Chrono Trigger

1995 saw the release of a game created by a dream team consisting, among others, of such artists as Hironobu Sakaguchi—the creator of Final Fantasy—Akira Toriyama—the creator of Dragonball—and renowned composer Nobuo Uematsu. It was based on the standard RPG format of the time, but featured several innovations including a lack of random battles, over a dozen possible endings, and extensive, character-building sidequests. Graphics that were lovely for the time remained the same for the Playstation reissue (2001 in North America) but several anime sequences were added, regardless. Fun gameplay, an interesting plot with multiple variants, and the option to recruit a villain as a playable character are just some of the reasons that Chrono Trigger is consistently judged one of the best games of all time.

When Crono bumped into a girl at the Millenial Fair, he certainly didn't expect to end up travelling through time in an effort to stop a global catastrophe. Still, when Marle—the girl in question—vanishes into a strange portal while trying out a prototype teleportation device invented by Crono's friend Lucca, he doesn't hesitate to step in after her. It's the first step in a trip through human history, a massive war of humans versus the Mystics, and the gradual awareness of a parasitic creature that will destroy civilization if Crono and his friends can't stop it.

Images:

The good guys, of all shapes and eras
The Mystics
The showdown with Magus
The ultimate enemy is... a hedgehog?
Opening movie for the PSX