Kingdom Hearts V CAST

Kingdom Hearts V CAST is a  game that was developed exclusively for V Cast, 's broadband service. It was released on October 1, 2004 in Japan and on February 4, 2005 in the United States as one of the launch games for the V Cast services. It was developed by Superscape and published by Disney Interactive Media Group (formerly known as Walt Disney Internet Group).

Development
Kingdom Hearts V CAST was developed by and produced by Disney Mobile and  as a launch title for the V CAST cellular internet service. This is the first and so far only entry in the series made without the involvement of Square Enix. Aside from some familiar characters and settings, has no connection to the plot of the Kingdom Hearts series, and is considered non-canonical. Both Swashbuckler's Island and Maleficent's Castle are exclusive to Kingdom Hearts V CAST and do not exist in the official Kingdom Hearts universe. Caw, also known as "Swordman Parrot", is an entirely new character that hasn't appeared in the canon series. He assists Sora in the first chapter, suggesting that he should build a raft to leave Swashbuckler's Island. Sora is helped by "more than 20 characters" over the course of the game. . Maleficent is the main villain in Kingdom Hearts V CAST, and she is often shown after chapters looking down at Sora from a magical cauldron filled with green, misty water.

Verizon shut down V CAST on Decembet 15, 2012 and all content exclusive to it was made unavailable. This includes Kingdom Hearts V CAST, which hasn't been re-released by Square Enix or Disney, making this game impossible to play without having access to a phone with the game still installed. s have managed to recover and the game's first and third chapters with Obstacle Course, Swashbuckler's Island, and Agrabah in February of 2020. A video of the game's fourth chapter, Maleficent's Castle, played on actual hardware, was recorded in April of 2022. However, no files relating to the game's chapter, relating to Alice in Wonderland have been found or saved, currently making them.

Story
Sora, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Jiminy Cricket are traveling across the universe in the Gummi Ship when they decide to go to sleep. They put the Gummi Ship on autopilot, and in their sleep, a strange creature creeps undetected into the vessel and subsumes the dreams of Sora. When he wakes up, he is shipwrecked on a deserted island called Swashbuckler's Island and Donald and Goofy are nowhere to be found. He meets a parrot named Caw, who assists him around the island with finding his friends and to leave the island, but even after searching every nook and cranny of the island, Sora cannot find Donald and Goofy. So Sora builds a raft, by collecting parts from all over the island, taking him to beaches, coves, a watchtower, a lava-filled chamber, and high rocks, where Sora uncover four gems on a strange altar. After retrieving the four gems and all the parts. Sora assembles the raft and leaves the island to find his friends.

Gameplay
Kingdom Hearts V CAST brings back the gameplay elements featured in the original Kingdom Hearts, though it was modified for compatibility with mobile phones. Sora moves similar to a tank, with one button on the control pad moving him forward, another moving him backwards, and two more turning him left or right. Even with these new controls, Sora can still perform a number of moves aside from running and jumping. He can climb trees and ladders, grasp the edges of platforms and pull himself up, lift and throw objects, and use the Keyblade to slide down zip lines. A single context-sensitive button allows Sora to perform a range of actions, such as attacking an enemy and opening a Treasure Chest.

Sora can still use the Keyblade and also magic, the first spell he learns being Blizzard, to fight like in Kingdom Hearts. Munny and Experience are still earned by defeating Heartless. As opposed to Kingdom Hearts, however, Kingdom Hearts V CAST introduced "assistant characters", such as the Caterpillar and Caw, as opposed to guest party members.

', also called ', is a world and the first chapter in Kingdom Hearts V CAST. Caw assists Sora in collecting parts from all over the island, taking him to beaches, coves, a watchtower that requires a kite puzzle to enter, a lava-filled chamber, and high rocks and a boss battle against Anti-Sora.

, also known as Wonderland, is the second chapter and world, with The Caterpillar. He can be given Potions to make him talk or activate other effects, similar to the Flowers from Kingdom Hearts.

 is the third chapter and world, with Genie assisting Sora and a boss battle against Jafar in the form of a cobra.

', also called ', is the final chapter and world. Where Sora battles Maleficent. It has the strongest Heartless in the entire game.

Notes and references
Kingdom Hearts V CAST Kingdom Hearts V CAST