Chrono series
Encyclopedia
The series is a video game franchise developed and published by Square Enix
(formerly Square
). It began in 1995 with the time travel
console role-playing game Chrono Trigger
, which spawned two continuations, Radical Dreamers and Chrono Cross
. A promotional anime called Dimensional Adventure Numa Monjar and two ports of Chrono Trigger were also produced. As of March 31, 2003, Chrono Trigger was, with 2.65 million units, Square Enix's 12th best-selling game (based on copies shipped); Chrono Cross was, with 1.5 million units, the 24th. The games have been subject to extremely positive reviews.
was produced in 1995
by Kazuhiko Aoki and directed by Akihiko Matsui
, Yoshinori Kitase
and Takashi Tokita
. The development of the game was dubbed the "Dream Project", because it was headed by a "Dream Team" composed of supervisor Hironobu Sakaguchi
, of Final Fantasy
fame, as well as freelance supervisor Yuji Horii
and character designer Akira Toriyama
, both of Dragon Quest
fame. Yuuji Horii worked on the general outline of the story; as a fan of time travel
fictions, such as the TV series Time Tunnel, he focused on a theme of time travel for Chrono Trigger. The outline was then finalized by story planner and script writer Masato Kato
.
In 1996
, Masato Kato and several other members of the Chrono Trigger staff worked on a minor project for the Super Famicom
Satellaview
extension, titled Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Hōseki. Initially, the game was intended to be a short, original text-based adventure developed in three months with almost no planning. Nevertheless, by the end of the development, Masato Kato had connected the game's plot and characters to Chrono Trigger, turning it into a side story
. Since the platform of the game was not mainstream, the connections were however left blurred on purpose and were not advertised on the game's release.
In 1999
, a continuation of Chrono Trigger, titled Chrono Cross
, was announced. Although the "Dream Team" members did not participate in Chrono Cross, the game was developed mostly by the same staff as the first installment. In terms of basic system and gameplay, producer Hiromichi Tanaka
made it clear that the new installment was not a sequel to Chrono Trigger; rather, the game designers' approach was to make the "gameplay evolve with the hardware", creating a completely new game while restructuring the former style so as to maximize the performance of the console. The gameplay focuses on the theme of parallel worlds
rather than time travel, although the latter is still deeply involved in the game's plot. In terms of storyline, Chrono Cross was described by director and scenario writer Masato Kato as "not a Chrono Trigger 2", but "a result of a pulled trigger", "another Chrono".
on March 11, 1995 in Japan and on August 22, 1995 in North America. The game's story follows a group of young adventurers led by Crono, who are accidentally transported through time and learn that the world will be destroyed in the distant future. Vowing to prevent this disaster, they travel throughout history to discover the means to save the planet. Chrono Trigger was ported to the PlayStation
in 1999
as a standalone title in Japan and in 2001
as part of the Final Fantasy Chronicles
compilation in North America. A third version was released for the Nintendo DS
handheld platform on November 20, 2008. It is regarded today as one of the greatest games ever made.
Additionally, three Chrono Trigger-related applications were released the same year for the Super Famicom Satellaview
extension. Chrono Trigger inspired several sequel
s and expansion packs or add-ons; the first were three titles released for the Satellaview
in 1995. They included Chrono Trigger: Jet Bike Special, a racing 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.
through the Super Famicom Satellaview
extension. The player takes on the role of Serge, a young adventurer accompanied by Kid, a teen-aged thief, and Gil, a mysterious masked magician. It is a side story
to Chrono Trigger wrapping up a loose end from its predecessor's plot.
on November 18, 1999 in Japan and on August 15, 2000 in North America. The story is partly a remake of Radical Dreamers, and as such replaces it as Chrono Triggers successor. The protagonist Serge, faced with an alternate reality
in which he died as a child, struggles to uncover his past and meets Kid, a thief seeking the mysterious Frozen Flame artifact. Serge and Kid's fates are ultimately revealed to find their roots in the events of Chrono Trigger.
s owned by Square Co.
