Best games for wasting time

[runinruder]

Let's say you have a little time to waste before heading to work or going out with friends, or you just need a brief break from a long RPG or tough shooter.  What Turbo game are you most likely to reach for?

Recently, New Adventure Island has been my go-to game when I'm biding time.  It's practically impossible to get stuck anywhere in it, and it requires very little in the way of strategy or memorization, but it's very fast-paced and keeps you constantly on the move.  If I have fifteen minutes to waste, NAI will make sure I'm running, jumping, or tossing weapons for every second of it.  Plus, it's not a big deal to just turn it off at any given moment. 

Some other games that I believe fit the time-wasting mold well are Riot Zone, World Class Baseball, Alien (and Devil's) Crush, China Warrior, and TV Sports Basketball.

What about you? 

[Necromancer]

You have some good choices there, but I'd add Time Cruise to the Crush pair.  I'll also reach for something from the Bonk series or my guilty pleasure: Godzilla.  Any of these games is easy to pick up and play for a few minutes, but easy to put down and walk away.

[hindsr1976]

For me it would have to be Y's one and 2 because you can save any time, Alien Crush, any Bonks and Legend of Hero Tonma ( just got another copy of it because I sold off my first)

[torgo]

Devil's Crush

[Odonadon]

Any of the pinball games
Galaga 90

OD

[esteban]

Current time wasters:
Scrabble Blast ("action" mode, cell phone, autosave) -- as addictive as Tetris, but sometimes you're screwed when vowels / consonants aren't evenly distributed (randomness). I quickly tired of finding short, easy words and now I love to finding gems. You aren't rewarded for this, necessarily, but it's more satisfying to play this way, IMO. The time-limit can make it nerve-racking (in a good way!) as you desperately try to find a word. Scrabble Blast is truly a top-10 game.

Bonk's Return (cell phone, autosaves at "last stage completed") -- lots of short, little stages... occasionally a few worthwhile things (i.e. 1-up) are hidden, so you have an incentive to explore. This game is not easy to beat... I'm stuck on an ice stage that requires a well-timed jump. The horrible controls make this a daunting task. Bonk's Return is not a "best" -- not even as a time-waster.


If I had any PCE consoles unpacked:
Buster Bros. (2-player is fun)
China Warrior (a strangely satisfying game for me)
Timeball (work on one puzzle at a time)
Vigilante (it's a short game)

[Keranu]

Interesting thread. These kind of moments are perfect for Atari games, but it's a bit more challenging for the Turbo library. I would have to look through a list of games to point out some good ones, but to mention one that hasn't been mentioned already, I would recommend Klax. It's simple, fun, and you can choose which level set you want to do.

[Black Tiger]

Let's say you have a little time to waste before heading to work or going out with friends, or you just need a brief break from a long RPG or tough shooter.  What Turbo game are you most likely to reach for?

Recently, New Adventure Island has been my go-to game when I'm biding time.  It's practically impossible to get stuck anywhere in it, and it requires very little in the way of strategy or memorization, but it's very fast-paced and keeps you constantly on the move.  If I have fifteen minutes to waste, NAI will make sure I'm running, jumping, or tossing weapons for every second of it.  Plus, it's not a big deal to just turn it off at any given moment. 

Some other games that I believe fit the time-wasting mold well are Riot Zone, World Class Baseball, Alien (and Devil's) Crush, China Warrior, and TV Sports Basketball.

What about you? 

Some of the games I usually throw on for a short Turbo session-

Aeroblasters
Ninja Spirit
Street Fighter II
Bonk's Revenge
Bomberman '93
Military Madness
Dracula X
Lords Of Thunder

[vestcoat]

The more brainless the better.  If I’m going to waste time I can’t be bothered to think enough for a RPG.  I also can’t deal with save states (not going to screw around with a Tennokoe Bank!) , CDs to worry about scratching or waiting for load times or changing system cards.  I also like games that don’t require a whole lot of dexterity.  New Adventure Island, for example, demands too much careful jumping for me to space out and waste some quality time  (or maybe I just care too much about not dying in that game?).  Anyway, Bonk’s Adventure, Galaga, Space Invaders, Pac Land, Battle Ace, Ghouls n Ghosts, Alien/Devil’s Crush, Chase HQ and Outrun are good for me.

[Keranu]

Ahh Space Invaders and Pac-Land, great choices, vest_coat.

[Tatsujin]

any kind of quick shooter sessions. good or bad stuff, doesn't really matter.