September 17, 2026

Every Couch Co-op Game Releasing In September 2026

September 17, 2026

Every month I try to round up all the couch co-op games worth knowing about, the ones I missed the month before, the best ones I actually played, and everything coming up next. September is no exception, and there’s a lot to get through: some games I missed in August, a few new favorites, some retro co-op news, and a big list of everything coming out this month.

CO-OP GAMES I MISSED IN AUGUST

Let’s start with a few games from August that I didn’t get a chance to cover last time. Quake: Dawn of the Machine is a new, free expansion for Quake, and it honestly feels like a whole new game. It keeps the original Quake visuals, but adds a new soundtrack, new weapons, and a ton of new levels. I played through it, and it’s really hard, but I loved every second of it.

The demo for Wild and Chill also came out, the sequel to Cast and Chill, and I haven’t had a chance to try it yet, but there’s no official release date for the full game either. John Fox, an old-school beat ‘em up where you play as two foxes punching your way through enemies, got a demo too. It’s a little basic, but if you’re a big fan of the genre, it’s not bad. Reanimal also got new story DLC called The Prisoner, Reanimal is easily one of my favorite co-op games of the year, so I’m excited to check that out even though I haven’t played it yet.

Projection looks like a lot of fun, it’s got a lot of humor and that arcadey feel, kind of like NBA Jam but for Australian rules football. And Dodonpachi Resurrection Reignite came out on August 26th, an expanded re-release of the 2008 arcade bullet hell classic. It’s getting mixed reviews on Steam, mostly because it’s a re-release of a re-release at this point, but the Dodonpachi series overall is considered one of the best bullet hell franchises ever made, so hopefully it holds up.

BEST CO-OP GAMES I PLAYED IN AUGUST

Now for some of the best co-op games I actually played in August. Agent 64 came out, and it’s exactly the GoldenEye and Perfect Dark spiritual successor we’ve all been waiting for. I loved everything about it. You can play through the story in up to four-player local co-op, there’s a deathmatch mode, and you can even play online. Visually, they absolutely nail the N64 style while still feeling modern. This is already shaping up to be one of my favorite games of the year.

Box Knight is another beat ‘em up, this time with roguelike elements and a lot of humor, it clearly takes inspiration from Castle Crashers. I found it really tough, and while I’m not sure it’s my favorite in the genre, I really like the art style. Wild Ice also impressed me, it’s made by a really small team but has a surprising amount of polish. It’s story-driven with genuinely good voice acting, and it mixes hockey with third-person shooting, tower defense, and hack-and-slash combat. I enjoyed what I played and definitely plan on going back for more.

WHAT I’VE BEEN PLAYING

Outside of new releases, I’ve been on a bit of an Xbox 360 kick lately, some Halo 3, Gears of War, and Left 4 Dead 2, all footage for an upcoming video. I also played through Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 in one sitting in splitscreen co-op, which was actually the first Call of Duty campaign I’ve ever played through, and I really enjoyed it. It’s a shame that ended up being the last Call of Duty game with splitscreen co-op in the campaign.

I’ve also been deep into PS2 co-op games lately, and the one I keep going back to is Contra: Shattered Soldier. I love everything about this game, it’s incredibly hard, but it’s an awesome time from start to finish.

RETRO CO-OP NEWS

There’s some fun retro co-op news this month too. The original Legend of Zelda on NES got a co-op ROM hack, and you can actually play it on original hardware if you throw it on a ROM cart. This is basically a dream come true for me, I have so much nostalgia for these games, and there aren’t many classic Zelda titles you can play in co-op, so this one is going straight to the top of my list. You can find the hack over at romhacking.net.

Ninja Baseball Batman is also getting an HD remake. If you’re not familiar, it’s a four-player arcade beat ‘em up from the ‘90s, similar to the TMNT and Simpsons arcade games. There’s not a lot of information out yet, but I’m happy to see it, since the original doesn’t get talked about nearly enough. Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara is getting a Sega Genesis homebrew port too, it obviously won’t have the exact same visuals on that hardware, but it looks like they’re doing a great job capturing the feel of the original. On top of that, the Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection is coming to modern platforms, bundling the series’ co-op entries. If you grew up on consoles like I did, you might not be familiar with this series since it lived primarily on home computers like the Amiga, but they’re genuine classics. And the NES version of Bubble Bobble just landed on Switch 2 and PS5 in honor of Bub and Bob’s birthday on August 26th.

COUCH CO-OP GAMES COMING IN SEPTEMBER

Now let’s get into everything coming out in September. Wheel Mates launches September 1st, I played the demo, and while the controls were rough at first, they’ve since patched a lot of that. People are calling it “It Takes Two, but with RC cars,” and honestly, that’s not too far off. Marsupilami 2, a 2D co-op platformer, comes out September 3rd, and that same day brings Orbitals, by far my most anticipated game of the year. It’s built from the ground up as a local or online co-op experience, it’s a Switch 2 exclusive, and it has a genuinely beautiful anime art style. We’ll absolutely be covering this one on the channel.

