Square Enix has shared a message from Chrono Cross producer Hiromichi Tanaka, written to mark Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition‘s launch on Nintendo Switch.
“Congratulations on the completion of Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition!” Tanaka writes. “Looking at the footage shown during the announcement, the aspect ratio reminded me of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, so I hope you’ll all go and play the game on a massive IMAX screen.
“Jokes aside, I hear that making the remaster was a real struggle because not all the resources remained from the development of the original. We started managing all development data on internal servers from the time of Chrono Cross’s development, so all of the data was perfectly saved on the servers at the time. I would imagine that the issue must have come afterwards, when the game’s data was moved onto magnetic tape to make space on the servers, and perhaps it ended up being lost as the company moved location several times.
“Anyway, the resources for areas that I worked on – GUI elements and the full frame data for cutscenes – were all saved in parts of the server that were allocated for personal storage, so they were preserved perfectly when I left the company 10 years ago. Well, it has been almost a decade since then, so I have no idea what the situation is like now!
“For most of the titles I’ve worked on, I was the sole person working on the GUI. The GUI design from Chrono Cross is one of my favourites, and I would consider it to be some of my life’s finest work.
“For example, during battle the skill commands spin and fly in on a metallic plank. Back in the day, I used ray-tracing software on a Macintosh II (they wouldn’t buy me one of the new iMacs) to create the material for the plank and the model data for the crystals on each end that differ by element, and then spun the graphic manually as I rendered it frame by frame. On modern-day hardware, I’m sure you’d be able to render it in real time…
“Anyway, it seems that the GUI has also been given the high-res treatment in Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, so I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s changed.”
Having never been released in Europe before, you will have the chance to set out “on an epic adventure that transcends time and space.”
The JRPG follows Serge, who stumbles into another world and learns about the connection between his existence and the future of his planet. With more than 40 potential party members, each character brings their own element affinity and unique skills to battle encounters.
Now remastered for a new generation, the game has refined illustrations from original character designer, Nobuteru Yuuki, remastered music from acclaimed composer Yasunori Mitsuda and other additional features.
That includes Radical Dreams: Le Trésor Interdit, described as “a text-based adventure video game released for Sattelaview in 1996, which forms the bedrock of the story.”
The publisher has outlined the game’s key features as below:
- 3D models converted to HD;
- Brand new artwork and character redesign by Nobuteru Yuuki;
- Refined background music by Yasunori Mitsuda;
- Switch enemy encounters on or off;
- Background filter feature;
- Battle enhancement features;
- Auto-battle function;
- French, Italian, German and Spanish localization now added;
- Switch between imitation pixel font and HD font;
- The inclusion of Radical Dreamers, never before released in the West;
- Players can choose between playing with original or updated graphics (The 3D models, illustrations, font and background filter cannot be toggled separately. They will all be switched together).
Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is now available digitally on the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo Switch worldwide.