; the first applied in Japan on November 5, 2001, and the second registered in the United States on December 5 of the same year. The registrations were preceded by a press report in which Hironobu Sakaguchi
mentioned that the Chrono Cross
team was interested in developing a new game in the Chrono series, and that script and story ideas were being considered. However, Square did not publish further news, and the American trademark Chrono Break was eventually dropped on November 13, 2003.
which was broadcast at the Japanese V-Jump
Festival of July 31, 1996. It was created by Production I.G, and written by Hiroshi Izawa
and Akihiro Kikuchi, while Itsuro Kawazaki served as director, Tensai Okamura as animation director
, and Riho Nishino as character designer.
The anime takes place in the same setting as Chrono Trigger during the night before the beginning of the game's events. It follows two monsters from the game, a Nu and a Mamo (called Kilwala in the English version of the game), voiced by Chafurin
and Mayumi Tanaka
respectively, through various adventures. These all take place in the "Millennial Fair", the festival at the beginning of Chrono Trigger, which in the anime has been infested by a festive gathering of monsters coming through portals. They meet several characters from the game, including Johnny and Gonzalez (called Gato in the English version of the game). The anime ends with a scene from the following morning after the monsters have all left, in which Crono and Lucca can be seen. The credits show Nu and Mamo parodying scenes from the game.
The anime was followed by a manga
series of the same name published in V Jump starting in 1996. The series follows Mamo and Nu, who are joined by Johnny and Spekkio (in the form of a frog), as they continue their adventure through time. They meet various characters from Chrono Trigger along the way, including Masamune, Lavos, Gaspar, Ozzie, Slash and Flea. In 1998, the chapters of the series were released as a tankōbon
.
. Chrono Trigger
was the first game for which he had served as composer. However, after Mitsuda contracted stomach ulcers, Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu
was brought onto the project to compose ten songs. At the time of the game's release, the quantity of its tracks and sound effects were unprecedented. Additionally, a one-disc acid jazz
arrangement called The Brink of Time was also released. Mitsuda went on to compose the soundtrack for Radical Dreamers, which was never commercially released as an album.
In 1999
, Yasunori Mitsuda, now a freelance composer, returned to score the soundtrack for Chrono Cross
after being contacted by Masato Kato. Mitsuda decided to center his work around old world
cultural influences, including Mediterranean
, Fado
, Celtic
, and percussive African
music. Xenogears
contributor Tomohiko Kira
played guitar on the beginning and ending themes. Noriko Mitose
, as selected by Masato Kato, sang the ending song, "Radical Dreamers ~ Le Trésor Interdit". Mitsuda was happy to accomplish even half of what he envisioned. Certain songs were ported from the score of Radical Dreamers, while other entries in the soundtrack contain leitmotif
s from both Chrono Trigger and Radical Dreamers.
In 2006
, Yasunori Mitsuda arranged versions of music from the Chrono series for Play!
video game music concerts, presenting the Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross main themes, as well as "Frog's Theme", and "To Far Away Times".
. The game was met with substantial success upon release in North America, and its rerelease on the PlayStation as part of the Final Fantasy Chronicles package topped the NPD
TRSTS PlayStation sales charts for over six weeks. The Chrono Trigger DS remake has shipped 490,000 copies in Japan and 220,000 in North America as of December 2008. Chrono Cross also sold well, shipping 850,000 and 650,000 units in Japan and abroad respectively. It was re-released once in the United States as a Greatest Hits title and again as part of the Japanese Ultimate Hits series.
Chrono Trigger 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. 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
. Nintendo Power
' s 100th issue placed it eighteenth on their "100 Best Nintendo Games of All Time", and in their twentieth anniversary issue named it the fifth best Super Nintendo game. Chrono Cross was also well-received by reviewers; GameSpot
awarded the game a perfect 10, one of only seven games in over 40,000 games listed on Gamespot to have been given the score, and its Console Game of the Year Award for 2000. IGN
gave the game a score of 9.7, and Cross appeared 89th in its 2008 Top 100 games list.
