This page will contain videos about Kingdom Hearts, as they become available.Kingdom HeartsKingdom Hearts (Japanese: キングダムハーツ Kingudamu Hātsu) is a hybrid action/RPG that was released in 2002, which is notable for being the result of a collaboration between the video game developer and publisher Square and Disney. The game combines characters and settings from Disney's animated features and films with those from Square's Final Fantasy RPG series. Although the game's primary plotlines follow characters who were created specifically for Kingdom Hearts, characters from both companies play major roles in the game and its storyline. The game features real-time rendered backgrounds and scenery. Plot summarySpoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.Kingdom Hearts begins on the lush, tropical islands called "Destiny Islands", home to the main characters Sora, Riku, and Kairi. The three children wish to leave the island that they have been confined to all their life, so they build a raft to escape. The night before the voyage, a storm sweeps through the island, and evil shadow-creatures called the Heartless appear. The three friends are separated. When Sora finds Riku surrounded by darkness, Riku disappears and Sora has to fight the Heartless, who are being used to tear down the walls between worlds. After the battle, Sora receives his weapon, the mystical Keyblade, and sets out to defeat the Heartless and be reunited with his friends. From the Destiny Islands, Sora lands in Traverse Town, where he joins Goofy and Donald Duck in their quest to find King Mickey Mouse and defeat the Heartless. In their adventure, the trio explore many Disney-themed worlds, including Aladdin's Agrabah and The Little Mermaid's Atlantica. Along their way, they lock "keyholes" to the heart of those worlds, preventing the Heartless from consuming their worlds. Standing in their way, however, is a cabal of Disney villains, with Maleficent as their leader and Riku as her apprentice. Seeing Sora as apathetic towards Kairi's fate, Riku has taken reponsibility into his hands and struck a deal with Maleficent, in order to help Kairi regain her sense of self. The goal of Maleficent and her group is to collect seven maidens of the purest heart, the "Princesses of Heart", in order to open the pathway to Kingdom Hearts, which is supposedly a repository of power and knowledge Maleficent intends to use in her plan to rule all worlds. Finally reaching Hollow Bastion, Maleficent's headquarters, Sora confronts Riku directly, ending with the revelation that Riku is also a Keyblade master and with the loss of Sora's own Keyblade. Unfettered by the loss of his weapon, Sora puts his faith into his friends and wins back the Keyblade, sending Riku to run off and lick his wounds. It is during this time that a mysterious being offers him greater power with which he could use to defeat Sora. Riku impulsively accepts. Sora and his teammates face and defeat Maleficent, allowing a strangely-behaved Riku to strike her with a unique type of Keyblade, one that opened hearts. This transformed Maleficent into a dragon that reflected the darkness in her heart. Sora's party meets and exceeds the challenge, destroying Maleficent. Sora confronts Riku again. Only, this time, it is not truly Riku; it is actually Ansem, the scientist who was researching Heartless, occupying Riku's body. Ansem desires to become part of what he believes to be the primordial phase of existence, the darkness that he believes to compose Kingdom Hearts. Kairi is revealed to be a Princess of Heart, and her heart was trapped in Sora's body ever since they got separated. Sora and Ansem battle, with Sora as the victor. In order to free Kairi's heart, Sora impales himself on Ansem's Keyblade, losing his own heart while restoring Kairi and freeing the other Princesses' hearts, as the Keyblade was composed of their hearts. However, the pathway to Kingdom Hearts was opened. Now a Heartless, Sora scampered to Kairi's protection. Knowing that it was truly Sora, Kairi's light pulled him from the infinite darkness and restores Sora. They flee Hollow Bastion in face of the immense number of Heartless pouring through the pathway to Kingdom Hearts. They return to lock the keyhole and later travel to Kingdom Hearts itself, facing Ansem in a climactic final battle. Though the light of Kingdom Hearts defeated Ansem, the door threatens to unleash millions upon millions of Heartless onto the universe. Sora, Donald and Goofy attempt to close the door, but their strength is not enough. Riku, who has regained his body, helps the others close the door on the other side, along with King Mickey Mouse. Using his own Keyblade, Mickey locks Kingdom Hearts from the inside, but this forces himself and Riku to stay inside. Before the door is locked, Riku tells Sora to take care of Kairi. Sora and Kairi's reunion is cut extremely short as they are pulled apart by the reforming Destiny Islands. Sora promises to return to Kairi once he finds a way to bring Riku out of Kingdom Hearts. Changes in different versionsEnglish versionThe English version of Kingdom Hearts had new features that were not found in the original version of Kingdom Hearts in Japan. Besides English localization, three additional optional bosses were added, notably Sephiroth. Yoko Shimomura's arrangement of Night on Bald Mountain was set as the background music for the Chernabog boss fight, whereas the original Japanese version uses generic boss music. Final MixCloud and Sephiroth's new