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Misleading title, must-have game.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 55 / 61
Date: May 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This is actually two old-school console RPGs in one set of packaging. Why the collection is called "Final Fantasy Chronicles" instead of "Chrono Fantasy" or something like that, I don't know, but the important point is:

One of the two games included is Chrono Trigger.

Chrono Trigger remains the greatest console RPG ever made. The version on this new CD compilation is identical in play to the original, but includes several animated cutscenes (done by Bird Studios, producers of Dragonball/DBZ and owned/operated by Akira Toriyama, who did the character designs for Chrono Trigger as well) which are themselves worth the price. (In point of fact, the price itself is interesting; the compilation of Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 4 costs less than either of them did separately when first released.)

Chrono Trigger centers around the adventures of Crono (yes, that's the correct spelling), a young man whose only apparent unusual feature is skill with a sword; otherwise, he lives a rather ordinary life, getting his allowance from his mom, taking care of his pet cat, and, as the story begins, looking forward to the Millennial Fair. At the Fair, he meets with a pretty blonde girl, Marle, who wears an interesting pendant, and who as a stranger to his town asks him if he'd be nice enough to show her around a bit.

Things get strange when they visit the exhibit area of one of Crono's friends, Lucca, who's an eccentric inventor. Her invention mysteriously reacts to the presence of Marle's pendant, and Marle vanishes, leaving the glowing pendant behind. When Crono decides to follow her wherever she's gone and bring her back, he's catapulted into a time-spanning adventure which will take him from the present to 65 million years in the past, and thousands of years in the future, and eventually to confront a world-destroying monster which may, at the same time, have been responsible for the creation of Crono's own civilization. Along the way he will learn secrets of his world's history, gain new powers, and gather allies, ranging from the super-strong cavegirl Ayla to the technologically advanced machine-man Robo.

Chrono Trigger's greatest claim to fame was, and is, that it boasts many possible endings, all quite different, based on what decisions you make during the game. They're not all easily predictable, either, and at least one or two are rather creepy. It's also interesting in that, after a certain point, you no longer have to keep Crono in your party (most games have a set viewpoint character that you have to keep around). It's quite possible to finish the game with *ANY* combination of available characters.

Gameplay is, in my opinion, superior to that of any of the Final Fantasy games. For one thing, it avoids the "eternally wandering monster" phenomenon which makes overland travel in the FF series so damnably frustrating, while still allowing you to wander freely across the land and visit places, looking for clues, new things to buy, and new friends and allies. For another, the combat sequences are much more active than those of other RPGs of its same era, and include special techniques -- both for individuals AND ones combining the techniques of two or three characters at once. Once you beat the game, you have the option of using "new game+", which allows you to start with the same power, and most of the items, that you'd gained along the way the first time. This is useful for those trying to play through again, since it allows you to zip through combats which, the first time, took many minutes to complete. (it does, however, introduce a bit of cognitive dissonance, especially in the early parts of the game: "How the heck are they throwing ME in jail?! I have enough power to level this entire CASTLE by myself!")

The soundtrack of Chrono Trigger is unbelieveably good. Somehow, through the miracle of MIDI, the original game had 3 full CDs worth of music crammed on it, and the skill with which the MIDI was composed and produced made it sound, at the time, very nearly orchestral. Even today the sound isn't bad, and the re-done, fully orchestral version is amazing. Each major character has its own theme, and they're all excellent. Chrono Trigger's soundtrack still rates as one of my absolute favorites.

If you like console RPGs at all, this is one that you absolutely MUST buy, and keep enshrined somewhere.

FINALLY Final Fantasy IV for the PlayStation

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 23
Date: February 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The original Final Fantasy Anthology released in Japan contained versions of FF IV (known in a watered-down version to US fans as FF 2), FF V (never released in the US), and FF VI (aka FF 3 to Americans). However, supposedly due to glitches in the gameplay, Final Fantasy IV was not included in the Anthology's US release. Square has remedied this omission brilliantly with the release of Final Fantasy Chronicles for the US.

To many people, Final Fantasy II on the Super Nintendo set the standard for console RPGs to follow with its non-linear gameplay, involved story line, detailed characters, and beautiful musical score. Yet we all had to put up with a poor translation and a game made "easier" for the US audience until now--and now US gamers can experience the game as it was meant to be, including updated FMV opening and ending sequences and all the secrets left out of the original US release.

As a bonus, this release also includes another Square RPG, Chrono Trigger, in a similarly full-featured adaptation from its original console. No Final Fantasy fan can be without this title in their library!

