Pros: Graphics, card battling, great sound, some new characters
Cons: Same Disney levels and it's too much of a rehash of KH
The bottom line: For anyone that wants a good GBA game and there are not too many out now then don't pass up Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.
I'll admit I like this game and I'm sure everyone else out there who liked Kingdom Hearts will like this game too. Some may even love it. I'll say it's good but not great. Sora is on practically the same adventure he was in the spectacular 3D adventure of yesteryear. He Donald and Goofy are wandering about after defeating Ansem and the heartless. They come upon Castle Oblivion which is a place with multiple floors that make people and ducks alike lose their memories. So this sounds different right? Well at the beginning yes but later on you will come to see that Square has just taken all the Disney levels they put into Kingdom Hearts back into this game with little else added in between.

For those unfamiliar with Kingdom Hearts and are just looking for a Gameboy Advance game to play then this is definitely worth it. The threesome of Donald, Goofy, and Sora take on badies in Disney inspired levels. Chains of Memories makes up for it's lack of uniqueness with some innovative gameplay that is unsimilar to any other game that I'm aware of. This game can not really be considered a card game because the only thing cards are for is unlocking doors and battling. The battle system is very unique and fun. You can arrange your deck to how you like and then you use it in the battles which are determined by whether or not you touch or hit a heartless walking around. This sends you into a small battle area and you duel it out in a non-turn based battle system. The cards are played very fast and the enemys will be jumping all over the place playing cards of their own. The cards are assigned a number 0-9. 0 cancels all cards played. 9-1 are used for attacking and a card that is higher than the enemys leads to a card break leaving it open to attack. If the enemy breaks your card then it results in you being left open to be hit. Goofy, Donald, and summons also are cards with values when played they need to break the enemy's card to unleash their attack. Sometimes they miss completely but they do help in turning the tide of a battle. Also you gain access to cards like Peter Pan or Aladin if your in that level. Spells and items are used this way too. The spell cure must beat the enemy's card to have it heal Sora. All the spells from the original game return as well like fire and blizzard. Having a strong deck is key to winning battles. The fights are pretty hectic and the only bad thing is that the enemys can sometimes back you into a non-escapeable corner. New cards can be obtained from winning boss fights and regular battles. Moogle stops also offer new cards. The doors littered throughout the levels also need cards to unlock them. Usual it takes certain numbered cards along with a special one here and there. The leveling system is very simple. When you gain a level you have three choices. Health up, Card power up, or learn a new slight, (ability). Card power is the power of your deck. Cards have a specific card power number. The card power your deck has cannot be exceeded so having a higher card power results in be able to carry more cards or just having stronger cards for that matter. In my opinion the battle system is what makes this game worth the 30 dollars. Battling is pretty much all you do anyway.

Other than battling you can explore the fairly symplistic levels. All of which are the Disney worlds that we say in the first game. The only thing that makes this bad is that it just doesn't hook you like Kingdom Hearts did when you first got to enter Monstro or Halloween Town. It's already been seen. Only one new level is in here and that's toward the end. Levels basically consist of multitiered squarish rooms that have doors and bouncy things all over the place. The level design is really basic but hey it's a gameboy advance game and it's pretty impressive.

For the graphical side of Chains of Memories has some of the best the Advance has to offer. Lush detail and colors make this title a joy to look at. It has a descent frame rate too. Even in the heated battles. Sometimes the effects of spells look a little to pixelated though. Sora and the gang all look surprisingly detailed despite their small size. All characters in the game are easily recognizable. The cut scenes that are added in look spectacular but I wish their were more of them. Castle Oblivion looks kind of drab but the rest of the game looks really good.

Story is a key element and Kingdom Hearts and luckily this game adds a little bit to the already used worlds. The gang in Castle Oblivion slowly moves up the stairs in this white Castle going through Disney levels we've already seen. The boss fights are the same too. The weird thing is that they change the events a little bit but this doesn't mean the end result changes. In between levels you see some of the characters that will be in Kingdom Hearts 2. They are a organization that dresses up in black hooded outfits. It's nice to see some new faces thrown in the mix but there isn't enough of it to keep this game fresh. You get to take on most of these new bad doods and they have an old friend of Sora's taken hostage. Her character will probably be seen more in KH2.

For sound this is one of the cooler parts in this game. The music is off course the same that we heard on the Playstation 2 but it sounds really good even though it comes out of GBA speakers. The tunes are nearly perfectly done and though there's no voice acting you hear some battles cries when you fights enemies from Sora and company. The rest of the clinking and clonking sound OK too. The thing that bugged me is the annoying little type writer sound you hear when the words show up on screen. To avoid that you can just turn the little knob.

All in all despite this games few flaws it get a 4 out of 5. Memories is mostly a rehash so you can play through Sora's adventures on the go but you do get to see some new faces which will make you want to keep playing. The make or break for this game was the battle system and Square came through with a fun but deep combat engine. Had there been a little more separation from KH this could have been an excellent game. I may have gone through these worlds before but I still enjoy going through again.