@ttzop#4294 woah! someone actually used the Lucky & Wild concept in another game!
My wife and I do a medium amount of couch coop gaming, but some of them are “single player” games. We‘ve been playing Baba is You together. The game isn’t really about execution and having someone else's perspective on the puzzles that intentionally break the rules of the game in weird ways is very helpful.
The _Unraveled_ series is pretty decent for coop, but the game(s) has(ve) some other issues and I'm not positive I'd recommend it.
A loooooong time ago we played _IloMilo_ together which was an Xbox 360 game in the post-Indie boom era and I think it got overlooked a bit because of it. Looks like you can still get it from the [Microsoft store for $5](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/ilomilo-plus/9wzdncrfhw7p?activetab=pivot:overviewtab).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpXWyWj2p04
The object is to get the two players together and have them high five. The gimmick is that you need to work your mind around the different typologies. There is no execution barrier that I remember to play the game. It can be played as a single player game too.
The _Lost Vikings_ is another one, but there is certainly an execution barrier in that game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-cEqkd9t0M
Vitamin Connection! The whole game was entirely created with the purpose of co-op game play and utilizing all of the switch's features. It also has an unbelieveably good soundtrack!
Beat ‘em ups and run and gun games are both typically great for co-op.
Double Dragon II and Super C are my favorite NES co-op games.
The Contra and Double Dragon series’ were both great for co-op with only a few scattered exceptions.
Sunset Riders and the Metal Slug series are some more great run and gun co-op games.
In the Metal Slug series the various vehicles add to co-op. In the first entry ‘who get’s the vehicle?‘
In Metal Slug 2 ’Who get‘s which vehicle?’.
Light-gun games might be nigh-universally great co-op games.
I can't think of a single example of a light-gun game that supported 2-players but was better single player.
Personally I'm especially fond of House of the Dead and Ninja Assault.
I played a lot of House of the Dead co-op in a university arcade with a friend/crush, when I wasn't playing pool or studying. I played a lot of Gears of War co-op with old friends and had a great time reconnecting with them.
The co-op experience is a shared experience.
Earth Defense Force 2 and Gears of War both work really well co-op.
Gears of War has that partner recovery system.
Earth Defense Force games have vehicles and different character classes, and weird fun ways to interact with another player's vehicle. Co-op adds a lot to that series.
A really curious case is Double Dragon III for NES.
In some ways it is a great co-op game.
In other ways it is a terrible co-op game.
Double Dragon III has team up moves that are only available in co-op.
Being a little generous, you could say Double Dragon III has a very free-form combat system.
The game has a surprisingly high number of moves for a two button game, including some really interesting stuff like wall-kicks. There is an obvious 'optimal' approach to the fights in Double Dragon III and simplified only slightly that approach is 'spin-kick everybody'. The optimal approach is definitely not a fun way to play. Since your health is refilled at the end of the level, any approach to the fights that doesn't result in you losing a life during the level is just as valid as the more optimal approach. In practice this encourages players to try and approach the fights in fun ways. Instead of focusing on beating your opponents, you get to try to beat them in creative or cool looking ways. If things get dire, you know what strategy you can always fall back on.
Double Dragon III gives each character only one life.
You only gain lives by gaining characters. You gain two extra characters later in the game. For single player you start with one life, and gain two more. In co-op you start with one life each and gain two more to be shared between the two players. Depending on how the rest of the game was designed, that could potentially work out okay.
It doesn't work out okay.
Double Dragon III's early levels are flat, and the challenge comes exclusively from the fights. So far everything is fine.
Double Dragon III's last level includes a bunch of instant death platforming challenges. In single player if you lost a life on one of these, you'd still have two lives to get through the game with. You would still be in good shape to beat the game. In co-op if you each die once during this section, or one of you dies twice, you are now both on your last life and it's going to be really tough to beat the game. Co-op makes trying to beat the game much harder in a really unfun way.
It does make the early levels more fun though.
I have played a lot of Double Dragon II co-op. I've finished Double Dragon II with other people and had a blast.
I have played Double Dragon III co-op sometimes, and had a lot of fun with it too. I have never finished Double Dragon III co-op. Sometimes if the other person isn't familiar with the game it even seems like a good idea to mention before we start that playing Double Dragon III co-op really isn't about playing well or beating it.
The co-op experience is a social one, so some of the experience is in the game, and some of it is outside of it.
When I think about my co-op experiences I've spent a lot of time playing co-op beat ’em ups and run and gun games with friends, and a lot of time playing co-op light-gun games with dates. There are probably elements of light-gun games that make them good date games, and elements of run and gun games that make them good games to play with your buddies.
I'm definitely a fan of co-op and multi-player games in general.
@robinhoodie#4214
Paduk: On the rooftops we encountered Reavers and we only had boltoks to fight them off.
Yeah I liked those diversifiers
@Fishie#4422 Touching on that, and what Geoff said about light gun games, I think there is really something to co-op games where you and the other player can say to each other, “can you believe this shit?” in an upbeat manner. Like watching a ridiculous movie. Light gun games in their roller coaster nature are perfect for that. I was reminded this week that 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand has a Co-op campaign, but it is sadly online only and I am much more into the other person being in the room so that we can turn wide eyed to one another.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J5tumDL8jQ
@robinhoodie#4425 ah such a broken yet wildly enjoyable game.
