Akira Toriyama’sChrono TriggerArt Was a Joyful Fantasy

Thirty years ago today , Chrono Triggerhit the SNES in Japan , delivering one of greatest RPGs of its contemporaries — a reputation that has only bear as prison term has gone on . automatically , narratively , graphically , Chrono Triggerhas wowed genesis after generation of players , but part of that indelible succeeder move beyond its pixelated aesthetical , and the vision of its world brought to us by thelegendary mangaka Akira Toriyama .

Chrono Triggerwasn’t Toryiama ’s first recognition in games — he was a staple fiber designer on theDragon Questseries since the mid ’ 80s alongside several of the developer he would work with again onChronoTrigger , like producer Yuji Horii . But even though stateside Toriyama ’s visual style would n’t be the avant-garde for a newfangled propagation of anime fans until the year after whenDragon Ball Zwould begin airing in syndication , to many his work onChrono Triggerwould be some of their first introductions tohis hallmark esthetic .

bring off initial musical theme and sketches forChrono Trigger‘s independent shape by story planner Masato Kato , Toryiama impart the humankind ofChrono Triggera sheer and cheeky individuality , befitting its fussy - clip adventure drag the titular Chrono and his friend from ancient history to revelatory hereafter . The hallmarks many would come to know through his work onDragon Ballwere matte keenly inChrono Trigger‘s intoxicating sci - phantasy blending . Crono , Aayla , Marle , and Lucca all evoke archetypes that people would come to see more famously from Toriyama ’s manga and gum anime work , Robowouldn’t look out of place in the Capsule Corp lineup — even Frog fits in with the legacy of anthropomorphize creature like Puar and Oolong . That ’s not to say they were derivative of Toriyama ’s employment , anything but : they were just the latest evolution of his ocular design , capturing a joyful , exaggerated stylisation that oozed charm .

Chrono Trigger Epoch

© Akira Toriyama/Square Enix

And it ’s a charm that promote not justChrono Trigger‘s lineament work , but its optical excogitation . Chrono Triggermight have been a 16 - bit , sprite - base RPG , but the Toryiama ’s finger photographic print are felt all over its aesthetical . The way the character renovate in the overworld or in the struggle field , the fact that his trademark digest out even in their chibi - fied , pixelated forms — the sheen of Lucca ’s big spyglass , Crono ’s shock of spikey hair , the rounded edges of Robo ’s armor plate — all verbalise to this lighthearted , bold sensibilitythat Toriyama defend , one that ’s felt throughout the game ’s adventuresome quality and sense of humour .

It ’s a tone that ’s felt beyond the plot itself , in the promotional work Toriyama made to be plastered over placard , box prowess , biz guides , and more . Regardless of whether or not he was show the party at ease or quick to fight , there ’s a kineticism and sense of joy in every piece he did forChrono Triggerthat just straight off elicit a mother wit of wanderlust and dangerous undertaking within you . It’sperfectRPG graphics , drawing you right into a human race you want to traverse and drop hours in alongside all these bright and brilliant looking grapheme . So many elements ofChrono Triggerhave help it stand the exam of fourth dimension these past three ten , but perhaps the most enduring of all can be found in Toriyama ’s imagination for its characters and universe .

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Chrono Trigger Characters