Was Chrono Cross a worthy sequel to Chronotrigger?

by Malachi Winterborn 

Warning: Possible (?) Chrono Cross and Chrono Trigger Spoilers

Now, don't get me wrong, Chrono Cross was a fun game. And I'm not going to whine about how you can't play as Magus or Crono. But I do believe it failed to achieve the same level of greatness that Chronotrigger did.

First the element system, while, all in all, very interesting, and helpful to promote the use of strategy, was very frustrating. In the beginning of the game, you are limited to casting two spells/items per battle. Nearer the end of the game, you either have to spend a minimum of 5 minutes setting up each characters elements, or settle for what the computer surmises would be the best selection.

I, personally like magic points, which combined with having a character's selection of spells be nearly exclusive to that character (a la Chronotrigger) and you actually need to make an informed decision as to what character you want to run around with. As opposed to CC's 44 characters that 41 of which you simply let sit in the back of your roster until you say, "I need a character of this or that elemental alignment"

Now one of my favorite parts of chronotrigger was the wealth of double techs in the game, nearly every time you learned a new spell, you could learn a new double or triple tech. Chrono had 18 doubletechs alone, which is nearly as many, if not more, combo techs found in CC.

The last argument I have for my cause, is character development. In Chronotrigger, each character had an opening scenario, as well as usually having an optinal scenario near the end that brought there development to a close. More or less the only character development found in CC is for Kidd and Serge, along with a few moments when you recruit them and the again, when you get their level 7 tech (if you're lucky)

Perhaps I'm just living in the past. But I do think that many of the newer games are much better than Chrono Cross. If necessary I can state examples, but it's almost time to go home and play FFIX and Skies of Arcadia, so I will take my leave.