I recently started playing Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (I’m not quite done so watch the spoilers :)). I remember seeing the commericals for the original KH and thinking the entire concept seemed a little kiddie. Turns out I couldn’t be more wrong and that the game is fun for all ages, except for that damn Pooh level. I want that hour of my life back.
Anyway, I love the game and I want the original. All the websites I’ve seen say that the game debuted in 2002 on Playstation. I could have sworn that it debuted a lot earlier, like in '95 for either Super Nintendo or the original Playstation. Have I been wandering in Castle Oblivion too long?
I have Kingdom Hearts for the PS2, and it says copyright 2002, so that’s probably right. It’s a great game.
Didn’t realize they had a new one. I’ll have to check into it.
Its for Gameboy Advance and has been out for about 6 months now. The price ranges from $25-35.
Any chance that the 2002 version is a remake?
Nope.
All of the Square characters in it are PS and PS2 character. Many (but not all) the Disney characters could have existed in a SNES-era game, and might have co-existed in a Disney game, but if so, Square wasn’t involved.
It’s possible - but I don’t think so - the game was a collaboration between Squaresoft and Disney, so it got a lot of press before its release, and I never heard anything about it being a remake.
And it’s a must have for the PS2. People see cartoon characters and assume it’s “kiddy,” but they couldn’t be more wrong, it’s story is dark and compelling, and the characters add more of a nostalgia factor than anything else.
I may just have to play through it again now. 
Oh, I remember now. It was reviewed by Adam & Morgan on X-Play. They liked it, but it looks like a smaller version of the original but made for the GBA.
No thanks.
That’s what I said.
Is it part of the KH story though? Are we missing something from the big picture only playing the PS2 games? (the new one is coming later this year)
I’m nearly to the end. It seems like its’ going to wind up being one of those things were you get a good little story and a fun little game, but nothing major will change and you won’t be missing much. Then again Final Fantasy likes to throw in big twists towards the end so don’t hold me to that.
I played KH, haven’t played Chain of Memories. Chain of Memories is supposed to be filler story between KH and KHII (which I believe should be out for Christmas). Whether you feel like you’ll miss something probably depends on how much you value depth. Since they are on different platforms, I don’t think Squaresoft will make the story for KHII dependant on CoM.
I just finished Chain of Memories. Big spoilers follow:
I was right. You discover that a witch is being forced to meddle with Sora, Donald, and Goofy’s memories. You beat up the bad guys and the witch fixes your memories the only way she can, by making you forget the entire experience. In essence, the entire game might well have not happened. Still, great game.