The best Kingdom Hearts games are not evenly spread across the series, and the gap is wider than the reputation suggests: the top four sit between 82 and 87 on Metacritic while everything else lands at 76 or below. With a new collection arriving on 8 October 2026, here is what is worth your time.
Last updated: 2 September 2026. All Metascores checked against Metacritic on this date.
Why This Ranking Matters Right Now
Kingdom Hearts Collection I ~ III arrives on 8 October 2026 for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X at $74.99, per its Metacritic listing. It bundles three existing compilations: HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX, HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and Kingdom Hearts III with its Re Mind DLC.
That covers most of the series, but not all of it, and the omissions are not random — they include the higher-scoring version of one of the games in this ranking. More on that below.
The 8 Best Kingdom Hearts Games, Ranked
1. Kingdom Hearts II (2006) — Metascore 87
Still the peak, twenty years on. Kingdom Hearts II holds a Metascore of 87 from 64 critics and a 9.0 user score from 1,406 ratings — the only game in the series with universal acclaim from players. The Reaction Command system is the reason: it turned the first game’s button-mashing into something with rhythm and timing without demanding the reflexes of a character-action game.
It is also the game that had the most confident relationship with Disney. The worlds are set-pieces rather than corridors, and the Roxas prologue remains the boldest structural decision the series ever made — several hours of a game starring someone who is not the protagonist you bought it for.
2. Kingdom Hearts (2002) — Metascore 85
The original still works, which is not true of most 2002 action RPGs. It scored 85 from 46 critics with 93% of reviews positive and an 8.5 user score across 1,361 ratings. Its combat is stiffer than what followed and the Atlantica and Monstro sections are exactly as awkward as you remember, but the premise has never been executed with this much sincerity since.
Play it first. The series is famously hard to enter, and the one thing that is genuinely simple about it is that the first game is the first game.
3. Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (2010) — Metascore 82
The most impressive thing in the franchise. Birth by Sleep is a PlayStation Portable game that scored 82 from 62 critics — one point behind Kingdom Hearts III on PS4 and Xbox One, and six points clear of every other non-numbered entry in the series. No other Kingdom Hearts spin-off reviews anywhere near the mainline games. This one does.
Its Command Deck combat is arguably better designed than Kingdom Hearts II’s, three campaigns give it real replay structure, and the story it tells is load-bearing for everything after it. Ranking it above the numbered third game is a judgement call, and the case is that a handheld prequel matched a flagship budget on quality and beat it on structure. Its 8.2 user score is also higher than Kingdom Hearts III’s.
4. Kingdom Hearts III (2019) — Metascore 83
The best-looking game in the series and the most divisive among the people who waited thirteen years for it. It reviewed at 83 from 88 critics — the largest critic sample in the franchise by a wide margin — but its user score is 7.9 from 2,744 ratings, the lowest of the top four and the widest critic-player gap at the top of this list.
The complaint is consistent: the Disney worlds are the strongest they have ever been and the original-story content is crammed into the final stretch. The Re Mind DLC, bundled into the October collection, exists largely to answer that, and it does so with the hardest boss content the series has.
5. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (2004) — Metascore 76
The Game Boy Advance card-battler that everyone tells newcomers to skip, and the highest-scoring non-mainline entry after Birth by Sleep. It holds 76 from 37 critics, with 70% of reviews positive. Its card-based combat is genuinely strange and genuinely deliberate — it is a deckbuilder wearing an action game’s clothes, and the Riku campaign is the best thing in it.
It also matters narratively far more than its reputation implies. Skipping it makes the opening hours of Kingdom Hearts II incoherent.
6. Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (2012) — Metascore 75
The 3DS entry that sets up Kingdom Hearts III and spends its running time fighting its own best idea. The Flowmotion traversal is the most fun movement system in the series; the Drop mechanic, which yanks you out of a character’s story on a timer, is the most disliked. It scored 75 from 54 critics, with Metro GameCentral writing that almost all of its new ideas are bad and other outlets calling it the peak of the portable formula. Both readings are defensible, which is why it sits mid-table.
7. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (2009) — Metascore 75
The same score as Dream Drop Distance from 53 critics, and a higher user score at 7.7. 358/2 Days has the best writing in any Kingdom Hearts spin-off — Roxas, Axel and Xion carry a story about disposability that the series never topped — wrapped around mission design that reviewers uniformly called repetitive. It is the clearest case in the franchise of a great story trapped in a mediocre game.
8. Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory (2020) — Metascore 74
A rhythm game carrying about thirty minutes of actual plot, which is roughly the amount of story it needed to carry. It scored 74 from 54 critics, with Trusted Reviews at 90 calling it a loving homage and GameCritics at 40 pointing out that it gives players almost nothing substantial. Yoko Shimomura’s eighteen years of series music, from 2002 to 2020, is the actual product here, and it is a very good product if that is what you came for.
