I think Goof Troop on the Super Nintendo is one of the best co-op games ever made. Here's why.
When people ask me about classic games that still hold up today, one of the first games I always bring up is Goof Troop on the Super Nintendo.
And I know for people that never played it, that might sound random. It's a licensed Disney game based on Goofy.
But I'm dead serious when I say I think this is one of the best co-op games ever made. Not just for the 16-bit era, not just because I grew up with it. I mean, even right now, this game still feels great to play.
It was released in 1993 and developed by Capcom. It was directed by Shinji Mikami, who would later go on to create Resident Evil. And once you know that, it kind of makes sense because the game design here is really great.
The easiest way to explain Goof Troop is that it's basically a two-player co-op Zelda-like.
It has that same top-down perspective. You move room to room, solve puzzles, fight enemies, clear dungeons, and beat bosses.
The difference is that it's level-based instead of open world. It's not about exploration. It's not about collecting upgrades. It's not about spending hours wandering around.
It just takes the core ingredients of a Zelda game and condenses them into a fast-paced co-op puzzle adventure.
So back in the day, if you loved Zelda and you wanted something you could play with another person, this was one of the closest things you were able to get. And that's a big reason why this game felt special.
The Item System Is Better Than It Looks
You don't get swords or permanent upgrades. Instead, you get item slots.
In single player, you get two item slots. In co-op, each player gets one.
That means you constantly have to coordinate with your partner. Who holds the key? Who keeps the hook shot? Who carries the board? Who takes the bell?
That one small change makes the co-op a little bit more meaningful.
The hook shot is one of the best tools in the game. You can use it defensively to stun enemies or push them back. You can use it to hit smaller enemies like snakes, and that kills them. You can also use it to navigate the environment.
Sometimes you shoot it across a gap and create a bridge to walk across. Sometimes you use it to grab objects. Sometimes it's your only way out of danger.
It's a simple tool, but it gets used in multiple smart ways.
Then there's the bell. You never really need to use it, which is what makes it cool.
When you ring the bell, every enemy in the room starts following you. That means one player can distract the whole room while the other player grabs the key, runs to the exit, solves part of the puzzle, or lines enemies up for an attack.
Then you can kick a block through the line of enemies and wipe them all out.
That kind of teamwork is why this game still stands out.
And the characters aren't just cosmetic. Goofy is stronger, Max is faster, and that means bigger enemies can be defeated with one barrel by Goofy, while Max may need two.
But Max can maneuver around the rooms quicker and avoid danger more easily.
So sometimes the smartest play is to let Goofy handle combat while Max does the objectives, and that creates little strategy moments all throughout the game.
You can also get a candle, which might be the least important item in the game. The only thing it does is make the circle of light around your character a little bit bigger in dark rooms.
So in those areas, it definitely does come in handy, but it's not necessary.
Unlike Zelda, you can't get a sword or any kind of permanent weapon. Most of your attacks come from picking up barrels, pots, or bombs and throwing them at enemies. Or you kick blocks at them.
That sounds basic, but it works really well.
There's something satisfying about grabbing a barrel and hitting an enemy with it.
Sometimes enemies can pick up barrels and throw them at you too. If you hold your hands up, you're able to catch them and throw them right back.
One of the dumbest and best things in the game is that you can throw barrels to each other.
As kids, me and my brother used to just stand there and play catch with barrels. I would throw it, he would catch it, and then throw it back. We would just see how long we could keep it going before an enemy came along and ruined it, or before one of us got hit with the barrel.
There's no reward for doing this. It was just fun.
But it can also be useful because Max can toss a barrel to Goofy, and Goofy can immediately use it to take out a stronger enemy.
Even little mechanics like that end up adding to the teamwork.
Puzzle Design and Teamwork
Most of the puzzles just involve kicking blocks into places.
They start simple, then gradually get more complex, and that progression is really well done.
Nothing feels overwhelming early on.
If you know these puzzles, it's really fun to solve them in sync with your partner. One person takes on half of the puzzle, the other player takes on the other half, or you kick a block over to the side and the other player walks in and kicks it into place.
It's actually really satisfying when you can just flawlessly work together to solve a puzzle.
And if you mess up, you can simply leave the room and re-enter it. That resets the whole thing, so you can try it unlimited times.
To me, the only puzzle that still trips me up sometimes is the very last one. Even after all these years, I still occasionally have to try it a few times.
The Boss Fights
Every stage ends with a boss fight.
They're usually not super hard, but they're fun. You learn the patterns, dodge attacks, and throw barrels or bombs back at them.
They're simple fights, but they work as great payoffs at the end of each area. The game really knows not to overcomplicate things, so you should be able to figure out how to defeat each boss pretty quickly.
The stage one boss fight is basically like whack-a-mole. The enemies pop out of holes and throw bombs and barrels at you. If they throw a barrel and you don't catch it, it explodes on impact. But if you hold your hands up and catch it, you can throw it right back at them.
You just have to try to catch them before they go back into the hole.
If they throw a bomb, it lands on the ground and starts blinking. The faster it blinks, the closer it is to exploding, so you want to time it right and not pick it up right before it blows up. Throw it back at them a handful of times and you take them out.
The second boss is the guy who blows fire at you. You start by grabbing the barrels already on screen, but there are only four of them, and that's not enough. So after that, you avoid the fire while two characters on the left and right throw barrels into the middle. You catch those barrels and throw them at the boss.
This one's pretty easy.
The third boss is the first one that's actually kind of difficult. You fight two skeletons, a red one and a blue one.
They take out their bones and throw them at you, and the bones bounce around like Pong until they stop. Once they stop, you can pick them up and throw them back.
