Take two consoles into the shower? I just like to play 'n' go
 

I commute to and from work everyday, and while I love stuff like Dragon Quest and Phoenix Wright, I found them hard to enjoy on such a short trip, playing a fragment at a time. That's why I've focused more on games that gets you into the action immediately, and keeps you there for as long as you have to travel. Games that doesn't leave you thinking or planning ahead. These are some of my favorites:

(I focused on the DS because that's my handheld. You are welcome to post about any portable game you may play)

• Space Invaders
  Despite what you might suspect, this isn't just another port of the arcade classic. Space Invaders features awesome graphics combined with quick and easy gameplay where the rhythm of the music comes into play in a fantastic synthesis.
• Nanostray
  I'm a big fan of shooters, so Nanostray became kind of a mandatory pick up. This baby sports 3D graphics, tight controls and quite a challenge to. The different levels are laid out as different planets, with a boss to top it off. Perfect commuting action.
• Planet Puzzle League
  This is your basic puzzle game. You move around bricks in different colors, completing rows of three or more of the same and clearing them off the screen. The game is repetive and lasts forever, but it's the ultimate waste of time.

So epic adventures and strategic warfare put aside, share your favorites!

Wipeout. Any of them. Go buy a PSP right now.

I tend to be on the go quite a lot but from time to time I do have a slow day at work, so for the most part I try to take my ds with me as often as possible. It helps pass away the time.

These are some of the games I found myself enjoying a lot while I was on the move:

Bangai-O Spirits: This game has helped me pass away so much time between breaks at work. I just found this such a fun game. Even though I found it such a difficult game at first. I finally got use to it and with the levels being so short it was a great game to play for just a few minutes.

Trauma Center - Under the Knife 1 & 2: This game was also a treat to play. With the majority of the surgeries being at the most 5 minutes long it was a great game to play in short bursts. The only problem was not letting yourself get addicted to the storyline. It is very easy to sink yourself into an hour or two into the game if your not careful.

The load times on Pulse pretty much make it the antithesis of on-the-go action.

All my recommendations are those quick and easy (as in easy controls) games. I bring my handhelds everyday to work.

1. Just played the Game & Watch Gallery series (3 and 4) recently, but they're really fun, especially if you actually had those games in the past. Series 4 has the most amount of mini-games, so I'd probably recommend that the most.

2. Pinball Hall of Fame: Williams Collection is the best console pinball game ever. Has 10 classic Williams tables. Available only on PSP though.

3. Any SHMUPS. Fun stuff. Mostly available on the PSP though. The DS heavily lacks this genre. I have Salamander Portable and Star Soldier.

There's more but I don't have the time to list them.

OPOSPPSSP

OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast
It's not as slick as Ridge Racer (frame rate is a big bag of hairy mustard dipped testicles), but it is OutRun so it's automatically better. Quick loading times and a no fuss GO GO GO RACE RACE RACE option right from the main menu makes it an awesome portable fun time for ages 1 to Elephant.

After Burner: Black Falcon
Not only does the title have the name of an F-Zero character it also plays a lot like F-Zero but without the F-Zero tracks and sometF-ZeroF-Zero

Pinball Hall of Fame: Williams Collection
See Wolf's post directly above. Also; "FUNHOUSE? AHUAHUAUHAUHAHUAAUHAUHAHUAUHAUHA"

Namco Museum: Battle Collection
Namco are usually lazy fucks with Namco Museum collections, but not here! There are four awesome remakes, Dig Dug on the train is like playing Dig Dug, but on the train.

DSDDSASDSDS

Zoo Keeper
This is a better puzzle game than WWF Warzone.

Contra 4
Perfect for short trips as you die every five seconds or so.

N+
Either system really, they both have completely different levels. DS one has no loading, which is always a plus especaillry heriejr coerj9x NiyLOL. Jump around, get laser'd, jump around, gold gold gold, jump, hwah, hwah, I think I just spilt food on my lap.

Metroid Prime Pinball
The only pinball game and Metroid game worth playing on the DS! This has it all. It's no OutRun though.

Ack so true :gonk:
I have to check out Metroid Pinball, I completely missed that one.

I hope your not playing your DS while driving--a very bad idea. I keep my DS in my purse, usually with Castlevania Circle Of The Moon in the GBA slot and Animal Crossing in the other.

