Chrono Trigger…on Nintendo DS?
In what might be the greatest news I’ve heard in 10 years, Square-Enix may finally be porting Chrono Trigger to the Nintendo DS! The game has been a fan favorite since it’s original SNES release in 1995 and is seldom missing from the top 5 range of any all-time game ranking. The game was ported to the PlayStation in 1999 in Japan (2001 for North America) with fully-animated cut scenes, though the gamplay suffered from its original smoothness.
Since the advent of the Game Boy Advance, with it’s ability to support portable versions of classic SNES titles, gamers like myself have begged for a port of Chrono Trigger. Seeing reproductions of the Final Fantasy series and the Nintendo DS’s additional X and Y buttons continued to generate hope that we may finally get our wish.
Why not port one of the hottest selling games of all time right off the bat? Well, there’s a hitch. Chrono Trigger was a collaborative effort put together by different development groups, known as “Team Dream”. Because of this, resolving copyright issues between all parties has always been the bottleneck of making any progress.
O-joyous day, it seems that those parties have finally understood the demand of their product and the riches awaiting to be raked in. For as of this writing, Square-Enix is heavily hinting toward Chrono Trigger being released on the DS, at least in Japan. One can assume that a North American translation would be quick to follow, but it’s still too soon to tell. (After all, it did take two years for NA gamers to recieve the PlayStation port, which was mostly intended to generate hype for its sequel, Chrono Cross.) Whether it will be a direct port akin to the “Advance” versions of Final Fantasy IV, V, and VI, or recieve a 3D upgrade as was developed for the DS versions Final Fantasy III and IV is still anyone’s guess. But it’s safe to say that a new Chrono Trigger port of any kind at this point will be well-recieved.
UPDATE: Confirmed.