cutscene. Neoshadows in Final Mix.Kingdom Hearts was re-released in Japan as Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix, this version had several events and a number of gameplay tweaks that were not in the American, European and Australian releases. Spoken dialogue was in English, with Japanese subtitles. New scenes, clarifying certain plot points, such as Riku's journey and foreshadowing of Kingdom Hearts II, were included. A gameplay tweak allows the player to skip cutscenes after seeing them once. The optional bosses first included in the English version were introduced to Japanese players for the first time, along with the "Engimatic Man", in an attempt to raise interest for the sequel. In another attempt at foreshadowing, a video called Another Side, Another Story: Deep Dive will play along with Another Side, Another Story if the player accomplishes certain tasks. New music was incorporated; the tracks are Disappeared and Another Side. The Night on the Bald Mountain track from the English version has been included as well. Other changes include new abilities, new weapons, new items, additional and recolored enemies; and gameplay tweaks to make the game easier for the player, along with two new difficulty levels. WorldsThe many worlds in which the game takes place include various Disney settings (nearly all of which are part of the Disney animated features canon), as well as some original ones. The Disney-based worlds:
The original worlds:
MusicThe music is composed by Yoko Shimomura, the ending credits theme and opening orchestration is by Kaoru Wada, and the main vocal theme is "Hikari" (Light) known as "Simple and Clean" in Western releases. Both versions of the song were composed and performed by Utada Hikaru. While there are many original themes written specifically for the game by Shimomura, most of the soundtrack is comprised of popular melodies derived from classic disney films. For instance, when in Atlantica (The world from The Little Mermaid), the background music is a non-lyrical reinterpretation of the song 'Under the Sea'. Examples such as this convey a stronger sense of nostalgia when paired with characters, settings and voice clips from popular Disney films. CharactersA typical battle in Kingdom Hearts (North American version).The main characters are Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy. Sora's stats are more customizable; the player can select what attribute to excel in and which attribute to be lacking in, such as defense, magic or strength, at the beginning of the game. Several traits can also be altered further by permanent boost items or equipped item effects. Sora is the only character directly controlled by the player; other members in the party are computer controlled. The computer controlled characters can have their behavior altered by the player, changing their item usages from "frequently" to "occasionally" for example. Goofy and Donald are the only computer-controlled characters that are usable on every world. Most worlds have a unique computer-controlled party member who can be chosen to replace Goofy or Donald in the party. For instance, Jack Skellington joins the player's party in the Nightmare Before Christmas world, but will not accompany the player elsewhere. In addition, various Disney characters can be temporarily summoned during battle. These characters replace Sora's two companions for the duration of the summon. The player can summon Simba from The Lion King, the Genie from Aladdin, Bambi, Dumbo, Tinkerbell from Peter Pan, and Mushu from Mulan. Only the Genie and Tinkerbell summons are automatically obtained; the others must be gained by obtaining unique gems and giving them to the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella. The title roles of One Hundred and One Dalmatians and Lady and the Tramp have cameo appearances in the game, too. One of the less important quests of the game is to find the 99 lost dalmatian puppies from all over the game, while there is a statue of Lady and the Tramp in the Third District of Traverse Town. Final Fantasy cameosIt is in these cameos that gamers base arguments on the inclusion of this game in the Final Fantasy series. On Destiny Islands, the player meets younger versions of Tidus, Wakka (both from Final Fantasy X), and Selphie (from Final Fantasy VIII). In Traverse Town, the player encounters Squall (under the alias of "Leon") from Final Fantasy VIII, as well as Aerith, Cid, and Yuffie from Final Fantasy VII. Rikku from Final Fantasy X and Irvine Kinneas from Final Fantasy VIII were both originally set to make cameo appearances, but were replaced by Yuffie and Wakka respectively. Cloud and Sephiroth make appearances, including a cutscene fight between both in Final Mix. The game also uses other Final Fantasy icons. Moogles make an appearance and help the player obtain the ultimate weapon (the aptly named Ultima Weapon). This and several other weapons, such as Lionheart and Save the Queen, share names with other weapons from previous entries in the Final Fantasy series. The Final Fantasy magic naming system (ie. Cure, Cura, Curaga, etc.) is also in place. The names of various spells are the names of Gummi blocks, and various summons, weapons, bosses, and monsters are the names of Gummi ships blueprints. The emphasis on characters from later Final Fantasy installments disappointed fans; the refusal to use earlier characters stems from character designer Tetsuya Nomura's hesitation to use characters he did not design. CriticismKingdom