Chrono Trigger is gay for sure. Never got the hype.
Well, Chrono Trigger has some good qualities. Unfortunately most of them adjacent to gameplay. Its graphics looked pretty good for the time (for a JRPG, at least) for instance. Its music was pretty good and catchy as well. Perhaps most surprisingly, its story isn't a big steaming pile of anime crap, something that the people who made Chrono Cross were sure to fix thoroughly.
The gameplay isn't much worse than the average JRPG. You get a damage system with 4 different elements (with the shadow element usually being the result of combining the others), besides physical damage you get from normal attacks and some physical based special ones. Each character in the game gets exactly 8 abilities (some of these being spells and some not, depending on the character). While this number is low, most (all but one) characters also get three combination abilities with each other character, giving an extra bit of tactical depth when choosing your party. Some combinations might give you access to an elemental damage that you would otherwise lack, or give you some good defensive ability, or a cheap ability that heals everyone, etc.
I think the most aggravating part of CT is that it has a whole system set up for positioning in the battlefield to matter. When you encounter monsters, a combat begins, with both your characters and the monsters being placed in specific positions on the map. Various skills work on some kind of area, usually circles (around the character using them or around the target) and lines (between the character and a target or with a pre-set angle, such as horizontal). Ranged characters, when attacking an enemy that is near them, will switch to a melee attack as well (I believe that is weaker, although I am not sure if that is because ranged characters have lower strength or because the ranged weapon itself has a different damage value for melee). Despite all this, this hardly matter, especially later on in the game. Spells that affect the entire battlefield appear in the mid-game. And while they are at least expensive in mp, you eventually find an accessory that lower the mp price of all abilities by 3/4 of the total cost. Furthermore, while ranged characters switch attacks when the enemy is near, melee characters can attack any enemy at any time no matter how far it is from him. They just jump or walk to the enemy no matter the distance. And while monsters are shown to be moving around or playing or even sleeping in the stage while you are exploring, once you touch them, they will be positioned according to pre-select positions instead of letting you take advantage of whatever position they have. Finally, you don't even get the option to position your own characters. Not when the battle start, and not after it; the only way your characters will change its position in the battlefield is if some enemy ability moves him.
Still, despite being lacklustre in this aspect, and despite this huge missed opportunity, the game can be fun to play, doesn't take very long to finish and can get you excited with its simple but fun story. So I can see why people would remember it fondly, especially when you are comparing it to other JRPGs.