If it wasn't for the retro co-op/multiplayer games back in the day, there would be no mass online multiplayer scene we currently have.
Forget playing with a faceless kid on the other side of the planet, true Co-Op multiplayer games are the ones where you and your best mate with 2 controllers going into one box playing some awesome spit screen action. You may say it is a dated way of thinking when it comes to Co-Op multiplayer's, but instead of having your best friend come round for hours of entertainment. You all sit in your own homes getting infuriated that someone keeps killing you every time you spawn.
So here are 5 of the best retro Co-Op games of all time.
5 – Streets of Rage 2.
Side scrolling, ass kicking, fast paced entertainment that cost my parents a fortune in money for the privileged of me disparaging to the arcades for a few hours.
A city over run with with mayhem, 3 cops decide to quit there jobs and take the law into there own hands by cleaning up the streets, 1 at a time. Basically, you and a buddy get to grab some long pipes, katanas, or a number of other weapons you can use, and beat the shit out of anyone who got in your way. Wave after wave of enemies would keep coming at you as you tried desperately not to be the first friend to die and be mocked in the arcade. For some reason, I always had to make sure I was the hot pants wearing brunet in red, she was hot in the 80's, despite the box art depicts her wearing blue denim hot pants.
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4 – Double Dragon 2: the Revenge.
Just like number 5 in this list, double dragon was also a side scrolling, ass kicking, fast paced entertainment, but one I actually had at home, saving my parents a fortune and the privilege of having me around at home.
Remember Marian who you saved at the end of the first game? Well Marian can not stay out of harms way and at the start of this game, she is brutally killed, sending the red and blue brothers (although its white and blue in this) on a rampage to get revenge for her death.
Taking place in various venues, the brothers have to fight there way through hordes of enemies until they get to the gangs hideout where they take out the boss who murdered there love triangle woman. Did they really share Marina?
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3 – Smash TV.
1999 was supposed to be the year where you can go on a game show to fight for survival in a kill or be killed scenario while picking up as much cash as possible. Now that would have been cool to watch. Reminds me of the film ''Stay Tuned''.
Instead, in 1999, I had to put up with countdown. Eurgh....
But that was pretty much the premiss of the game, you and your best buddy would enter a room, collect the money, avoid the land mines or other ''problems'' and start killing anything and everything that comes into that room. Once done, you move on to the next room, and on and on it went until you got to the last room where you kill the show host in order to escape and win.
But if it was real I would be watching it religiously.
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2 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV; Turtles in Time.
All the TMNT games are all very good, but this one in particular is the best by a long way.
In the arcade version of the game, you could play with up to 3 other people using all 4 of the turtles, but on the SNES, you could only have 2 players on at any one time, though that limitation is no longer there on both the new SNES Classic Mini and on certain Emulators.
You get to choose from the 4 legendary heroes, but if you didn't use Mickey, then you sucked balls. Shredder and Krang have taken the Statue of Liberty and you have to rescue it by taking on the foot clan, bebop and rock steady, shredder and finally Krang. It is very colourful, surprisingly smooth to play and it has unforgettable music.
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1 – Golden Axe.
This is by far the best, most remembered and king of Co-Op retro games ever.
I think the first time I played this game was on a friends computer. But it has also made an appearance on a number of other platforms such as Mega Drive/Genesis, Mega CD, Virtual Console, Mega-Play, Master System and even iOS with 7 sequels and spin off games.
This was and still is, quite possible the best co-op, side scrolling hack and slash game ever. It takes place in a medieval fantasy world where you have the choice of 3 heroes, the axe wielding dwarf, the long sword, Heman wannabe barbarian, and the sexy Amazon woman with here broadsword.
As you progress in the game, you pick up little vials of magic that build up your magic bar, this allows you to cast spells that can hurt any enemies on the screen at that time. Each player has different types of spells they can use, earth, fire and lightning.
Although very slow to begin, after a while of playing, the pace speeds up and you an even start riding dragons to help defeat your enemies like skeletons, giants, trolls, knights, and all other manor of creatures.
It is a wonderful game and I have fond memories of playing it with my childhood friend.
So good you can even play it online HERE
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Every time I do a list like this, it reminds me a lot about my childhood, and I always have to download the rom's for each game, just to refresh my mind of what the games were like to play all those years ago.
Thanks for reading.
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Stu @TechMojo
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