The music of the series has been very highly regarded and enjoyed wide popularity. IGN
termed the Chrono Trigger soundtrack "one of the best videogame soundtracks ever produced" and said that the music was a large part of the game's ability to "capture the emotions of the player". It furthermore called the soundtrack "some of the most memorable tunes in RPG history". The game itself won the "Best Music in a Cartridge-Based Game" award in Electronic Gaming Monthly
's 1995 video game awards. The soundtrack for Chrono Cross won the Gold Prize for Sony
s PlayStation Awards of 2000. IGN
, in their review of the game, termed the soundtrack "a brilliant score" that "does wonders in stirring the emotional strings of the players as they're playing through the game". In a separate piece about Japanese RPG composers, IGN named Yasunori Mitsuda the second best out of ten behind Nobuo Uematsu
.
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
(formerly Square
Square Co.
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
). It began in 1995 with the time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
console role-playing game Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. Chrono Triggers development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Square's Final Fantasy series; Yuji Horii, a...
, which spawned two continuations, Radical Dreamers and Chrono Cross
Chrono Cross
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to Chrono Trigger, which was released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System...
. A promotional anime called Dimensional Adventure Numa Monjar and two ports of Chrono Trigger were also produced. As of March 31, 2003, Chrono Trigger was, with 2.65 million units, Square Enix's 12th best-selling game (based on copies shipped); Chrono Cross was, with 1.5 million units, the 24th. The games have been subject to extremely positive reviews.
Concept and creation
Chrono TriggerChrono Trigger
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. Chrono Triggers development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Square's Final Fantasy series; Yuji Horii, a...
was produced in 1995
1995 in video gaming
-Events:*May 11 – Introduction of trade magazine GameWeek *May 11-16 — The 1st annual Electronic Entertainment Expo is held in Los Angeles, California...
by Kazuhiko Aoki and directed by Akihiko Matsui
Akihiko Matsui
Akihiko Matsui is a video game developer and battle designer working for Square Enix . He was notably the director for Chrono Trigger with Yoshinori Kitase and Takashi Tokita.- Work history :...
, Yoshinori Kitase
Yoshinori Kitase
is a Japanese game producer and former game director that has been working for Square Enix since April 1, 1990. He is mostly known for his work on the role-playing video game series Final Fantasy and is currently the manager of 1st Production Department....
and Takashi Tokita
Takashi Tokita
is a Japanese video game developer working for Square Enix. He has worked there since 1985, and has worked as the lead designer for Final Fantasy IV as well as the director of Parasite Eve and Chrono Trigger.-Biography:...
. The development of the game was dubbed the "Dream Project", because it was headed by a "Dream Team" composed of supervisor Hironobu Sakaguchi
Hironobu Sakaguchi
is a Japanese game designer, game director and game producer. He is world famous as the creator of the Final Fantasy series, and has had a long career in gaming with over 100 million units of video games sold worldwide...
, of Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
fame, as well as freelance supervisor Yuji Horii
Yuji Horii
is a Japanese video game designer and scenario writer best known as the creator of the Dragon Quest series of console role-playing games, as well as the visual novel adventure game Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken.-History:Dragon Quest is recognized as the first role-playing game to posit the idea...
and character designer Akira Toriyama
Akira Toriyama
is a Japanese manga artist and game artist known mostly for his creation of Dragon Ball in 1984. Toriyama admires Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy and was impressed by Walt Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians, which he remembers for the great art...
, both of Dragon Quest
Dragon Quest
, published as Dragon Warrior in North America until 2005,Due to the inconsistent usage by sources since Square Enix obtained the naming rights to Dragon Quest in North America. Dragon Quest has been used by sources to refer to games released solely under the Dragon Warrior titles...
fame. Yuuji Horii worked on the general outline of the story; as a fan of time travel
Time travel in fiction
Time travel is a common theme in science fiction and is depicted in a variety of media. It simply means either going forward in time or backward, to experience the future, or the past.-Literature:...
fictions, such as the TV series Time Tunnel, he focused on a theme of time travel for Chrono Trigger. The outline was then finalized by story planner and script writer Masato Kato
Masato Kato
is a Japanese video game artist, scenario writer and director. In the early days of his career, he was credited under the pseudonyms of "Runmaru" and "Runmal".- Biography :...
