Yasunori Mitsuda – Music Of Chrono Trigger (1995)

Chrono Trigger was an amazing video game of its time on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. In addition, it had a highly memorable and inspired soundtrack with some brilliant pieces of music on it. Let’s take a listen to this album which is music from the video game itself, and see if it matches that. It’s nearly 3 hours long, so bear in mind we are covering a lot of large musical territory here.

Presentiment begins with a clock ticking and some brilliant musical textures to enter the realm of space and time. Very short.

Chrono Trigger is a theme for the game. It is 16-bit music, but you can hear a heroic, almost war-like tune that reoccurs throughout the game. It still sounds good today, although there is a hint of melancholy about it. A nice intro to this soundtrack. The second half sounds even more heroic.

The next piece is the soundtrack to the intro of the game, Morning Sunlight. It’s a quick, beautiful, and melodic bite-sized piece. Awesome.

We head off into Peaceful Days which is a nice, gentle, and soothing lazy mood sort of listen. This is where the game really starts (if you have ever played Chrono Trigger) and it is a reassuring listen. Cool stuff, although it’s all 16 bit.

Memories of Green is a brilliant piano-led piece which is also at the beginning of the game. It’s more urgent-sounding and melodic but brilliantly done. Nice to hear. It has many layers of melodies, which are all good.

Guardia Millennial Fair is a sort of village music kind of piece. It indicates a joyous and uptempo feeling about it, with keyboard ingenuity galore. A simple and effective musical piece to listen to. Sounds very uptempo.

Next is Gato’s Song which sounds almost Zelda like. It’s almost a war tune and very short listening.

The creepy sounding Strange Happening sounds unusual and indicates some unusual ongoings in the game. It’s a strange sort of musical piece to listen to. Most of these recordings are very short, and this is no exception.

Wind Scene is an indicative moment of the game progressing. It’s a more upbeat and relaxing sort of listening experience from the game. Brilliant music, and brilliant video game too.

Goodnight is just that, a nine-second piece which is indicative of sleeping in the game. No more need to be said.

The next composition Secret Of The Forest is an excellent piece that indicates travels through the forest areas of the game. It has a mixture of many different melodies and emotions, fittingly so for the game itself. Another good and explorative listen. There is some great bass guitar here, too. The piano towards the end is brilliant.

Next is the main battle theme of the game, Battle 1. It is a funky and incredibly catchy mash-up of bass guitar and keyboard sounds here. It is always good to hear this throughout the game itself, and even on its own. Good thinking by Yasunori Mitsuda.

Courage and Pride is the castle theme, complete with marching drums and warlike melodies. It’s another great composition piece here and sums up that part of the game very well. An excellent tune to listen to.

Huh?! is merely a small keyboard patch over a few seconds, nothing special.

The piece Manoria Cathedral is a twinkling, starlight sounding piece indicative of that notable section of the game. Short.

Next A Prayer To The Road That Leads is three chords on an organ. Nothing special, again.

Silent Light is a grand-sounding composition that is part of the next part of the game. It’s somewhat subdued and reassuring. Many different keyboard-based sounds and solid melodies are here, a nice sounding track.

Boss Battle 1 is a mixture of frenetic organ sounds which get your blood pumping during that particular part of the game. It’s a good way to showcase musically those endless battles.

Next, Frog’s Theme is reminiscent of the Frog character in the game. An uplifting and brilliant tune for that part of the game, once again, with marching drums to match.

The awesome Fanfare 1 is a great and glorious-sounding piece with synthesized horns to match the progression in the game of victory.

Kingdom Trial goes to the next interesting part of the game which is rather hard on the main character, in particular, Chrono. It’s a quirky and melodic piece which suits it perfectly. Good stuff. It peaks with a singular reoccurring riff, before going back into the main musical break.

The Hidden Truth is the death march in the game. It suits that section perfectly and is a good reminder of that particular section of the game.

The awesome funky and panicky sounding piece A Shot Of Crisis here shows how crucial the funky bass guitar sound was to this video game’s soundtrack. Whoever played bass guitar here deserves a medal. It’s excellent music, in the lead up to the battles. Great stuff.

The childlike Far Off Promise – Arrange Version 1 is a simple melody played for certain segments of the game. Nothing special.

Chrono Trigger – Arrange Version 1 is a better sounding and more glorious Chrono Trigger theme song. Sounds awesome, it is set to an orchestra based theme. A nice listen overall.

