Kingdom Hearts is kind of in the bad books with Nintendo fans at the moment. After years of requesting the franchise make its debut on the Nintendo Switch, we got what we asked for... albeit via an awful Cloud Version. We said the port was "incredibly disappointing" in our review of the Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece, awarding it a 5/10.
Still, despite this, it's quite fun seeing the series get a nod from Disney itself, with the latest Disney+ Mickey Mouse special - 'The Wonderful Spring of Mickey Mouse' - featuring none other than Kingdom Key D, the key blade that Mickey Mouse wields for the majority of the series.
It's not often that Disney itself makes reference to Kingdom Hearts, so to see this fun little nod definitely brought a smile to our faces, regardless of our feelings towards the Cloud Versions of the series on Switch.
In fact, Storyboard Revisionist Amber Vucinich expressed her thanks via the below tweet for the inclusion of the key blade, before wishing the franchise a "happy almost 20th anniversary" (wow, has it been that long?).
Although Switch fans have got to put up with Cloud Versions for the games, it's not all doom and gloom. The series' protagonist - Sora - rounded out the insane fighter roster for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, releasing back on October 18th, 2021.
- Further Reading - 8 Times I Ugly Cried At Kingdom Hearts
Will you be checking out The Wonderful Spring of Mickey Mouse on Disney+? Did you pick up the Cloud Versions of Kingdom Hearts on Switch? Let us know!
[source kh13.com, via twitter.com]
Comments 50
What is so difficult about releasing a pair of PS2 games and a GBA game on Switch?
Both Square and Rockstar seem to have trouble with this.
Please don’t remind me about integrum.
Those new Mickey Mouse cartoons are better and more fun than they have any right to be.
So that makes Kingdom Hearts canon in anything Mickey Mouse-related?
Can I just say, the Mickey Mouse shorts are the funniest thing Disney have ever put out. They're so underrated and that sucks so hard.
A nice gesture but it won't remove my bitterness towards Square Enix for botching the ports. I ended up buying them on PC but I really wanted them on Switch and no Melody of Memory doesn't count.
I fully accept the Mickey Mouse cartoon as the true sequel and conclusion to Kingdom Hearts
Echoing the sentiment that these shorts are awesome and one of the best things Disney's put out in recent memory without the name Pixar attached.
@nukatha ok
1. It’s not PS2 versions of the games. 1.5 and 2.5 were remastered/remade for PlayStation 3. But still those games should be released natively on Switch.
2. Rockstars used UE4 for the GTA trilogy. So it’s kinda of a remake/remaster borderline
Now all I need is Donald recalling the time someone fought a guy who overdoses on shampoo and my life will be ever so complete!
@Bret
Has Pixar put out anything good since TS3?
Honest question.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_6mpKet-KI
Uuh, what's wrong with Goofy? He looks like he's been through hell and back.
@nukatha I second what @anoyonmus said. And to elaborate, SE lost the source codes to final mix versions of KH1, 2, CoM and BBS so they had to nativily remake them for ps3. The games in these collections are not the ps2 games, they remade ps3 games. + CoM is not the GBA version and BBS is not the psp versionc they’re the Japanese exclusives ps2 versions.
@OldManHermit it's a retro style based on his original designs, the reduced clothing helps him fit in the cartoon's universe I suppose.
@darkswabber yup it’s exactly that
@Screen I thought Coco, Luca, Toy Story 4, Inside Out, and Turning Red were all great movies. Everything else is a kind of mixed bag. Certainly not terrible. But not as good as the movies I listed. At least in my opinion
I never even knew that new Mickey Mouse shorts existed. Too bad they're exclusive to Disney+, a service I have no interest in.
@UmbreonsPapa
I had forgotten Inside Out was after. That one was for a different audience but I definitely understood the appeal.
I had no idea Mickey cartoons look like this nowadays.
This new Mickey Mouse cartoons and the Cuphead show are the only fun cartoons that we have now. Anyone else noticed that modern western shows are so cynical, depressing, political and too close to real life? Kinda nice to watch a normal cartoon like The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse that is just fun.
@Screen Yeaaaaah, good point. I'm not used to this new Pixar with all the misses. I'd say Inside Out, Coco, and Incredibles 2 were good movies. Still haven't seen any of them since TS4. Turning Red being streaming-only really puts me off to be honest.
@RubyCarbuncle Melody of Memory is great though. As someone who has already played all of the KH games on other platforms, I was happy to see something new on Switch. Even if it's a spin-off, it is still a super fun rhythm game that makes perfect sense after the success of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.
@KoopaTheGamer Oh I agree it is but it would have been great to see the other games get ported alongside it.
@CharlieGirl 100%! When I tell people I like the new Mickey Mouse cartoons they likely assume I mean some ugly CGI garbage. They're fantasticc
@RubyCarbuncle Sure. Even though I own some of the games on three platforms already, I'd be tempted to get them on Switch... if they were native ports and not this cloud nonsense.
