Big news arrives for North American fans waiting for the latest on Kingdom Hearts II. Here's the press clip.

The all-star ensemble voice cast is led by Haley Joel Osment as the main character Sora and is joined by David Gallagher as Riku, and Hayden Panettiere as Kairi. KINGDOM HEARTS II will also feature the voice talents of Jesse McCartney as the mysterious boy Roxas, Brittany Snow as Namine, Christopher Lee, as Diz, Steve Burton as Cloud, Rachael Leigh Cook as Tifa and Mena Suvari as Aerith, all characters from FINAL FANTASY® VII; and Hedy Buress, Tara Strong, Gwendoline Yeo as the popular female-trio Yuna, Rikku, Paine from FINAL FANTASY X-2. In addition, many of the original Disney film star voice actors are reprising their role for this project, including Ming-Na as Mulan, James Woods , returning as the villain Hades and Zach Braff as Chicken Little.

Kingdom Hearts II is set to ship to retailers March 28, 2006. Fans only have a little bit longer to hold out for until they can finally step back into the Kingdom Hearts realm once again. For those just realizing a sequel is coming to this title here's a bit of a breakdown on the story and game itself from Square.

The world of KINGDOM HEARTS joins classic Disney characters and worlds together with a new story filled with new characters and environments created in the renowned Square Enix style. The result was one remarkable, innovative, original property that captured the attention of both gamers and critics alike. In KINGDOM HEARTS II, players will travel through the worlds of Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Mulan, Pirates of the Caribbean, Steamboat Willie and Tron as well as revisit worlds from the original, including Aladdin, Disney Castle, Hercules, The Little Mermaid, Winnie the Pooh and Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. The game features more than 100 Disney characters, and also introduces new, original characters such as Roxas, members of Organization XIII and the Nobodies, all designed by Square Enix's Tetsuya Nomura, director and character designer of the KINGDOM HEARTS series. Nomura is best known for his creations in the top selling titles FINAL FANTASY VII, VIII, X and X-2. New Disney additions to the sequel include Chicken Little and Stitch from Disney's Lilo and Stitch as summons as well as one of Disney's favorite villains, Pete.

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, where Sora absorbs the power of Goofy allowing him to use two Keyblades; the Wisdom Form, where Sora absorbs the power of Donald allowing him to increase his magic power; and the Master Form, where 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 the players and further enhance gameplay.

Also for those wondering Utada Hikaru will be returning as the theme song artist for Kingdom Hearts II, The song title is labeled Sanctuary, which is the english version of the Japanese release Passion which has been written specifically for Kingdom Hearts II. Interested enthusiasts can check out http://www.utada.com for more info on that though.

Kingdom Hearts II is exclusive to the PS2 and will carry a retail tag of $49.99, for those that haven't started saving now is a good time. The title has also gained the ESRB rating of E10+ for everything ages 10 and up.