You will be impressed

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: July 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Even though I am a member of the "played them already" club, these games still never fail to disappoint. Chrono Trigger is a timeless (no pun intended) classic that will entertain you each and every time through. And FF IV is the pioneering FF for North America, and now is probably the most challenging FF out there (the Japanese FF III is probably the toughest of all 9 Final Fantasy games).

Those of you who have played the FF Anthology know how horrible the loading times were in each game - fear not. The loading time in FF IV is non-existant. The only parts that take a while is when you are saving and loading your game, which is expected with memory cards. Chrono Trigger is slow at times - most notably when you start/finish a battle and access the menu screen. Most of it is negligable in my opinion.

Even if you own both original cartridges, it's worth it to play FF IV again, as it is like a completely new game, with a new translation and it's UNCENSORED!!! That's right, what Japan got originally we now have. Get it right now.

Will be back in production

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: November 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

don't pay more than 20 dollars for this. Square is releaseing this title along with 3 others for $20. http://www.1up.com/article2/0,4364,1372175,00.asp

Blast From The Past

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 14
Date: June 22, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Yeah I know its not released yet, but I played both games when i was younger, and i absolutey love em. Final Fantasy IV (II) was the first game I ever played on the SNES, and it feuled my love for RPGs. FFIV is such a great game. its challenging, fun, and the spells are just so cool! the bosses are actually fun to fight, but some enemies can really ... u off. but whats great about this version is that they added a two player battle mode, and you can actually run in the dungeons! in the snes version u have the same monotonous, slow pace thru-out the entire game, but now u can run! but i highly reccomend getting this game b/c they are goin to change the translation and add new CGs (FMVs) and it will be a fun new exp. for all the ppl who have played it! now, chrono trigger, ion my opinion, is the best rpg ever made. the story line is fantastic, the controls are easy and fun, and the attacks are just plain awesome. but what makes this game cool is this--there are NINE ENDINGS. there are nine times u can fight the boss and u get a different ending EACH TIME! so u can play this game to death! another thing is that u can start a new game (after beating it with all ur stuff from the last game. its is fun, but not really challenging. in this version, they added new anime movies from the artist of DragonBallZ! this is going to be an ecen cooler game than the SNES version. I highly recommend getting this package because it has some of thie best games ever made and it will be another great addition to ur PSX game collection. it will be part II of the SquareSoft "Blast From The Past Collection" and we can hope there is more to come...GET THIS GAME! :) your loyal gamer friend, -FZP

The games that started it all

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: June 28, 2001
Author: Amazon User

In essence, it was Final Fantasy 2 that hooked a lot of people into the the craze of the series b/c most didn't know of the first one. For those who did were ... over the 32-bit power of this enhanced game. It started most of the concepts that exist in today's recent Final Fantasy's. With this reproduction of this classic w/ new FMV's, it sure to draw back all the old fans as well as some new ones who are curious too see how much the series as evolved over time. If you can stand to revert graphics wise then you can really enjoy this game. After all, superior graphics cannot beat the power of a solid story line. Chrono Trigger, like most things, beats it's sequel Chrono Cross. After Final Fantasy 3 came out as well as Secret of Mana, squaresoft realized that alot of people loved final fantasy but liked Secret of Mana's fighting system where you can see the enemy before you get into a fight and can be prepared vs. just running into them by surprise. Squaresoft decided to combine the best of these 2 games and created Chrono Trigger and made it the best game for the SNES system, as far as RPG's were concerned. Some people may have noticed as I did that Chrono, the main character, looks a lot like Goku from Dragon Ball Z. The reason for this is b/c Akira Toriyama did the art work for it and has now done the anime cut scenes that have been put into the game which is something that I look foward to seeing. This is among my favorite RPGs, at least w/in the top 3. It still beats even a lot of new ones on the PS1. I recommend buying this even by the simple fact if you like RPGs, you are getting 2 for the price of one, and if you pre-ordered it from ..., then your saving even more money on 2 classic games that for me, started the fever for Role Playing Games that hasn't stopped yet.

Chrono Trigger review only

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: November 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This will be a review of Chrono Trigger as it was on the SNES, since they don't have a page for it (on the PSX its slowed down an incredible amount, which really detracts from gameplay).
Anyway, Chrono Trigger is, hands down, one of the best games ever made, behind only Final Fantasy 6. You cannot call yourself a true rpg fan untill you have played both of those games. The graphics were top of the line at the time it was released, and the "old school" (i.e. hand drawn) graphics are far better than anything a computer can create. The musical score for this game is absolutely incredible; It's up there with FF6 and Chrono Cross in this department, if not better. Even something as simple as the tune that is played when you sleep is very good.

