Video Game Harmony

Kingdom Hearts

Released: March 28, 2002

Developer: Square

Composer: Yoko Shimomura

In 2002 Square created a game for PS2 similar to Final Fantasy with anime characters and a roleplaying style and… wait… is that Donald and Goofy? Apparently this was a collaboration with Disney! For my first review I thought that for the 20th anniversary year I would talk about the soundtrack to Kingdom Hearts. Surprisingly this was a game I had never played until earlier this year, but man it was an experience! Let me tell ya, it is a DENSE game with a HUGE soundtrack.
Title Screen – Dearly Beloved
https://youtu.be/ixSrQI-J-80
Immediately when you get to the menu you hear this mega relaxing music. It was hard for me to not just get swept away into this when I first put in the game disc. Soooooo relaaaaxiiiiiiing… It’s a really simple piece of music but absolutely amazing.
Opening – Hikari
https://youtu.be/2ch5HjBtxaA
Wait long enough on the menu and you get kind of like a trailer for the game. I honestly didn’t watch this when I first opened the game because I didn’t want the game spoiled (though it didn’t really spoil much). I listened to this afterwards though, and it’s different than dearly beloved, but in a good way. Instead of it being relaxing, it sounds very heroic. If you want to change from the chill mood and into being ready to fight some heartless, this is the music for you.
The Beginning – Dive Into the Heart
https://youtu.be/p1n56ivKHIk
Now as soon as you start the game this is where you get to decide your destiny and whatnot. Really it’s kind of like an orientation to the game to get acquainted with the controls. This music I didn’t like as much, but it does start to speed up and get you into the mood to fight. It brings a bit of intensity to this section of the game. The only thing is it seemed a bit repetitive at times, but it did make things start to feel intense as I’m realizing what is required of me in this game.

Grand Fight – Destiny’s Force
https://youtu.be/TsFhTuiDpxc
I believe this is the music that plays when Sora fights himself (or a big bad version of himself). It brings quite a bit of intensity to the fight. I’m not even paying attention to the music because I’m trying to beat the boss, but it sets the mood nevertheless.
Destiny Islands
https://youtu.be/OKlaotAgwHg
Now it’s time for a change of pace. On our first real world that we get to be a part of we hear this nice tropical music. The only thing I didn’t like was how repetitive it seemed, and after spending forever looking for items to make a raft it almost made me go insane! It’s nice to listen to for a short time however.
Battle on the Beach – Bustin’ up the Beach
https://youtu.be/YDPolUamJjA
If you need a break from that music then challenge your island friends to a fight. This music brings the energy but not in an intense way. It reminds us that this dueling is still just to have fun.
Sunset – Treasured Memories
https://youtu.be/934NXuWgWcc
I mean it basically just sounds like Dearly Beloved in disguise, but it’s a nice way to end the day. I can totally chill and unwind to this in the evening as I forget all the troubles of life.
Disney Castle – Mickey Mouse Club March
https://youtu.be/ESPBQEMkuNc
It’s the theme to the Mickey Mouse Club. You know what that means, we get to see Mickey! Well… not exactly. It turns out he kind of ditched us, but he says he’ll return. However, we do get to see, in addition to other Disney characters, Donald and Goofy, who will be joining us for this whole adventure.

Whispers at Night – Strange Whispers
https://youtu.be/3EwE7vs–TM
Something’s stirring. This lets you know that not everything’s alright, and that something evil is coming.
Heartless Theme – Night of Fate
https://youtu.be/5ukdi_p5Tdk
They have arrived! The Heartless are on the island, and they’re not friendly! This is the part where I wondered at first why I couldn’t fight back, and then finally got my key to whack them with. This music brought the extra adrenaline to this part.

