Looking for good retro-inspired coop games.

[Lord_Jenkins]

Hi there!

I joined this forum mostly because I know you guys have a LOT of knowledge in terms of retro gaming in general, not only shmups. Recently I am very fond of coop gaming - be it coach or online multiplayer but... there's not a lot of good things out there. I can't run some hardcore recent titles, my PC is too slow for that. And I prefer the indie/retro vibe for my coop games. I've played a lot of Terraria - which is not coop-centric, but a great game. I also tried some Risk of Rain (again, great game), Towerfall, Broforce - but they don't feel so coop-centric as well. It feels like coop is just optional.

I tried running Chaos Engine - 'cause I remember it from Amiga and I loved it then - but it's not that great anymore, even though it's a remastered version. I also stumbled upon a game called Tower 57 - when it was available as a demo during E3, I downloaded the demo from Humble Bundle then. It's a great twin-stick retro-inspired shooter with coach coop - but the demo only offers one level (sewers/canals) and I would love to try out more. It has this nice Amiga/Chaos Engine feel - but is more modern controls and interface-wise. I've played it with my friend and we loved the retro coach coop feeling. But still - I know there is some kind of beta out there - 'cause I've seen some folks playing it on YouTube. I was wondering if maybe some of you had a chance to test it out, too - and if yes, HOW did you get the beta access? :O

Cheers!

[Immryr]

if you like 2d platformers the coop mode in battle block theatre is very well implimented. you actually need both players to be doing specific coordinated things in order to get through pretty much all of the levels. the game on the whole is generally very good imo.

[Lord_Jenkins]

if you like 2d platformers the coop mode in battle block theatre is very well implimented. you actually need both players to be doing specific coordinated things in order to get through pretty much all of the levels. the game on the whole is generally very good imo.

Hi! Thanks for a reply!

Yup - I know the game and other games by this studio buuuut... I have one, big problem: I am not a fan of Behemoth's graphic style. Their games are quite cool mechanics-wise, I've played Castle Crashers back in the day - but subjectively, I don't like looking at them. It reminds me of some Flash-based games or something. I would prefer nice pixel art OR just different artstyle. But still - maybe I'll give it a try - bacause of this coop functionality.

Cheers!

[dunpeal2064]

Not sure if its quite what you are looking for, but I loved playing Adventures of Cookies and Cream (ps2) co-op. Have played it through twice with two different people, and it hooked them both enough to see it through. Very co-op focused, so much so that even playing 1p you have to control both characters. Highly recommended.

[Lord_Jenkins]

Not sure if its quite what you are looking for, but I loved playing Adventures of Cookies and Cream (ps2) co-op. Have played it through twice with two different people, and it hooked them both enough to see it through. Very co-op focused, so much so that even playing 1p you have to control both characters. Highly recommended.

Thanks! It looks really cool - even though aiming at younger players with this artstyle. Would give it a try if I owned PS2 - but I don't.

Btw. If you like coop games as much as I do - be sure to check out Shift Happens by Klonk - it's a coop puzzle platformer, a really cool one.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Emulated Gunstar Heroes. X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse should run on a pretty vintage PC. Raiden III. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Shadowgrounds and Shadowgrounds: Survivor. Competitive rather than co-op, but Mashed: Fully Loaded is a fantastic shared screen multiplayer game for PC.

For real, though, if you refuse to get at least a - preferably chipped - PS2, emulation of older systems is your best bet. On the PS2 alone, Baldur's Gate: Dark Aliance (especially the 1st one) Gauntlet Dark Legacy (controls set to ROBOTRON mode, auto-aim OFF, auto-attack OFF), The Red Star and Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks ought to justify the purchase.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Streets of Rage Remake (currently at v5.1) for the PC. Fantastic beat em up.

Mega Man 2.5D has an amazing coop mode but requires a decent graphics card sadly.

