The 90s. When the only algorithms you had to worry about were vice presidents maybe busting out the macarena. Couch co-op was at its peak during this decade, and while guys like Hazelight are keeping the spirit alive, today’s co-op games generally really struggle to match those on the Super Nintendo for sheer simple fun.
10. Kirby Super Star
Widely considered to be in the top echelon of Kirby games, Kirby Super Star pushed the series forward. Rather than featuring a platformer’s usual layout of spreading handfuls of stages across multiple worlds, Super Star instead features a variety of different games altogether. While all of them share the same fundamental beginner friendly gameplay, each mode does something different from the rest.
The Great Cave Offensive, for example, is like a Metroidvania-lite, where Kirby explores a cave system in search of treasure. Milky Way Wishes, on the other hand, does away with the normal mechanics of inhaling enemies to copy their abilities, instead making those movesets findable as permanent upgrades.
Throughout Kirby’s adventures, he can be accompanied by one of many different helpers — essentially enemies-turned-AI-allies. These partners all come with the moves of their respective Copy Abilities, and can be controlled by a second player (that’s the co-op bit).
Considering the lower barrier to entry for Kirby compared to most other platformers, quite literally cos he is very small, this makes it a perfect co-op game for the youngest of players. Sure, it’s not the meatiest co-op ever, but this is the next step up from giving a youngster an unplugged controller and is a pretty good introduction to gaming all round. It rocks.
9. Pocky & Rocky 2
This Natsume developed top-down shooter series distinguishes itself by being relentlessly unafraid to be Japanese. The protagonist Pocky is a Japanese shrine maiden, and her partner Rocky is a tanuki, while the game’s art direction and enemies all draw heavy inspiration from Japanese mythology.
In addition to their basic projectiles, Pocky and Rocky have a few extra abilities up their sleeves, and each differ between how they play, but there are actually seven playable characters here, each with their own uses.
Player 1 will always be Pocky, but player 2 can pick from robots, giant meaty men, scarecrows, and even a mole man. No, not him. Each of them have their unique little gimmicks, but player 1 can also possess player 2 to use their abilities, and even throw player 2 at enemies. Player 2 even has unlimited lives, so they’re like Beric Dondarrion but a bit more chill.
But even with that, Pocky & Rocky 2’s bright, colorful visuals hide a seriously challenging game. Try not to chuck your mate out of the window after the 17th time of him doing it to you here, and your friendship might make it out alive.
8. Super Bomberman
Bomberman is a classic Konami franchise, with dozens of releases across just as many platforms. Yet Super Bomberman remains one of the best, and a fantastic co-op experience to introduce you to this massive series, especially considering the second game skipped the co-op for some reason.
Super Bomberman’s gameplay is simple, yet demands a healthy level of caution and strategy. Bomberman’s job is to navigate mazes, blowing up obstacles and enemies by detonating cross-shaped explosions.
Super Bomberman can also be played with a second player in Normal Mode, in which case the two players will work together to blast their way through the game’s many stages. Unlike the other co-op games featured today, there’s friendly fire — since your own bombs can hurt you, that means your partner’s bombs can also hurt you, meaning that co-op adds an extra level of strategy and coordination. You know it’s gonna end up with your partner blowing you up “accidentally” a lot though.
If you’re sick of your mate doing a Great Sept of Baelor on you (I really should watch Game of Thrones again), a competitive battle mode can be played by up to four players to let you squash your beef — and the game even came bundled with a multitap add-on to facilitate this. Isn’t that smashing?
7. Super Smash TV
The SNES lends itself quite well to co-op shooters and arcade ports, doesn’t it? Super Smash TV is a twin stick shooter framed as a dystopian game show that made its way to the SNES in 1992, and manages to be a very solid conversion.
Seeing as the SNES controller doesn’t have even one joystick, let alone two for a twin stick shooter, the controls had to be adapted for home console play. The D-Pad moves your character around as you’d expect, but all of the face buttons are used to shoot in different directions, emulating the experience of the original on more limited hardware.
Super Smash TV is set in a dystopian game show where contestants must fight through an arena. In-game, this means that you’ll clear out waves of enemies in a room, and then pick which room you want to progress to next. Like the other shooters on this system, you’ve got powerups, cash, and collectables to find and bosses to beat down, and you can do it all with a friend at your side in co-op.
And just like all of the other shooters on this list, Super Smash TV is an incredibly challenging and punishing game — so it’s a good thing the port holds up well even in the most heated of firefights.
6. Goof Troop
When you think of a Disney animated shows like Goof Troop, you probably wouldn’t think of it being adapted as a casual and multiplayer friendly dungeon crawler. But this SNES cult classic is exactly that, an action-adventure game that boasts art and gameplay that might remind you of A Link to the Past. Maybe a bit.
The game revolves around Goofy and his son Max embarking on a mission to rescue Pete, and to do so, they’ll need to defeat enemies, solve puzzles, and defeat bosses across a variety of environments. Though the pair can’t directly hurt enemies, they can make use of the environment to take down their foes.
Goofy and Max can also get their hands on a variety of different tools, like a grappling hook to cross gaps or a bell to lure enemies — though they can only hold one item each, or two if you’re playing in single player mode.