Where am I? – Where is This?
https://youtu.be/y_rsHesTiR0
All the madness went down, the worlds have been broken apart, and Sora’s now in this strange new place. this music brings a good bit of mystery to this part, even though most of us already know what’s coming and are now thinking “oh good more Disney characters”.
Traverse Town
https://youtu.be/bDmDli2dQ7g
I remember first hearing this and thinking “oh yeah, I already like this place”. It gives a nice vibe of being a city where you can stroll around in the evening and have fun (and also get attacked by heartless, but that’s beyond the point). Despite its repetitiveness, I enjoyed being in Traverse Town because of this score.
Traverse Town Fight – Hand In Hand
https://youtu.be/lYD-qHQnYYs
As soon as you leave the main district, the other districts are practically devoid of life, except that the heartless are all around ready to fight. You get plenty of practice fighting here. Just like how Traverse Town seems like an overall fun place, this music isn’t too intense, and instead sounds more heroic.
The Heartless Have Arrived – The Heartless Has Come
https://youtu.be/Abzy8ulw3Hc
You do, however, get the feeling that something evil’s brewing here. I don’t remember exactly, but this may be before you fight the big heartless boss. That comes later though.

Merlin’s Magical House
https://youtu.be/FekoT5hIcDU
This comes later on, but still in Traverse Town so I’ll cover it now. You get to go to to the house of Merlin from The Sword and the Stone. I honestly found this music rather annoying with the constant high pitched noise piercing through the music, and I tried to spend the least amount of time in this place as possible.
Gummi Ship Road – A Walk in Adante
https://youtu.be/bfCjoilHInk
If someone would like to fill me in on where this music appears that would be great. My guess is you hear this when you first get the Gummi Ship, which will take you to all the worlds.
Gummi Ship Theme 1 – Blast Away! Gummi Ship 1
https://youtu.be/bAcQjw8hD1w
Now it’s time to take a ride in the Gummi Ship (not exactly sure why it’s called that). The music makes everything sound fast, and I definitely wanted to get to the next world as fast as possible. I didn’t care much about shooting asteroids.
Gummi Ship LAB
https://youtu.be/3LoMLjsbl-s
Here’s where you can make modifications to the Gummi Ship. You know how much I used this? NONE. I really didn’t care about updating this ship that I used for such a short time (sorry Chip N’ Dale). If you do want to make modifications, you come here and hear this very playful sounding music. I just didn’t feel like playing with this toy.
World Selection – Precious Stars in The Sky
https://youtu.be/jK6LMzcTXEI
Here’s music that you end up hearing quite a bit. I thought it nicely fit the mood of exploring new and undiscovered places. I was constantly interested to know what world would be next and who I could see there.

Olympus Colosseum
https://youtu.be/vkq7u4WNzkg
Now it’s time to finally get to the worlds. The first world you get to depends on where you want to go, but Hercules could be one of them.
I didn’t spend much time here because this world is optional, but this definitely makes me feel like I’m somewhere of royalty.

Hero Practice – Road to a Hero
https://youtu.be/7MiHKr11jCM
It’s time to practice your combat, and if you want to be able to fight like Hercules, you need some really triumphant music, which is exactly what this is.
Colosseum Battle – Go For It!
https://youtu.be/b3WTHbFl0Rk
This music doesn’t sound as intense as I’d expect it to, but if you’re just fighting some easy heartless I guess that’s all you need. There are a bunch of colosseum battles, and I definitely didn’t do all of them, but if you want some combat practice this is for you.
Cerberus Attacks! – No Time to Think!
https://youtu.be/80pZyLe8Pz4
Fighting some heartless goons is one thing, but fighting a giant three-headed dog is completely different.
If this doesn’t make you feel stressed out I don’t know what does! This music may be simple, but it’s highly intense and lets you know that Cerberus means business!

