By Sean Ewing

The original Kingdom Hearts was a major success for Square-Enix and proved to many that a game featuring Disney characters could still be epic, fun, and even heartbreaking. So is Square-Enix able to do it again? The answer is a resounding “mostly.”

Playing and beating the original Kingdom Hearts is a major prerequisite for this game, and also one of its major weaknesses. The story focuses on the events of the previous game, and without knowledge of them, the story won’t make any sense. However, if you have played the original, things will feel a bit too familiar. You traverse through almost entirely the same worlds as Kingdom Hearts and mostly the same events occur.

The original content that does appear is excellent though, and very much up to par with what we’ve come to expect from the original. The new villains are especially enrapturing. They are mysterious, sinister, and for lack of a better word, cool. Calling themselves “The Organization,” this group will try their very best to stop Sora cold. With their dark looking outfits, exotic weapons and great character design, fights with them are exciting and nerve-wracking.

In fact, the original content is so good that it feels a little frustrating there isn’t more of it. The story sees Sora, Donald and Goofy enter a large palace called Castle Oblivion. The story is still one of the main draws and watching it unfold is a joy. Sora’s story is expertly told and there a few shocks and surprises lying in wait for you.

The gameplay is what really makes this package feel fresh. If you are traversing the same world, fighting mostly the same enemies, how is it different? The simple answer is the card system. Instead of running through static dungeons, each time you enter a new room, Sora must use a card to create it. For instance, a sleeping darkness card will create a room with all of the heartless fast asleep, whereas a calm bounty room will spawn a treasure room devoid of enemies for you.

There are plenty of different cards, so you can fill up a room with enemies to level up faster, or rooms full of treasure so you can collect even more cards. The card system also extends to combat. When on the main map, you see heartless running around, but combat won’t start until you initiate it by running into them (or vice versa) or slashing them with your keyblade. Once combat starts, it’s Sora alone against however many heartless. You draw on cards from your combat deck to defeat the enemies. However, this is still very fast paced and feels both familiar and new.

A simple number system adds even more thought to it. A higher number breaks a lower number, but the heartless can do the same to you. You can combine cards with higher numbers to break your opponents attacks or to create special moves or summons. Once you run out of cards in your deck, you have to spend valuable time shuffling your deck back together. It sounds a little strange, but it plays wonderfully, and combat feels fresh all through the game.

Graphically, Chain of Memories is in a league of it’s own. This game looks as good as, or better than, some DS titles. The cutscenes are of playstation 2 quality, and really have to be seen to believe they are being powered by the venerable game boy advance. The sprites are wonderfully detailed and expressive. Sora’s facial expressions are expressive and smoothly animated, along with all of his combat moves. This all adds up to Chain of Memories being one of the most graphically impressive game boy advance titles ever.

The music is also very well done, with some very recognizable tunes. There isn’t anything truly spectacular, but Square uses the game boy advance’s sound chip for all it’s worth. The music done for the new levels and characters is especially strong, particularly the final levels.

Overall, Chain of Memories is a fantastic game that would be classic, if it wasn’t coming from such a strong pedigree. The original Kingdom Hearts gave this game a lot to live up to, and it does a good job of filling those shoes. Some more levels would have been nice, but the extra mode adds an awful lot of replay, and you can’t fault the new material. Chain of Memories is a must for fans of Kingdom Hearts.

Final Grade: B+

Sqaure-Enix takes a chance and it pays off in Kingdom Hearts (Image courtesy www.gamespy.com)