Kingdom Hearts-Chain of Memories Review (no fat)

Game Description

Sora is on a quest to discover and understand the memories hidden inside him. In this, he is helped out by Disney characters, including Donald Duck and Goofy, who are his constant companions in this quest. Between them, they have to search Castle Oblivion for Riku and King Mickey. The incidents and characters in this game are a part of Sora’s memory which is being manipulated by a dark group called Organization for its own vile purposes. Once you finish playing the game as Sora, you can continue as Riku, thus providing endless hours of replay.

Kingdom Hearts - Game play

Lots of Disney regions can be traversed in this game including Agrabah (from Alladin) and 100 Acre wood (from Winnie the Pooh). The enemies are named Heartless and they can be struck with a blade in direct combat or avoided altogether. Whenever an enemy is met or Sora is attacked, the play shifts to a battlefield scenario and the actual encounter takes place only here.

After the fight, its back to the regions which would have lots of closed doors and many rooms to explore. Sora can use his keyblade to slay enemies, open doors and strike other objects in the game.

Kingdom Hearts- Its All in the Cards

An important feature is the use of cards. These can be used to manipulate the environment even during the attacks. For example, when passing through a closed door, the correct card will unlock the door and also neutralize any dangers behind it. This in fact leads you to decide what is behind a particular door. When you are in direct combat with the enemy, the winner of the skirmish is decided on the cards each of you holds. Whoever holds the higher card wins. As the game progresses, magic cards can be unlocked as well.

There is also a powerful feature of combining cards. For example, three physical attack cards can be combined together for a sliding tackle. Since it is important to have the cards ready when in battle, it becomes essential to arrange the cards to facilitate easy pickings. Zero cards are used to negate the attack by the enemy. This is where the strategy part of the game comes into play. You will have to constantly keep acquiring cards and shuffling them so that the correct card(s) can be used for each situation.

Kingdom Hearts was originally designed in the PlayStation 2 and this game in GBA starts where the first game ends. So users of the earlier game may find quite a bit of the gameplay to be repetitive. However, they will also be introduced to new characters which will play a major role in the second version coming out for PlayStation 2. This GBA version ends where the second version starts and will be like a prequel.

Kingdom Hearts - Controls

Since this is a card based game, there is no need for precision control. The controls are not perfect but are intuitive in nature and help the player go with the flow. There is quite a bit of onscreen help available with makes for a gentle learning curve for players new to the game. But once the lower levels have been mastered, the gameplay ends up being very linear. You just have to keep opening doors with your cards and at a later point when you successfully hold a powerful suit of cards, you just have to keep hitting the enemies in combat.

Kingdom Hearts - The Modes

The game boasts both, single player and multiplayer, modes. In the multiplayer mode, 2 players can play against each other, provided each has a copy of the game. One major problem with the game is the lack of puzzles - the variety in the gameplay will be present only in the multiplayer game. The single player game is more a test of how fast you can shoot and rain blows on opponents.

Kingdom Hearts - Audio

The highlight of the game are the samples from the Disney characters. Also, the Japanese singer Utada Hikaru’s hit song 'Simple and Clean' makes the audio stand alone. Some tracks from the PS2 have been ported and the GBA card actually managed to play them without sounding very tinny. However, the music gets repetitive after a point as you wander through the same locations.

Kingdom Hearts - Graphics

This game is a perfect blend of FMV, hand drawn sprites and isometric backgrounds. In a word, they are stunning. The characters, especially the Disney ones look as they are supposed to and the different characters have been etched such that their minute features can be seen. There is an intro sequence in FMV with a great video. The monster characters have been especially well-designed and look very menacing… just as we like them.

Kingdom Hearts - Summing Up

Finally, Kingdom Hearts continues the tradition of stunning graphics and intelligent gameplay of the PS2 original. This can also be played as a stand alone game and offers great replay value. The usage of cards leads to the strategy element being important in the game. The video is in a league of its own and combined with the intuitive controls, makes the gameplay enjoyable. The only problem is that after a certain level, the gameplay becomes very easy and rather mindless, and finally, it gets very tough to stay involved in the game when all you have to do is point and shoot.

Kingdom Hearts - Cost

Kingdom Hearts currently retails for $24.99.