Customer Reviews
Kingdom Hearts goes portable ! - By: sora, 11 Mar 2008 
The magical adventure continues.... on the GBA! Yes the series goes to an unexpected turn to your favorite portable console. Unfortunatly it's gone a bit 2-D apart from the occasional 3-D cutscene.
One thing makes this game stand out from the other KH games. Everything is (cleverly) done with cards! To progress to other worlds you use cards! To fight heartless you use cards. Even to open doors you use cards.That's how things workin the mysterious Castle Oblivion.It may sound confusing but once you've learn't & got the hang of it you'll really like it!
Some of the Disney worlds may seem a bit of a joke or just recycled from the original game butin Castle Oblivion everything becomes new & exciting!
So pick up a copy of the brdge between Kingdom Hearts & Kingdom Hearts 2!
Excellent addictive game! - By: C. CHUEN-CHEONG, 13 Feb 2007 
I have finished the game & I must say that it is one of the best GBA games made so far. With excellent graphics, a unique battle system & a storyline that keeps you wanting to play more this game this a must have, especially for those who played the previous Kingdom Hearts game.
Why do I say that it is such a great game? Well for those who have played the original Kingdom Hearts game on the PS2, the game is a follow up story to the sequel, Kingdom Heart2. You learn so much from the storyline from Sora reliving his memories, meeting old friends & battling old enemies too. After finishing the game with Sora, you get to play as another characterin Reverse/Rebirth mode. This is just as good as the original mode, even better for some!
The battle system can be hard to handle at first & it takes time to get used to. It took my quite a while to get used to the card system personally. You use cards, which you can modifyin your deck to suit the way you want to battle. Cards include attack, magic/summons, items & enemies. There are several boss battles, so they can be a bit challenging & you have to play the right cards at the right time to do the best of damage.
The only downers to this game are that it can get repetitive when fighting the same heartless again & again on one level or world. However, this can be changed if you modify your deck & try out different strategies to beat the heartless. If you do get bored of fighting (which I doubt) you can look for special treasuresin certain rooms, which arein certain worlds. So you can always go back & do things, especially if you missed them (like me). You can also try getting rare treasuresin special Moogle packs,in which you exchange Moogle points for cards that can be usedin your deck.
Overall this game is fun for everyone, not just kids or teenagers, but adults can play on this excellent & addictive game.
It's finally here! - By: R. Wood, 18 Oct 2005 Since the conclusion of the last Kingdom Hearts game backin 2002 (It's been too long!), many of us, myself included, were desperate to get their hands on the sequel, all because of the magic & brilliance of the storyline, the game itself, & the poignant ending that left everyone hungering for more.
Since its announcementin mid-2003 along with Kingdom Hearts 2, Chain of Memories became one of the most anticipated titles for the Game Boy Advance, & despite the game being finished way before its release date, we still had to wait several months more than Japan & the US to get our hands on the game.
Now, finally, it's here. But it is it the follow-up we were hoping for? Well, story first, game opinion later.
Chain of Memories follows on directly from the events of the last game. Sora, Donald & Goofy (along with their chronicler, Jiminy Cricket) continue their search for their friends, Riku & King Mickey. Their search leads them to Castle Oblivion, where the moment they enter, they forget all their abilities & some of their most important memories. A mysterious new character, regarded as the Unknown, appears before them & tells them that the only way to restore their memories is to venture further into the castle & fight whatever lurks on the different levels. As with the storyin the last game, things are not always what they seem.
Graphically, the game is faultless. The whole Disney movie feel is recreated beautifully on the GBA & the PS2 quality cut-scenes are out of this world. When I first heard about the 3D cut-scenes being incorporated into such a tiny cartridge, I was very doubtful as to whether the GBA would be able to handle it without crashing, but it's amazing how smoothly the 3D animations run, & it's even more amazing as to how many 3D movies Square-Enix have managed to fit in.