The storyline is awesome, it's incredibly innovative and involves an accident that sends 3 young people through time. when they witness the barren future of the world, they decide to change the future, and their actions have huge repercussions throughout time. Its all very believeable, and a lot of attention is paid to detail, no matter how small. As you are playing, you get hit with this sense of enormity, the scale of the quest is incredibly large, and yet there is still a good deal of character development (sadly not as much as in FF6).

Gameplay itself is quite good, the controll is very good, and combat is intuitive. You learn new attacks only by going up in level, which can be frustrating and lead to repetition in combat, but the advent of dual and triple techs (attacks that use two or three people) immediately makes up for this. Many of thse moves are incredibly powerful, and are fun to watch. Theres plenty of side quests, for those who love to find everything; once you hit a certain point, you can choose to beat the game, or go and find the "uber" stuff. These side quests greatly add to the storyline, however, and affect the ending as well...which leads me to another fantastic point. The endings. All 12 of them. Ive achieved almost all of them, and many of them are quite good, many are humorous. The "developer's ending" which is by far the hardest to get is stellar.

In short, for all the naysayers of the SNES rpgs, graphics do not make a great game, storyline makes a great game. its as simple as that. FF7 and FF9 are great games that earn solid 4 stars, but cannot compare to the greatness of this and FF6. If you have ever played an rpg and liked it (and even if you didnt!) give this game a try. You WILL NOT be disappointed, I will wager everything I know on that fact. This is the real deal. Very Highly Recommended.

Two Classic Games in one package

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: July 28, 2001
Author: Amazon User

You can't really beat this package. I actually bought this for Chrono Trigger alone, and I traded 4 other games for it, including Final Fantasy VII. That was one of the best trade-ins I've ever done. I never really cared for FFIV back on the SNES or now. Don't get me wrong, it's a fine game, but I just never could get into it.

Anyway though, I've played them both now, and despite a few minor flaws, this is still a great buy for those who like the old classics. Since I haven't played FFIV very much, I don't really have much to say about it.

But, Chrono Trigger. I still believe that no RPG has ever been able to top this game. It set a high point in RPGs that simply could not be duplicated. And now, this new release of the game, with new cutscenes and some touched up music, yet still keeping the original gameplay intact, is excellent. Now I've already written a review of the original Chrono Trigger on Amazon, so there's no need to restate all that here. So instead, I'll just address the few flaws of the game.

The only flaw that it really has is the loading times for the battles and the menu screens. And, that is a valid complaint. However, I don't think it warrants taking any stars off of the rating. Consider this: For one thing, at least the battles are not random like so many other games. And secondly, think about what happens when you encounter enemies in, say, FFVII, FFVIII, Legend of Dragoon, or almost any other RPG of their type today: First, for about 5 seconds, the battlefield just swirls around for no reason. Then, it centers on the battlefield, and the enemies appear. For about 2 more seconds, the enemies stand there performing their pre-fight motions. Then, your characters appear and take about 3 more seconds doing their pre-fight motions, getting into their stances, stretching, swinging their weapons around, etc. When the battle finally starts, about 10 seconds have already been wasted. Even at their worst, the load times for Chrono Trigger are no longer than 5 seconds. Besides, the only reason this happens at all is because the game is on a CD instead of its original cartridge.

At any rate though, if you like the older Squaresoft titles (which in my opinion were far better than the ones out today), get this game. If you were first introduced to RPGs by games like FF7 and FF8, then be careful with this one, you might not like it.

My search is over, and it was worth it!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: July 14, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Ever since Chrono Cross and Final Fantasy Anthology, I've been searching for Chrono Trigger (being that more than 90% of the people I talk to say its the greatest RPG ever made) and Final Fantasy IV (Because this was the true beginning of the FF series in the US).

When I heard about this package, I simply had to go out and buy it. Why? Because I was desperate! At least I grew to be. Now that I just bought this on June 14, I can proudly say that Chrono Trigger is one of the greatest RPGs ever. But Chrono Trigger seems to be somewhat short however. (I just got it June 14, and was at the end by the June 16, pretty short or maybe it was because I couldn't put the controller down).