.
In 1996
1996 in video gaming
-Notable releases:*January 29 — Duke Nukem 3D, successor to the simple side-scrolling originals, and a genre-redefining title for first person shooters....
, Masato Kato and several other members of the Chrono Trigger staff worked on a minor project for the Super Famicom
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
Satellaview
Satellaview
The is a satellite modem add-on for Nintendo's Super Famicom system that was released in Japan in 1995. Available for pre-release orders as early as February 13, 1995, the Satellaview retailed for between ¥14,000 and 18,000 and came bundled with the BS-X Game Pak and an 8M Memory Pak.The...
extension, titled Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Hōseki. Initially, the game was intended to be a short, original text-based adventure developed in three months with almost no planning. Nevertheless, by the end of the development, Masato Kato had connected the game's plot and characters to Chrono Trigger, turning it into a side story
Side story
A side story is a story that occurs alongside established stories set within a fictional universe. As opposed to a prequel, sequel, or interquel, a side story takes place within the same time frame as an existing work....
. Since the platform of the game was not mainstream, the connections were however left blurred on purpose and were not advertised on the game's release.
In 1999
1999 in video gaming
-Events:*British Academy of Film and Television Arts hosts the 2nd annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards*March – Game Over republished as “Game Over: Press Start to Continue”...
, a continuation of Chrono Trigger, titled Chrono Cross
Chrono Cross
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to Chrono Trigger, which was released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System...
, was announced. Although the "Dream Team" members did not participate in Chrono Cross, the game was developed mostly by the same staff as the first installment. In terms of basic system and gameplay, producer Hiromichi Tanaka
Hiromichi Tanaka
is a Japanese video game developer, game producer, game director and game designer. He is currently Senior Vice President of Software Development at Square Enix and the head of Square Enix's Product Development Division-3. He is best known as the former lead developer of Final Fantasy XI, Square's...
made it clear that the new installment was not a sequel to Chrono Trigger; rather, the game designers' approach was to make the "gameplay evolve with the hardware", creating a completely new game while restructuring the former style so as to maximize the performance of the console. The gameplay focuses on the theme of parallel worlds
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
rather than time travel, although the latter is still deeply involved in the game's plot. In terms of storyline, Chrono Cross was described by director and scenario writer Masato Kato as "not a Chrono Trigger 2", but "a result of a pulled trigger", "another Chrono".
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger is a console role-playing game which was released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment SystemSuper Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
on March 11, 1995 in Japan and on August 22, 1995 in North America. The game's story follows a group of young adventurers led by Crono, who are accidentally transported through time and learn that the world will be destroyed in the distant future. Vowing to prevent this disaster, they travel throughout history to discover the means to save the planet. Chrono Trigger was ported to the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
in 1999
1999 in video gaming
-Events:*British Academy of Film and Television Arts hosts the 2nd annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards*March – Game Over republished as “Game Over: Press Start to Continue”...
as a standalone title in Japan and in 2001
2001 in video gaming
-Events:* Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts the 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts John Carmack of id Software to the AIAS Hall of Fame...
as part of the Final Fantasy Chronicles
Final Fantasy Chronicles
Final Fantasy Chronicles is a compilation of Square's console role-playing games Final Fantasy IV and Chrono Trigger, released for the North American Sony PlayStation on June 29, 2001...
compilation in North America. A third version was released for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
handheld platform on November 20, 2008. It is regarded today as one of the greatest games ever made.
