Chrono Trigger squeezing DS Nov. 25

Revising and remastering hits of yore has become common practice for game companies old enough to have bona fide classics. While digital distribution channels such as Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network have received a substantial bulk of these remakes, Square Enix has by and large targeted the handheld market as its platform of choice for many of its classics.

Not long before E3 2008 in July, the Japan-based game company said it would be augmenting its previously announced Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest handheld revivals with an update for Chrono Trigger on the Nintendo DS. Today, the publisher revealed that gamers can begin their time-trotting adventure on the DS starting November 25.

As detailed in GameSpot's hands-on from E3, Chrono Trigger won't feature the same graphical overhaul that its Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest brethren have seen. However, the game's visual presentation has been reformatted to display on both DS screens and to integrate touch-screen controls. The publisher also promises all-new dungeons as well as an as-yet-unspecified multiplayer component.

When it was released in 1995, Chrono Trigger was noted for its "Dream Team" development outfit, which consisted of famed Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, character designer Akira Toriyama, and composer Yasunori Mitsuda, among others. The game shipped more than 2.5 million units in its initial run on the Super Nintendo, despite being released at the very end of the 16-bit gaming platform's life cycle.