Deep Jungle
https://youtu.be/-OuLuGbwaGk
Now it’s time for the good old jungle with our friend Tarzan. I love this music and how it makes me feel like I’m now in the midst of a rainforest and have to survive with no way of escape (literally you can’t escape with the gummi ship at first). I could’ve done with some Phil Collins, but this will do.
Jungle Fight – Having A Wild Time
https://youtu.be/o2EfbeBkvQg
Since it’s the jungle, some predators are inevitable, especially if the heartless are there. I kind of wish this music sounded more jungley (if that’s a word), but it’s decent fight music overall.
Holy Bananas!
https://youtu.be/cAAfsAb5ltw
This fight music fits the jungle theme a bit better in my opinion. If it sounds familiar, that’s because it’s basically a sped up version of Deep Jungle. If I had to fend off a bunch of monkeys in a rainforest, this is what would put me in the mood.

Welcome to Wonderland
https://youtu.be/a6p3U1z9bvc
Wonderland was the first world I traveled to when playing the game, so I remember this music quite vividly. It’s repetitive but fits the mood quite well.
Wonderland Battle – To Our Big Surprise
https://youtu.be/Nadllr5rj0c
When I wanted to fight heartless to get items or something, this is where I often went, therefore I remember this music quite well also. It’s some of the bounciest fight music I’ve ever heard, but if you’re fighting in a crazy place like this I guess that’s what you should expect to hear. Thankfully since I went here a lot, I didn’t find this music too annoying.
Tricksy Clock
https://youtu.be/L42_OMXcCVw
Fitting that it’s called Tricksy Clock because guess what it sounds like?
You guessed it!
World Clear – Turning The Key
https://youtu.be/U80G93EOlgA
And now you finally find the keyhole and have completed a world!
This music is so satisfying.
Partially because it feels like completeness, and partially because you hear it when completing any world (go figure).
Disney Villains – Squirming Evil
https://youtu.be/qYdS4ayJFJY
The title is fitting because this does make me want to squirm whenever it’s played. It’s somewhat repetitive but I wasn’t paying attention during the game, rather I was trying to defeat the bosses that took…

F O R E V E R. Here’s a tip, get the upgrade that allows you to see the boss’s health because that will make it not seem to take nearly as long. Anyways, if it makes me uncomfortable then I guess it accomplished its goal.
Gummi Ship Theme II – Blast Away!
Gummi Ship II
https://youtu.be/lJmfYMUKaCE
I don’t hardly notice the difference between this and the first gummi ship theme.
Monstro – A Very Small Wish
https://youtu.be/OvumdzvWlMQ
And now it’s time to get swallowed by a whale. It sounds like I’m at a carnival instead of in a whale. I suppose it’s fitting for Pinocchio, but not what I expect to hear when inside a giant beast and about to get digested.

Battle Inside Monstro – Monstrous Monstro
https://youtu.be/Pf5hdsw3_sY
Now it’s time to fight the heartless which have somehow ended up inside the giant whale (I won’t question the logic). It doesn’t sound as fun as some of the previous fight music, as it seems at this point the battles are getting more serious.

A Day in Agrabah
https://youtu.be/bW7Dg7GkNeg
It’s time to meet Aladdin! I love the music at this part. It would seem more obvious to go with Arabian Nights or something like that for the score, but instead they used more original music, and it’s great!
Agrabah Battle – Arabian Dream
https://youtu.be/PjQwMnypozI
I’m torn if I want to dance or fight to this music. Whatever the case I want to move quickly. This totally sounds like something Aladdin could’ve heard while running through Agrabah and trying not to get caught.

Halloween Town
https://youtu.be/Db7A_idqWgE
Unlike Agrabah, this is just an instrumental version of ‘This is Halloween’. This was the part of the game that I was most surprised to see since The Nightmare Before Christmas was technically made by Touchstone, though they were owned by Disney and Disney has basically taken ownership of the film. Anyways, if you like Danny Elfman’s original score then I guess you’ll like this, but it’s nothing unique to the game.
Halloween Battle – Spooks of Halloween Town
https://youtu.be/79XawweMXHk
I don’t remember this being in the movie though. This title is fitting since I can imagine ghosts going around and causing mischief on Halloween to this, but I can also imagine fighting heartless ghosts while it’s playing.

