking-ff7-kinect-rpgs-and-killing-the-girly-feel/?page=3 |magazine=Official Xbox Magazine|archive-date=January 2, 2012}}

{{Notelist}}

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