Hearts has been criticized by some Final Fantasy fans for making poor use of the Final Fantasy characters placed in it. For example, several prominent characters are made much younger and do not play a major role in the story. Some fans also disapproved of the casting of the voice actors for the more popular Final Fantasy characters: in particular, the casting of pop music singers Mandy Moore as Aerith Gainsborough and Lance Bass as Sephiroth. Some also felt that, while original, the combination of Square and Disney did not work as well as it could have, with aspects of both the story and gameplay swinging between 'Disney-style' and 'Square-style', without reaching an acceptable middle ground for most of the game. Some Final Fantasy fans were critical of the combination of the Final Fantasy mythos and the role-playing genre with Disney characters and other elements that they considered to be for children. Elements of the combat system were also criticized, particularly the use of menu-based items and magic in what was a frequently hectic real-time battle scenario, and the awkward camera angles that could occur during battle. Another criticism levelled by reviewers and players alike revolves around the Gummi ship missions, with the main complaint being that they are not up to the same standard of play as the rest of game. The developers seem to have taken these comments onboard as the sequel, Kingdom Hearts II, features an overhaul of this aspect of the series by making the ship missions much more fast paced then in the original Kingdom Hearts. Shinji Mikami, creator of Capcom's Resident Evil series, criticized Kingdom Hearts on Japanese radio in 2002. He expressed disappointment because Kingdom Hearts outsold his GameCube remake of Resident Evil in Japan, believing that his game was the superior product. Although he apologized to Square (not yet merged with Enix at that point) in the radio interview, he firmly believed that the game did not deserve its Japanese sales or its (then) 6800 Yen price tag. MangaThere is a manga based off of the video game written and illustrated by Shiro Amano. The manga is published in English in the United States by TOKYOPOP (ISBN 1598162179) and in English in Singapore by Chuang Yi. Currently, two volumes of the English version of the manga are available. It is unknown how many of them have been made in Japan. SequelsCharacters of Kingdom Hearts II.Kingdom Hearts: Chain of MemoriesKingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, the Game Boy Advance sequel to the original game, takes place directly after the plot of Kingdom Hearts, and provides the link between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. In the beginning, Sora, Donald and Goofy meet a mysterious man who leads them to Castle Oblivion, a strange castle where even memories cannot be trusted. There, the group visits replicas of the worlds in the original game, created by Sora's memories. At the same time, Riku escapes from Kingdom Hearts and finds his own way to Castle Oblivion, where he must contend with the lingering darkness of Xehanort in his heart. As both Sora and Riku fight their ways through the castle, piecing together what is real and what is not, they are unaware that they are being targeted by a mysterious organization. The game abandoned the Kingdom Hearts battle system, focusing instead on card-based game play. These cards can be used to create new worlds, open doors, and attack Heartless. The game was released on December 7, 2004. Kingdom Hearts IIA second sequel, Kingdom Hearts II for the PlayStation 2, was officially released in Japan on 22 December 2005 and will be released in USA on 28 March 2006. Taking place a year after Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts II features Sora, Donald and Goofy, as well as a new cast of characters, including King Mickey himself and familiar faces. The Heartless are still running loose and a mysterious group, Organization XIII, is plotting against Sora. There are new levels exclusive to the sequel, such as Pirates of the Caribbean's Port Royal and The Lion King's Pride Land, as well as new places to visit in old levels; those include the Underworld in the Hercules world and the palace garden in Agrabah. The sequel uses a refined camera system, and includes a Drive ability that gives Sora the ability to merge with one of his party members for a short time. Trivia
Voice castNote: Most of the Disney Characters are voiced by their original voice actors from the movies or their voice actors for the animated series (where applicable, e.g. Dan Castellaneta as Genie, rather than Robin Williams.) English language version
Japanese language version
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The sequel uses a refined camera system, and includes a Drive ability that gives Sora the ability to merge with one of his party members for a short time. However, customers in Quebec will only be able to use the French version. There are new levels exclusive to the sequel, such as Pirates of the Caribbean's Port Royal and The Lion King's Pride Land, as well as new places to visit in old levels; those include the Underworld in the Hercules world and the palace garden in Agrabah. Currently Cheerios is offering free Dora the Explorer the Game CDROMs in specially marked packages. The Heartless are still running loose and a mysterious group, Organization XIII, is plotting against Sora. In the Dutch language version, broadcast on Nickelodeon (TV channel), the bilingualism is