Atlantica – Under the Sea
https://youtu.be/dBZFkQ0K_jE
You know the song. It’s Oscar winning, it’s heard all the time at the Disney parks, it’s one of their most iconic musical numbers from any film! This is just an instrumental version of it, so I can’t really review it specifically for this game. I just have to say that it’s still that same catchy song, but without lyrics.
Sea Mess – An Adventure In Atlantica
https://youtu.be/B3CrmBIr4c0
The sea’s not the only thing that’s a mess here (I was just dying to make that pun). But seriously, this is the fight music for this area, and it sounds very oceanic and vibrant.

Captain Hook’s Pirate Ship
https://youtu.be/hvkoWG52W8w
This has a very mysterious feel to it, and I suppose if you’re sneaking around on Captain Hook’s ship this is the type of music that fits. I hope he doesn’t find me, but I know he will, or maybe we’ll find him…
Pirate Fight – Pirate’s Gigue
https://youtu.be/dsEBWPLP1JQ
I don’t even know what the title means. Anyways, I expect this to sound more adventurous or swashbuckling, but this was before The Curse of the Black Pearl came out, so I’ll let it slide. It just kind of sounds like the carnival of mischief came into town rather than a pirate battle.
London – Neverland Sky
https://youtu.be/cpIzlmQ7dVw
Now after defeating flying Captain Hook, in an unexpected turn of events you end up in London. I feel that this music should be calmer. Nothing’s really happening at this part, yet the music sounds like we’re going a mile a minute.

Things are getting intense here! Since we’re getting near(ish) the end, I’ll give a spoiler warning for the rest of this game.

Heartless Boss Battle – Shrouding Dark Cloud
https://youtu.be/5QjhjUKxqww
You know the battles are getting real now. You are fighting to save the light for all of the Kingdoms! When you hear this music, you mean business.
Blast Away! Gummi Ship III
https://youtu.be/HNmasCiOjMg
It’s the Gummi Ship theme, except now switched to a minor key, which means that it’s no longer fun and games at this point. It’s time to get down to business!
Hollow Bastion
https://youtu.be/niQWT4i7XkU
You’ve now made it to this big castle. Riku took your sword and gave you a wooden one, and Donald and Goofy ditched you. Now you’re left with Beast to march in and help you take back what’s yours. This music really brought up the intensity and made me feel like I was on the final world. I was of course wrong on that account, but I was determined to defeat the heartless for good.
Dark Terror – Scherzo Di Notte
https://youtu.be/P9sP6ZmE1_w
Now it’s time to fight your own friend, Riku. There has to be a bit of sadness in this music. It’s like Anakin and Obi-Wan fighting. It’s very emotionally driven. I don’t feel a lot of the emotion, but I feel a little.
Evil Meetings – Villains of A Sort
https://youtu.be/hc9qGYW6nfg
Now it’s time to meet Maleficent, who seems to have been controlling everything at this point (seems to have at least). There’s a bit of unsureness to this music. Part of us knows what’s about to come but there’s also a bit of mystery.
Vs. Riku-Ansem
https://youtu.be/3SewZQXJQMU
Now it’s time to fight Riku… again… who it turns out afterwards is being controlled by this guy Ansem. The music here brings the stress level up about 150%. If this doesn’t make things seem intense then I don’t know what does! It’s got this piercing organ and drum beat that brings my heart rate to a whole new level!