Every Score, Side by Side
| # | Game | Year | Original platform | Metascore (critics) | User score | In the Oct 2026 collection? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kingdom Hearts II | 2006 | PS2 | 87 (64) | 9.0 (1,406) | Yes — playable |
| 2 | Kingdom Hearts | 2002 | PS2 | 85 (46) | 8.5 (1,361) | Yes — playable |
| 3 | Birth by Sleep | 2010 | PSP | 82 (62) | 8.2 (545) | Yes — playable |
| 4 | Kingdom Hearts III | 2019 | PS4 / Xbox One | 83 (88) | 7.9 (2,744) | Yes — playable, with Re Mind |
| 5 | Chain of Memories | 2004 | Game Boy Advance | 76 (37) | 7.2 (179) | No — remake only |
| 6 | Dream Drop Distance | 2012 | Nintendo 3DS | 75 (54) | 7.6 (477) | Yes — playable |
| 7 | 358/2 Days | 2009 | Nintendo DS | 75 (53) | 7.7 (337) | No — cutscenes only |
| 8 | Melody of Memory | 2020 | PS4 / Xbox One / Switch / PC | 74 (54) | 7.1 (138) | No — not included |
| — | Re:Chain of Memories | 2008 | PS2 | 68 (20) | 6.4 (314) | Yes — playable |
The Remake Problem Nobody Mentions
Here is the detail that should change what you expect from the October collection. Chain of Memories exists in two forms, and the versions did not review the same.
The 2004 Game Boy Advance original scored 76 from 37 critics. The 2008 PlayStation 2 remake, Re:Chain of Memories, scored 68 from 20 critics — eight points lower, with 55% of reviews landing in the mixed band and a user score of 6.4 against the original’s 7.2. Rebuilding a 2D card-battler in 3D on PS2 hardware did not improve it; reviewers found the card system translated badly to a full 3D space.
The remake is the version inside HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX, and therefore the version inside the October collection. The better-reviewed original is not in the bundle. So the entry most players skip is one they have only ever been offered in its weaker form — a large part of why its reputation is what it is.
What the Collection Leaves Out
Three of the nine games above are not fully playable in Collection I ~ III. That is worth knowing before you treat it as a complete set.
The Game Boy Advance Chain of Memories is absent, replaced by the lower-rated PS2 remake. 358/2 Days and Re:coded appear only as roughly three hours of HD cutscenes each rather than as playable games, per the compilations’ documented contents — so you get the story of the seventh-place entry on this list, not the game. Melody of Memory is not in the bundle at all, and neither are the mobile titles. Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover is included, but it was always a one-hour film rather than a game.
What you do get playable: Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, Re:Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Birth by Sleep Final Mix, Dream Drop Distance HD, 0.2 Birth by Sleep – A fragmentary passage, and Kingdom Hearts III with Re Mind. That is five of this list’s top six — all but the Game Boy Advance Chain of Memories — which is a genuinely good deal at $74.99, just not a complete one.
For where the series goes outside games, we covered the Kingdom Hearts anime heading to Disney+. And if release-order confusion is what has kept you out of the series, our Spider-Man games in order guide uses the same approach for another franchise with a tangled timeline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best Kingdom Hearts game?
Kingdom Hearts II (2006). It holds the series’ highest Metascore at 87 from 64 critics and a 9.0 user score from 1,406 ratings, the only entry in the franchise with universal acclaim from players.
What order should I play Kingdom Hearts games in?
Release order works: Kingdom Hearts, then Chain of Memories, then Kingdom Hearts II. Chain of Memories is the one people skip, and skipping it makes the opening hours of Kingdom Hearts II hard to follow.
Is Kingdom Hearts Collection I ~ III worth buying?
For most players yes. It launches 8 October 2026 on Switch 2, PS5 and Xbox Series X at $74.99 and includes four of the six highest-rated games in the series as playable titles. It does not include the Game Boy Advance Chain of Memories, playable versions of 358/2 Days or Re:coded, or Melody of Memory.
Which Kingdom Hearts game is the worst?
Re:Chain of Memories, the 2008 PlayStation 2 remake, at 68 from 20 critics with a 6.4 user score. Notably it scored eight points below the 2004 Game Boy Advance original it remade, which holds a 76.
Is Birth by Sleep essential?
Yes. At an 82 Metascore it is the highest-rated Kingdom Hearts game that is not a numbered entry, and its story is directly load-bearing for Dream Drop Distance and Kingdom Hearts III. It is playable in the October collection via HD 2.5 ReMIX.
