Still haven't gotten around to playing 3d yet, i did do the possibly next best thing and just watch all the cutscenes for it...
I found the original kingdom hearts to be more captivating, i find that the purpose for things seems to be a lot clearer. I can't even remember why exactly they were travelling to worlds in KH2, was it to find Riku? or Organization XIII? Oh my it's been a little while. I do find the game mechanics somewhat more fun to play around with though in KH2, boss fights were great even if sometimes they didn't always feel like they were bringing new things to the table. I do have really fond memories of playing it for the first time, i would have my pillows and blanket set up in front of the tv and i would just play it all day, i admit i was cruel in that i also remember my best friend at the time coming over to my house only to spend all of her time watching me play the game. eep.
But i too was given the birthday gift of a console just to play the newest Kingdom Hearts game at that time. I got a psp just to play bbs, it was great. I also remember going into class and because i was pretty well known for being obsessed with Kingdom Hearts people were telling me 'did you know there's a new Kingdom Hearts game coming out??' and the conversation carried on like "yes, i have it.", "no, no, it's new. it's only just came out", "trust me, i have it."