Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories (GBA)

[Zack Burner]

Celebrating its 20th anniversary the "in-between" sequel between the original and 2nd Kingdom Hearts games. This one is considered an odd, but very good choice. For one, everything here is based around cards, whether it be a door or in combat. Once again Sora, Donald, and Goofy go on another adventure, this time in the strange Castle Oblivion, they enter this castle when a stranger tells them this cryptic message: "Ahead lies something you need.....but to claim it, you must lose something dear...." When you first start the game, you're treated to a nice PS2 style cinematic (though a bit grainy but that's to be expected) showcasing our heroes on their journey. There are a few more of these cinematics though sporadically placed though. There are no voice acting though you will hear some voice samples from previous games and a few new ones. At times you'll feel like Deja Vu if you played the first KH game, though thankfully without the Gummi Ship sequences, and minimal problem solving parts (that only happens in the 100 Acre Wood part). The card system wont grab onto everyone though, it can at times get unwieldy and some will find it hard to follow. When you've beaten the game, wait! There's another part to it, Reverse Rebirth, this time you play as Riku escalating from the basement part, alongside his only companion: Mickey Mouse. His story and mechanics are a little different than Sora's but worth the play. Whether you beat Sora's or Riku's you're treated to a nice rendition of "Simple and Clean". I'm happy to report that 20 years later it's still fun to play.

[DaHeckIzDat]

I've never had the GBA original, but I played the PS2 remake when it was included in the HD collection. It absolutely sucked, but at least it was cool how they animated and voiced the cutscenes...which I watched on YouTube, because there was no way I was going to play all the way through that trash fire.

[Anchoa79]

I hope to see a review of this game, I haven't played this franchise but love it, specially on GBA.

[Zack Burner]

There are a few challenging moments in this game that can take you by surprise if you aren't prepared:
1) Hades Boss Fight - Watch out when he's red because he hits harder and his flaming hands attack can trap you. For some this is the first boss they lose to.
2) Captain Hook - You've got 2 things to worry about: Hook and the rocking ship, the rocking ship makes dodging Hook's attacks difficult plus his powerful attacks can trap you and you can do nothing but watch your health meter whittle away
3) Later stages Riku - he's more powerful and hits faster than previous fights of him
4) Marluxia - his attack are powerful and can card break some combos.

Now for one of the positive things is that sometimes I can assign one of my characters to actually defeat (deliver the final blow) to the villain like have Ariel defeat Ursula, Aladdin defeat Jafar, and Beast defeat Maleficent.