Miscellaneous Info

There are really five types of Elements in CC. Here's a quick run-through.

Regular Elements: You can use these Elements once in any battle, but they don't disappear after battle. Certain Elements require that the person equipping them must have the same innate Element as the Element color. Elements have a natural level slot on which they must be equipped, but also usually have a range of slots higher and lower than that which they can be equipped on.
Consumable Elements: These have a "x1" before their name. Almost all consumables can be bought at shops. They either heal HP or status, and can be used outside battle as well. Up to five Consumables can be put on a single Element slot. If you use one or more Consumables during battle, they will automatically be refilled after battle (if you have enough in stock). Consumables can only be equipped on their natural levels (they have no level ranges). Once a Consumable is used, it's gone (unlike regular Elements).
Summon Elements: These have a * before their name. To use a Summon Element, the Field Effect must be all the same color as that Element. Also, you use up a Star when you use the Summons (don't worry, there's NO WAY you'll use up all your Stars before you reach an Inn.) More about those in the next section.
Trap Elements: The least-used of the Elements. These work exactly like Consumables, but instead of a "x1" they have a symbol comprised of an arrow and a square container. When a Trap Element is used in battle, any enemy which uses the Element which shares the name of the Trap Element will find that the Element will be swallowed by the Trap. You just gained yourself a new attack Element, and the enemy's attack was nullified. However, these only exist for higher-level Elements, and most monsters never use them. What's more, some Traps are for Summons, which mean the enemy would have to wait till the Field Effect is all one color before they can use their Summon. Tough to manage, but usually worth it.
Techniques: These have a before their name. These are unique to each character and can't be de-equipped. Most techniques are learned by raising Star levels, but some must be found and equipped on characters. (Once they're equipped, they can't be de-equipped.) A very few techniques can combine for combination attacks; more info about those here.

How To Use Summons And Get Prism Equipment

OK, this is a long one. First off, how to even start getting Prism Equipment? No one will sell it until Zappa learns how. To do that, you have to beat the Black Dragon the "real" way, then return to Marbule once you have Serge, buy the Master Hammer, and take Zappa to meet himself. You can now buy Prism equipment using the Smith Spirit item.

Problem: Not only do you need an extra-rare Rainbow Shell to forge Prism equipment, you also need one of every Shiny material. The only way to get Shiny materials is to beat regular enemies using Summons; you'll get one Shiny material for every enemy killed by a Summon. Shiny materials correspond to Elements. If you use a Green Element Summon against normal enemies, you'll get a Shiny Leaf after battle. Blue = Shiny Dew, Red = Shiny Ember, Yellow = Shiny Sand, Black = Shiny Soot, and White = Shiny Salt. Enemies won't drop their normal items after battle if you beat them using Summons, and if you beat bosses with Summons you won't get any Shiny materials.

Another method of getting Shiny materials is to disassemble special accessories. Since you can steal these accessories from certain enemies, it might be easier than getting Summons to work. Here's a list of who has what (if you see "drops", that means that the enemy drops it, as opposed to being able to steal it from him):

• CatBurglar (A Mount Pyre) = Poultice Cap = Shiny Sand
• Dead Head (H Isle Of The Damned - fight the WillO'Wisps) = Plaster Cap = Shiny Ember
• Gerridae (A Shadow Forest) = Antiviral Cap = Shiny Dew
• Gloop (A Shadow Forest) = Poultice Cap = Shiny Sand
• Gobledygook (A Viper Manor Bluffs) = Antitoxinal Cap = Shiny Leaf
• Gurgoyle (H Fort Dragonia) = Earth Charm (drops) = Shiny Sand
• Lava-Boy (H Mount Pyre) = Flame Charm or Red Brooch = Shiny Ember
• MamaDingo (H Fossil Valley) = Poultice Cap = Shiny Ember
• Myxomocete (Terra Tower) = Angel Charm (drops) = Shiny Salt
• Prehysteric (Gaea's Navel) = Earth Charm or Yellow Brooch = Shiny Sand
• PreyMantis (Gaea's Navel) = Forest Charm or Green Brooch = Shiny Leaf
• ShadowCat (A Fossil Valley) = Daemon Charm = Shiny Soot
• SpearFisher (Viper Manor Sewers) = Antiviral Cap = Shiny Dew
• Whoot (Terra Tower) = Earth Charm or Yellow Brooch (drops) = Shiny Sand
• YellowBelly (A Earth Dragon Isle) = Earth Charm = Shiny Sand