Additionally, three Chrono Trigger-related applications were released the same year for the Super Famicom Satellaview
Satellaview
The is a satellite modem add-on for Nintendo's Super Famicom system that was released in Japan in 1995. Available for pre-release orders as early as February 13, 1995, the Satellaview retailed for between ¥14,000 and 18,000 and came bundled with the BS-X Game Pak and an 8M Memory Pak.The...
extension. Chrono Trigger inspired several sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
s and expansion packs or add-ons; the first were three titles released for the Satellaview
Satellaview
The is a satellite modem add-on for Nintendo's Super Famicom system that was released in Japan in 1995. Available for pre-release orders as early as February 13, 1995, the Satellaview retailed for between ¥14,000 and 18,000 and came bundled with the BS-X Game Pak and an 8M Memory Pak.The...
in 1995. They included Chrono Trigger: Jet Bike Special, a racing game
Racing game
A racing video game is a genre of video games, either in the first-person or third-person perspective, in which the player partakes in a racing competition with any type of land, air, or sea vehicles. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to entirely fantastical settings...
based on a minigame
Minigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
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.
Radical Dreamers
Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Hōseki (literally "The Jewel That Cannot Be Stolen") is a Japanese-exclusive text-based game released in 19961996 in video gaming
-Notable releases:*January 29 — Duke Nukem 3D, successor to the simple side-scrolling originals, and a genre-redefining title for first person shooters....
through the Super Famicom Satellaview
Satellaview
The is a satellite modem add-on for Nintendo's Super Famicom system that was released in Japan in 1995. Available for pre-release orders as early as February 13, 1995, the Satellaview retailed for between ¥14,000 and 18,000 and came bundled with the BS-X Game Pak and an 8M Memory Pak.The...
extension. The player takes on the role of Serge, a young adventurer accompanied by Kid, a teen-aged thief, and Gil, a mysterious masked magician. It is a side story
Side story
A side story is a story that occurs alongside established stories set within a fictional universe. As opposed to a prequel, sequel, or interquel, a side story takes place within the same time frame as an existing work....
to Chrono Trigger wrapping up a loose end from its predecessor's plot.
Chrono Cross
Chrono Cross was released on the PlayStationPlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
on November 18, 1999 in Japan and on August 15, 2000 in North America. The story is partly a remake of Radical Dreamers, and as such replaces it as Chrono Triggers successor. The protagonist Serge, faced with an alternate reality
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
in which he died as a child, struggles to uncover his past and meets Kid, a thief seeking the mysterious Frozen Flame artifact. Serge and Kid's fates are ultimately revealed to find their roots in the events of Chrono Trigger.
Chrono Break
Chrono Brake and Chrono Break are the names of two trademarkTrademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
s owned by Square Co.
Square Co.
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
; the first applied in Japan on November 5, 2001, and the second registered in the United States on December 5 of the same year. The registrations were preceded by a press report in which Hironobu Sakaguchi
Hironobu Sakaguchi
is a Japanese game designer, game director and game producer. He is world famous as the creator of the Final Fantasy series, and has had a long career in gaming with over 100 million units of video games sold worldwide...
mentioned that the Chrono Cross
Chrono Cross
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to Chrono Trigger, which was released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System...
team was interested in developing a new game in the Chrono series, and that script and story ideas were being considered. However, Square did not publish further news, and the American trademark Chrono Break was eventually dropped on November 13, 2003.
Dimensional Adventure Numa Monjar
is a 16-minute humoristic and promotional Chrono Trigger animeAnime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
which was broadcast at the Japanese V-Jump
V-Jump
is a Japanese magazine about new manga and video games based on popular manga. The magazine's first debut was in 1993 by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines.- History :...
Festival of July 31, 1996. It was created by Production I.G, and written by Hiroshi Izawa
Hiroshi Izawa
, better known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor, voice actor and director.Izawa was born in Tokyo, Japan and is the director of the theatrical troupe Big Face, and a member of Theater Echo. He appeared with fellow Theater Echo member Chihoko Shigeta in the popular "Itadakimasu Gekijō"...
and Akihiro Kikuchi, while Itsuro Kawazaki served as director, Tensai Okamura as animation director
Animation director
An animation director is the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or animated segment for a live-action film...
