Kingdom Hearts Coded
A mobile Kingdom Hearts spin-off about debugging a digitized journal.
Kingdom Hearts coded is an episodic action role-playing puzzle video game developed and published by Square Enix in collaboration with Disney Interactive Studios for mobile phones. Announced at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show, it was released only in Japan. A Nintendo DS remake titled Kingdom Hearts Re:coded received international release, and a cinematic remake was included in the Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix compilation.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Square Enix
- Director
- Tetsuya Nomura; Hajime Tabata
- Producer
- Kakuko Obinata
- Artist
- Tetsuya Nomura; Koichi Akiyama
- Programmer
- Manabu Mizoguchi; Naoyuki Ohashi
- Writer
- Harunori Sakemi
- Yukari Ishida
- Daisuke Watanabe
- Composer
- Yoko Shimomura
- Series
- Kingdom Hearts
Facts from the source article.
Plot
After the events of Kingdom Hearts II, Jiminy Cricket, King Mickey, Donald Duck, and Goofy are at Disney Castle. While organizing his journal, Jiminy finds a mysterious line he did not write: "We must return to free them from their torment." King Mickey digitizes the journal to look into it, but the digital version becomes infected with bugs that look like red-and-black blocks. Mickey creates a virtual version of Sora, called Data-Sora, to explore the datascape and fix the journal by destroying the blocks and digital Heartless. The player moves through virtual copies of worlds from the first Kingdom Hearts game, such as Destiny Islands, Traverse Town, Wonderland, Olympus Coliseum, Agrabah, and Hollow Bastion, with Castle Oblivion as the last level. Data-Sora wears the same outfit as the original Sora from that game. Other characters like Riku, Naminé, and Roxas also appear as virtual avatars. Donald and Goofy act as computer-controlled partners in one level. The main enemies are software bugs and Heartless, along with Maleficent and Pete.
Development
In mid-2007, Tetsuya Nomura wanted to make a Kingdom Hearts spin-off for mobile phones with a different feel, describing it as a "playground" for fans. Co-director Hajime Tabata thought the idea was terrible but still intriguing. The story was originally not part of the series timeline, but later its final chapters were connected to Birth by Sleep and 358/2 Days. The team planned to use mobile phones' communication features for player interaction. The game used both 3D and 2D graphics to work on various phones for overseas release, and was built for hardware more powerful than anything available at the time, though developers held back on pushing limits to reach markets with weaker hardware. Early screenshots showed a widescreen format, expecting future phones to have swivel screens. Few phones could meet the technical requirements, so expansion to other Japanese carriers and the United States was impossible. The game was announced at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show alongside Birth by Sleep and 358/2 Days. It first came pre-installed on the Docomo PRIME Series P-01A phone. Nomura tried a new business model with lower entry barriers, including an online portal called Kingdom Hearts Mobile for avatars and minigames. Downloading the game on Japanese mobile phones ended on April 30, 2013.
Reception
Prior to release, Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com praised the game's graphics and scope, comparing them to PlayStation Portable titles. Kevin Gifford of 1UP.com commended its themes and online portal. Kingdom Hearts Re:coded received mixed reviews. IGN praised the gameplay variety and graphics but criticized the story and platforming. GameSpot stated that frustrating platforming and a tepid narrative mar the journey. Game Informer called it the most skip-worthy entry in the series. Nintendo Power said it was the best Kingdom Hearts game on a Nintendo platform. Official Nintendo Magazine noted unforgivable camera problems but deemed it decent for fans. 1Up.com's Joe Leonard said it does what it sets out to do well with fun twists. Jamin Smith of VideoGamer.com said long-term fans should forgive its problems. Kat Bailey of G4tv called it an appetizer for better things. VentureBeat reviewed the HD 2.5 Remix and called the Re:coded part a long, uninteresting retread. Game Revolution called the movie boring.
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