Chrono Trigger
1 recomp and 1 port
Chrono Trigger (DS)
power-pudu/egg-of-time
A native PC port of the Nintendo DS version of Chrono Trigger, for Windows, Linux, and macOS. It is a static recompilation: every function of the game’s code is translated to C and compiled into a native program, with a small runtime standing in for the DS hardware; it is not an emulator. The game is built on your computer from your ROM on first start, which takes a few minutes. It offers widescreen, high resolutions, higher frame rates, gamepad support, and mods. According to the README it is playable from the start (tested through the opening, the Millennial Fair, the first time warp, battles, and Game Over) with sound, music, and cutscenes; Wi-Fi, the microphone, and the DS 3D engine are not implemented. It states that it was developed with Claude through Claude Code, which did the reverse-engineering analysis and wrote the recompiler, the runtime, and the documentation under the repository owner’s direction. Version 0.2.3 (October 29) is the latest, with a Windows zip. 13 of its 19 commits list Claude as a co-author.
You needYour own Chrono Trigger ROM for the Nintendo DS, US release (game code YQUE, English and French, SHA-1 11f9e8204e484eab42181b210c9f214584be75bf); the Windows release refuses any other file. Plus Windows or Linux; on macOS the runtime compiles, but a full game build has not been tested.
Chrono Trigger (SNES)
TemplarServant/BelthasarProject
BelthasarProject is a native C reimplementation of the SNES version (USA), checked frame by frame against the original program running in an embedded SNES core, the “oracle,” built on LakeSnes. It is neither a byte-matching disassembly nor an emulator: it is a portable engine that behaves like the game, with the field, event scripts, battles, menus, overworld, and sound rewritten routine by routine from the 65816 code, using the method of snesrev/zelda3. It boots like the cartridge, with the title sequence, the attract demo, the load screen, and a new game in Crono’s bedroom, and the field, battles, menus, shops, overworld, and music run on the C engine; its author states it has not yet been verified playable from start to finish. The optional enhancements (F1) are 16:9 widescreen, internal resolution, and more than 60 fps. Everything derived from the ROM is produced on your machine and not distributed. Version 0.12.0-preview, from October 30, ships builds for Windows, Linux, and Android. 96 of its last 100 commits list Claude as a co-author.
You needYour own dump of the Chrono Trigger (USA) cartridge, 4 MiB headerless (a 512-byte copier header is accepted and stripped), SHA-1 de5822f4f2f7a55acb8926d4c0eaa63d5d989312 (CRC32 2D206BF7). Optionally your Steam copy, from which it reads the room margins. Windows x64, Linux x64, or Android.
Installs with
Ports Launcher · RecompLauncher
Questions
Can you play Chrono Trigger natively on PC?
Not yet. The catalog has 1 recomp and 1 port in progress, and none is playable yet.
What do I need to play it?
Your own copy of Chrono Trigger (DS). Recompendium only links projects that don’t distribute the game, and each entry says which version or region you need.
Which one is the most popular?
Chrono Trigger (DS), with 72 stars on GitHub.