Unfortunately for me, I have yet to physically play any of the handhelds aside from Chain of Memories and Birth by Sleep. Nevertheless, I have at least seen footage of both gameplay and cutscenes for all of the games save Chi.
For me, the top pick would have to be Birth by Sleep. This game really helped me get back into the series and it's mythos in a way that Kingdom Hearts II never could. I liked the fact that there were multiple characters that I could choose to pick and play and had very distinct playstyles that developed as you progressed through the game. The command deck battle system was one of the best things ever conceived and implemented into the series. Yeah, it was broken as all hell, but I defy anyone who didn't enjoy getting incredibly overpowered commands early in-game. I enjoyed the fact that the game brought elements of PLATFORMING back into the series with interesting and multiple ways of reaching places (i.e.: getting Superglide by platforming throughout all of Pete's Rec Room and then abusing several Sliding Dashes to get to the other building as Ven instead of waiting to get Glide to get it). It also had what were, in my opinion, some of the most interesting cast of original characters in the game. Master Xehanort is a fantastic main villain and I think I speak for a fair number of people when I say Vanitas needs to come back.
Chain of Memories would be next as it is the only other one that I have actually played. I will admit that the card system could have been a bit less tedious (they did it right with the command deck in Birth by Sleep), but it also allowed for some interesting experimentation. Sora probably has the most proficiency with magic in this game and Dream Drop Distance. The dialogue in the GBA version is top notch and consistently trumps it's console counterpart.
As for the games I still have yet to physically play, I'd have to say Dream Drop Distance, coded, then 358/2 Days. 3D is an obvious answer for me since it FINALLY concludes Riku's Road to Redemption (that should be a chapter title) and allows us to use a playable Riku with command deck system. The storyline is also very engaging and while I'm kind of bummed that most of the plot takes place at the end like most games have an annoying tendency of doing, I do like the character development that Sora and Riku (moreso the latter) undergo. The cast was memorable as well from the characters from The World Ends With You to the new Disney characters and especially Young Master Xehanort who has gone on to be my favorite antagonist from the series.
coded barely comes next thanks to gameplay and - to an incredibly small extent - the fact that it tries to have some semblance of balance between Disney and Square Enix elements in regards to characters. At least here, you can meet up with some Disney characters in Disney worlds with a slight dash of Final Fantasy. It also did a much better job with it's endgame reveal than most of the other games in the series. No, I'm not talking about Master Xehanort - that was called back in Birth by Sleep - but rather the fact that it was actually Data-Roxas that met Data-Sora at the Station of Awakening and Castle Oblivion.
Days comes last here partly because the story, while interesting, really only picks up at the very tail end of the game. My other major problem is that we don't get to actually meet as many major Disney characters as we did in other installments. I also really wish that there were new Disney worlds to explore so that it would at least mean that Roxas might accidentally bump into someone who we haven't seen in the Kingdom Hearts Universe yet.
For me, the top pick would have to be Birth by Sleep. This game really helped me get back into the series and it's mythos in a way that Kingdom Hearts II never could. I liked the fact that there were multiple characters that I could choose to pick and play and had very distinct playstyles that developed as you progressed through the game. The command deck battle system was one of the best things ever conceived and implemented into the series. Yeah, it was broken as all hell, but I defy anyone who didn't enjoy getting incredibly overpowered commands early in-game. I enjoyed the fact that the game brought elements of PLATFORMING back into the series with interesting and multiple ways of reaching places (i.e.: getting Superglide by platforming throughout all of Pete's Rec Room and then abusing several Sliding Dashes to get to the other building as Ven instead of waiting to get Glide to get it). It also had what were, in my opinion, some of the most interesting cast of original characters in the game. Master Xehanort is a fantastic main villain and I think I speak for a fair number of people when I say Vanitas needs to come back.
Chain of Memories would be next as it is the only other one that I have actually played. I will admit that the card system could have been a bit less tedious (they did it right with the command deck in Birth by Sleep), but it also allowed for some interesting experimentation. Sora probably has the most proficiency with magic in this game and Dream Drop Distance. The dialogue in the GBA version is top notch and consistently trumps it's console counterpart.
As for the games I still have yet to physically play, I'd have to say Dream Drop Distance, coded, then 358/2 Days. 3D is an obvious answer for me since it FINALLY concludes Riku's Road to Redemption (that should be a chapter title) and allows us to use a playable Riku with command deck system. The storyline is also very engaging and while I'm kind of bummed that most of the plot takes place at the end like most games have an annoying tendency of doing, I do like the character development that Sora and Riku (moreso the latter) undergo. The cast was memorable as well from the characters from The World Ends With You to the new Disney characters and especially Young Master Xehanort who has gone on to be my favorite antagonist from the series.
coded barely comes next thanks to gameplay and - to an incredibly small extent - the fact that it tries to have some semblance of balance between Disney and Square Enix elements in regards to characters. At least here, you can meet up with some Disney characters in Disney worlds with a slight dash of Final Fantasy. It also did a much better job with it's endgame reveal than most of the other games in the series. No, I'm not talking about Master Xehanort - that was called back in Birth by Sleep - but rather the fact that it was actually Data-Roxas that met Data-Sora at the Station of Awakening and Castle Oblivion.
Days comes last here partly because the story, while interesting, really only picks up at the very tail end of the game. My other major problem is that we don't get to actually meet as many major Disney characters as we did in other installments. I also really wish that there were new Disney worlds to explore so that it would at least mean that Roxas might accidentally bump into someone who we haven't seen in the Kingdom Hearts Universe yet.