, and Riho Nishino as character designer.
The anime takes place in the same setting as Chrono Trigger during the night before the beginning of the game's events. It follows two monsters from the game, a Nu and a Mamo (called Kilwala in the English version of the game), voiced by Chafurin
Chafurin
is a Japanese vocal actor from Saitama Prefecture who works for Office Osawa. He was formerly credited as '. He graduated from Toyo University.-Television animation:*Ah! My Goddess *Argento Soma...
and Mayumi Tanaka
Mayumi Tanaka
is a Japanese voice actress from Tokyo currently affiliated with Aoni Production.She is best known for the roles of Ryuunosuke Fujinami in Urusei Yatsura, Pazu in Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Monkey D. Luffy in One Piece, Krillin, Yajirobe and Uranai Baba in Dragon Ball...
respectively, through various adventures. These all take place in the "Millennial Fair", the festival at the beginning of Chrono Trigger, which in the anime has been infested by a festive gathering of monsters coming through portals. They meet several characters from the game, including Johnny and Gonzalez (called Gato in the English version of the game). The anime ends with a scene from the following morning after the monsters have all left, in which Crono and Lucca can be seen. The credits show Nu and Mamo parodying scenes from the game.
The anime was followed by a manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series of the same name published in V Jump starting in 1996. The series follows Mamo and Nu, who are joined by Johnny and Spekkio (in the form of a frog), as they continue their adventure through time. They meet various characters from Chrono Trigger along the way, including Masamune, Lavos, Gaspar, Ozzie, Slash and Flea. In 1998, the chapters of the series were released as a tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
.
Music
The music of the Chrono series was mainly composed by Yasunori MitsudaYasunori Mitsuda
is a Japanese video game composer, sound programmer, and musician. He has composed music for or worked on over 35 games, and has contributed to over 15 other albums...
. Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. Chrono Triggers development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Square's Final Fantasy series; Yuji Horii, a...
was the first game for which he had served as composer. However, after Mitsuda contracted stomach ulcers, Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu
Nobuo Uematsu
is a Japanese video game composer, best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series. He is considered as one of the most famous and respected composers in the video game community...
was brought onto the project to compose ten songs. At the time of the game's release, the quantity of its tracks and sound effects were unprecedented. Additionally, a one-disc acid jazz
Acid jazz
Acid jazz is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, funk and hip-hop, particularly looped beats. It developed in the UK over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance: jazz-funk musicians such as Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd and Grant Green are...
arrangement called The Brink of Time was also released. Mitsuda went on to compose the soundtrack for Radical Dreamers, which was never commercially released as an album.
In 1999
1999 in video gaming
-Events:*British Academy of Film and Television Arts hosts the 2nd annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards*March – Game Over republished as “Game Over: Press Start to Continue”...
, Yasunori Mitsuda, now a freelance composer, returned to score the soundtrack for Chrono Cross
Chrono Cross
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to Chrono Trigger, which was released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System...
after being contacted by Masato Kato. Mitsuda decided to center his work around old world
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
cultural influences, including Mediterranean
Mediterranean Basin
In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation...
, Fado
Fado
Fado is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar, Rui Vieira Nery, states that "the only reliable information on the history of Fado was orally transmitted and goes back to the 1820s and 1830s at best...
, Celtic
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
, and percussive African
Music of Africa
Africa is a vast continent and its regions and nations have distinct musical traditions. The music of North Africa for the most part has a different history from sub-Saharan African music traditions....
music. Xenogears
Xenogears
is a science-fiction console role-playing game developed and published by Square for Sony's PlayStation. It was released on February 11, 1998 in Japan and on October 20, 1998 in North America. The game was never released in PAL territories...
contributor Tomohiko Kira
Tomohiko Kira
is a Japanese guitarist who leads the band ZABADAK. He composed the original music for the 1988 cult horror film Evil Dead Trap. He also used his talent on the soundtracks of the console role-playing games Xenogears and Chrono Cross , playing the opening and ending themes on the latter...
played guitar on the beginning and ending themes. Noriko Mitose
Noriko Mitose
is a Japanese singer. She is the vocalist of the band Kirche, and as a solo singer, has performed many songs for games.- Biography :Noriko Mitose sang for church choir when she was young but did not get involved in the music scene until she and Toshihiko Inoue formed kirche in 1993...
