Chrono Cross Remaster Hitting Switch On April 7

Chrono Trigger pseudo-sequel Chrono Cross is being remastered for the Nintendo Switch. It’s scheduled to launch on April 7.

The original Chrono Cross first released for the PlayStation in 1999, giving Chrono Trigger fans a chance to return to the world of the iconic Super Nintendo role-playing game. It stars Serge, a 17-year-old boy who finds himself transported to an alternate reality wherein he died as a child, as well as a colorful cast of 45 potential party members that can be recruited from various dimensions.

Chrono Cross faced a fair amount of criticism at the time of its release due to its lack of similarities with Chrono Trigger, a minor controversy that director Masato Kato addressed during a 1999 interview with series composer Yasunori Mitsuda.

“After the announcement of Cross, I heard a lot of voices out there that were saying things like, ‘Man, this isn’t Chrono,’” Kato explained. “To tell you the truth, I was gravely disappointed. Yes, the platform changed; and yes, there were many parts that changed dramatically from the previous work. But in my view, the whole point in making Chrono Cross was to make a new Chrono with the best available skills and technologies of today. I never had any intentions of just taking the system from Trigger and moving it onto the PlayStation console. That’s why I believe that Cross is Cross, and not Trigger 2.”

This new version of Chrono Cross, subtitled The Radical Dreamers Edition, introduces improvements like the ability to disable random encounters and an enhanced soundtrack to go along with the upgraded visuals.

As its name suggests, Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition also includes Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Hōseki, a text-based adventure that acts as a companion to the main game. Radical Dreamers was originally released in Japan for the Super Famicom’s Satellaview add-on, making this the first time it’s been officially playable in English.