Dutch-English. Taking place a year after Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts II features Sora, Donald and Goofy, as well as a new cast of characters, including King Mickey himself and familiar faces. In the Irish language version, broadcast on the Irish Language station TG4, the bilingualism is Irish-Spanish, with Dora and Boots speaking in Irish and some other characters speaking Spanish as in the original. A second sequel, Kingdom Hearts II for the PlayStation 2, was officially released in Japan on 22 December 2005 and will be released in USA on 28 March 2006. In the German language version, broadcast on the recently restarted German branch of Nickelodeon, the bilingualism is Anglo-German, analogously to the French and Japanese Version. The game was released on December 7, 2004. In the Japanese language version, broadcast on Nick Japan, the bilingualism is Anglo-Japanese, with Dora and Boots speaking Japanese and other protagonists speaking and answering in English. These cards can be used to create new worlds, open doors, and attack Heartless. Some French episodes are available to US customers on VHS from http://www.amazon.ca. The game abandoned the Kingdom Hearts battle system, focusing instead on card-based game play. In the French language version, Dora l'exploratrice, broadcast on the private French TV channel TF1, the bilingualism is Anglo-French, with Dora and Boots speaking French and other protagonists speaking and answering in English. As both Sora and Riku fight their ways through the castle, piecing together what is real and what is not, they are unaware that they are being targeted by a mysterious organization. Some Spanish episodes are available to US customers on VHS, and some DVDs have a Spanish track (including Dora's Egg Hunt). At the same time, Riku escapes from Kingdom Hearts and finds his own way to Castle Oblivion, where he must contend with the lingering darkness of Xehanort in his heart. In the Spanish language version, Dora la Exploradora, broadcast on the Telemundo network, Dora and Boots are speaking Spanish and other protagonists speaking and answering in English. There, the group visits replicas of the worlds in the original game, created by Sora's memories. The simplicity and repetitious nature of the episodes make this series especially well-suited for learning important phrases in a foreign language. In the beginning, Sora, Donald and Goofy meet a mysterious man who leads them to Castle Oblivion, a strange castle where even memories cannot be trusted. As with most animated series made in the US, Dora the Explorer has been dubbed into many languages all over the world. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, the Game Boy Advance sequel to the original game, takes place directly after the plot of Kingdom Hearts, and provides the link between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. The show is generally in English, although it is peppered with simple Spanish phrases in an effort to give young viewers a rather limited multicultural experience. It is unknown how many of them have been made in Japan. Dora and her companions are the subject of numerous books and other merchandise for children. Currently, two volumes of the English version of the manga are available. Dora the Explorer is currently still being produced. The manga is published in English in the United States by TOKYOPOP (ISBN 1598162179) and in English in Singapore by Chuang Yi. While geography isn't directly taught, the concept of using a map to find one's way around is. There is a manga based off of the video game written and illustrated by Shiro Amano. The episodes are used to demonstrate and practice skills such as decision-making, following directions, mathematics (usually counting), music, physical coordination, and Anglo-Spanish bilingualism. Although he apologized to Square (not yet merged with Enix at that point) in the radio interview, he firmly believed that the game did not deserve its Japanese sales or its (then) 6800 Yen price tag. Sometimes there are also locomotives, boats and automobiles with speaking roles. He expressed disappointment because Kingdom Hearts outsold his GameCube remake of Resident Evil in Japan, believing that his game was the superior product. Additionally, the show features a number of anthropomorphic props, notably Dora's fat and ever-hungry backpack and the always-talking map. Shinji Mikami, creator of Capcom's Resident Evil series, criticized Kingdom Hearts on Japanese radio in 2002. These characters can speak either Spanish or English. The developers seem to have taken these comments onboard as the sequel, Kingdom Hearts II, features an overhaul of this aspect of the series by making the ship missions much more fast paced then in the original Kingdom Hearts. There are a number of minor, recurring animal characters such as Señor Tucan, Isa the iguana, Benny the bull, and Tico the squirrel. Another criticism levelled by reviewers and players alike revolves around the Gummi ship missions, with the main complaint being that they are not up to the same standard of play as the rest of game. Other recurring human characters include Dora's mother (mami), father (papi), and grandmother (abuela). Elements of the combat system were also criticized, particularly the use of menu-based items and magic in what was a frequently hectic real-time battle scenario, and the awkward camera angles that could occur during battle. He has proved popular enough that Nickelodeon introduced a separate Diego