Arguably the greatest JRPG ever made. Time travel story, unforgettable cast, sublime score, multiple endings: a timeless monument.
Your verdict
Category
RPG1 player12+
Description
Epic Square RPG in which heroes travel through time to prevent the world's destruction. Published by Square, released in Japan in 1995. Seven past and future eras, seamless turn-based battles, unique combined tech system between characters and incomparable 16-bit visuals. The absolute masterpiece of the SNES.
Chrono Trigger review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
MAX
Story
★★★★★
"Masterful"
Akira Toriyama's line dresses a journey through the ages in colourful sprites and lively animation. The animated cutscenes and varied settings, from prehistories to futures, overflow with charm. This graphic elegance, timeless and joyful, remains one of the finest showcases of the 2D RPG.
A masterpiece signed by Yasunori Mitsuda and Nobuo Uematsu, the score travels through the eras with stunning inventiveness and emotion. From the spellbinding "Corridors of Time" to the heroic main theme, each track has become an absolute classic. This melodic richness is unanimously hailed as one of the peaks of the JRPG.
Travelling across the ages to avert an apocalypse: such is the wild premise of a tale where every era visited reveals its own dramas. Endearing characters, multiple endings and a plot chiselled by a trio of geniuses make the adventure a model of narrative elegance. Timeless, its story remains an absolute benchmark of the RPG.
Gameplay
"Masterful"
Positioning your heroes to trigger combined techniques turns every battle into a small spatial puzzle, with no dead time thanks to the ATB system. The lack of transition screens makes for a seamless time-travelling journey of staggering richness, and the New Game+ keeps reigniting the urge to start over. Few J-RPGs have kept mechanics this clear and this pleasurable.
Fun
"From the very first minutes"
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Exploring the eras, tweaking your party, then chaining battles with no transition weaves an adventure of remarkable fluidity. Each leap through time reopens the world, reveals a side quest or an alternate ending, and the urge to see it all never wanes. Brisk and generous, this peak of the genre keeps a power to enthrall that the years have left untouched.
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Massive"
Leaping between seven eras to save the world multiplies the places to visit, the time-bending puzzles and the consequences to weigh, so the main adventure naturally swells. Add combined techniques to discover, multiple endings depending on when you face Lavos, and a New Game+ that begs a fresh run to unlock the rest. That masterful density, crafted by Toriyama, Horii and Sakaguchi, makes it a cult RPG players replay endlessly.
The Japanese Super Famicom edition of Square's cult RPG, Japan-exclusive on original cartridge (the US NTSC release standing apart). The Japanese cart features Akira Toriyama's cover in its original form, and intact boxed CIB with cardboard sleeve and illustrated Square manual is one of the absolute grails of Japanese RPGs. Graded sealed prices regularly hit WATA peaks, sustained by the masterpiece's culturally untouchable status and by the scarcity of complete clean copies.
Memorable bosses
A journey across the ages, this adventure scatters unforgettable foes: the melancholy, charismatic Magus, colossal machines of the future and the cosmic entity Lavos, unfolding across several fearsome phases. The turn-based system rewards positioning and teamwork without ever bogging down. Inspired writing and Mitsuda's themes etch these fights among the most beloved in the RPG.
A cult cover
Akira Toriyama's unmistakable line leaps out: Crono and his companions strike a pose with the bold, colorful energy of the Dragon Ball creator. The clear composition and vivid hues announce an epic across time, between fantasy and science fiction. Warm and instantly identifiable, it remains one of the flagship RPG images on the console.
Is Chrono Trigger still worth playing in 2026?
Chrono Trigger remains, nearly thirty years after release, one of the best written and most perfectly balanced JRPGs ever crafted. The era spanning journey of Crono and his companions stands as a model of pacing, character writing and staging. The ATB combat system with no map transition, the combined techs and the multiple endings encourage replayability with rare generosity. The Mitsuda and Uematsu score is a peak. An absolute recommendation for anyone who loves Japanese RPGs, without discussion.
