Radical Dreamers
A text-based side story in the Chrono series.
Radical Dreamers is a text-based visual novel adventure game from 1996, developed and published by Square for the Satellaview, a satellite add-on for the Super Famicom. It belongs to the Chrono series and serves as a side story to Chrono Trigger, released the year before. The plot follows a thief gang called Radical Dreamers, led by Kid, who is joined by Serge and Magil. Their goal is to steal an artifact known as the Frozen Flame and get revenge on its guardian, Lord Lynx. Players explore a mansion and influence the story by selecting from text-based choices.
Gameplay presents word-based scenarios narrated by Serge. As the story unfolds, players choose from a list of possible actions. These choices can lead to new areas, situations, or characters, and incorrect selections may require another attempt. In combat, options include "Fight," "Magic," "Run," and more specific commands like "Run my knife into the goblin's chest!" Some decisions must be made before an invisible timer runs out; hesitation in battle can cause injury or death. Serge's health is tracked by a hidden point count, restored through events like finding a potion. The game also tracks Kid's affection for Serge, influenced by battles and scripted events, which determines whether Serge survives the final fight.
The game uses minimal graphics and animation, with dim, static backgrounds and atmospheric music and sound. It includes a New Game + mode similar to other Chrono games. Only one scenario is available on the first playthrough; after finishing it and earning one of three endings, players can access six others. These later stories often feature comedic situations or references to Chrono Trigger.
The three protagonists are Serge, Kid, and Magil. Serge, a drifting musician, narrates and met Kid by chance three years ago. Kid, a sixteen-year-old professional thief, is boisterous and sees herself as a Robin Hood figure. Magil is a mysterious, handsome masked man skilled in magic who rarely speaks and can vanish into shadows. They seek the Frozen Flame, a mythic artifact that grants any wish, hidden in Viper Manor, home of the powerful aristocrat Lynx. Lynx gained control of the manor after killing the Acacia Dragoons, a family of warriors.
The group infiltrates Viper Manor on a full moon night, battling goblins and legendary creatures while uncovering the manor's history.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Square
- Director
- Masato Kato
- Writer
- Masato Kato · Makoto Shimamoto · Takashi Tanegashima · Daisuke Fukugawa · Miwa Shoda
- Artist
- Yasuhiko Kamata
- Composer
- Yasunori Mitsuda
- Series
- Chrono
- Platforms
- Super Famicom · Windows · Nintendo Switch · PlayStation 4 · Xbox One
- Released
- Super FamicomJP · February 3, 1996Windows, NS, PS4, XBOWW · April 7, 2022
- Genre
- Visual novel
- Modes
- Single-player
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Radical Dreamers features three protagonists—Serge, Kid, and Magil—who seek out treasure as venturesome, reputable thieves. The young adult narrator, Serge, is a drifting musician who met Kid by chance three years ago in a remote town. Kid, only sixteen years old, is a renowned professional thief with a reputation for boisterous behavior. Magil is an enigmatic, handsome masked man skilled in magic who rarely speaks and can fade into shadow at will. They seek the Frozen Flame, a mythic artifact capable of granting any wish, hidden in Viper Manor—the home of a terrible and powerful aristocrat named Lynx. Following Kid, the group infiltrates Viper Manor on the night of a full moon. While sneaking through the corridors, they battle goblins and other creatures of legend while unraveling the history of the manor and its occupants. Magil explains that the Frozen Flame is a fragment of the massive, extraterrestrial creature known as Lavos, splintered off when Lavos impacted the planet in prehistory and burrowed to its core. The thieves locate Lynx and the Frozen Flame deep within an underground ruin of the Kingdom of Zeal—an ancient, airborne civilization destroyed after it awakened Lavos in search of immortality. Serge discovers that Kid is an orphan, hoping to exact revenge upon Lynx for killing her caretaker, Lucca. The trio battle Lynx for the Frozen Flame, and Lynx gains the upper hand after trapping Magil with a powerful spell. He plans to acquire Kid's special gift from Lucca—a Time Egg, or Chrono Trigger. Kid desperately removes the Chrono Trigger from her back pocket; the Trigger shatters and causes a localized temporal distortion, leading Serge to see various scenes in history. Kid learns of her heritage as princess Schala of Zeal. It is also circumstantially revealed that Magil is in fact Magus, Schala's wayward brother who searched for her after battling Lavos in Chrono Trigger. Once the distortion subsides, an army from Porre storms the mansion. Lynx withdraws as Kid, Serge, and Magil flee. Kid bids Serge goodbye before disappearing into the darkness with Magil. Other scenarios are available after players complete the first, including both humorous and serious variations of the main plot.
Reader's Guide
As with most Satellaview titles, Radical Dreamers did not receive a lasting commercial release at the time, and was exclusive to Japan. Attempts to bundle the game with the PlayStation port of Chrono Trigger were stopped by Kato due to quality concerns. The ROM for the game was released onto the web, allowing for the production of an English fan translation. While limited, the original's coverage in news and fan sites have praised its narrative and tone. Kato would use plot elements from Radical Dreamers in his next game Chrono Cross. A version of the game is included with Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, which was released worldwide on April 7, 2022, for Windows, the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. Production was completed in three months, and Kato was left unsatisfied with its quality. Due to his attitude at the time, the plot and tone were considerably darker than Chrono Trigger, though the additional scenarists wrote alternate scenarios with comedic tones. The music was scored by Yasunori Mitsuda, who had worked on Chrono Trigger. Chrono Trigger writer Masato Kato both directed and wrote the main scenario.
Did You Know?
- Radical Dreamers was developed and published by Square for the Satellaview, a satellite peripheral for the Super Famicom.
- The game's plot and tone were considerably darker than Chrono Trigger due to Masato Kato's attitude at the time.
More in Adventure Games of the 1990s 1-24
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