series entitled Go, Diego, Go! in 2005. Some Final Fantasy fans were critical of the combination of the Final Fantasy mythos and the role-playing genre with Disney characters and other elements that they considered to be for children. Diego is an intrepid young animal rescue worker and sometimes partners with Dora in her adventures. Some also felt that, while original, the combination of Square and Disney did not work as well as it could have, with aspects of both the story and gameplay swinging between 'Disney-style' and 'Square-style', without reaching an acceptable middle ground for most of the game. Some more recently produced episodes have introduced Dora's cousin Diego, voiced by Felipe Dieppa. Some fans also disapproved of the casting of the voice actors for the more popular Final Fantasy characters: in particular, the casting of pop music singers Mandy Moore as Aerith Gainsborough and Lance Bass as Sephiroth. Swiper is voiced by Marc Weiner. For example, several prominent characters are made much younger and do not play a major role in the story. Sometimes the retrieval of the item is itself the quest. Kingdom Hearts has been criticized by some Final Fantasy fans for making poor use of the Final Fantasy characters placed in it. However, if Dora and Boots fail to repeat the phrase in time, Swiper steals the item, throws it somewhere and gloats, "You're too late!" Dora and Boots must then retrieve the item so the quest can continue. The emphasis on characters from later Final Fantasy installments disappointed fans; the refusal to use earlier characters stems from character designer Tetsuya Nomura's hesitation to use characters he did not design. In response, Swiper disappointedly snaps his fingers and says, "Oh, man!". The names of various spells are the names of Gummi blocks, and various summons, weapons, bosses, and monsters are the names of Gummi ships blueprints. In order to prevent Swiper from stealing whatever item Dora and Boots are carrying at the time, Dora first asks the audience if they see Swiper, then she leads them in saying, "Swiper, no swiping!" three times. Cure, Cura, Curaga, etc.) is also in place. He usually attempts to steal an item which is necessary for Dora and Boots to complete their quest. The Final Fantasy magic naming system (ie. Swiper is a masked thief. This and several other weapons, such as Lionheart and Save the Queen, share names with other weapons from previous entries in the Final Fantasy series. Dora's quests are often complicated by a villainous fox named Swiper. Moogles make an appearance and help the player obtain the ultimate weapon (the aptly named Ultima Weapon). Boots is voiced by Harrison Chad. The game also uses other Final Fantasy icons. He wears red boots and loves to hold Dora's hand. Cloud and Sephiroth make appearances, including a cutscene fight between both in Final Mix. Dora's sidekick and best friend is Boots, a talking monkey who is 5½ years old. Rikku from Final Fantasy X and Irvine Kinneas from Final Fantasy VIII were both originally set to make cameo appearances, but were replaced by Yuffie and Wakka respectively. Dora's name is taken from the Spanish word Exploradora, which means explorer. In Traverse Town, the player encounters Squall (under the alias of "Leon") from Final Fantasy VIII, as well as Aerith, Cid, and Yuffie from Final Fantasy VII. Dora is voiced by Kathleen Herles. On Destiny Islands, the player meets younger versions of Tidus, Wakka (both from Final Fantasy X), and Selphie (from Final Fantasy VIII). At the end of each episode, Dora celebrates the completion of the quest with a song ("We Did It") and asks what the viewer's favorite obstacle or encounter was. It is in these cameos that gamers base arguments on the inclusion of this game in the Final Fantasy series. Dora involves the other protagonists and the viewer of the show in the quest. One of the less important quests of the game is to find the 99 lost dalmatian puppies from all over the game, while there is a statue of Lady and the Tramp in the Third District of Traverse Town. The location of Dora's home is also vague (however, most episodes show palm trees and mountains in the background so it is likely to be California or Mexico). The title roles of One Hundred and One Dalmatians and Lady and the Tramp have cameo appearances in the game, too. In any case, Dora speaks both Spanish and English. Only the Genie and Tinkerbell summons are automatically obtained; the others must be gained by obtaining unique gems and giving them to the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella. Dora's exact national origin remains vague because no specific Latin American country is ever mentioned. The player can summon Simba from The Lion King, the Genie from Aladdin, Bambi, Dumbo, Tinkerbell from Peter Pan, and Mushu from Mulan. Dora the Explorer tells the story of Dora Marquez, a seven-year old Latina who ventures forth on various simple but important quests. These characters replace Sora's two companions for the duration of the summon. . In addition, various Disney characters can be temporarily summoned during battle. The series not only on Nick, but also on CBS on Saturday mornings and Noggin as well. For instance, Jack Skellington joins the player's party in the Nightmare Before Christmas world, but will not accompany the player elsewhere. The show was created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh, and Eric Weiner. Most worlds have a unique computer-controlled party member who can be chosen to