I have an aversion for games that use real life conflict in a blockbuster setting or even use real life setting in a work of fantasy.
It is one of the reasons I like Gears so much, it lets me shoot stuff and not moralize over it.
This one is the exception to my emotions.
Another exception is MD World of Illusion, I generally dislike Disney but the gameplay in this one is just so perfect for a parent to play with their kid.
@Fishie#4426 Its kind of been in the thread, but I definitely am interested in co-op games for players with a vast skill gap. Playing with a kid or little brother mode, something like that. I feel like that (along with co-op) are an underdeveloped area for games. Especially now as more people are playing games since there‘s not much else to do. I would love to be able to be actively playing a game with someone (not just back seat driving) while helping them learn the ropes. Again, light gun games are perfect as the action in the hands is so basic, but the only other experiences I can recall are being a password summon in on Bloodborne where I would jump in at level 200 on a level 30 player’s game and walk them through a tough area. More of that please.
@robinhoodie#4429 Borderlands 3?
Also not what I meant with World of illusion, in World of illusion Mickey and Donald co operate as equals regardless if you play alone or co op. They constantly work together to go from platform to platform and puzzle to puzzle and that is what makes it so good to play with yer kids (or in my case with my youngest sister way back in 92) There is no skill or level cap or whatever, just pure work together joy.
I guess playing as cappy in mario odyssey is supposed to be that kind of thing? though it does ramp up in terms of skill relatively quickly, I think that was their initial intention.
@exodus#4468 Oh cool. I should try that.
I am thinking about this because in the last 5 years I've started to be a person who people come to when they want to get into games late in life. My friend who is also in their late 30's got a GBA from me a couple years back and she has finally played enough Tetris and Dr. Mario and is asking after other games she might like. I am slowly easing her into us playing a game together, but she had made it clear that she doesn't want to play something competitive. So no versus game of Tetris. I guess I am fumbling towards the question of if there are any co-op puzzle games? Like almost doubles Tetris but one where someone who isn't confident in their skills wouldn't feel like they were pulling their own weight. Very much in the vein of what @Fishie#4426 described when talking about World of Illusion (I really need to give that a try as well.)
I had an idea for an article called “best games for couples” that I was gonna run somewhere during valentine's day, and anyway one of my top recs was gonna be knuckles chaotix, for several reasons.
- it's floppy and weird and fun to mess around in
- it‘s pretty easy and as long as you have a good attitude about it it doesn’t matter if you fail
- it can also be frustrating in parts which can be a good test of a relationship, ha ha
we also designed gunsport to be that way - there are two positions on a team (for co-op-ing) and one only has to aim up and down and shoot, so it's just about angles and timing only. The other can move, jump, aim, and shoot, so is more complex but also has to be more precise because they get fewer shots. That's kinda in there. If we ever put the thing out.
@robinhoodie#4502
Uo Poko is a fantastic co-op puzzle game.
@exodus#4503 Oh man! I once had a really bad time trying to play Chaotix with a much younger Sonic fan. They could not understand how you were supposed to kind of take your time in that game and work together. But I agree. If it worked it would be a sublime experience.
@Geoff I have never seen Uo Poko until just now. This looks great!
Lately my quarantine gaming buddy has gotten obsessed with playing Crypt of the Necrodancer on my Switch, which let me just say is a BRUTALLY difficult game.
I’d much rather play _Resident Evil_ or _Gears_, but alas he prefers 2D to 3D. Would definitely be interested to know some other games with meaty co-op campaigns that aren’t just puzzle platformers or something.
I‘m always looking for chill co-op hang out games for retro consoles.
I think Donkey Kong Country is one of the best for the way it seamlessly transitions between players. I prefer that style over simultaneous in an action game because it gives you both a chance to learn from eachother and focus. multiple players at once is way too distracting sometimes.
Seiken Densetsu 2 and 3, and secret of evermore (I think that one requires a patch for multiplayer) and Toejam and Earl are the practical choices when I have a guest over. There’s plenty of hardcore co op action games, like Gradius V, Gunstar Heroes, Pocky and Rocky, but those take a lot of focus. I'm looking for any recommendations on retro consoles (like up to 2007) for stuff like Toejam & Earl, the mana series and DKC.
@robinhoodie#4507 I recently built a one-button (no stick) USB controller specifically for playing Uo Poko
if you are both into detective stories, i‘ve found story-heavy detective games to be quite rewarding, just playing trough it together and wildly speculating about whodunnit. it helps that the theme is pretty popular as of late; we got through Her Story, Wolf Among Us, Sherlock Holmes Crimes & Punishments and Frog Detective this summer with pretty good results. one can play while the other takes notes and swap every now and then. of course you don’t actually need to take notes for most of these, but it's fun! 
a short little game i've played with many people who aren't much into games is The Yawhg, where up to 4 players take turns deciding what to do weeks before an apocalyptic event befalls a medieval town. don't be decieved by the storybook aesthetic, it's dark as heck.
Before covid I was doing regular meetups with friends to play various games in co-op, we got through a few:
@bankbank#10687 Photos please! Ha ha! I have often thought about building a custom controller made out of giant buttons to play like Um Jammer Lammy, something like this
[URL=https://i.imgur.com/kZHOEqT.jpg]
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/kZHOEqTh.jpg[/IMG][/URL]