A common theme nowadays with mobile game development is bringing classic titles into the portable platform. With technology now powerful enough to contain what was once only possible for bigger consoles into a much smaller package, a lot of those titles that have touched the lives of older gamers can now be revisited in a mobile device. This also makes the game more accessible to newer generations who have not experienced playing the older consoles where these games may have come from. One of those games happens to be Square Enix’s legendary Chrono Trigger, considered to be a JRPG masterpiece.

As with the previous versions, the combat system here is complex, yet smooth and fun to play with. As far as JRPGs go, this has got to be one of the best ever made in terms of actual gameplay. But perhaps the true gem in Chrono Trigger is the story, as with any good JRPG would have. This will catch and draw you in with its interesting characters and various themes within the fantasy setting, especially as it is tested by the passage of time and the number of gamers it has enthralled.

A lot of Chrono Trigger’s charm is from how it combines both gameplay and story into a streamlined package; great turn-based action for the bulk of play with fully animated cutscenes in between to tell the story. Perhaps old school fans may get thrown off by some of the changes in this new version, like different item names, but they’re nothing too big to make it feel alien to them. Perhaps the benefit with these revisions is two additional zones, as seen in the Nintendo DS one.

The graphics turn out to be blurry through the conversion, so it will look quite smudged especially for the iPad. If you are disgusted by smudgy graphics, then look away from this because it’s not the best job done with this particular title. However, being an old title to begin with, those who are really interested should be able to look beyond mere appearances and appreciate the rest of this game’s positive qualities. As for new players, it may be not very good for them but it’s not so bad that it’s unplayable. The Retina display should help sharpen up the display, so it helps having a newer device.

Another issue is the controls itself suffers the same problems as with any other game with simulated gamepad controls on the touch screen. You may experience some problems like pressing the wrong button and getting confused during gameplay due to its design that may not exactly be suitable for the platform itself. A way to remedy this though is just to be aware of the difficulties in the controls at all times. It may get annoying as you go, but at least you’ll be able to manage as you play.

If you’ve never played this game before, then this is a very good time to try it out. This is a very good entry point into the world of Japanese RPGs, being one of its best examples. While it hasn’t exactly been tailor-made to suit the iOS completely, it’s still more than playable enough to give even skeptics the full experience.