by Matt Bird

Created on: June 16, 2010

Video games are a blessing; portable video games even more so. What's better than snuggling down in a bus seat and playing a game for an hour while you're waiting to get somewhere? Or flopping onto a lawn chair in beautiful weather and enjoying some rays while saving the world with your hands?

Not every game is a hit, of course. They can be just as bad as console games. Pick the right titles, however, and you'll never go wrong. Here are some of the best portable games ever to hit the market.

- The Pokemon series. Any of them. So long as you're going with the main games and like RPG titles you're going to have fun. They're a bit easy compared to other games, granted, but the act of choosing and training a team is forever neat. More, Pokemon offers you the option of fighting against friends, and that's where the real challenge comes in. Is your roster good enough to compete? There's only one way to find out.

- Tetris. Glorious, replayable Tetris. Get a copy of this game for your system - and that's not difficult, since they're legion by now - and the time will fly by. It's a simple formula, but by god, it's effective.

- Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. Much of the Final Fantasy VII spinoff material fell flat on its face when presented to the fans, but Crisis Core shined among the chaff. This game is great. A combination of Kingdom Hearts-esque combat with some more traditional RPG elements, you can play this game over and over again. The novelty of running around as Zack of SOLDIER never gets old, and seeing the backstory to the classic is great.

- Patapon. Just LOOK at the thing and you'll see why it's fun. The graphics are awesome! And you get to keep the beat while killing monsters! Yay!

- Professor Layton and the Curious Village. In a world where adrenaline and sweaty barbarian men run high on the priority lists, a toned-down title like Professor Layton is a nice change. Wandering your way through a series of genuinely fun puzzles, you also need to solve a mystery - and you'll do it under the guidance of a mentor in an awesome hat.

- Disgaea DS and Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days. It's easy to waste hours upon hours simply leveling up in these games, and the novelty of doing so never quite seems to wear off. Toss in some bizarre humor and the oddest characters you've seen in a game - exploding penguins, anyone? - and you've got two great titles.

- And, last, Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake. It may not be that terribly different from the original on the PS3, but that's a good thing. It's easy to get lost playing this title, defending your castle while trying to win back your engorged princess. Not a win for women's rights, to be sure, but there's no time for that! Arm the battlements!

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