Co-op Shmups...TOP 10 plz

[kaicooper]

hi world <<< (whats this..coding lesson )

i just found out this great forum and i need little help from u guys

i keep play with my best friend Classic games..we keep doing these RETRO MOOD stuff
and u know ..Memories ...aaaah if i have time machine..80's my best place <<< focus plz

anyway i found many great games list but i need top great Shmups games
Horizontal or Vertical dosnt matter..and specially with neon lighting and great soundtracks

COOP only games cus we need to play together on PC with emulators

thanx

[copy-paster]

Gradius V
Salamander/Life Force
Gradius Gaiden
Salamander 2
DoDonPachi
S.C.A.T/Action In New York
Ketsui
Sonic Wings/Aero Fighters
AP Batrider
Battle Garegga

[Obiwanshinobi]

A thread.

[Shepardus]

Can't have a thread about co-op without mentioning Jamestown.

[kaicooper]

thanx guys

i got Jamestown..looks AWESOM

[Some-Mist]

not sure if you're gonna MAME it, but dogyuun is supposed to have a fun co-op mode though I've never personally played it myself.

[Captain]

your definition of fun is flawed.

[Some-Mist]

what's wrong with it?

[kaicooper]

not sure if you're gonna MAME it, but dogyuun is supposed to have a fun co-op mode though I've never personally played it myself.

i tried it..its great fun honestly...liked it..thanx bro

[Weak Boson]

Check out Score Rush: https://ga.me/games/scorerush-mp

Well made multiplayer twin stick shmup (NOT arena) that's totally free and totally awesome. It's also on XBLIG if that's still a thing.

[BIL]

If you're ok with manual scrolling, Kiki Kaikai aka Pocky & Rocky (SFC/SNES) is essential. Cute, charming and absolutely hardcore. A strong challenge with airtight shot/block mechanics suited perfectly for smart cooperative action. Tons of variety in its stage and enemy designs too. Super strong recommend.

edit: along the same lines, Shock Troopers (Neo Geo) is also excellent. Despite being an arcade game it's probably easier to pick up and play than KK. Raucous fun.

[LordHypnos]

The way the Giga Wing games are designed seems like it'd work real well with co-op. Take turns shielding. Giga Wing 2 also has the distinction of supporting UP TO FOUR PLAYERS! I have technically played GW2 multiplayer but it was so long ago I barely remember. I'm sure that I didn't understand shmups at the time, either, and neither did the person who I was playing with. I would love to try it though, sometime. There are also characters in the Giga Wing games that interact with eachother when you're doing coop.

You might think that Giga Wing games being good means Mars Matrix would also be good, but I'm betting that it would be tough to level up your ships; In addition, I think the greater flexibility of MM's shield system would kind of negate the advantage of being able to protect your partner while they recharge. Also it's more difficult to learn the weapons system. I'd still be down if I ever got the chance, tho.

On the note of character interactions, if you're really hardcore, Gunbird 2 could be fun just because there is different dialog going on depending on the combinations of characters. Dreamcast version lets you play where you alternate between characters every time you die, and will give you those character interactions too, though.

I have heard that Jamestown is quite good for coop (it's influenced by Giga Wing / Mars Matrix, also, according to the developer)

I wish I knew someone who was into shmups IRL so I could try playing them coop.

[Squire Grooktook]

Some of us need to get together on Supercade/Fightcade and try some of these games out sometime. I tried with a non-shmupping friend, but it's just not the same.

Interested if Dimahoo is any good co-op. Interviews say the system was designed with it in mind.

[Shepardus]

I'd like to see people play Ikaruga co-op with each person sticking exclusively to one polarity. I'm pretty sure it's possible though some parts would be quite difficult. Double-play would also work for this, but we are talking about co-op here.

[mamboFoxtrot]

I think Akai Katana would either be incredibly ez-mode (one guy uses phantom shield while the other collects energy until they can reverse roles), or an absolutely unplayable clusterfuck (repeatedly kill your buddy with bounced or blown-away bullets) depending on your coordination. Too bad the Shin/Slash and Zetsu/Climax modes don't support it. Could you imagine TWO players shooting 16 katanas? God knows how much sprite-flickering that would cause...

Which reminds me, I need to bug my sister into co-oping Crimson Clover and G-Darius sometime, because DAMMIT I need to see what a double Double Break looks like, or a two-player beam battle!

Wasn't there a Famicom game where the two players could merge into one uber-ship? I know Serraxor reviewed it on his channel but I can't quite find it at the moment.

If you're ok with manual scrolling, Kiki Kaikai aka Pocky & Rocky (SFC/SNES) is essential. Cute, charming and absolutely hardcore. A strong challenge with airtight shot/block mechanics suited perfectly for smart cooperative action. Tons of variety in its stage and enemy designs too. Super strong recommend.

Just be careful when using the dodge maneuver. It gets... interesting if you tackle your buddy.

[MathU]

Some of us need to get together on Supercade/Fightcade and try some of these games out sometime. I tried with a non-shmupping friend, but it's just not the same.

Hey there, I'm always looking for other people to netplay 2D shooters with!

Interested if Dimahoo is any good co-op. Interviews say the system was designed with it in mind.

Haha, that's pretty interesting that they would say that because it's actually somewhat hilarious to play seriously with another player. Whenever your ship crosses the trailing string of bomb gems for the opposite player you move all those bombs to your own ship. What this means is that any time there's a tight pattern to dodge you can't both dodge it in the same area or you risk stealing all of the other player's bombs from and leading them to an accidental death when they need to use one. I've had some amusing times playing Dimahoo with other people watching them get destroyed by it, but I can't imagine trying to play it seriously for a no-continue co-op clear, assuming I could ever find someone else to take it on.


