March 28^th, 2006 (8:07pm) - Square Enix, Inc. and Buena Vista Games, Inc. have announced that the highly-anticipated role-playing game, Kingdom Hearts II, has shipped to retailers nationwide. Exclusively for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Kingdom Hearts II is the sequel to Kingdom Hearts, one of the top ten best-selling PlayStation 2 titles of all time in North America.

Kingdom Hearts II features an all-star ensemble voice cast led by Haley Joel Osment as the main character Sora, joined by David Gallagher as Riku, and Hayden Panettiere as Kairi.

Kingdom Hearts II follows Sora, Donald, and Goofy on their continuing quest, after the events of Kingdom Hearts. Sora is looking for his lost friend Riku, while Donald and Goofy are searching for their missing king. The story begins in Twilight Town, a quiet burg nestled between night and day. Sora and friends are joined by a vibrant new cast of characters, including the king himself. Together, they will encounter countless dangers in worlds both familiar and brand new.

Kingdom Hearts II features a new and improved real-time battle system which provides an increased selection of commands, such as performing special attacks and cooperative attacks with members of your party, adding strategy to the gameplay. Players can also perform the "Drive" to transform main character Sora into his various forms, altering his skills and abilities. Examples include the Brave Form, in which Sora absorbs the power of Goofy allowing him to use two Keyblades; the Wisdom Form, in which Sora absorbs the power of Donald allowing him to increase his magic power; and the Master Form, in which Sora absorbs the power of both Donald and Goofy and increases both his attack and magic powers. These new features bring additional challenges and excitement to players and further enhance gameplay.

Kingdom Hearts II is available at North American retailers for a suggested retail price of $49.99 (USD). The ESRB has rated the title "E10+" for ages 10 and up.