Difficulty Question from a new player

Hey there! Loving Chrono Trigger so far. It is so ahead of its time it’s wild. The character designs are so cool! I do have one minor issue though. Currently I’m at the prison break and I’m level 8. I noticed that currently I am 1-2 shorting all the guards. Is this normal? Or should I bump the combat speed up to make it more difficult? Currently I have both speeds set to the default, should I move them? Just curious.