Chrono Trigger

This game has a run page on SDA!

Techniques

Menu Cutscene Skips

Holding X at certain points in cutscenes (usually after a fade-to-black during a scene change; the exact timing varies between cutscenes) brings up the menu when players normally have no control. This allows players additional windows to use items or change settings without having to deal with the lag normally present when the menu is opened or closed. Additionally, the menu trick also often skips fade-ins, sometimes making opening and immediately closing the menu faster than waiting through the cutscene normally. Examples of the menu trick can be seen in the New Game + run (NOTE: it's been accepted but not posted yet; delete this note once the 6:42 gets posted). No effort has yet been made to find where this trick would be beneficial in other types of runs.

Candy Cutscene Skip

At the Millennial Fair in the beginning of the game, Chrono gets called up to watch Lucca demonstrate her teleport. Before he makes it up there, Marle stops him and browses for candy from a street vendor. This takes about 16 seconds. To skip it, view the image below.

The trigger for the cutscene is only present some of the time. When you first enter the screen, run up and immediately hide yourself in the white-boxed area (be careful of the candy woman; her hitbox is bigger than it looks, and you can easily get caught on it). Then wait a few moments and move up and left, similarly to the yellow line, and hopefully you will pass the trigger. The timing for this movement is extremely precise and not at all apparent, so you should practice on an emulator, create a savestate on the previous screen, and attempt this skip repeatedly until you get it. An example of this glitch is the current (NOTE: as above, not actually current yet, delete this later) New Game + run.

Other Manipulations

While Battle Speed 1 may be the fastest setting, it might not be the best choice. As a side-effect of making ATB bars fill faster, players have less reaction time. While the exact mechanics aren't clear, this goes beyond simple "well press the button faster!" advice; even TASers can't input commands fast enough to act before some enemy attacks on battle speed 1. Be sure to test multiple battle speeds for each major fight, since you will sometimes be able to act fast enough to skip additional enemy moves (and their animations) at lower speeds.