Goof Troop may be an easy game, which is kinda a blessing compared to the other games in this episode, but it remains a beloved cult classic whose fans swear by it. And until Four Swords and Tri-Force Heroes happened, this was as close as you could get to a full-fledged co-op Zelda game. But if that wasn’t enough to sell you on this game, consider this: Goof Troop was developed by Shinji Mikami. Yeah, that Shinji Mikami. Zombies, man. They creep me out.
5. Zombies Ate My Neighbors
A game that basically tells you to choke on them, this top-down shooter from LucasArts is not for the faint of heart, even with a pal.
Monsters created by mad scientist Dr. Tongue have invaded a suburban neighborhood, and it’s up to protagonists Zeke and Julie to save their neighbors and stop the mad doctor’s wicked schemes. Those imminently masticated neighbours are scattered throughout the stages, and must be reached before the enemies can touch them. And to vary things up a bit, some stages can transition from day to night, transforming some people into werewolves that can no longer be saved. It’s a pretty kooky game, which extends to all the crazy enemies and giant bosses you can blast.
As with all other games in this episode, Zombies Ate My Neighbors can be played with a friend from start to finish. How many people actually got to the end of ZATM is a question, though, as this one is brutally hard and requires a lot of item management to beat the super tough bosses. It looks great and has a great vibe to it even today, but beware: you can play this from sunrise to sunset and still get basically nowhere.
4. Sunset Riders
Sunset Riders is another run ‘n gun title, this time set in the Wild West. Sunset Riders is fundamentally similar to Contra: pick a character, and go to town over the course of several highly punishing stages where one mistake is one life lost. Though Sunset Riders offers difficulty options that influence your starting lives and continues, this game is still tougher than trying to buy Pokemon cards at retail prices.
The game’s American Old West setting pits you as one of multiple bounty hunters, each of which use a different weapon. As with Contra, powerups can be found throughout the game to boost your firepower against the hordes of outlaws you’ll be fighting.
Sunset Riders can be played all the way through with a friend in two-player mode on the SNES, and there’s a minor competitive element, too: the player that deals the most damage to the outlaw boss at the end of a stage is the one who earns the reward money. Earning enough money nets you extra lives and the right to do lord it over your friend forever,
Though copies of the game go for a premium nowadays, Sunset Riders did get a port to recent systems, though do bear in mind it’s pretty easy to establish co-op through…collaborative online portals? Sorry if that sounds a bit…alien to you.
3. Contra III: The Alien Wars
You can’t spell Contra without aaaaaaaa. These run ‘n gun bangers are simple by nature: blast your way through stages full of enemies, pick up power-ups for your weapons along the way, and beat down the boss at the end of a stage.
They’re also incredibly punishing — one touch by an enemy or bullet is one life lost, and you only have a few lives. It also doesn’t help that the western versions of these games tend to be even harder than their Japanese counterparts.
But to soften the blow, Contra III allows you to fight through the game’s six stages with a buddy on the second controller. Aside from being able to do all of the same things player 1 can do, the addition of a second player makes things a touch more forgiving: if a player runs out of lives in the middle of a stage and the other has some to spare, the defeated player can jump into the action at the cost of one of the survivor’s remaining lives.
Even so, the Contra games are no walk in the park, and you and your buddy will probably reach the end credits looking like a couple of disaffected Belarusians.
2. Secret of Mana
Outside of the Tales games, JRPGs usually aren’t known for co-op play. So it’s all the cooler that Square’s relatively niche Mana series incorporated it as early as Secret of Mana.
This beautiful RPG is set in a fantasy world that was nearly destroyed in the past. In the present day, an empire is attempting to unseal eight Mana Seeds to restore an ancient Mana Fortress, with which they plan to conquer the world. Standing in their way are three heroes: Randi, Primm, and Popoi.
At its core, Secret of Mana is a simple yet satisfying action RPG. The three characters each have distinct roles: Randi is proficient with weapons but cannot cast magic, Primm is the team healer, and Popoi is the offensive mage. In single player mode, you control one character, while the rest of the party is handled by a customizable AI.
But if you have the extra controllers and the Super Multitap add-on, Secret of Mana can be played with up to three players, each taking control of one member of the party. Once the second and third characters join, players can jump in or out of the game at any time, making Secret of Mana one of the most flexible co-op games on the SNES. All of this back in 1993 was pretty groovy.
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time
Even as far back as the early ‘90s, there was such a thing as licensed games that were actually good. Initially released for arcades, the game would find its way to the SNES a year later, and immediately became one of the best games on the console. It’s even better with a friend.
One evening, the four turtles are minding their own business, watching the evening news on TV. This peace doesn’t last, as supervillain Krang shows up to steal the entire Statue of Liberty, after which Shredder mocks them on live television. Spurred into action, the turtles leave to pursue their nemeses, only for Shredder to send them back in time.
Turtles in Time at its core is a classic beat-‘em-up where you and potentially another player pick a turtle to fight your way through a variety of stages across time periods. Each of the four brothers plays slightly different, so there’s plenty of incentive to dip back in.
In addition to being a fantastic multiplayer experience, Turtles in Time on SNES is an excellent port that captures the look of the arcade original, as well as its crazy attention to detail. While no four-player multiplayer is a pity, this is the game to play if you and a friend are looking to get into the genre, and the greatest co-op SNES game ever.
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