Many games have been remastered over the years, with few developers hinting at details that drove the decision, but devs behind Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition have decided to be transparent about this. Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition was released last year, and it breathed new life into the PS1 game which had been lost to the generations of consoles, something the team had in mind.
During a Square Enix interview segment, Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition developers discussed the process of preserving the original game and improving it for modern hardware. Because of how long ago the PS1 was released, many titles like Cool Boarders, Jet Moto, and Tomba have been lost to time for much of the modern gaming audience. While some games are on life support through emulation or other gaming preservation websites, Square Enix had different plans for the indirect sequel to the popular RPG Chrono Trigger.
According to the Square Enix team in the "Birth of Chrono Cross" interview, The Radical Dreamers Edition was made in an effort to preserve the original game as it may have been on its way to being unplayable. Speaking candidly, game Producer Koichiro Sakamoto referenced a game archive on the PS3 that was becoming outdated with the launch of the PS4 and there were fears that Chrono Cross wouldn't be playable on the new console. Because the team didn't know how they could play Chrono Cross on the PS4 with the lack of backward compatibility or the reliable game archive, the development was put in motion pretty seamlessly based on their conversation.
The making of Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition only took a few years, but this dev interview shows how long a game can go from conception to release as the timeframe given goes back almost a full decade. Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition was released as part of the 20-year anniversary of the original title, making some fans speculate on what could be done for a future Chrono Trigger celebration. Though it was released in a pretty buggy state, Square Enix has updated Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition to reflect the team's vision more accurately.
Because some of the Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition developers had experience working on the original title, the remaster may have been in better hands than if it was an entirely fresh team handling the project. Although there are PS1 titles featured in the PS Plus Premium service which may have dispelled the fears of these Square Enix developers, many Chrono series fans have voiced their enthusiasm for The Radical Dreamers Edition and its new features.
Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is available now for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Source: Games Radar