So to the other method: Using Summons. This is tough because you need to get the Field Effect all one color first, and most enemies will use their own techniques to screw it up. The easiest way, of course, is to have the "Field" Elements (RedField, GreenField, BlueField, YellowField). These automatically turn the Field effect that color. So, for example, have one Yellow-innate character have a Yellow Summon equipped, and have another character have the YellowField Element equipped. (You can put it as low as Level 3 with no ill effects.) Build the character's Levels up to the required amounts, then wait until the enemies have used Elements. Right afterwards, use the Field and then the Summon!

Wuh-oh... there's no Field Element for Black or White! This one's a bit tougher. Say you want to use the Black Summon. Give one of the other characters (I'll call him Char1) a Black Element (any one) on his Level 1 slot, and give the other character (Char2) TWO Black Elements in the Level 1 slot. Build up the Element Levels. Now, wait until the enemies have used their Elements. Make sure Char2 has a full 7 points of Stamina. Right away, have Char2 use a Black Element, then Char1 use his Black Element. Unless Char2 has a really low Stamina rating (giving him/her a Stamina Belt or Ring can remedy that), he/she should be back up to 1.0 Stamina, which is enough for him/her to use the second Black Element. Now the Summon character can call the Summon, and voila!

Even so, the Prism equipment costs over 20,000G a pop, so you may not be able to get this stuff the first time around. It's good for New Game+, though.

The Casino Trick

You can try out the casino in the S.S. Zelbess any time you like. But there's an easy way to get the higher-level prizes. When the wheel is turning, keep pausing the game until you see that the compass points between S and W. Now hold the X button (or whatever you set the Action button to) down and unpause the game. It'll hit N every time! You'll get a Rainbow Shell for the Level 1 Prize, and after that you'll get Denadorites. Levels 2-4 Prizes aren't worth getting.

Fooling Around On The Status Screen

Looking at a character's stats show the polygon character, spinning around slowly. But you can manipulate the image yourself by pressing the Triangle key. The character stops spinning and the following options are now available to you:

• L1 or R1: Switch to the previous/next active character (not used if on large character list)
• Triangle: Resume spinning and exit interactive screen
• O (Cancel): Exit status screen
• X (Accept): Switch between profile and equipment
• Square (Item): Switch the pose between standing, running, and ready for battle.
• Up and Down (directional pad): Rotate character around a horizontal axis
• Left and Right (directional pad): Spin character around a vertical axis
• L2 + directional pad: Pan the character (move around as if a 2-D image)
• R2 + Up/Down (directional pad): Zoom in/out.

Enjoy!

Radical Dreamers ~ Le Tresor Interdit Lyrics

As well, I've provided the lyrics and translation for the ending theme, Radical Dreamers ~ Le Tresor Interdit, as graciously provided by Nora Stevens of the Opera House. Click here to see them.

Radical Dreamers SNES: Music, Info, Walkthrough

Radical Dreamers, a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-type game which happens to be the prequel to Chrono Cross, was released for the Bandai Satelliview (BS), an only-in-Japan add-on to the SNES, in 1996. With the dedicated work of online fans, you can now play it in English! Search Google for the ROM; you can find the patch at the Whirlpool.

RD had much of the same music as Chrono Cross. You can listen to a variety of tunes in SPC format by checking out this link. To play SPCs, you'll need either a stand-alone program or a plugin for Winamp. Check Zophar's Domain for them. In particular, the following tracks were remixed and reused in Chrono Cross: Gale, Star Stealing Girl, Viper Manor, The Frozen Flame, and Summer Day (which was used as the Another World main continent theme).

Leandro Pardini has written an excellent FAQ/walkthrough for this game which can be found here, including how to get the neato bonuses. While a bit weird (and sometimes hilarious), the game's pretty cool. Definitely recommended. 8-)