replace Goofy or Donald in the party. Dora the Explorer became a regular series in 2000. Goofy and Donald are the only computer-controlled characters that are usable on every world. A pilot episode for this series aired in 1999. The computer controlled characters can have their behavior altered by the player, changing their item usages from "frequently" to "occasionally" for example. Dora the Explorer is an American animated television series for preschool-age children that is broadcast on Nickelodeon in the United States. Sora is the only character directly controlled by the player; other members in the party are computer controlled. Several traits can also be altered further by permanent boost items or equipped item effects. Sora's stats are more customizable; the player can select what attribute to excel in and which attribute to be lacking in, such as defense, magic or strength, at the beginning of the game. The main characters are Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy. Examples such as this convey a stronger sense of nostalgia when paired with characters, settings and voice clips from popular Disney films. For instance, when in Atlantica (The world from The Little Mermaid), the background music is a non-lyrical reinterpretation of the song 'Under the Sea'. While there are many original themes written specifically for the game by Shimomura, most of the soundtrack is comprised of popular melodies derived from classic disney films. Both versions of the song were composed and performed by Utada Hikaru. The music is composed by Yoko Shimomura, the ending credits theme and opening orchestration is by Kaoru Wada, and the main vocal theme is "Hikari" (Light) known as "Simple and Clean" in Western releases. The original worlds:. The Disney-based worlds:. The many worlds in which the game takes place include various Disney settings (nearly all of which are part of the Disney animated features canon), as well as some original ones. Other changes include new abilities, new weapons, new items, additional and recolored enemies; and gameplay tweaks to make the game easier for the player, along with two new difficulty levels. The Night on the Bald Mountain track from the English version has been included as well. New music was incorporated; the tracks are Disappeared and Another Side. In another attempt at foreshadowing, a video called Another Side, Another Story: Deep Dive will play along with Another Side, Another Story if the player accomplishes certain tasks. The optional bosses first included in the English version were introduced to Japanese players for the first time, along with the "Engimatic Man", in an attempt to raise interest for the sequel. A gameplay tweak allows the player to skip cutscenes after seeing them once. New scenes, clarifying certain plot points, such as Riku's journey and foreshadowing of Kingdom Hearts II, were included. Spoken dialogue was in English, with Japanese subtitles. Kingdom Hearts was re-released in Japan as Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix, this version had several events and a number of gameplay tweaks that were not in the American, European and Australian releases. Yoko Shimomura's arrangement of Night on Bald Mountain was set as the background music for the Chernabog boss fight, whereas the original Japanese version uses generic boss music. Besides English localization, three additional optional bosses were added, notably Sephiroth. The English version of Kingdom Hearts had new features that were not found in the original version of Kingdom Hearts in Japan. Sora promises to return to Kairi once he finds a way to bring Riku out of Kingdom Hearts. Sora and Kairi's reunion is cut extremely short as they are pulled apart by the reforming Destiny Islands. Before the door is locked, Riku tells Sora to take care of Kairi. Using his own Keyblade, Mickey locks Kingdom Hearts from the inside, but this forces himself and Riku to stay inside. Riku, who has regained his body, helps the others close the door on the other side, along with King Mickey Mouse. Sora, Donald and Goofy attempt to close the door, but their strength is not enough. Though the light of Kingdom Hearts defeated Ansem, the door threatens to unleash millions upon millions of Heartless onto the universe. They return to lock the keyhole and later travel to Kingdom Hearts itself, facing Ansem in a climactic final battle. They flee Hollow Bastion in face of the immense number of Heartless pouring through the pathway to Kingdom Hearts. Knowing that it was truly Sora, Kairi's light pulled him from the infinite darkness and restores Sora. Now a Heartless, Sora scampered to Kairi's protection. However, the pathway to Kingdom Hearts was opened. In order to free Kairi's heart, Sora impales himself on Ansem's Keyblade, losing his own heart while restoring Kairi and freeing the other Princesses' hearts, as the Keyblade was composed of their hearts. Sora and Ansem battle, with Sora as the victor. Kairi is revealed to be a Princess of Heart, and her heart was trapped in Sora's body ever since they got separated. Ansem desires to become part of what he believes to be the primordial phase of existence, the darkness that he believes to compose Kingdom Hearts. Only, this time, it is not truly Riku; it is actually Ansem, the scientist who was researching Heartless, occupying Riku's body. Sora confronts Riku again. Sora's party meets and exceeds the challenge, destroying Maleficent. This transformed Maleficent into a dragon that reflected the