Yasunori Mitsuda -- Chrono Trigger Original Sound Version (with Nobuo Uematsu and Noriko Matsueda)

10/10

Well, this is a big one. 1995's Chrono Trigger is my favorite video game of all time, and its soundtrack plays no small part in that. I've always had a softspot for Super Nintendo game music, as that console's sound chip is able to unleash vast amounts of dopamine in my brain. Maybe that's one of the reasons Chrono Trigger's soundtrack hits so hard--I had nostalgia for this game before I even played it. Let me explain. 

In the fall of 1997, I sold my Super Nintendo and all of my games to get money for a Nintendo 64. I'd never even heard of Chrono Trigger at that point. I'd had some great times with my SNES, greatly enjoying games like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario RPG, and the Super Star Wars games, among others--probably the most fun I'd had on a console up to that point. However, growing up in a rural area, and not having any kind of Internet in the mid-90's, I'd never heard of any SNES title that even touched upon obscurity. I only knew of a game if it happened to feature in a random Nintendo Power or GamePro magazine I'd picked up, if I'd seen it on a store shelf, or if a friend had played it. Unfortunately, for me in 1997, Chrono Trigger didn't fall into any of those categories.
However, something weird started to happen to me in early 1999 (still my favorite year of existence to this day): I started missing my SNES. That spring, I learned about ZNES and other emulators (including ones for NES and Game Boy). I first started emulating games I'd originally owned, dutifully playing through A Link to the Past again (and enjoying it just as much!). I continued to do this throughout the summer, until I realized, "Wait a minute...didn't I really like Mario RPG? And didn't that same company, Square, make OTHER RPG's for the SNES too?" By this point, I did have the Internet, and I looked around on message boards for SNES RPG recommendations, particularly for games made by Square. Everything seemed to be pointing to the same message: You have to play Chrono Trigger. So I did.
I started playing Chrono Trigger just as my Senior year of high school began, and continued playing through it that fall, especially on days where I didn't have to work. I got out of school every day around noon, so if I had the afternoon off, I'd swing by the Winn Dixie I worked at, grab a $3 Tony's pizza, head home, boot up my computer, and play Chrono Trigger while I ate the whole thing...the pizza, not the game. Well, I guess maybe the game metaphorically. 

In perhaps the most serendipitous moment of my life, or at least, at the climax of the best year of my life, I beat Chrono Trigger, a game where the player attempts to prevent a cataclysmic event in 1999, on 12/31/99, at about 11:45 p.m. It was incredible. Chrono Trigger is my favorite game, I've played through it many times, I've leveled up every character to the max, and I will replay it at least once more before I die, if I live to old age.

And to think, the game's incredible soundtrack only exists because one of Square's employees acted like a diva.

During Chrono Trigger's development, sound designer, Yasunori Mitsuda, threatened to quit Square if they did not allow him to start composing music. He was then given the reins to soundtracking the Chrono Trigger project, and if the previous sentence didn't give you a hint as to this guy's framework, Mitsuda threw himself into it, stalling out again and again over four months, until he found himself on the right track. He then started sleeping in the studio, and sometimes even fell asleep late at night while he was working. He'd then have dreams about music, which ended up providing the inspiration for some of Chrono Trigger's best pieces. In fact, Mitsuda obsessed so much about making this score as great as he possibly could, he started having stress-related health problems, and veteran composer, Nobuo Uematsu, had to come in to help him finish (Noriko Matsueda also provides a track, as well). That obsession paid off, though. If not for the later work Mitsuda did for Chrono Trigger's admittedly lesser sequel, Chrono Cross, Chrono Trigger would be the greatest video game soundtrack of all time.

The miracles of Chrono Trigger's soundtrack are myriad. The sheer number of tracks presented was unique at the time, and is still pretty stunning today. There's different music for every area, every character has a theme, every major situation has its own unique music, the game itself has a theme, and there are leitmotifs upon leitmotifs. The simple fact that the game's first official soundtrack, Chrono Trigger Original Sound Version, has 64 songs is nearly unfathomable for a 16-bit game. And only ONE of these 64 is not found on the original game. All 63 of the games tracks are here, plus this bonus one, "Singing Mountain."

Somehow, though, the complexity of each overall track is so impressive, the number of tracks feels like the lesser miracle. From the shifting, adrenaline-pumping opening theme, to the music from the first forest Chrono encounters, the unpredictable turns this game's music takes are immediately impressive. That forest theme, "Secret of the Forest" has now been covered a countless amount of times, and for good reason. 

"Secret of the Forest" begins with a mysterious, Rhodes-like arpeggio, with thick bass notes coming in to lend a rhythmic backbone, before a flutelike noise plays the track's main melody. Suddenly, a reverbed piano comes in to introduce a counter-melody, as more and more elements are introduced. Suddenly, at 1:40, everything but the piano and bass drops out to play an incredibly mysterious and magical bridge, the bass suddenly playing a more complex figure. It's a stunning piece of music, made all the better by the high quality of the sounds of which it's composed. There are no bloops and bleeps here. These instruments sound beautiful. Sure, they're not the real thing, but the samples used are incredibly high quality, and just get the dopamine pumping so hard I'm zooming off to happy nostalgia-land just listening for this review. It's telling that as technology has exponentially advanced, there still isn't a cover that sounds as good as the SNES original.

