What makes Chrono Trigger such a classic?

I'm listening to some CT music on Youtube, stuff from the OST, or the Play! symphony concert set, and since I'm such a nostalgia junkie, I remember how awesome a game Chrono Trigger is.

And then I remember: Yuy has (repeatedly) stated that she never got the whole "Chrono Trigger is AWESOMESAUCE" thing.

So then, what makes Chrono Trigger so great? What makes it better than other games from the SNES era? What makes it so that it stands so strong even now, so many years later? What makes it better than Final Fantasy 7? (Besides NOT having an overly sensitive villain...Jenova is NOT your mom Sephiroth!)

Here we goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! This is actually going to be very brief. Oh and there are spoilers, spoilers for a more-than-decade old game.

Story

As with any story, everything sort of starts off small. Go to the fair Crono's mom says. Help out Lucca, she's your friend.

And then bam, Crono runs into Marle, and he's tasked with hanging out with her around the fair. Eventually she gets wrapped up into a Time Warp and it's up to the silent protagonist to save her!

Things happen, characters are met, and eventually everything sort of hits the fan.

Sounds pretty typical, right? Gotta save the world and what not, so hop to it! Well in theory, you could actually go face the Final Boss at almost ANY point in the game! But if it's a first playthrough, you gotta go through the lengthly storyline first. There's comedy, tragedy, and everything inbetween, so it has the elements necessary for a good story.

And of course it's ENGAGING! The tragedy and death of the main character permeates all the characters, and it just plain sucks. Go visit Crono's mom after Crono dies, she acts like nothing's wrong, which just pulls at the heartstrings. Of course, if you choose to save him, then all's well and it's back to saving the world! There's nothing like saving the world with likable characters, and really, it's the characters that make the story so engaging.

Characters

Lovable, totally lovable. Designed by Akira Toriyama (and they're pretty good) every character brings something to the table. Marle is the good conscience of the group, Lucca's the smart one, Robo slowly learns what it means to be human, Frog brings his awesome sense of honor (and theme!), Ayla brings her gung-ho attitude, and Magus, well, Magus is just badass.

Music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NITRZK8z0ek

Timeless, absolutely timeless. This is some of Mitsuda's best work, period.

Gameplay

Battle is relatively simple, but strangely fun when you start pulling off dual and triple techs! It's always great to see the cool animations. But there's a ton of stuff OUTSIDE battle that's also kickass! Decisions made during the game will affect a number of things. Eat a man's lunch and it'll bite you back in court! Refuse to give back Marle's pendant and it'll be used as character evidence! Of course, if you choose to be a nice guy, then this will rule in your favor.

And the sheer number of sidequests is just...amazing. The sidequests often serve to tie up a few loose ends in the story: resolving Frog's past, or rescuing the chancellor, they're all really fun to do!

Replayability

13, I think. 13 different endings. Some are pretty standard, some are awesome, and some are just downright hilarious! You will be playing the game for a WHILE.

An "enhanced" port for the DS is coming out soon in Japan, with a North American release to surely follow. If you've never played CT before, this is the best chance to do so legally and see why it can stand up against the test of time.