darkness in her heart. Sora and his teammates face and defeat Maleficent, allowing a strangely-behaved Riku to strike her with a unique type of Keyblade, one that opened hearts. Riku impulsively accepts. It is during this time that a mysterious being offers him greater power with which he could use to defeat Sora. Unfettered by the loss of his weapon, Sora puts his faith into his friends and wins back the Keyblade, sending Riku to run off and lick his wounds. Finally reaching Hollow Bastion, Maleficent's headquarters, Sora confronts Riku directly, ending with the revelation that Riku is also a Keyblade master and with the loss of Sora's own Keyblade. The goal of Maleficent and her group is to collect seven maidens of the purest heart, the "Princesses of Heart", in order to open the pathway to Kingdom Hearts, which is supposedly a repository of power and knowledge Maleficent intends to use in her plan to rule all worlds. Seeing Sora as apathetic towards Kairi's fate, Riku has taken reponsibility into his hands and struck a deal with Maleficent, in order to help Kairi regain her sense of self. Standing in their way, however, is a cabal of Disney villains, with Maleficent as their leader and Riku as her apprentice. Along their way, they lock "keyholes" to the heart of those worlds, preventing the Heartless from consuming their worlds. In their adventure, the trio explore many Disney-themed worlds, including Aladdin's Agrabah and The Little Mermaid's Atlantica. From the Destiny Islands, Sora lands in Traverse Town, where he joins Goofy and Donald Duck in their quest to find King Mickey Mouse and defeat the Heartless. After the battle, Sora receives his weapon, the mystical Keyblade, and sets out to defeat the Heartless and be reunited with his friends. When Sora finds Riku surrounded by darkness, Riku disappears and Sora has to fight the Heartless, who are being used to tear down the walls between worlds. The three friends are separated. The night before the voyage, a storm sweeps through the island, and evil shadow-creatures called the Heartless appear. The three children wish to leave the island that they have been confined to all their life, so they build a raft to escape. Kingdom Hearts begins on the lush, tropical islands called "Destiny Islands", home to the main characters Sora, Riku, and Kairi. . The game features real-time rendered backgrounds and scenery. Although the game's primary plotlines follow characters who were created specifically for Kingdom Hearts, characters from both companies play major roles in the game and its storyline. The game combines characters and settings from Disney's animated features and films with those from Square's Final Fantasy RPG series. Kingdom Hearts (Japanese: キングダムハーツ Kingudamu Hātsu) is a hybrid action/RPG that was released in 2002, which is notable for being the result of a collaboration between the video game developer and publisher Square and Disney. as Mickey Mouse. Yakashi Aoyagi .. as Piglet. Kiyoshi Komiyama .. as Tigger. Tesshō Genda .. as Winnie the Pooh. Shun Yashiro .. as Wendy. Yuriko Fuchisaki .. Smee. as Mr. Kazuo Kumakura .. as Captain Hook. Chikao Ohtsuka .. as Peter Pan. Mitsuo Iwata .. as Barrel. Shigeo Matsuzawa .. as Lock. Shintaro Sono'oka .. as Oogie Boogie. Hiroshi Hatanaka .. Finklestein. as Dr. Yuji Mitsuya .. as the Mayor. Toru Ohira .. as Jack Skellington. Masachika Ichimura .. as Flotsam and Jetsam. Shuichiro Moriyama .. as Ursula. Kujira .. as King Triton. Taro Ishida .. as Geppetto. Kazuo Kumakura .. as Pinocchio, Flounder. Yuki Tokiwa .. as Iago. Akira Kamiya .. as Jafar. Akira Takarada .. as Jasmine. Kaori Aso .. as Aladdin. Shinichiro Miki .. as Terk, Sally, Shock. Yuko Doi .. as Jane Porter, Ariel. Mayumi Suzuki .. as Clayton. Banjō Ginga .. as Tarzan. Juurouta Kosugi .. as Hades. Kyusaku Shimada .. as Philoctetes (Phil). Ichiro Nagai .. as Hercules. Yasunori Matsumoto .. as the Doorknob. Takehiro Koyama .. as the Queen Of Hearts. Sumie Ozawa .. as the White Rabbit. Shigeru Ushiyama .. as Daisy Duck and Alice. Mika Doi .. as Minnie Mouse. Yuko Mizutani .. as Wakka. Kazuya Nakai .. as Tidus. Masakazu Morita .. as Selphie. Mayuko Aoki .. as Cloud Strife. Takahiro Sakurai .. as Aerith Gainsborough. Maaya Sakamoto .. as Yuffie Kisaragi. Yumi Kakazu .. as Squall Leonhart (Leon). Hideo Ishikawa .. as Jiminy Cricket. Kaneta Kimotsuki .. as Maleficent. Toshiko Sawada .. as Ansem. Akio Otsuka .. as Kairi. Risa Uchida .. as Riku. Mamoru Miyano .. as Goofy. Yutaka Shimaka .. as Donald Duck, Genie, Mushu, Beast, Sebastian. Koichi Yamadera .. as Sora. Miyu Irino .. as Mickey Mouse. Wayne Allwine .. as Mushu. Mark Moseley .. as Beast. Robby Benson .. as Piglet. John Fiedler .. as Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. Jim Cummings .. as Captain Hook, Doorknob, Flotsam, Jetsam, and White Rabbit. Corey Burton .. as Peter Pan. Christopher Steele .. as Oogie Boogie. Ken Page .. Smee. as The Mayor, Barrel, and Mr. Jeff Bennett .. Finkelstein and Lock. as Dr. Jess Harnell .. as Sally. Rita Rudner .. as Jack Skellington. Chris Sarandon .. as Ursula. Pat Carroll .. as King Triton. Ken Mars .. as Sebastian. Kevin Michael Richardson .. as Flounder. Eli Linnetz .. as Ariel. Jodi Benson .. as Geppetto. Tony Pope .. as Pinocchio. Seth Adkins .. as Iago. Gilbert Gottfried .. as Jafar. Jonathan Freeman .. as Jasmine. Linda Larkin .. as Genie. Dan Castellaneta .. as Aladdin. Scott Weinger .. as Sora's mother and Shock. Kath Soucie .. as Terk. Audrey Wasilewski .. as Jane Porter. Naia