Although the originals were certainly better in a lot of small ways, this package is still money well spent.
Chrono Trigger had some of the best graphics the SNES had to offer, and they also look marginally good when stacked up against other 2D PS1 RPG’s. The bright, vibrant graphics, smooth animations, and large, creative character sprites and beautiful worlds are all very impressive. Final Fantasy IV on the other hand, looks terrible. Although it might have looked good back in the day, they look terrible for a PS1 game, even for a nostalgic collection port. They look like NES graphics, and get irritating to look at very quickly. The sound in both games, however, is actually quite excellent, and is very memorable, especially Chrono Trigger’s. Both of the games have definitely been altered in several ways from their original counterparts; as hardcore fans will notice right from the get-go. For Chrono Trigger, anime-inspired animated cutscenes have been added and spread throughout the game, and are a nice touch to the overall style and vibe, but the video quality isn’t that well done at all. In addition to this, a new Extras mode has also been added to let you re-play some of the videos and BG music, as well as change more game options. This is good. However, trying to move your character around using the PS1 D-Pad isn’t a very pleasant thing. The controls were much better on the SNES version; and the load times have been made substantially longer, which is ridiculous considering the technological advancement of the PS1 over the SNES. Final Fantasy IV’s improvements are a lot more noticeable. The graphics have been slightly polished up, the script has been re-vamped, and new polygonal cutscenes have also been added. These all prove positive changes to the overall game.
Chrono Trigger plays beautifully, but Final Fantasy IV is much more confusing in terms of micro-managing your party and navigating the world map.
If you’ve ever played the original versions, you could tell that Chrono Trigger was much better served on the SNES. But it’s such a good game that it’s still worth the price of admission alone, and trying to find an original SNES copy is way more expensive than this version. If you’re strapped for cash, don’t have the originals, or if you like the idea of new content added to old favorites on a compilation package, this game is definitely money well spent.