@CharlieGirl IKR?
Disney+ separates this show into a few different series for some reason. "The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse" is particularly good.
Maybe there's some running joke behind it, or it works better in motion, but urgh, I just can't get behind the mismatch of art styles in that still at all. You've got Minnie (and Goofy's body) in classic 1930's style, and its newsprint-grey primary coloration shared across all the characters, but then you've got Goofy's face looking like a rejected Ren & Stimpy design from the '90s, all on top of a watercolor background straight outta a '60s Tom and Jerry cartoon - and I don't even want to guess where Donald's coked-out, soulless, thousand-yard stare is coming from.
What the heck, Disney? I know you own pretty much every past, present, and future media property these days, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea to try to apply all of it at once to the same cel.
@Aurumonado This Mickey Mouse style came back in 2013 with a series of shorts.
The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse was released un 2020. It's also a series of shorts, but newer. Also several 20 minute specials here and there
@darkswabber
If you're using any version control system from the past 30 years, how the heck do you lose source code on ANY project beyond a few days of work?
Why do they always insist on making Goofy so creepy?
@nukatha same as to how most source codes for Japanese ps2 games where lost during that time (like silent hill 2, 3 and 4), deleted to free up space for the next project because game preservation was not on their minds back then and software storage space was limited.
I'd care but if Square don't wanna respect the fans I won't care about them just gonna hurt them the most way by letting people know how badly they treat the fan base the greedy selfish t words.
what is up with that artstyle? woo not a fan. It is like someone that worked on Ren and Stimpy and powerpuff girls (original version) tried to replicate the old B&W Disney style and....it did not work.
@Fath Oh good, it is not just me.
@Fath @Ryu_Niiyama I like it… I can see why some people wouldn’t like it, but I think it’s fun. I’ve been watching these shorts since they came out though.
This show is INCREDIBLE!
Yuck. I do not know about the show itself but that animation style looks cheap and hideous.. 🤮
Where are the animators who gave us those great 80s / 90s shows such as Goof Troop, Darkwing Duck, DuckTales (the original series - not that newer one), Gummi Bears, TaleSpin, Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers.. not to mention all of those animators who worked on (the animated movie versions of) The Lion King, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid.. now that was good animation! Sad to see what Disney has become.. 🥲
@BabyYoda71 Don't worry, I hear ya; you abd the others here praising this show have done a solid job of establishing that it's surely more than the sum of its parts (or rather, just a single part even); the visual gag of the keyblade here's legit pretty funny, too.
I'm just sayin.
@KeoTsumata you go to lenscrafters for those rose tinted glasses?
@nukatha
Part of the problem is that they lost the original code for the game, and the same can be said with the GTA Trilogy.
Haha, cute little reference
The modern Mickey Mouse shorts being based as always
@ModdedInkling Genuine question, How do you lose the source code for a game?
@OnlyItsMeReid
It’s pretty easy. Most of it was stored on external data devices, like CD, DVD, or harddrive. Before the 7th generation, developers were never concerned with rereleasing games on newer hardware. So anything could happen that would cause them to lose them. Just moving offices was a major cause of loss. Or employees taking it home and then losing them.
The game industry was an entirely different animal back before the middle part of the 7th generation. No one cared about preservation; they only cared about making new games. So once the game was done, they would put the source on an external device and then promptly forget about it.
@HammerGalladeBro Well, this is one of those shows like Tom & Jerry and Popeye where canon doesn’t matter. Of course now that Mickey has such a legacy, they can add as many nods to other incarnations as they want.
From what I've seen, the jokes in this cartoon are hilarious so it's pretty neat-o to see a KH reference.
@OnlyItsMeReid
I actually don't know. Lost during a clean-up, accidental deletion, server failure, anything.
@korosanbo Well, I was the one who tagged KH13.com, and it eventually spread like wildfire. We could've seen this on whatever the PlayStation equivalent news site is. And I still stand by my statement: I'll only buy KH Melody of Memory for the additional song in Smash, then I can get rid of it, and get it for the PS4, to go with all my other KH Games on the PS4!
We could've had each individual game on the Nintendo Switch as physical cards:
None of this compilation crap! And while we're at it, Portable-Mode-Only Versions of 358/2 Days and Re:Coded, since they're made for it!
@darkswabber Just to point out that Birth by Sleep was never on the PS2 and was initially a PSP exclusive until the 2.5 HD collection. Also, if that was also referring to Chain of Memories as a Japanese exclusive, that's not right either. Re:Chain of Memories saw a US release on the PS2 and later other places outside the US and Japan via the 1.5 HD collection. On top of that, it was initially the Final Mix versions that were exclusive to Japan until these collections came out initially on the PS3.
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