Final Fantasy Chronicles review (PlayStation)

Chrono Trigger was certainly an interesting animal when it came out in 1996. It looked like a cross between a Square RPG and Dragon Quest, thanks to the involvement of famous Dragonball artist Akira Toriyama. The game focused on a main character named Crono and his friends Lucca and Marle. When inventor Lucca's teleportation experiment inadvertently sends the friends back in time, they discover an ancient evil that will one day ruin their world, and so they set out to fix it. Chrono Trigger presented an amazing array of fantastic environments throughout its multitude of time periods, and its storyline was suitably twisty for a Square RPG. Chrono Trigger is as classic as any of the Final Fantasy games.

As with Square's previous Super Nintendo-to-PlayStation releases, Final Fantasy IV and Chrono Trigger appear on the Sony machine courtesy of emulation, and as such their technical quality is acceptably lacking. Though they run serviceably, enough minor discrepancies exist between these emulated versions and their cartridge originals to make picky Square stalwarts wince on occasion. Final Fantasy IV was the first game Square released for the PlayStation in Japan, and it has a few slowdown problems, especially in battles, and awfully muffled sound effects. As the last SNES port, Chrono Trigger's emulation issues are ironed out, but its long and frequent loading is somewhat annoying. These flaws aren't really glaring and shouldn't stop you from playing the games, but purists should consider themselves warned.

Of course, it goes without saying that Final Fantasy IV and Chrono Trigger represent some of the best that the Square of old had to offer. Most American gamers will think of Final Fantasy IV as the beginning of the series we know today--it was only the second game in the series that we got to play, and it introduced us to the endearing characters and intricate plotlines that Final Fantasy is now known for. Chrono Trigger is significant in its own right--it was known before release as the "Dream Project" because it brought together the best minds of Square and Enix for joint development on one colossal game. Both titles deserve to be played by anyone interested in RPGs, and those who've played them before would do well to sit back and remember their gaming roots by checking them out again. Unfortunately, though the two games were visually stupendous in their respective times, they look quite dated by today's standards, and this will probably turn off those looking for a bigger thrill for their gaming dollar. If you can get over their unglamorous appearance, however, the games of Final Fantasy Chronicles are sure to please. With two solid games in one, how can you go wrong?