Kingdom Hearts: Re-coded has Square Enix bringing their popular Kingdom Hearts title, coded, off of the mobile phones which it was originally released. This seems to me to be the strongest effort in the series. Where most titles make do with ratcheting up the graphics or game play, this DS port puts all of the dials to 11. Furthermore, unlike the original coded, Re-coded contains all the different chapters that were previously offered in a modular format.
The game contains an equal amount of nooks and crannies for fans that were already familiar with the title or are coming in blind to Re-coded. The style of game play that players will familiarize themselves contains all of the strongest notes from different releases in the Kingdom Hearts line. I usually notice pretty poor graphics when I stick a previously-mobile title into my DS. There are just a number of different examples of this, but potential purchases should not be afraid in the slightest. This is because Square Enix has broken down the graphics and have reconstituted them to a degree that it feels as if my little hand-held will melt from all of the rendering.
Throughout Re-coded, players will marvel at the different lands that pop up – places like Wonderland from Alice in Wonderland and Agrabah from Aladdin represent two of these locales. For those players that have soundly defeated coded, Square Enix have added a number of features that are exclusive to Re-coded. Brief insights are given to Re-coded players about the scope and story of Kingdom Hearts 3D, while the secret ending that is here showcases the severity of the evil that Xehanort’s ascension portends. Re-coded thus comes forth as a necessary purchase for any player that wants to keep up to date about the Kingdom Hearts storyline, as well as for those that wish to delve deeper into the lives of their favorite Disney characters and Data Sora alike. Keep an ear to the ground about any further 3D news and make it through this latest edition to the Kingdom Hearts line.
Rating: 9.0/10
Kingdom Hearts: Re-coded (Nintendo DS) / 2011 Square Enix / http://www.square-enix.com