Ayla’s Theme – Arrange Version is a proper instrumental theme of that character in the game. Sounds very nice, a good refreshing take on that part of the game. Awesome to hear.

The last proper instrumental theme of this batch Frog’s Theme – Arrange Version makes a beautiful and more melodic version of the original theme. A good way of approaching such a theme on this one, it’s excellent to hear a proper orchestral version of the theme.

The keyboard piece Ruined World is post-apocalypse set to music. It’s an interesting part of the game. No spoilers here, but it is a sad and lonely theme to a strange part of the game. Fans of the game will easily remember this piece.

Mystery of the Past is a short piano played part for eight seconds. Nothing special.

Lab 16’s Ruin is just that, an artistic way to deliver musically that part of the game. Interesting listening, once again, with prominent bass guitar. This is key to this soundtrack, the bass guitar that is. Epic stuff.

The piece People Without Hope articulates just that in an instrumental. It’s a sad lament for those who ever feel this way and a great section of the game itself. Brilliant stuff.

The next part Lavos’ Theme is the creepy sounding theme to that particular part of the game. Sounds like a composition of freaky darkness on keyboard/organ. Great though. It then goes into a glockenspiel like patch, showing us there is light in darkness itself. Odd.

The Day The World Revived is a rather moody and sad piece to fit the game and this soundtrack. It puts one into a sober mood. A nice little excerpt from the game.

Robo Gang Johnny is a cool and funky part of the game and soundtrack. It sounds awesome because it is awesome. Fun listening.

The Bike Chase section is a keyboard-led frenzy of space and time, set to music. It’s actually fairly catchy. Good to hear musical differences throughout this game, an awesome touch.

Next is Robo’s Theme, a punchy and catchy musical theme in this game. It is a percussion sample-heavy experience which is pretty cool. A nice listen.

The awesome and cool listen of Remains of the Factory is just that. Some super funky bass guitar (yes, bass can be audible too) and mixture of processed percussion sounds and keyboard melodies make this cool, along with some muted guitar parts. Sweet. Good stuff.

Battle 2 is a crazy and frenetic sounding piece which really isn’t good, to be fair. It needn’t be done, and the first battle piece alone is sufficient.

Fanfare 2 is merely an eight-second melody, nothing special.

The calm and beautiful sounding piece suited to the game called Brink Of Time is next. It’s a great listen, and something you can relax to. Refreshing and inspired listening for sure. One of the better instrumentals on this recording.

Next is Delightful Spekkio which is a reoccurring tune during this brilliant game. Upbeat, positive, and energetic, it just optimistic and inspired. Good stuff. Good percussion on it, too.

Fanfare 3 is the glorious less than 10-second piece. Nothing really special.

Underground Sewer is an instrumental of the rather messy part of the game, which is rather melodically suspenseful. Some good use of melody lines are here, and it sounds interesting. Good stuff.

The piece Boss Battle 2 sounds like a different twist on your regular boss theme on this game. It still sounds very good though, a good listening experience. The use of trumpet keyboard sounds is very awesome here.

The low end sounding Primitive Mountain is a bass guitar-led piece that sounds really good. It’s catchy and funky in an unusual way. Great stuff for a mere composition piece. Good listening. There is an element of suspense on this instrumental as well, one of the better ones from this recording. The melodies are fantastic here.

Ayla’s Theme is the theme for that particular character in the game. It sounds brassy and confident, another good piece to hear. Melodic and inspired.

Rhythm of Wind, Sky and Earth is for that brilliant part of the game. It is merely energetic drums and percussion. Regardless of whether or not this is a live recording, it sure sounds catchy. Great stuff here. Banging beats aplenty.

The next composition Burn! Bobonga! is a great listen. It sounds a lot like a dance sort of piece, fitting in well with the game. Catchy and impressive.

Next is the music for Magus’ Castle. It is dark and eerie, suitable for that part of the game. Short though.

Confusing Melody is an extension of the previous track. It sounds very dark, almost scary. This suits that particular part of the game perfectly. Great and dark listening.

Battle With Magus does what it says. One of the main villains of the game has his own theme music, no more spoilers required here. A dark and funky sound, it is a good composition piece in their lair of evil. Great stuff.

Following is Chrono Trigger – Arrange Version 2. Really not necessary in this soundtrack again, it’s a short piece though.

Unnecessarily we have Chrono Trigger – Arrange Version 3. Short though.