After you hit them enough times, they start taking their heads off and throwing them at you. At that point, instead of throwing the bones at their bodies, you have to throw them at their heads.
Do that enough times and you finally beat them.
The fourth boss might be my favorite one in the game. I just really like the pattern here.
You fight two insect creatures, a green one and a pink one. They run across the screen quickly, either up or to the side, and you have to avoid their path or you'll get hit.
The safest place is usually the very bottom middle of the screen because they can't hit you there.
After they run, the screen shakes and pointy rocks fall from above and stick into the ground. You have to watch the shadows so you know where they're going to land.
Once the rocks hit, you pick them up and try to hit the insects in the head as they run across the screen. This one takes a little timing.
Each time you hit them, they get shorter and shorter, so it's a fun visual way to see how much life they have left.
Then the final boss is Pete.
This one is by far the most difficult. It's the only boss where I usually end up losing a few lives.
Pete starts by spinning into a tornado and dropping bombs. You want to grab the bombs and throw them at him as soon as he stops.
But you have to be careful because once he stops spinning, he starts jumping and tries to kill you.
Then he jumps back and forth between the top two corners and shoots a spread from his gun. The shots move slow enough that they're not too hard to dodge.
To me, the hardest part is after he puts the gun away, comes back down to the floor, and starts shooting his hook out like a hook shot. This can be kind of challenging to avoid as Goofy because he's so slow, and that's usually the part where I get hit.
Then Pete goes back into the tornado and drops more bombs.
You basically just take your time, avoid him, wait for the bombs, and keep hitting him.
Eventually he calls out some minions that follow you around. That part is annoying because you can't do much except avoid them until Pete drops more bombs. Then you use the bombs to take those guys out and keep going.
Hit Pete enough times with bombs and you finally beat him. That's the ending of the entire game.
It's not too hard once you've played it enough. You memorize the patterns and can defeat all the bosses without too much trouble.
Health, Lives, and Resources
The health system is kind of interesting.
Even if you have multiple hearts, if you get hit once, they all go away. Then if you get hit again, you die.
So in practice, you can really only get hit twice before losing a life.
That makes movement, positioning, and teamwork way more important than it first appears.
However, if you're low on health, one of the best things you can do is use the shovel.
If you find a spot to dig, you can spend some time looking for items. You can find fruit, which gives you health. You can also pick up gems that give you extra lives and continues.
And if you don't get what you need, you can just leave the room and come back to reset it and start digging again.
So you can absolutely farm resources if you need to.
A Perfect Weekend Co-op Game
Goof Troop has five main stages, and once you know what you're doing, you can beat it in around an hour to an hour and a half.
On your first playthrough, it will probably take a little longer because you're figuring out puzzles and memorizing boss patterns.
But that's one of the reasons I love it so much.
Sometimes I don't want a giant 60-hour commitment. Sometimes I just want a great game I can play start to finish in one sitting.
Goof Troop is perfect for that.
There's also a password system, so even if you lose all your lives, you can jump right back in where you left off.
So there's really no excuse not to finish it.
My History with Goof Troop
Some of my earliest Super Nintendo memories were at my cousin's house. They had a Super Nintendo before I did.
I remember them renting Goof Troop, but I mostly just watched them play it back then.
I could see them getting really frustrated because they treated the game like an action game. They didn't understand the puzzle side of it at all, so they gave up pretty quickly.
But the game stuck in my mind because I recognized that it was co-op.
Then a couple years later, I went to a friend's house who owned it. That's when I really locked in. We kept playing it over and over until we finally beat it.
From there, it became one of the games my brother and I played the most growing up.
Honestly, outside of maybe Streets of Rage 2, this is probably the number one game I've beaten more than any other game in my life.
We beat it countless times growing up, and I've still gone through and beaten it again over the years as an adult.
I played through it again with my brother, and I've introduced it to new friends over the years.
There was even a time when my brother and I went years without touching it. Then one day, we picked it up and cruised through the whole game almost flawlessly.
Honestly, I was impressed by how much muscle memory was still there.
Why It's One of the Greatest Co-op Games Ever Made
That says everything.
The design is that clean. Once it clicks, it sticks with you.
I think a lot of games are fun just because of nostalgia, but this isn't one of those cases. This game genuinely holds up.
It has tight pacing, strong co-op mechanics, great puzzle design, replayability, unique teamwork moments, and almost no wasted time.
I don't have many negative things to say about it.
Maybe if you don't understand a puzzle, you could get stuck for a bit, but that's about it.
Other than that, I think this is a damn near perfect game.
Goof Troop's Legacy
What's really cool now is that I'm seeing people from my generation who grew up with Goof Troop making modern indie games inspired by it.
You can see that influence in games like Dandy & Randy DX and Mina & Michi.
I've played through and beaten both of those games, and that's kind of wild to think about.
Back then, Goof Troop felt like a co-op Zelda-like. Now we have modern developers making games that feel like Goof Troop-likes.
That's how strong its identity was.
So if you love Goof Troop, I highly recommend Dandy & Randy DX specifically. That really is a love letter to Goof Troop.
It's another one that you can beat pretty quickly, probably in under an hour, and it has different difficulty settings.
So there's really no excuse not to beat it.
Final Thoughts
I revisit Goof Troop all the time.
I have a lot of nostalgia for it. I have a ton of memories with friends, a ton of memories with my brother, and memories with my dad.
But even putting nostalgia aside, I still think it's one of the best couch co-op games ever made.
If someone asked me for an old-school game that still holds up right now, this will always be one of the first games I recommend.
Goof Troop is timeless, and that's why I think it's one of the best co-op games ever made.