The Top 5 PSN Palette Cleansers

This week in The Top 5, we take a look at those games that are great for a quick burst of pick-up-and play fun. The ones that help cleanse your palette in between lengthy bouts of Fallout 3 or Resistance 2.

5. WipEout HD

Racing games are great when you only have a short amount of time to play. You can squeeze in a race or two in no time, especially in a game as fast as WipEout HD. The only problem is that one race can quickly lead to five, which then leads to you forgetting to pick up the kids from school. Woops!

4. Mega Man 9

Old-school gaming is great, because the game mechanics are easy to grasp, but hard to master. And though Mega Man 9 is a brand new title, it brings that same old school mentality–not to mention delightfully pixelated 8-bit graphics. The best part about playing MM9 with limited time is that you can get a lot out of only a few minutes of play. In 10 minutes time you can die upwards of 14 times.

3. flOw

If you aren’t in the mood to get frustrated dying a few dozen times, you may want to try a more relaxing experience. Enter flOw. This aquatic life simulator combines soothing tones and subdued visuals for what amounts to a truly unique experience. It’s not so great for long sessions, but in short bursts can be perfect for a gamer plowing through all of  AAA holiday releases.

2. PixelJunk Eden

 A step up from flOw challenge wise, Eden is still a very chilled out experience, only with a little more game behind it. You collect pollen in order to open up new areas, which are accessed by swinging and jumping off of plants. The game also features a beautiful abstract aesthetic that is perfect from getting away from the photorealistic look of most modern games.

1. Everyday Shooter

There’s nothing like a twin-stick shooter to freshen you up before moving onto the next big, time-consuming game. Unfortunately, most of them can be frustratingly hard. What’s great about Everyday Shooter is that it is very accessible, so that you don’t have to spend lots of time memorizing enemy patterns or learning how to use multiple weapons. It’s just a straight up shooter, that happens to sport some of the most unique graphics on the PS3, not to mention one kick-ass soundtrack.

Don’t forget to check out last weeks Top 5 Reasons to Keep Your PS2.