10 Loading Screens So Good You Forgot You Were Waiting To Play

When it comes to video games, loading screens are the worst. Who wants to have a break in gameplay to stare at an animated circle or hourglass spinning around for all eternity?

Nobody likes them, but that doesn't mean they haven't evolved to become a part of the entertainment.

Thankfully, game creators realized how boring loading screens were, and many opted to do something about it. If you have to stare at something for a couple of minutes, why not make it interactive? There are tons of modern loading screens that offer up minigames, and some are so much fun, you forget about the main title you are playing!

Granted, it's nice to get back into the game, but that doesn't mean there aren't more than a few loading screens the fans truly appreciate. Anything is better than nothing, but not every video game loading screen can be found on a list about the very best of them.

The loading screens on this list are all interactive little minigames that keep the player occupied while the computer crunches its numbers, scans the disk, or does whatever magic is necessary to bring your favorite video games to life.

Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad is a hack and slash action horror game that was released for the Xbox 360 in 2009. The game is styled after 1970s exploitation cinema, and if the name doesn't give away the campy story, you may want to read it again. It features over-the-top violence, gore, bikini-clad sword-wielding ladies, and everything you might want from such a title.

The game was not well received when it came out, and that's pretty much due to the fact that it's not very good. As IGN's review put it, it's "a digital disaster in nearly every way. It’s ugly, sounds awful, handles poorly and has a premise that is as shallow as they come."

If the game's so awful, why bother highlighting its load screen? As it happens, the load screen is arguably better than the game itself and seeing as there aren't many titles that can make that claim seriously, it had to be included for that novelty alone.

When you head into a loading screen, you drop out of the well-rendered 3D imagery and find yourself controlling a small 8-bit character who then goes on a zombie killing spree against a hoard of enemies that look a bit like Papa Smurf. It's endless, it's pointless, and it's more fun than the game you're distracting yourself from playing.