It’s hard to imagine that Chrono Trigger, one of the premiere roleplaying games in existence, came out almost 17 years ago.  I can still distinctly remember walking inside Toys ‘R Us on its American release date, balking over the insane $90 price tag, yet still emerging from the store with a copy in my hand and a smile on my face.

But what is it about Chrono Trigger that makes it so timeless?

During the mid-90s, Japanese RPGs were at their prime (and, arguably, at their peak).  One company in particular, SquareSoft, was the king of the genre, releasing one critically-acclaimed title after another, such as Final Fantasy VI and Secret of Mana (Also, titles that may get some love in this column someday.)  Chrono Trigger was the pinnacle of the company’s efforts up to that point.  It featured a “Dream Team” of collaborators including Yuji Hori (designer of Dragon Quest), Akira Toriyama (creator of the anime series Dragon Ball), and Nobuo Uematsu (composer of the Final Fantasy series), among many others.

After some excruciating delays, the game was finally released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in early 1995.  And though it featured only a handful of new, innovative ideas, Chrono Trigger refined nearly every RPG standard to near-perfection.  Random encounters were (mostly) eliminated with visible enemies that could be easily bypassed.  Separate battle screens were gone in favor of combat occurring on the actual in-game environment.  And while multiple endings weren’t a revolutionary idea at the time, the concept of having thirteen of them was astounding, in addition to the New Game+ mode that allowed players to start over with all of their previous levels and equipment.

Those concepts helped differentiate the title from numerous other Japanese RPGs of that age, but when most people recall their fondness for Chrono Trigger, it’s usually regarding the characters themselves.  Crono, the silent protagonist, was able to convey plenty of emotion through the reactions of others.  Marle, the tomboy princess of the present era, had a tumultuous relationship with her father that is both touching and heartbreaking.  There’s also Lucca, the girl genius, and Robo, the robot from the future.  There’s also a prehistoric cave-woman named Ayla that is hilarious and awesome.  But the best and most memorable character is, hands-down, Frog… Who, not-so-coincidentally, also happens to be a frog.  His character arc is not only the strongest, but also the most poignant.

Oh, there’s also Magus, the “villain” that has some of the best redemptive moments of all time.  Just saying.

The art design and music are also incredible, featuring some of the most iconic locales and accompanying scores in video game history.  Ask any fan of Chrono Trigger and they will tell you exactly how memorable the showdown in Magus’ castle is, especially in terms of graphics and sound.  The game holds up amazingly well in both departments today, and the sound design in particular still rivals even most modern games with originality.

Over the years, Chrono Trigger has gradually risen to being regarded as one of the absolute best video games ever made.  It’s also conveniently available on nearly every platform these days: Nintendo DS, PlayStation Network, Wii Virtual Console, and even iOS.  Yes, one of the finest RPGs ever created can be enjoyed directly from your iPhone.  There’s really no excuse to not revisit the world of Crono and friends, especially seeing that it survived the test of time near-flawlessly.  And if this is your first experience in to the world of Chrono Trigger, I envy you.  I’ll never forget my initial discovery of the characters within and the joy they brought me.