Sound wise, the game is fine. Obviously, asking for the soundtrack the calibre of the first gamein a GBA title would be asking too much, but the developers have done a brilliant jobin recreating much of Kingdom Hearts' original musicin MIDI format. It sounds really catchy & notin the least bit irritating. If that's not enough, voice-acting is alsoin the game. Although obviously not to the same extent as thatin the last game, it's still great to hear Sora's voicein battle mode. I was also greatly impressed to hear 'Simple & Clean', transferred so well to the game, play during the end credits, showing that no expenses have been spared.
Gameplay is always important. Given the fact that the controls on the GBA pale greatly to that of a PS2 controller, it's obvious that you're somewhat limitedin utilising moves & customising options. In Chain of Memories, you don't have a thing to worry about. As with last time, fights arein real-time, but a new card-based system allows you to perform Sora's moves with flourish. On paper it may seem that playing with this new card system is a bit complicated but like the previous combat system, it's easy to learn & it's great fun. And because the game is mostly 2D, it isn't plagued by the dire camera problems of before.
What is a dream come true is that after completing the game with Sora, players have the opportunity to play as Rikuin another story that weavesin & out of Sora's tale. This adds yet another dimension to Chain of Memories & makes for all the more entertainment.
As for the story, they are a few things to nitpick about. When playing through the Disney levels, it felt as though it was just repetition of the last game's content, which is fine considering what the aim of this game is, but for me, I felt the events of the different worlds could've been reinvented a lot better than they have been.
The really interesting aspects of the story, however, are the events that take placein Castle Oblivion & the manipulations of the Organization, a party of Unknowns who are fascinating characters. Such freshness & a deeper dive into the mysteries of the Kingdom Hearts universe resultin a captivating plot that is every bit as fantastic as the storyin the last game. And it's made even more engrossing when played through from Riku's perspective.
So how much enjoyment will you get out of Chain of Memories? Just as much, if not more so, than the original Kingdom Hearts. On average, you're looking at forty hours gameplay playing as Sora & Riku. All Kingdom Hearts fans will not regret purchasing this. For those who haven't played the original, I recommend getting this nevertheless. It'll easily fit into the top ten list of best GBA games ever. It's a more than worthy sequel, it was well worth the wait & I look forward to Kingdom Hearts 2.
no.1 gba game ever - By: , 12 Aug 2005 well i was reluctant to buy it to begin with whilst reading various online reviews, but hell what do they know this game is awesome if you enjoyed kingdom hearts 1. the game opens with the FMV from the end of the first game followed by another FMV to introduce the sequel, it was cool of them to incorporate gba video into the game as that is what sets it apart.
the castle of oblivion (not to give anything away) revolves around soras memories of the people & places sora has visitedin kh1. with the incentive of a possible meeting with a lost friend the group venture through the castle, where to proceed is to lose & to lose is to gain, confused.
the battle systemin all is easy as when you use all cards they can be reloaded by pessing down on A. although combos remove a card which is why you should not rely on many combos. loads of cards are featured including every one of soras keyblades & magic with cool new special attacks. i cant review properly as imve not completed it yet only a few stages to go though, but so far id say it is 10/10
Sora Returns - By: Michael Cawdrey, 24 Jun 2005 This is a great step forward for the brilliant Kingdom Hearts series. You are againin control of the hero Sora, a 14 year old boy with the power of the keyblade. This game is based inside a castle, with each floor being a different world. Many of the worlds will be familiar to you if you played Kingdom hearts for the PS2.
The whole game, including the battle system & navigation of the castle, is based on cards. This may seem complicated at first, but you will get to grips with it all eventually. The graphics are superb, some of the best I have seen for the GBA. Familiar characters will pop up throughout the game.
So, if you love Kingdom Hearts, I advise you play this game.
Graphics - 10/10
Game Play - 9.5/10
Sounds - 8/10
Overall - 9/10
