Game Mechanics

Game Controls

Controls
As you might suspect, Kingdom Hearts won’t work exactly the same on the Gameboy Advance as it did on the Playstation 2. You can still walk around, jump and attack like you used to (just in sprite form) but now the battle system is now a card-battle system. You will be traveling around collecting and using cards to do commands while in a battle. Battles now take place on a separate screen, and in that new screen is when the new gameplay picks up. The controls for during a battle can be confusing at times. As for outside of a battle, the controls are rather basic. You will not need to worry much about it.

Out On The Field
+Control Pad - Move Sora
A Button - Swing Keyblade / Examine / Talk / Use A Card / Speed Up Messages
B Button - Jump / Cancel Card Use / Exit Screen
Start - Open Menu Screen / Hold Down To Skip Events
Select - Open World Map

During Battle
+Control Pad - Move Sora / Dodge Roll / Escape
A Button - Use Card / Hold Down To Reload Cards
B Button - Jump
L Button - Cycle Through Cards
R Button - Cycle Through Cards
L + R Buttons - Stock A Card / Use Stocked Cards
Start - Pause
Select - Switch Card Catorgories

Card Types

Map Cards
Now there are mainly two different types of cards: Map Cards and Battle Cards. Map Cards are used to advance through the story. Each card has different effects and numbers on it that relate to the door. Once the correct type of map card and number is given, you open up a door and advance to the next area. Now the next area changes depending on what card you use. Each card changes the area to it's design in every world. So every room can look basically the same if you use the same type of map card everytime. Every room resets when you leave the world. You receive map cards at the end of a battle as a prize.

Battle Cards
Battle Cards look a lot like map cards but have entirely different functions. Battle Cards are strictly for use during a battle. There are different types for Battle Cards ranging from attack to summoning to magic. You even have cards that can give you an extra ‘oomph’ in battle. You will be able to stock your cards in any order that you wish so you know where each one is during battle. Cards can be combined together to perform sleights or combos. Usually when you stock cards using the L and R buttons simultaneously, you do a 3-Hit combo. But sometimes if you play specific cards then you can perform a sleight you have learned while you progressed through the game which causes massive damage to your opponent.

Battle Cards have values like Map Cards, ranging from 0-9. The way the new battle system works is that you and your opponent both have your own set of cards and use one each time to attack. Basically it’s a game of war, whenever you and your opponent use a card to attack at the same time, the card with the higher value lets the user attack and the other user's attack is negated. If your opponent happens to not play a card at the same time as you then the attack carries on as normally. The only card that is an exception to this is one with a value of 0. If you play zero a little after your opponent uses a card then it is stopped, however if you play the zero card to early then you could lose to a card with a higher value. After you run out of cards you simply hold down A on a special icon next to your cards to retrieve them all back. Sadly, each time you do that the wait gets longer.

There are 5 different types of cards to use in battle: Attack Cards, Magic Cards, Friend Cards, Item Cards and Enemy Cards. Attack cards are just the basic cards you use to do normal attacks. Magic cards allow you to do magic and summon characters to come into to battle and do a special effect for a small amount of time. Friend Cards summon your allies from that world (Donald and Goofy will always be included) and they help you attack the enemies for a short period of time. Item Cards do various things: restoring health, returning cards, etc. The last set of Battle Cards are Enemy Cards. These cards produce a unique, lasting effect during the current battle. Only one enemy card can be used at once, if another is used then it replaces the effects of the last.

There is a way to get rid of older cards and obtain new ones as well. If you use a moogle shop Map Card then a moogle is in the following room. The moogle allows you to buy cards, mix cards using synthesis and other options. To do this you have to have moogle points, which you gain throughout the game.