Also out September 3rd is Friendly Steps, which originally promised local co-op, though its current Steam listing only mentions online play, worth keeping an eye on in case that changes. Isle of Reveries arrives September 4th, an old-school Zelda-like with Game Boy-style visuals; based on its Steam description, co-op might be its own separate mode rather than the full campaign. Tiny Bomber, a fast-paced vertical bullet-hell roguelite with a cartoony art style, comes out September 22nd. Delvarium, a Stardew Valley-style farming sim with survival elements and up to four-player local co-op, lands September 21st, and Stella Supernova: The Astral Veil follows on September 23rd with support for up to eight local players, Smash Bros-style level design, and an emotional story. Blades and Battles doesn’t have a firm date yet beyond “sometime in September,” it’s a sidescrolling beat ‘em up with weapons that looks like it’s channeling Golden Axe, with a nice 2.5D art style and some 3D cutscenes mixed in. And if you don’t mind waiting a bit longer, Duo Quest, a co-op turn-based RPG with roguelike and deck-building elements, plus a fun trivia mechanic between partners, is set for December 16th.

zachariah hosoda

September 17, 2026

When AAA Games Had Local Co-op Campaigns

zachariah hosoda

September 17, 2026

Not too long ago, big story-driven games actually let two people sit on the same couch and play through the entire campaign together. I’m talking specifically about the seventh generation of consoles here, so the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360, and the Nintendo Wii. Some of these were full split-screen campaigns, some were separate co-op story modes, and a few were just weird experiments that could only exist during that era.

And what’s easy to forget now is just how many of these games there were. It wasn’t just Halo, and it wasn’t just Gears of War. For a while it felt like every single publisher wanted their own co-op campaign, and I think that’s really cool to look back on.

THE AAA COUCH CO-OP BOOM

Gears of War is probably the first game people think of from this era, and honestly it earned that spot. It defined what an HD co-op campaign could feel like: big, cinematic, over-the-top violence, built around huge action set pieces, and you could still play through the entire story with someone right next to you. If one player went down, the other could revive them, and the whole thing felt like a buddy action movie. Gears of War 2 made everything bigger, and Gears of War 3 felt like the peak of the whole formula. Looking back, campaign co-op wasn’t some special bonus feature for one of Microsoft’s biggest franchises, it was just part of the package.

Halo was doing the same thing over on the other side, with full split-screen co-op all the way through Halo 3, ODST, and Reach. Sony had their own answer too, with Resistance: Fall of Man, Killzone 3, and Lost Planet 2 all shipping with full co-op campaigns, and even Call of Duty: World at War let you play through the story together, which feels strange to think about now. Then you had the shooters built entirely around two-player teamwork, like Army of Two and its sequels, the grimy Kane & Lynch games, Rainbow Six Vegas, and smaller ones like Fuse and The Outfit that probably would have been forgotten if not for their co-op hook.

CO-OP HORROR

I’ve always thought horror worked really well as a co-op experience, which is kind of an underrated thing. Sure, there’s an argument that it’s scarier alone, but it’s a lot more fun to laugh at it and get scared together with somebody next to you. Resident Evil 5 might be the most important co-op horror game of the entire generation, built entirely around Chris and Sheva working together, sharing ammo, reviving each other, and covering different angles. Resident Evil 6 pushed even further into action, but Resident Evil Revelations 2 might be my favorite of the bunch, since it went with an asymmetrical setup between Claire and Moira instead of making both characters identical.

And of course, the Left 4 Dead games deserve a mention here too. They were built totally around co-op, and to this day I still think they’re some of the greatest co-op games ever made. F.E.A.R. 3 tried something different with its asymmetrical Point Man and Fettel setup, and Painkiller: Hell and Damnation leaned into fighting demons in gothic environments instead of the usual military shooter stuff. It’s wild how many different flavors of co-op horror we got in just a few years.

CO-OP WAS EVERYWHERE

This is where the generation got really interesting to me, because there wasn’t just one formula everybody was using. There were military shooters, sure, probably too many of them, but there were also horror games, RPGs, beat ‘em ups, and fantasy games all experimenting with co-op. Borderlands was one of the standout examples, mixing a first-person shooter with loot and RPG mechanics and then letting you play through the whole thing with a friend. Borderlands 2 improved on almost everything, and Handsome Jack became one of the most memorable villains of the generation.

There were plenty of other hidden gems too, like Hunted: The Demon’s Forge and the criminally underrated Lord of the Rings: War in the North. Fable 3 let you complete quests, buy property, and cause chaos together, and Watchmen: The End is Nigh was a straightforward but fun co-op beat ‘em up. But honestly, Portal 2 might be the smartest co-op game of the entire generation. Valve didn’t just bolt a second player onto the single-player campaign, they built an entirely separate one from the ground up, with new mechanics built around communication instead of just shooting things together.