However, what really brings this soundtrack up to LEGEND status is its overall artistic vision and cohesion. Mitsuda, collaborating closely with the game's writer, Masato Kato, creates a unique and singular vision for Chrono Trigger's audio landscape. The vibe here taps in the mysteries of time and the universe, the planet, but also, there's this bedrock, prehistoric vibe, where you feel the veins of rock and mineral and fossils underfoot, but also running up through the roots of the trees, and marsh grass, and flowers into manmade bridges and castles. You can FEEL this world, feel the ever-presence of time. 26 years later, no one but Mitsuda has ever created anything even close to this...and yet somehow, four years later, he would top this accomplishment.

Also, I'm pretty sure I got some verb tenses wrong here, but in the spirit of time-traveling, I'll just say "All times are one, therefore there are no wrong verb tenses."


1995 NTT Publishing/Polystar

Disc One 

1. Presentiment" (予感) 0:34 

2. Chrono Trigger (クロノ・トリガー) 2:01 

3. "Morning Sunlight" (朝の日ざし) 0:58 

4. Peaceful Days (やすらぎの日々) 2:48 

5. Memories of Green (みどりの思い出) 3:51 

6. Guardia Millennial Fair (ガルディア王国千年祭) 3:17 

7. Gato's Song (ゴンザレスのお歌) 0:42 

8. A Strange Happening (不思議な出来事) 1:43 

9. Wind Scene (風の憧憬) 3:22 

10. Good Night (おやすみ) 0:08 

11. Secret of the Forest (樹海の神秘) 4:46 

12. Battle 1 (戦い) 2:29 

13. Courage and Pride (ガルディア城 ～勇気と誇り～) 3:28 

14. Huh!? (んっ！？) 0:05 

15. Manoria Cathedral (マノリア修道院) 1:13 

16. A Prayer to the Road that Leads (道行くものへ　祈りを・・・) 0:11 

17. Silent Light (沈黙の光) (by Nobuo Uematsu) 2:23 

18. Boss Battle 1 (ボス・バトル１) (by Noriko Matsueda, arrangement by Uematsu) 1:58 

19. Frog's Theme (カエルのテーマ) 1:49 

20. Fanfare 1 (ファンファーレ１) 1:16 

21. Kingdom Trial (王国裁判) 3:44 

22. The Hidden Truth (隠された事実) 0:59 

23. A Shot of Crisis (危機一髪) 2:39 

Disc Two 

1. Ruined World (荒れ果てた世界) 3:24 

2. Mystery of the Past (過去の謎) (Uematsu) 0:07 

3. Lab 16's Ruin (16号廃墟) 1:34 

4. People Without Hope (生きる望みをすてた人々) (Uematsu) 3:07 

5. Lavos' Theme" (ラヴォスのテーマ) 5:10 

6. The Day the World Revived (世界最期の日) 1:25 

7. Robo Gang Johnny (暴走ロボ軍団ジョニー) 2:21 

8. Bike Chase (バイクチェイス) (Uematsu) 1:35 

9. Robo's Theme (ロボのテーマ) 1:32 

10. Remains of the Factory (工場跡) 3:09 

11. Battle 2 (戦い2; unreleased track) 2:10 

12. Fanfare 2 (ファンファーレ２) 0:07 

13. Brink of Time (時の最果て) 2:31 

14. Delightful Spekkio (愉快なスペッキオ) 2:48 

15. Fanfare 3 (ファンファーレ３) 0:05 

16. Underground Sewer (地下水道) (Uematsu) 2:24 

17. Boss Battle 2 (ボス・バトル２) 2:41 

18. Primitive Mountain (原始の山) (Uematsu) 3:07 

19. Ayla's Theme (エイラのテーマ) 1:24 

20. Rhythm of Wind, Sky, and Earth (風と空と大地のリズム) 1:51 

21. Burn! Bobonga! (燃えよ！ボボンガ！) (Uematsu) 2:12 

22. Magus' Castle (魔王城) 0:29 

23. Confusing Melody (錯乱の旋律) 1:40 

24. Battle with Magus (魔王決戦) 3:30 

Disc Three 

1. Singing Mountain (歌う山; unreleased track) 3:05 

2. Tyran Castle (ティラン城) (Uematsu) 3:49 

3. At the Bottom of Night (夜の底にて) 2:31 

4. Corridors of Time (時の回廊) 3:01 

5. Zeal Palace (ジール宮殿) 3:57 

6. Schala's Theme (サラのテーマ) 2:48 

7. Sealed Door (封印の扉) (Uematsu) 2:47 

8. Undersea Palace (海底神殿) 3:23 

9. Far Off Promise (クロノとマール ～遠い約束～) 1:56 

10. Wings That Cross Time (シルバード ～時を渡る翼～) 3:23 

11. Black Omen (黒の夢) 3:04 

12. Determination (決意) 0:56 

13. World Revolution (世界変革の時) 3:48 

14. Last Battle (ラストバトル) 4:07 

15. First Festival of Stars (星の祝祭) 2:44 

16. Epilogue - To Good Friends (エピローグ ～親しき仲間へ～) 2:34 

17. To Far Away Times (遥かなる時の彼方へ) 5:46