Gummi Ships

Gummi Ships are the main method of transportation between worlds in the Kingdom Hearts series. Several characters, including King Mickey and Sora, as well as groups like the Heartless and the Nobodies, use Gummi Ships to move between Worlds. These ships are made entirely of Gummi Blocks, made of special Gummi material that allows to travel between Worlds. Gummi Ship travel is a slower, but a more reliable alternative to warping by using a Corridor of Darkness. Most spaceships in the Original UUniverses are Gummi Ships.

Although Gummi travel seems to have originated with King Mickey, it is now mostly handled by his loyal subjects Chip and Dale, as well as Radiant Garden refugee Cid and Pinocchio's father, Geppetto.

Origins
Gummi Ships are assumed to be constructed of the meteors that fall upon the world as a result of its door being opened, as noted by Xehanort in the Ansem Report. King Mickey was the first to create a Gummi Ship.

Kingdom Hearts
In the original Kingdom Hearts, Gummi travel was simple: The ship would move forward on its own, and you could control up, down, left and right. The ability to brake was also included, but merely slowed the ship instead of a full stop. Numerous enemy ships would appear, and upon their destruction would leave a Gummi block or a blueprint for that enemy ship.

The meters reflecting a ship's stats in flight would consist of:
 * Armor: The ship's Hit Points.
 * Power: The ship's Magic Points.
 * Shield: Extra defense for the ship which could only be gotten from the Shield blocks.
 * Turbo: Extra speed for the ship which could only be gotten from Haste blocks.

In the garage menu, you could create your own ship, with a block limit almost impossible to reach. Blocks could also be turned and colored for use.

Kingdom Hearts II
While Gummi travel did not appear in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, it appeared in a very different form in Kingdom Hearts II. Gummi travel went from an aerial-combat style to a rail shooter. Although the system was very different, the concept became more like a mini-game. A path would only have to be traversed once to get to a world, and then that world would become available without the use of Gummi travel.

The most notable differences in the system were the ability to turn the ship around during flight, the Medal Point system, the concept of in-flight bosses, and the addition of Teeny Ships (referred to as Tiny Ships in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix), smaller ships that can fly alongside you.

Once opened and completed, each route has three additional, optional Gummi Missions; these each have set goals, a different score system, and prizes. Blocks and new Gummi Ship abilities can be awarded for high scores, and dropped by rare ships in battle.

Gummi Ship stats were increased to five:
 * HP: The ship's hit points, similar to Armor.
 * Offense: The amount of weaponry on a ship.
 * Power: How much damage each piece of weaponry hits for.
 * Mobility: Allows faster and freer turns and spins for the ship.
 * Speed: How fast the ship moves through the course.

Ship customization was also improved over the first game. Along with coloring blocks, the player also has the choice of using block skins with special designs. New block-types were included, such as blades, shields, saws, propellers, and even wheels; in addition, instead of a "Block Limit", each block has a cost to limit the size and power of the Gummi ship. Finally, an ability system was added, granting certain powers to the ship during flight. Completed blueprints were also awarded for exceptional flight on certain missions, both as useful ships or as Final Fantasy-shaped novelty Gummi Ships.

Role in the series
Gummi Ships are the most common forms of transportation in the UUniverses to people all around, and can be built very easily as long as there are Gummi Blocks lying around.