FFIV-Has an interesting story, along with interesting Characters. Almost as good as VI. This game is very difficult though. Its one of the hardest RPG's I've ever played in my life! Again, it is somewhat short, but it was fun! But, it takes a REALLY LONG TIME TO SAVE!!! So my advice is to use the memo feature and then save it to your memory card before you're done! But it is faster than FFA at loading. That helps a bit. The story is also interesting, and they added in new CG cinemas. They are indeed better looking than FFA, but not FFVIII or CC. Sadly, there is no extras mode for FFIV (that[stinks]... cuz' it was really fun too!)

Chrono Trigger-The best story I've heard in an RPG since Lunar Silver Star Story Complet, Grandia, Chrono Cross, and Final Fantasy 7. The characters are very interesting, and the story moves at a fast pace. The best part about the game was TIME TRAVEL! Which I enjoyed more than just going back and forth between two worlds (Chrono Cross). The Music in this game is really good for super nintendo, and with the new animated scenes this is really nice. The animation is very nice if you ask me. And the Extra's feature! This is seeming more like the FFVI package in Final Fantasy Anthology. However, Chrono Trigger takes a lot of loading time just to open up the menu, and engage in battle (another in common with FFVI!) But the endings are very nice, and its full of side quests! This is without a doubt one of the greatest RPGs ever made!

Overall we have 2 of the greatest RPGs in one package. I'd get this, even if you do own it on the SNES.

NOTE:Final Fantasy II in the U.S. was Final Fantasy IV Easy Mode. In this package it is Final Fantasy IV HARD MODE.

Enjoy

Better Than Anthology!....Even with the Worst Hero Ever!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: May 23, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Frankly I don't know why people loved FF:Anthology so much...it really wasn't that good. I mean, FF6 was better on the SNES, minus the FMV, and FF5 wasn't that good to begin with. This, on the other hand, features Chrono Trigger, a rather good game, and a highly enhanced version of Final Fantasy IV, the game that launched the series into the main character-based RPG series in history! Personally, I say go with this package, definately!!

Chrono Trigger is a good game, with nice SNES graphics that're almost as good as Super Mario RPG's, decent music (although no FF6, and certainly not Yasonuri Mitsuda's best...even close), a nice out-of-battle interface, and an interesting quest that takes you throughout time. True, since I never really played this game until FF Chronicles, I may have liked it more if I actually got it in 1995 (just about the only Square game I missed between the years 1991 and 2001). I don't agree that it's quite possibly the greatest RPG of all time (mostly because I HATED Chrono, the character, SO MUCH!!!), but it is a nice enjoyable romp, and features plot twists that were about time, yet somehow weren't stolen from either H.G.Welles or Dr. Who! That got me at least!

Now, I'm not gonna deny it, but to me, the whole point of buying this package is for FF4! The graphics are suprememly outdated, and so is the sound quality, but that doesn't change much when it comes to this game...quite possibly the greatest FF of all time! The music is better composed than in Chrono Trigger, the characters are almost infinitely better, the battle system and interface are very easy to use, and even if you've played though it on the SNES a thousand times, unlike Chrono Trigger, this game features something new on the PSX.

Yes, it's sad, that while FFIV was greatly enhanced and a totally new experience on the PSX, Chrono Trigger remains almost completely unchanged from what I can figure out. Behind them both are nice long storylines, and behind FFIV is also strong character content. Chrono Trigger's is full of many choices, which even FFIV doesn't have! The plot twists are also cool, even by today's standards, although there's no real food for thought like in FFX or either Xeno games. While FFIV doesn't feature much more food for thought, it does tell one of the greatest RPG tales of all time by far, and still contains some of the greatest musical tracks ever written. Nobuo Uematsu may be loosing it now, but when it comes to his middle works like this through FFVII, he was quite a head-turner. You follow Cecil on a much more elaborate and detailed quest than that of Chrono Trigger, which is dialogue centered, but still features a great gameplay system, albeit old, and full of random battles. The equipping interface is still larger than that of any other strictly console-RPG I've seen (in terms of weapons and armor). I kid you not when I say that FFIV is the reason I became a film major! It was 12 years ago I saw the light, and it still shines onto me as strong as ever!

Whether the more fun and basic, yet fast-moving quest of Chrono Trigger is your type, or the more elaborate and character driven Final Fantasy IV is your type (like it is mine, as you could figure out), this game is a must have! Two legendary games!

I think they could have called this: "Final Fantasy: The Two RPG's that Wrote the Book that all RPG's Would Later Follow", except for the fact that it's way too long of a title. Original and entertaining until the end of time, get these games, for the power of epic awaits you!

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