And then, when the music has died, reality sets in and so does the world’s longest gaming tutorial which totals a grand three hours (longer if you don’t skip the numerous cutscenes). Yes, you heard right, it’s not a misprint: The tutorial in Kingdom Hearts II is three hours long.

Three hours…. who has ever heard of a three-hour tutorial? It wouldn’t be so bad if you actually got to play as Sora with Donald and Goofy in tow but no, you get to play as a kid named Roxas who has strange dreams about Sora and company. The tutorial, set in Twilight Town, does indeed serve a purpose but it’s just so darn long, it detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.

Fans of the original game will be pleased to see several improvements, from the annoying camera controls to the Gummi Ship level. The Gummi levels are now in the style of an on-the-rails shooter like Rez and are also much more of a challenge. You only need to play each level once to unlock the route from one world to another before being able to automatically warp which saves a lot of time.

World-wise, there are plenty to please Disney fans including worlds from the original game along with some new ones. Olympus Coliseum, Agrabah and the Hundred Acre Wood return but changes have been made to Atlantica, which is now dominated by musical sub-levels and cutscenes. The musical levels involve button mashing to some of the most popular songs from The Little Mermaid, including Part of Your World and Under the Sea. These musical mini-games make a refreshing change (especially when the oh-so-perky songs are entirely in Japanese) but can be a little hard in places.

Kingdom Hearts II also introduces some new locations including the Land of Dragons, which is based on Mulan, Port Royal from Pirates of the Caribbean, the Pride Lands from The Lion Kind and the Timeless River, a black-and-white level based on Mickey Mouse’s first adventure Steamboat Willie and a number of other ancient cartoons.

As with the first game, Sora and company occasionally change appearances to best suit the world they’re visiting so in Atlantica, Sora takes on his merman form and in The Pride Lands becomes a lion. There are some nice new touches to the command menu as well. It changes slighty in each world the trio visit: in the Land of Dragons, it is distinctly Chinese while in Twilight Town it's flanked by a cityscape.

The graphics are similar in style to the first game, a unique blending of Disney and Final Fantasy styles however some of the worlds differ, specifically the Tron-inspired Space Paranoids and Pirates of the Caribbean’s Port Royal. Space Paranoids looks and feels like the film where as Port Royal is stunningly realistic, a radical departure for the game. Elizabeth Swann, Will Turner and Captain Jack himself all appear in photorealistic three dimensions next to Sora's Final Fantasyesque style.

As with the first game, as well as relying on various Keyblades Sora can use magic and summon creatures, a la Final Fantasy. The Genie makes a return complete with his own Keyblade but Sora can also Summon Stitch, Peter Pan and – bizarrely – Chicken Little who appears to aid Sora in the form of a First-Person Shooter. The Summons themselves look pretty but aren’t actually as integral to the gameplay as in the original game.

Magic itself seems to take a back seat as the enemies don’t appear to be able to power up and Sora’s combos are able to finish off legions of the Heartless with relative ease. The battles themselves still involve button-mashing X until your thumb bleeds and then collecting the munny and health balls the defeated bad guys leave behind. This can get irritating but Sora is now capable of impressive combos and, short of the odd impossibly hard boss, the battles are just too easy. The improved camera system helps but the speed at which the action takes place sometimes leaves it lagging.

Battles themselves are much the same as in the original game, with Sora flanked by Goofy and Donald or an optional party such as Ariel or Mulan. Sora is the only one who can defeat enemies which introduces an interesting new twist: if Sora is knocked out, a new option will appear allowing the player to take the role of Mickey in order to revive Sora so he can deal the final blow.

As well as a snazzy new wardrobe, Sora also gains a new ability – Drive Forms – which allows him to merge with Donald or Goofy during battle. Fusing with Donald leads to a form focused on magic and Goofy will provide more oomph when it comes to physical attacks using the Keyblade. Later Drive Forms will not only enable Sora to use two Keyblades at once but also control them mentally which certainly makes the battles a hell of a lot more interesting. But overusing Summons or the Drive Form will have an unforeseen effect, temporarily turning Sora into one of the Heartless.

Final Fantasy fans will also be pleased to know there are even more cameos in this game with Cloud and Sephiroth also making a return. Once again Jenovah’s unholy child is an optional boss and he is nigh on impossible to beat. Cloud Strife also gets more of a side story to himself and all of the gang from Final Fantasy VII – bar Aerith – also get updated wardrobes showing off their Advent Children outfits.

Although Kingdom Hearts II seems to focus more on the action than the RPG, it’s still a lot more enjoyable than the previous outing. OK the plot might be even more complex and you will be looking to Jiminy Cricket to explain what exactly the spooky Organisation XIII is but at the end of the day (and it will be once you have finished the lengthy tutorial), this is an excellent sequel.