I normally do land kiteboarding in grass and recently picked up a longboard for cruising on asphalt. Since I'm wanting to avoid breaking every bone in my body, I thought sanity dictates getting a much smaller kite...... something trainer sized .... three lines...... bar...... no harness hookups. Something simple.

The only two small kites I have experience with is a 2.5 meter no-name kite, and the 3 meter Ozone Ignition. My first instinct is to just buy another Ignition, but I'm curious about what other 2.5-3 meter kites are out there, and how they perform.

hmmm...longboard and asphalt? That sounds like Streetkiting to me. You need a Born-Kite Nasa Star 2. Steffen makes them - here's a vid of his from a recent trip to Egypt.

I think John has the perfect solution to song and kite for pavement surfing.

LOL - that song is like the Vaughan Mason of street kiting.

I guess the short lines of the NASA would be good for avoiding light poles and other objects. Will have to shop around. Still curious about the performance of other long lined 2.5-3m trainers

Check out the Prism Tensor 3.1
It is a quad line fixed bridal. It comes with the bar, but with 3 min and the Allen wrench provided, you can make it handles for better maneuverability.
I have never tried any other trainer kites, but I've had a lot of fun pulling myself around with this kite with both the bar and handles. Its alright with low wind and gusts, luffs a bit in the air-But will fly in 5mph wind. Fun around 8-10mph+. I've used it with my mountain board, with and without a harness. Better with, can fly a lot longer. And dragging myself around the beach with my heals in the sand.. I've jumped with the handles maybe 5-7 ft in the air. It's simple to launch and land by yourself, and fun to teach friends.
Anyway. Just figured I'd share my experiences. Good luck!

Prism Tensor looks like a possibility. Ideally, I'm wanting a 3 line kite for easy setup but I can live with 4 lines.
Noticed any issues with tangles?

I've never had a problem with the lines tangling while flying, crashing, packing or unpacking. Takes 2 min to set up & put away. Relaunch is a breeze & the kite killers work perfect. Just let go of the bar and it falls to the ground gracefully.
Ive never flown a 2 or 3 line kite before so I have nothing to compare to. My research lead me to the Tensor and I'm definitely pleased with it's performance. And after watching a few youtube videos prior to my purchase, made it seem really easy & i haven't had any issues yet being my first kite.

You won't have issues with tangles with any kite as long as you leave the lines/bar/handles connected to the kite when you pack it up.It may get a twist or two, but you should never have a "tangle." You can pretty much always get it untwisted when you put it in the air, or you can rotate your handles or bar on the ground before you even launch.