Schala’s Theme – Arrange Version is another twinkling starlight based theme. It’s a deep and moving piece to hear.

Singing Mountain sounds glorious, and is. It’s an upbeat and triumphant sounding piece to the game. Nice to listen to, and sounds wonderfully positive.

The eerie Tyran Castle is here next, sounding like a computerised organ piece in 16 bit. Another great addition to this great game, with some awesome drumbeats to match. The drum beats are unusual on this soundtrack, making this a good listen. Odd twists and turns in this one. Catchy though.

The subdued At The Bottom of Night is next, merely a basic melody with strings. Nothing too special about this piece, but a good listen nonetheless, and an important musical part of the game.

Corridors Of Time sounds very much like eastern music and is supposed to. It’s for that awesome part of the game, which does not require spoilers here. Some excellent use of electronic sounds is here, very good to hear.

Zeal Palace sounds freaky to begin with, before having some trippy percussion kick in. It’s amazing the imagination of those who make projects like these. The mix of percussion and keyboard sounds in the middle is really cool though. This is one of those things which makes this game awesome.

The proper Schala’s Theme comes next. It’s a simple and melodic piece to this soundtrack. Good stuff, as usual. Some unusual percussion is on this instrumental, making it sound different in a good way.

The mysterious sounding Sealed Door refers to an interesting part of the game. It sounds sad and melancholy. Still, it fits the soundtrack perfectly well. Some good piano and keyboard sounds are here. Introspective and well thought out.

Undersea Palace is a strange theme for this soundtrack. It sounds dark and eerie with unusual musical notation and qualities about it. It’s very Chrono Trigger, but rather weird sounding.

Far Off Promise is the return of the childlike sounds we heard earlier on in the game. Great, but really not necessary on this soundtrack.

The next piece Wings That Cross Time refers to a very important part of the game. Positive and energetic sounding, it breaks away from some of the darker sounds on this album. Interesting to hear, with a more typical sounding instrumental to this video game.

Next is Black Omen which sounds unusual at the beginning, before kicking off with loud bass guitar and an electronic sense of rhythm and groove. It’s not very dark, although the title of this piece may convince you otherwise. Great listening, however.

Determination comes next, with marching drums and reoccurring musical themes from earlier in the game. Not really necessary, once again, there is a lot of duplicate like pieces on this soundtrack.

World Revolution sounds fairly triumphant. It mixes in some of the earlier musical themes. Nothing too special, but listenable.

The Last Battle is that. It’s music to fight the villain of them all in the game. A great listen with some good melodic sense for this part of the game. Great stuff. Very much influenced by electronic music.

The next piece First Festival Of Stars is a happier and even more glorious variation on the original Guardia Millennial Fair as we head towards the end of this soundtrack. Great and joyous listening.

A repeat Epilogue – To Good Friends starts off with the reoccurring stardust melody before becoming a structured piece for those good friends in the game who stuck through the journey. Nice sentiment.

To Far Away Times is another interesting theme. Sounding somewhat similar to the other themes in this soundtrack, it is still very good. Not bittersweet, just sweet.

Ending! – Burn! Bobonga! – Frog’s Theme – To Far Away Times finishes it off. A great mix of the music and video game before it, it leaves a smile on one’s face. A very good composition here.

There is a repeated Far Off Promise – Arrange Version 2 which is not really necessary to the soundtrack, but it’s there.

Next is Bonus Track 1. Note that this is merely an extra track, but it sounds nice. Good composition music, but not essential for listening. Good stuff though.

Bonus Track 2 is a sort of remix of earlier sounds and themes into a new piece. Unless you are a real Chrono Trigger nut, no need to listen, although it does sound interesting.

Bonus Track 3 is a more realistic set of piano and strings. Once again, not hugely relatable to the game and soundtrack, but nice to hear anyway.

Almost there, we have Bonus Track 4, a good fusion of electronic melodies and expert playing. This is pretty cool stuff, although these are leftovers from the rest of the game. Good once again.

Lastly, Bonus Track 5 finishes off this soundtrack with a remix of previous tunes. Not necessary to hear, but okay to hear.

This soundtrack is a bit of a mixed job. It has some really great video game music, but some rather unnecessary pieces as well. If you are a fan of video games, 16-bit music or Chrono Trigger, this is worth checking out. Otherwise, avoid. Still, Chrono Trigger is one of the best SNES and RPG video games ever made, however. That alone says something.

9/10