[Lord_Jenkins]

Emulated Gunstar Heroes. X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse should run on a pretty vintage PC. Raiden III. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Shadowgrounds and Shadowgrounds: Survivor. Competitive rather than co-op, but Mashed: Fully Loaded is a fantastic shared screen multiplayer game for PC.

For real, though, if you refuse to get at least a - preferably chipped - PS2, emulation of older systems is your best bet. On the PS2 alone, Baldur's Gate: Dark Aliance (especially the 1st one) Gauntlet Dark Legacy (controls set to ROBOTRON mode, auto-aim OFF, auto-attack OFF), The Red Star and Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks ought to justify the purchase.

I've played LOTR: The Return of the King and Shadowgrounds games. But that's a great list of recommendations, thanks a lot!

[null1024]

N++ might be up your alley, with an excellent set of co-op stages.
Great game in singleplayer, too.

[calloftheshadows]

Not an expert on this one, I consider myself a single player most of the time, but I've had tons of fun with Hammerwatch - cool retro h&s with great coop.
Also, you mentioned Tower 57 - looking forward to playing full release some day, kind of remind me of Alien Breed on Amiga.

[Stevens]

Lot of good suggestions in here. I'll +1 SOR Remake and add you should play the Way of the Warrior mod. It's fucking amazing.

Shock Troopers is a lot of fun too. I'll be back if I think of more.

[nem]

Lovers in Dangerous Spacetime?

http://www.loversinadangerousspacetime.com/

[Obiwanshinobi]

Bara Burū - I play it emulated on Wii.

[MommysBestGames]

If you like the indie/retro we did a few games that have coop in them.
Explosionade: Jumping mechs that stomp aliens
http://store.steampowered.com/app/373620

Shoot 1UP: Control multiple ships at the same time
http://store.steampowered.com/app/373610
Both games are one sale this week on Steam actually.

As for other good coop games, have you played the Rayman Origins/Legends games? Not pixel, hi-res art, but they are fun to play together. Might run on your machine? Oh, but it requires "Uplay"..hmm...

There's also "Crawl", chunky pixel art.. fantasy setting. "Mother Russia Bleeds" has coop, looks pretty gritty. Never played it though.
And for more shmups, Jamestown is good in coop, and so is Aqua Kitty and both have lovely pixel art.

[DejahThoris]

Also excellent and on Steam is Strikey Sisters. It reminds me heavily of Firestriker on SNES.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/64388 ... y_Sisters/

[Obiwanshinobi]

As for other good coop games, have you played the Rayman Origins/Legends games? Not pixel, hi-res art, but they are fun to play together. Might run on your machine? Oh, but it requires "Uplay"..hmm...

Vector graphics I believe. Isn't Origins DRM-free on PC? Must-play either way.
Isn't there any way of playing Alien Swarm (the original UT2004 mod or its remake using Source) on a shared screen? I doubt there is, but one can wish.
How about The First Templar PC version, is there local co-op on one system? Any Sniper Elite PC version playable on split-screen?
In all fairness, the first Lego Star Wars is co-op on just one device, but I didn't like the demo.
Now, you might need a bit of luck to get a number of controllers working properly with the creaky PC port of Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, also, I'm not even sure if there's any co-op mode available, or it's all just racing, but I certainly liked that one better than at least Sonic Heroes.

Oh yes, it only takes a humble PC to emulate PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 (Ootake), of whose games Dungeon Explorer for up to 5 players offers an alternative to Gauntlet Dark Legacy.

Then again, Midway Arcade Treasures Deluxe Edition (once patched) is a terrific anthology and contains Gauntlet II, but I've no idea how this particular game has aged.

[Stevens]

There's also "Crawl", chunky pixel art.. fantasy setting.

Crawl is fucking dope.

Four players, three of you get to play monsters/ghosts and the fourth is the hero. If you kill the hero you become the hero. Obviously you want to be the hero as long as you can.

It is a lot of fun.