Plot. A young boy named Sora, dreams about being in a world, which will determine an inescapable destiny that will come at him soon. When he wakes from the dream, he speaks with Kairi and Riku, pondering the usual questions that adolescents do, such as: visiting other worlds, ambitions of explorations, brooding their horizons, and so on. Meanwhile, on Disney Castle, Donald and Goofy find out that King Mickey Mouse has been missing for some time. Then their mission is to find a warrior with a key. One night on Destiny Islands, the place is attacked by shadows of darkness known as the Heartless. When Sora defeats the Darkside with a magical key-like sword known as the "Keyblade", he is plunged into another world, where he encounters Donald and Goofy. Their mission is to save the different worlds from the Heartless, and also find King Mickey.
Concept. The quest is to guide Sora throughout different worlds to search for his friends Riku and Kairi, and also to help Donald and Goofy find their King Mickey. The mission in the many worlds of Disney, is to lock every Keyhole to keep the world from being consumed by the Heartless. They will also encounter characters from Final Fantasy in different worlds such as: Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cloud, Cid Highwind, Selphie, Wakka, and Tidus. Players also train in the Coliseum, in order to become stronger for the worlds that await them.
Design. The game is rendered in 3D graphics, and real-time facial expressions are very well made. Tetsuya Nomura provided the direction, character design, concept design, and the storyline. The game's graphics and the design of the Disney worlds resemble similarities to those of the movies. Also, the Disney characters were wonderfully rendered. The CGI cutscenes both in the beginning and ending were majestically epic.
Voice Acting. In the English Version of the game, Haley Joel Osment voiced Sora. Most of the voice actors were Hollywood movie stars, and also the some of the voice actors from the Disney movies reprised their roles such as: James Woods (Hades), Chris Sarandon (Jack Skellington), Scott Weinger (Aladdin). Pop singers Christy Carlson Romano and Mandy Moore provided the voices of Yuffie and Aerith. However, Mena Suvari replaced Mandy Moore in the second game. I was actually left in awe when these big names voiced the characters. Other notable stars included: Billy Zane, Lance Bass, Tony Goldwyn, Sean Astin, David Gallagher, and Hayden Panettiere.
Music. Yoko Shimomura was the composer of the game. I really enjoyed the music of the game, which fitted most of the worlds of Disney, and also the non-Disney related world, the Hollow Bastion. The main theme is called "Simple and Clean" performed by Japanese American singer Hikaru Utada. In the Spanish Version of the game, the song was titled "Luz", which means "light" in Spanish, it was performed by the Spaniard pop group, Charm.
Rantings. In the world of Tarzan, the monkey Heartless such as the "Powerwild" and "Bouncywild" were a major pain in the ass. They're quick and nifty, bouncing around just to annoy you, and that's when they attack unexpectedly. Their attacks pack a punch, which will have you overwhelmed with anger that you just want to break your PS2 controller. Also, the boss I hated was Clayton and the Stealth Sneak, they were such a bother. Also, though I loved Atlantica, what was most bothersome was the repertoire of the main theme "Under the Sea", that after two hours of playing, it becomes sinisterly tedious. Also, I was a little appalled at the fact that they included Halloween Town, and that movie was not made by Disney.
Good Aspects. The Disney worlds were amazingly well done, and the characters kept in line with their roles in both the game and movies. Also, I loved the inclusion of Final Fantasy characters, and also that you get to fight them. To me, that was a Final Fantasy player's dream come true. The gameplay was also very exciting, and the storyline had me blown away. With this game, I laughed, I cried, I cheered, and enjoyed the magic, and the epicness that this game brought. I also loved the mini-quest of finding the 100 puppies, from the 101 Dalmatians universe. When all the puppies were reunited, I just wanted to cry in joy, oh the memories of my beautiful childhood.
Legacy. Kingdom Hearts had a global cult following. The game spawned remakes such as the Final Mix of the first game, which included new heartless, and a more expanded storyline. The game also spawned interquels, sequels, graphic novels, manga, and recently a prequel for the PSP "Birth By Sleep". The game continues to live in the hearts of the fans for almost a decade as of now.
Overall. Kingdom Hearts happens to be my favorite PS2 title. This game gets a 10 out of 10