Review

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is a Game Boy Advance game that serves as Kingdom Hearts's direct sequel. Beginning where the original left off, something that hasn't been seen in recent entries of the series, Sora, Donald, and Goofy try to get the letter Pluto has from the King, Mickey Mouse. However, their search soon brings them to Castle Oblivion, a castle run by an enigmatic Organization. The castle has some secrets, though- As you traverse through the many floors, your memory soon wastes away, and their only way to defend themselves are cards filled with the memories of their abilities. Sora goes through the castle to gain what is dear to him as the man in black put it.

Chain of Memories wasn't meant to exist. The director wanted Kingdom Hearts II to be released and have these events a secret until he heard that younger fans wanted the game on the GBA. The gameplay has been criticized for being too different and difficult. The gameplay uses cards as the main set-up and you move around using the D-Pad. Cards unlock doors and decide what type of room you enter and also how powerful your attack is. However, the cards are numbered 0-9 and you play in a way like War except with real time action as well. The card battle system requires heavy strategy to have a useful deck against difficult bosses you will encounter.

The graphics are quite nice. You get to see your favorite characters as cute little sprites... well, except for big ones like the Beast and big bosses. There are also Full Motion Videos that signify important parts such as the beginning and end, but even though there is dialogue between characters in these scenes, no voice acting is used due to limitations of the console.(?) In fact, the only voice acting in this game is recycled sounds that are used in battle scenes.

Sadly, for this game, the replay value is relatively low. There are no optional bosses, but there are rewards after beating Sora's story- you get to play as his friend, Riku, who is trying to get out of Castle Oblivion after he was mysteriously transported there from Kingdom Hearts with King Mickey Mouse while battling his darkness. The gameplay in Riku's story is less complicated since you don't have to customize your card decks as the cards are preselected. Riku's story is also less time-consuming; you can beat it in less than a day because Riku's mode mostly consists of boss battles with the villains he had cooperated with in the prior game. There is also a link mode where you can challenge other players to see who is better with mastering cards with the GBA connector cord.

The game's music is mostly recycled from the original, but there are some new pieces. Because of the transition, the music sounds mildly 8-bit, but Final Fantasy 1 would be disappointed with the Castle Oblivion world field theme.

This video game has a spectacular final boss for Sora's story; it is one of the best I've seen in a Game Boy Advance game. This game gets a pretty high score around 8 or 9 because of some difficulties, but superb quality. This game is rated E for Everyone for Fantasy Violence and Mild Language. This is the only Kingdom Hearts game to ever include profanity. The only instance I read was towards the end, where a (literally) hot-headed Organization member says "Give me one **** of a show!" The game doesn't go any farther. (The remake for the PS2 censored that line if that's what system you use.) So that has been my review for Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.