, as selected by Masato Kato, sang the ending song, "Radical Dreamers ~ Le Trésor Interdit". Mitsuda was happy to accomplish even half of what he envisioned. Certain songs were ported from the score of Radical Dreamers, while other entries in the soundtrack contain leitmotif
Leitmotif
A leitmotif , sometimes written leit-motif, is a musical term , referring to a recurring theme, associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical idea of idée fixe...
s from both Chrono Trigger and Radical Dreamers.
In 2006
2006 in video gaming
-Events:* January 26, 2006 -- Nintendo announces its newly redesigned handheld, the Nintendo DS Lite. The new model is lighter, smaller, has configurable brightness and features an improved user interface.* January 26, 2006 -- Konami Corp...
, Yasunori Mitsuda arranged versions of music from the Chrono series for Play!
Play! A Video Game Symphony
PLAY! A Video Game Symphony is a concert series that features music from video games performed by a live orchestra. The concerts from 2006 to 2010 were conducted by Arnie Roth...
video game music concerts, presenting the Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross main themes, as well as "Frog's Theme", and "To Far Away Times".
Reception
The Chrono series has been very successful in game rankings and sales. Chrono Trigger sold more than 2.36 million copies in Japan and 290,000 abroad, reaching two million in sales in only two months. It ended 1995 as the third best-selling game of the year behind Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong QuestDonkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest is an adventure platform game developed for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System produced by Rareware and published by Nintendo. It stars Diddy Kong and his girlfriend Dixie Kong...
. The game was met with substantial success upon release in North America, and its rerelease on the PlayStation as part of the Final Fantasy Chronicles package topped the NPD
NPD Group
The NPD Group, Inc. is a leading North American market research company. The NPD Group consistently ranks among the top 25 market research companies in the independent Honomichl Top 50 report, which the media and the research industry acknowledge as a credible source of information on the market...
TRSTS PlayStation sales charts for over six weeks. The Chrono Trigger DS remake has shipped 490,000 copies in Japan and 220,000 in North America as of December 2008. Chrono Cross also sold well, shipping 850,000 and 650,000 units in Japan and abroad respectively. It was re-released once in the United States as a Greatest Hits title and again as part of the Japanese Ultimate Hits series.
Chrono Trigger has placed highly on all six of multimedia website IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
'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. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
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
Famitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
. Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
awarded the game a perfect 10, one of only seven games in over 40,000 games listed on Gamespot to have been given the score, and its Console Game of the Year Award for 2000. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the game a score of 9.7, and Cross appeared 89th in its 2008 Top 100 games list.
The music of the series has been very highly regarded and enjoyed wide popularity. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
termed the Chrono Trigger soundtrack "one of the best videogame soundtracks ever produced" and said that the music was a large part of the game's ability to "capture the emotions of the player". It furthermore called the soundtrack "some of the most memorable tunes in RPG history". The game itself won the "Best Music in a Cartridge-Based Game" award in Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
's 1995 video game awards. The soundtrack for Chrono Cross won the Gold Prize for Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
s PlayStation Awards of 2000. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
, in their review of the game, termed the soundtrack "a brilliant score" that "does wonders in stirring the emotional strings of the players as they're playing through the game". In a separate piece about Japanese RPG composers, IGN named Yasunori Mitsuda the second best out of ten behind Nobuo Uematsu
Nobuo Uematsu
is a Japanese video game composer, best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series. He is considered as one of the most famous and respected composers in the video game community...
.