Kingdom Hearts: Chains of Memories

RETRO NEWS

This issue’s retro news is all about creating, collecting, and celebrating the classics. SMS Game Maker is giving aspiring developers an easier way to create their own Master System and Game Gear games, while GameStop is getting an exclusive $130 Capcom Super Pocket bundle packed with 37 games.

Bitmap Books is also reopening the library, with four previously sold out retro gaming books returning in October, including Go Straight and Artcade, giving anyone who missed them the first time another chance to clear some space on the bookshelf.

PRESS START

An Introduction To Today’s Game

Kingdom Hearts.

It began with a wonderfully bizarre idea: take the worlds of Disney, mix in characters and influences from Final Fantasy, and let Final Fantasy veteran Tetsuya Nomura run wild with the story.

Somehow, it worked. What started as an unlikely crossover has grown into a sprawling series whose ongoing story now requires a wiki, several YouTube explainers, a flowchart, a PhD in Nomura storytelling, a handful of gummies, and maybe a shot of whiskey to fully understand.

So really, it feels perfectly on brand that after the first Kingdom Hearts established itself as an action RPG, its next chapter jumped to the Game Boy Advance and said, “You know what this needs? Cards.”

Welcome to Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.

BEHIND THE PIXELS

Let’s Dive Into The Game

Chain of Memories is an action role playing game that keeps the cast and warmth of the original Kingdom Hearts, then swaps free flowing sword fights for a card based battle system built around the Game Boy Advance's limits.

Every attack, spell, item, and even your party members show up as numbered cards that you draw, manage, and eventually run dry on. It is a strange trade to describe to a friend who has never played it, but it works once the pieces click.

The core idea is simple even if the execution takes some getting used to. Higher numbered cards break lower numbered ones, so combat becomes a constant math problem hiding inside an action game.

Line up three matching cards and you trigger a sleight, a flashy combo move like Sonic Blade, which is really the only reason anyone survives the later boss fights.

Between fights, players spend more time deck building than fans of the original game might expect, swapping cards in and out at save points shaped like moogles.

The world map plays out one card at a time too, since each room is represented by a card that can rearrange the castle's floors before you ever step into them. It is less about exploring a familiar Disney world and more about assembling the right toolkit before you walk in.

The point of it all is memory, both Sora's and the player's, since Castle Oblivion strips away what came before floor by floor while introducing Organization XIII for the first time. Riku gets a second campaign that runs in parallel, wrestling with the same darkness that nearly consumed him in the first game.

It’s all very weird. Welcome to the Kingdom Hearts story.

For a Game Boy Advance release, the visuals hold up well, with sharp beautiful sprite work and a handful of full motion video cutscenes that were rare for the hardware, backed by a soundtrack that remixes the original's themes without losing what made them work.

Controls take a little patience at first, since attacking, blocking, and card management happen through only a couple of buttons on the GBA's pad. Once that combination feels natural, though, the pacing snaps into place and battles start to feel closer to a puzzle than a straightforward slugfest.

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GAME INFORMATION

WHERE TO PLAY

• The original copy or emulation will be your best bet in playing the original version.

• Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX and Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III] include the remake, in full 3D.

• Original Copies of the Game (All prices in USD)

  • Loose: $20

  • Complete: $140

  • New/Sealed: $230

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GAME OVER

Why You Should Play This

So why bother with Chain of Memories today? For one, skipping it means missing the actual introduction of Organization XIII, plus Riku's redemption arc, both of which echo through the rest of the series for years afterward. The GBA original itself has never gotten an official modern re-release, so tracking down the original cartridge is really the only way to experience that exact version today.

Years later, the game was rebuilt in full 3D with voice acted cutscenes, and that version is sitting inside Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX on PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and Switch. Square Enix is even packaging that collection into a new Kingdom Hearts Collection bundle for the Switch 2 this October, so there has never been an easier moment to jump in. It’s a shame they basically deleted the original pixel version, which I prefer, but at least the remake is there if you want to experience the story. Just don’t get a headache trying to understand what’s happening.

SUPPORT

This is a passion project made with love, and every open or read means the world.
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RETRO HARDWARE

The Miyoo Flip V2 is a tiny clamshell retro handheld that lets you carry a whole library of classic games in your pocket. With a bright screen, solid controls, and the nostalgic flip design we all remember, it’s perfect for quick gaming sessions anywhere. Click the picture to check it out. My readers can use the following code for a 12% discount: NY12