Part 10: A Race Against Time

The cutscene didn't really reveal the current date, but now the map screen will tell us we're in the year 2300 A.D., or 301 years after the destruction of the planet. Things have been better.



This area's a bit weird. Gameplay-wise, there's no reason to go down here besides a new sword for Crono. That said, the battles are balanced to be slightly more difficult than the other encounters in this era, so let's go ahead and check it out.

Underground Sewer



This is a sewer, alright.





The enemies are a bit weird, as you may expect from a sewer.



Slightly above-average physical defense, but no magical defense and incredibly weak to Dark magic. Maybe one day we'll actually get access to Dark elemental powers.



The Nereid uses water and lightning attacks, and also has slightly above-average physical defense and a Darkness weakness. Also a slight Lightning weakness.



There's also a side plot with two frogs because why not.





B...but it's true, ribbit...





Sure, why not.





Note that you can wait until much later in the game to come here, and thus do it with different party members. However, they don't really have much interesting to say.



The next area has this note.




That's some interesting imagery. The Japanese version implies that the author was losing it and decided to shout to end it all.

Anyway, this area's gimmick is pretty amusing.

https://mp4.mega64.net/ct/08/021.mp4

My favorite is the save point at the end. It disappears so you can't even use it, not that you really need to since these are the only two screens in the dungeon.



Of course, you can avoid those battles if you avoid the traps, and you'll end up on the other side of the sewers.



Otherwise, all you have to do is open this door and go down a linear path.



So, switch on, gribbit!



Riiiiiiiiibit! It's out of reach, ribbit!
And you call yourself a frog, ribbit, GRIBBIT!



And they were never seen again.



This gives the wearer a 50% chance of triggering counter attacks. Not bad, but for the purposes of the LP I won't be using it since I want to make enemies live longer so they don't get ground to paste immediately.

Speaking of which!



Who's ready for this dungeon's miniboss?





Let's show 'em. HEE HEE!



Hahahahahaha!
Heeheeheeheehee!
Harharharhar!
HAHAHAHAHA!
HEEEEHEEEEHEEE!





Looks like the Guard has had his fill of laughter.



Battle 1



This guy doesn't even get boss music. His HP's a pretty low 516. He's got the same physical defense as the other monsters, and the same weakness to Dark attacks we can't take advantage of.



Krawlie's main attack is this lengthy animation that reduces a character to 1HP.



Otherwise, he hits a bit hard, but isn't really a threat.



He gets a boss death animation, but that's all that's of note for the guy.



As far as I know, weapons don't have actual elements in this game, so this is just a regular sword that's a few points stronger than our Lode Sword. Honestly this and the Rage Band are the only reason to come here early.



That said, there are a couple of places here to check out.

Sealed Door



First off, some odd music and a computer that won't turn on.



Second off, a man dressed in odd and clothes and...uh...



NO! You MUST NOT climb Death Peak! Wouldn't make it very far, anyway! It has to be the right time...and...THEY...have to show you the way!



Did you see my masterpieces? The Ocean Palace and the Blackbird? I designed and built them both.

Yeah, I don't know what the hell.

Let talk to the weird blue thing.



Now, don't go getting all emotional on me, critter! Back to work, now!

Hmmmmmm.



There's nothing else of note there, so the last area is Death Peak. Everyone says not to go there, but how bad can it be?

https://mp4.mega64.net/ct/08/065.mp4

So bad we actually can't go there yet. There is a Power Tab we can reach but that's it. So yeah, that's everything the Sewers gives us access to.

Lame.



At least the bridge is back up so we can quickly get back to where we started.

Hope you enjoyed the anticlimax that is Chrono Trigger's first side quest!



To continue the plot, we need to cross Lab 32. Trust me, we're not done with the weird yet.

Dome 16's Ruin



Anyway, time to start the bike and-



OH COME ON



However, this time we don't actually fight them, because...



Reckless Robo Gang Johnny







...THE MAN is here.



Now listen up. Part of an old highway leads through these ruins. Think you can beat me in a bike race?



Johnny's a bit character who mainly only exists as the antagonist for the coming mini-game. Still he's a pretty swell guy.



Of course not.

All right, listen up. The gas is on auto, so there's only one speed...FAST!



I'll give you 3 of them, but it takes a moment to recharge between boosts! Check your position at the bottom of the screen. Now show me what you got, babe!

The racing game is not what you think it is.







Anyway, hitting the bike will trigger the race. Rather than use screenshots, I'll let this video speak for itself.

Bike Chase

https://mp4.mega64.net/ct/08/086.mp4

Actually I'll speak too. This race is Rubber-Banding the game. The only strategy is timing your boosts and trying to stay in front of the other person. You get more points if you stay up front by bouncing off Johnny, though they only matter if you win and have a specific item you can't get until after your first race attempt. And that's it!



I lost my first three attempts before getting this successful one.



That...is true.



Ride again, if you think you can handle it, chump.

The mini-game is terrible and basically only exists to show off Mode 7, but on the bright side you only have to attempt it once and don't even have to win it.





On the other hand, the game does a great job of trying to discourage you from actually taking that route. But even if you love the racing game, you still want to take it once.



This will keep track of your high winning scores, but more on that in a minute.



The run function still exists!





The Race Log unlocks access to Rx-xR.



There are two ways to race Johnny. Which do you prefer?



So you can give up boosting in favor of being able to rotate the camera, which...doesn't help at all. Then again nothing helps this game be good, so might as well enjoy watching the joys of sprite rotation!





I suck at racing.

Anyway I eventually win my fourth attempt. If you lose, you stay on the same side of the screen you started in. If you win, you move to the other side. Don't ask me how this works.





Winning is the only way to record high scores.

There are prizes for hitting certain score thresholds, though the only worthwhile one is the Power Tab for 1500 points. I got over 900 points my second attempt, and the highest tier is over 2300 points. At any rate, it would take a lot of effort and luck to get that high, much more than I'm willing to put into it. Maybe I'll cheat a perfect run later or something.





So that's the bike race! What a waste of time! This whole update was a waste of time! Sorry for wasting your time!







That's OK because we're getting back to the good stuff next time.