I've been playing a lot of Geometry Wars: Galaxies during breaks between classes and such. The controls can kill your hand at first, but once you get used to it the DS version has the most precise controls of any GW game.

Zoo Keeper, Nanostray, and Space Invaders have already been mentioned, but if you're not looking for a world of excitement I've found Wordjong to be a nice distraction. It's more fun multiplayer, but still a good way to kill time.

PSP, period. I cycle out PS1 RPGs like fuckin' crazy. Gonna get all three of the Deception games lined up for when I leave for Brazil :3

Both the PSP and the DS are great because you can flick them off at any moment in time, so even if the game itself doesn't lend itself to short bursts of play, the console still makes it possible. But for specific games... I'm surprised a lot of these haven't been mentioned yet, to be honest!

PSP:

Lumines (any version)--My favorite game on the PSP anyway, but for quick pickups, the 1 minute challenge is fantastic. I love to play a few of these during a commercial break in a show I'm watching. The game itself doesn't lend itself well to pick-up-and-play, but the 1 minute time trial is ideal.

Loco Roco--The game is extremely relaxed so in almost all cases, you can look away without any risk of dying, and unless you're doing a time trial, there's no pressure to finish on time either. Great relaxing game.

N+--go see Infernal Monkey for further details!

DS/GBA:

Meteos--Like Lumines on the PSP, Meteos is probably my favorite game on the DS. There are several flavors of time trial in this game, I especially like the 1000 block launch (takes about 20 seconds a pop). But unlike Lumines, the whole game is exceedingly well-suited to quick games. If I'm bringing my DS somewhere, chances are this game is in it.

Rhythm Tengoku/Heaven GBA/DS--It's a super fun game and each song takes about 2 minutes at most to play, so it's very easy to pick up and play. Of course, you need to basically like music games and/or Wario Ware. Speaking of which...

Wario Ware--any and all, but especially Twisted, since it's so Goddamn fun it's almost illegal. As long as you don't mind looking like a ponce twisting your DS around in public (and, if you're anything like me, giggling like an idiot).


There's probably more games, but I can't think of 'em right now.

A little off-topic, but how does the DS' battery life maintain if you simply close it? I prefer the PSP because you can completely shut it off when you put it in to sleep mode. No blinking light (which could, potentially, drain battery life). The DS' games always feel gimmicky to me, but the blinking light when you close it always haunted my mind regarding battery drain ;x

The times I've just closed my DS the battery seemed to drain hardly at all even after several hours. I really hate the PSP's sleep mode since it can be really hard to tell if it's actually turned off or not. The stupid thing always turns off when I want to put it in sleep mode and goes into sleep mode when I try to turn it off. I've started just holding down the power switch for 10 seconds or so, just to make sure.

Considering the PSP's battery drains itself whether the system is on or not there's no reason to worry about the DS' blinking light. ='D

Is that the PSP or the PSP Slim? Cause I've been putting that on hold all the time and it seems to last days on end lying by my bed.

The battery life on the DS is amazing. I usually run it on the second highest level. Charged it yesterday, but prior to that, I didn't charge it for about three weeks.

It's a PSP slim. The battery life isn't as bad as a normal PSP from what I've heard, but it's still crap compared to the DS. Once when I didn't play it for a month the battery died completely and I had to dig out the charging cable before it could even be turned on.

When you turn a PSP off, the green light blinks twice, so you can tell it's not just sleeping. My old fatty PSP lasts at least a week, and the chances of being away from a plug socket for that long or not finding somewhere I can save the game and turn it off properly are pretty fucking minimal.

PSP
Lumines - it's like Tetris but sexier.
Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection - 3d girls beating each other

DS
Rhythm Tengoku Gold - you go along to Japanese music while doing things with your stylus, like ping-pong and eating jawbreakers
Picross DS - it makes you think so I guess it's not really "on the go"
Space Invaders Extreme - pew pew pew
Contra 4 - I feel manlier each time I play this game

PSP
Lumines - I suck at it, but it's fun and doesn't take up much time

DS
either Advance Wars - can just play a battle and quit

I dunno, most of my games tend to go for well over half an hour. You can always play time attack though or do the puzzles I guess.

Well, I'm awful at it so I usually only last five to ten minutes :( However, my girlfriend is insanely good at the game and embarrasses me.