Kelly .. as Clayton. Brian Blessed .. as Tarzan. Tony Goldwyn .. as Hades. James Woods .. as Philoctetes (Phil). Robert Costanzo .. as Hercules. Sean Astin .. as Alice and Wendy Darling. Kathryn Beaumont .. as Daisy Duck and Queen of Hearts. Tress MacNeille .. as Minnie Mouse. Russi Taylor .. as Wakka. Dee Bradley Baker .. as Tidus. Shaun Flemming .. as Selphie. Molly Keck .. as Sephiroth. James Lance Bass .. as Cloud Strife. Steve Burton .. as Aerith Gainsborough. Mandy Moore .. as Yuffie Kisaragi. Christy Carlson Romano .. as Squall Leonhart (Leon). David Boreanaz .. as Jiminy Cricket. Eddie Carroll .. as Maleficent. Susan Blakeslee .. as Ansem. Billy Zane .. as Kairi. Hayden Panettiere .. as Riku. David Gallagher .. as Goofy. Bill Farmer .. as Donald Duck. Tony Anselmo .. as Sora. Haley Joel Osment .. In the Final Mix release, an additional video, Another Side, Another Story: Deep Dive, is included if the player peforms other specific tasks. In the North American release, a bonus Kingdom Hearts II teaser titled Another Side, Another Story could be unlocked by peforming certain tasks. The optional boss Kurt Zisa was named after the winner of a publicity contest held by Squaresoft to promote the game. They were included in Final Mix along with another optional boss. While the Phantom and Coliseum bosses are present in the original Japanese version, the rest of the optional bosses were added later in the English version. Optional bosses in the game include Kurt Zisa, a Heartless; the Phantom, a Heartless; Ice Titan, from Hercules; Sephiroth, from Final Fantasy VII; and various Final Fantasy and Hercules characters in Coliseum matches. The homeland of Mickey, Donald and Goofy. Disney Castle (non-playable, not to be confused with Sleeping Beauty Castle). The World Terminus is located here, providing access to small areas of other worlds. The final battles with Ansem are fought here. Kingdom Hearts is near the center of this world. It is where many Heartless and evil beings reside. A large, dark world created from the assimilation of various worlds consumed in darkness. End of the World. This is also Maleficent's headquarters. This is the world that has been created for the Square characters as well as a sort of stand-in for the movie Beauty and the Beast as the Beast is a playable character there. Hollow Bastion. Several Final Fantasy and Disney characters reside here, including Aerith Gainsborough, Gepetto from Pinnochio, Yuffie Kisaragi, Squall Leonheart, Cid Highwind, The Fairy Godmother from Cinderella, and Merlin from The Sword in the Stone. A sort of "resting place" to come back to in between worlds, Traverse Town is where Sora first meets Donald and Goofy and truly starts his quest. Traverse Town. This world is home not only to Sora, Riku, and Kairi, but also Final Fantasy characters, Selphie Tilmitt, Tidus, and Wakka. This is where the Sora starts his journey, and although only accessible near the beginning and end of the game, the islands and the events in them are critical to the entire game's storyline. Destiny Islands. It is also one of the more important Disney-based worlds in the game, storyline-wise. Captain Hook, Peter Pan, Wendy, Smee and Tinkerbell call this world home, with Peter Pan able to join your party. The world's name is somewhat a misnomer because the action takes place on Captain Hook's ship and a minor bit in London; as such, the actual Neverland is not actually visited. Neverland, from Peter Pan. It features Jack Skellington, Sally, Lock, Shock, Barrel, Doctor Finklestein, Zero, the two-faced Mayor and Oogie Boogie, with Jack able to join your party. This world includes the town square, Oogie Boogie's Manor, Moonlit Hill and a graveyard. The movie's cast make their video game debut in the level. Halloween Town, from The Nightmare Before Christmas. This level has often been criticized by fans as a difficult level to play because the controls vary underwater. Ariel, King Triton, Ursula, Sebastian, Flounder, Flotsam and Jetsam appear in this world, with Ariel being the only female character in the game to join your party. This was a distinctive underwater level that consists of Ursula's cave, several grottos, and the city of Atlantica. Atlantica, from The Little Mermaid. Monstro is not a true world by Kingdom Hearts' definition, and thus does not contain a keyhole to be sealed. The infamous little wooden puppet Pinocchio and his maker Gepetto can be found here. This world brings the player through the bowels of a whale. Monstro, from Pinocchio. Aladdin, Abu, Jasmine, Jafar, Iago and Genie are introduced here, with Aladdin being a possible party member. This world includes Agrabah and the Cave of Wonders. Agrabah, from Aladdin. A variety of mini games open up as you proceed through the game. This world is unlike the others; there are no Heartless here and it takes place in the pages of a book. 100 Acre Wood, from Winnie the Pooh. This is a slightly longer world than the first, and includes Tarzan, as the first character that can be added to your party, Jane, Clayton and Several gorillas. Deep Jungle, from Tarzan. Phil), Cerberus, and Cloud Strife. This includes Hades, Hercules, Philoctetes (a.k.a. Olympus Coliseum, from Hercules. It features the Cheshire Cat, the Doorknob, Alice, The Queen of Hearts, and several cards as well as the White Rabbit. This is the first level that can be closed to the Heartless. This is a surreal level in which the player is shrunk down to a miniscule size. Wonderland, from Alice in Wonderland. |