End of the World
https://youtu.be/ztDSO8jzyd0
It’s the end of the world as we know it and Sora feels fine. Just kidding! He’s about to face the big bad guy! Does this music sound familiar? If so, then it’s probably because it resembles Dive Into The Heart, which you hear at the beginning when first playing as Sora. If you listen closely you can also hear a bit of Dearly Beloved. It’s a cool way to reference the beginning of the game and show how far we’ve come.
Fragments of Sorrow
https://youtu.be/9OqmsioEQQ8
I don’t hardly remember this sped up version of the End of the World because I was so busy trying to defeat the ridiculously hard enemies, including the practically infinite waves that I may have spent til 4 in the morning trying to beat. This music kind of gives me PSTD now, which I guess would mean that it accomplished its goal.

Chernabog – Night on Bald Mountain
https://youtu.be/bhSM2w7sIW0
As soon as I heard this, I immediately new what was coming. It’s a piece of classical music by Modest Mussorgsky, but it’s a great way of signaling the coming of Chernabog since this music was used in Fantasia for his scene.
Last Moment – Not much to say about this. It brings the energy, but it’s nothing compared to what’s about to come.

Final Battle – The Deep End
https://youtu.be/qIcSwsNA-oI
Now it’s time to finally fight Ansem! (3 different times!) In this part you are reaching the end, and the score definitely shows the intensity, but again it’s nothing compared to what’s about to come!
Final Ansem – Guardando Nel Buio
https://youtu.be/5ZeaJovXzKw
I believe the 2nd battle reused some boss music from earlier, but now it’s time to fight Ansem for the 3rd time. This time after he’s turned into a giant ship (I’m not gonna question it). Considering this is (for real this time) the last battle of the game, the music needs to show how important it is. You feel in this music that this is the moment of truth.

Beyond The Door
https://youtu.be/wOJTjDRv3So
And then BOOM!! The battle’s done. Now you get to finally open the door to darkness and see, plot twist, light! Nice way to conclude the big giant chain of battles you’ve been through.
Always On My Mind
https://youtu.be/DjLg0MjPsjA
Not the Willie Nelson song just to clarify. After looking into the door to darkness we finally see where Mickey’s been this whole time, and then we have to close the door! It’s so sad!
It’s a nice version of Dearly Beloved though, and leads to an emotional ending.

Now that we’ve finished, it’s time for some bonus tracks.
Kairi I

https://youtu.be/6MIj_8dxWYQ
This is a nice track that plays when we see Kairi. I don’t know if I can say that it compares, but it’s almost as relaxing as Dearly Beloved.
100 Acre Wood – Winnie the Pooh
https://youtu.be/PzjjJx7XJes
There’s also a bonus world set in the 100 Acre Wood. It’s an instrumental version of the Winnie the Pooh theme, so if you’re nostalgic for that then you’d like this.
Simple And Clean by Hikaru Utada
https://youtu.be/B1nDzB1P8GM
Then there’s this very 2000’s song that plays at the end. I’m not big into this kind of 2000s pop, but if you are then you’d like this.
Then the credits are more Dearly Beloved and that’s basically it!

Now to sum up my opinion of the entire soundtrack. I really like some tracks from the game. Tracks like Dearly Beloved, Traverse Town, and Kairi are some of my favorites. My biggest critique is how repetitive the music got at times. Often when I’m at these different worlds, I’m there for a LONG time trying to figure out what to do next, and it can get old having to hear the same two tracks all the time. The music usually doesn’t change when you change parts in a world. Most of the time it’s the same all throughout. Therefore, my biggest problem is that I could’ve used either longer loops or a bigger variety of pieces of music throughout the game. I do still like a lot of the music though, as it felt like it went with the settings really well, and some of it I would even listen to outside of the game. Yoko Shimomura did a good job with this soundtrack.
My overall rating of the soundtrack for Kingdom Hearts is 4 out of 5 stars. ★★★★
Thank you all for reading my review! I plan to do a variety of types of posts. They won’t all be reviews, and I won’t always go through every track from the soundtrack. This was my first review so I’m sure there are some kinks to work out, but I’ve been glad to make my first post about a game.
I look forward to my next post, which hopefully will be coming soon.
So long game soundtrack fans.