I think the best 2D shooters for co-op are ones in which the players have some sort of mutually beneficial interaction. Games such as In The Hunt, R-Type Leo, Giga Wing, Mars Matrix, and Pop'n TwinBee allow for players to directly come to the aid of the other and defend each other when they're in danger. Bullet-canceling smart bombs can do this too but they always feel a bit disconnected.

The other thing that's important is not having a very prescriptive scoring system with score-based extra ships like Dodonpachi or Rayforce (which hilariously divides your laser count into 4 for each player), because then it just leads to a sort of forced competitive experience, as the other player is constantly interfering with your ability to survive.

Finally since Darius was brought up there's one more thing to mention. A game really needs to have an adequate amount of power-ups to split up so everyone is able to experience the thrill of full power.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Anyone played co-op Ninja Commando? Always seemed like it should be super fun with another person.

[BIL]

Wasn't there a Famicom game where the two players could merge into one uber-ship? I know Serraxor reviewed it on his channel but I can't quite find it at the moment.

Crisis Force, I'd guess. Neat Konami-channeling-Compile game, though I never tried the co-op.

Kiki Kaikai aka Pocky & Rocky (SFC/SNES)

Just be careful when using the dodge maneuver. It gets... interesting if you tackle your buddy.

Good memories right there.

[MintyTheCat]

not sure if you're gonna MAME it, but dogyuun is supposed to have a fun co-op mode though I've never personally played it myself.

I own the PCB. The 2P is a bit of a misnomer in that you need both players' credit to do this but the ships combine to form a more powerful ship - costs double the money in the arcade back in the day to 'go deluxe'

Sadly, the weapons are pretty lame and it becomes a bit more interesting forming a super ship but I prefer tatsujin-ou any day to this.

A shame as the gfx are very nice with it being a latter Toaplan Shmup and I think came out after tatsujin-ou but before batsugun.

Cheers,

Minty.

[MintyTheCat]

Wasn't there a Famicom game where the two players could merge into one uber-ship? I know Serraxor reviewed it on his channel but I can't quite find it at the moment.

Crisis Force, I'd guess. Neat Konami-channeling-Compile game, though I never tried the co-op.

Yes, it is Crisis-Force. Pretty good and beautiful but I prefer uuchu keibitai SDF personally and then RECCA über alles. RECCA would have been mental if there had been a 2P mode.

[MintyTheCat]

Anyone played co-op Ninja Commando? Always seemed like it should be super fun with another person.

Yes, me and a mate played it a couple of years ago 2P and it was good fun.
Still need to get an MVS copy...

[pegboy]

Not sure if you count them as shmups or not but I always really liked the 2P action in games like Blood Bros. and Wild Guns. My brother and I used to play Blood Bros. all the time at the local arcades, always wished there was a home version. Never heard about Wild Guns (which is essentially the same type of game) until years later. I've also heard Nam-1975 for the Neo Geo is pretty good as well, haven't played it yet though.

[Some-Mist]

it's not really a shmup either, but contra 3: the alien wars is a blast 2p (hard mode). the music is among my favorite too.

I own the PCB. The 2P is a bit of a misnomer in that you need both players' credit to do this but the ships combine to form a more powerful ship - costs double the money in the arcade back in the day to 'go deluxe'

Sadly, the weapons are pretty lame and it becomes a bit more interesting forming a super ship but I prefer tatsujin-ou any day to this.

A shame as the gfx are very nice with it being a latter Toaplan Shmup and I think came out after tatsujin-ou but before batsugun.

Cheers,

Minty.

dang, I just remember reading it had a unique co-op section and haven't really read anything too horrible about it. good to know.

[Squire Grooktook]

Some of us need to get together on Supercade/Fightcade and try some of these games out sometime. I tried with a non-shmupping friend, but it's just not the same.

Hey there, I'm always looking for other people to netplay 2D shooters with!

Damn, when I get some free time I'll have to try this out.

Dimahoo Talk

Yeah, mutual bomb sharing was part of what they intended to be a benefit in co op. The other thing was the elemental shot. They said that they tried to make it so players could position themselves to cooperatively take out all the elemental bullets and protect eachother from them.

not sure if you're gonna MAME it, but dogyuun is supposed to have a fun co-op mode though I've never personally played it myself.

I own the PCB. The 2P is a bit of a misnomer in that you need both players' credit to do this but the ships combine to form a more powerful ship - costs double the money in the arcade back in the day to 'go deluxe'

Sadly, the weapons are pretty lame and it becomes a bit more interesting forming a super ship but I prefer tatsujin-ou any day to this.

A shame as the gfx are very nice with it being a latter Toaplan Shmup and I think came out after tatsujin-ou but before batsugun.

Cheers,

Minty.

I haven't tried the co op ship merging, but I enjoy Dogyuun quite a bit overall. I don't have a problem with the weapons, but imo the level design doesn't have the same balls to the wall intensity as earlier Toaplan titles (not to say it's not hard, it's just not as intense or manic). That being said, IMO the bosses are awesome and crazy unique. I'm also a big fan of the super speed power up.

[Radigo]

OutZone is marvelous with a good friend... (if you consider it a shmup).

And GigaWing 2 is indeed a party game at 4 players.