THE WII DID THINGS DIFFERENTLY

While the Xbox 360 and PS3 were chasing that big cinematic action-movie feeling, Nintendo was over in its own world doing its own weird thing, which led to some genuinely interesting co-op experiences you wouldn’t get otherwise. Of course they still had first-party games like Kirby’s Epic Yarn, New Super Mario Bros., and Donkey Kong Country Returns, but the Wii also got its own versions of bigger licensed games with local co-op baked in. Ghostbusters: The Video Game is probably the best example. Most people remember the 360 and PS3 versions, but the Wii version was actually the only one you could play in local co-op, and honestly, that makes it my favorite version of the game.

Ghost Recon on the Wii got a similar treatment, an entirely different game sharing the same name, and it turns out these weren’t always direct ports at all, sometimes they were just completely separate games. Call of Duty: World at War and Modern Warfare: Reflex Edition even had an exclusive Squad mate mode on Wii, where a second player could drop in with a Wii Remote and help by aiming a cursor at enemies. It’s not traditional split-screen, but it’s exactly the kind of weird experiment that makes the Wii so interesting to talk about when it comes to local co-op.

THE SHIFT AWAY FROM CO-OP CAMPAIGNS

But by the tail end of this generation, you could already feel things starting to shift. Resistance 2 cut its co-op campaign down into a separate mode instead of the full story, Splinter Cell: Conviction dropped its co-op campaign as a prequel side story rather than the main event, and Rage tried something completely different with Legends of the Wasteland, standalone co-op missions that had nothing to do with the single-player campaign at all. Even Modern Warfare 2 pointed in this direction with Spec Ops, a set of short two-player missions built from campaign set pieces instead of a real co-op story.

And then Call of Duty: Black Ops came along and basically proved you didn’t need a co-op campaign to keep people playing together. Zombies had technically existed before, but Black Ops was the game that turned it into the main attraction, a mode built from the ground up for four-player co-op that didn’t need a story to justify itself. Starhawk did something similar on the PS3 side with its Prospector mode, blending base-building and co-op survival into something that felt more like its own game than a campaign tacked on. Once these games showed that co-op could thrive without a traditional campaign wrapped around it, it’s not hard to see why publishers started moving away from the format.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Looking back at all of this, it’s kind of wild how much changed in such a short window. For a few years there, local co-op campaigns weren’t a bonus feature, they were the main event, something publishers built entire marketing campaigns around. Now if you want that same experience, you’re mostly looking at indie games, because the big AAA studios largely moved on to live-service shooters and battle royales instead.

I don’t think that means co-op is dead, it’s obviously thriving in its own way. But there was something special about picking up a controller, handing the second one to a friend, and knowing you were about to experience an entire story together from start to finish. Do you miss that era of gaming, or do you think we’re better off with how co-op has evolved since then?

zachariah hosoda

September 14, 2026

PS2 Co-op Games You Probably Missed

zachariah hosoda

September 14, 2026

I’ve been playing a ton of PlayStation 2 lately, and I keep forgetting just how many co-op games are hiding in this library. It’s genuinely one of the biggest libraries in gaming, and no matter how many of these games I dig through, I always find a new one I’ve never touched.

This isn’t really a hidden gems video. Some of these games are just okay, but I think they’re all worth trying at least once with a second player. So here are 11 co-op PS2 games you’ve probably missed.

ONIMUSHA: DAWN OF DREAMS

Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams isn’t obscure at all — it’s a Capcom game, and if you own a PS2, there’s a good chance you already know it. What you might not know is that it has a secret co-op mode. Both players hold L1, L2, R1, and R2 on their controllers, and once you hear a sound cue, you know the code worked.

You can’t co-op from the very start, though. You have to reach the third stage, where a new character joins your party, and that’s when player two can take control of her. For a game that was never built with co-op in mind, it works surprisingly well. The main issue is the camera — it’s stationary, so it’s easy to lose track of player two, and honestly, this would’ve been a much better fit as a splitscreen game. To be fair, the camera is bad in single player too, so don’t let that scare you off from trying it with a friend.

GETBACKERS

GetBackers only came out in Japan, and it’s based on the anime and manga of the same name. It’s a 2D sidescrolling beat ‘em up with 3D backgrounds, which sometimes doesn’t work in games, but here I think they pull it off.

This isn’t the best beat ‘em up I’ve played, and the moveset is pretty simplistic, but the special abilities are a lot of fun — think Dragon Ball Z-style energy blasts. I really like the art style, and you can choose between different characters, unlocking more as you go. There’s a lot of dialogue and cutscenes in Japanese, so if you don’t understand the language, you’ll want to skip through those. You don’t need to understand any of it to enjoy the beat ‘em up gameplay, though. The PS2 had a massive amount of anime games that never made it to America, and this is one of them worth tracking down.

G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is based on the 2009 movie — yes, the one with Channing Tatum that I’ve never actually seen. Most licensed games aren’t very good, so people tend to just skip past them, and this one came out pretty late in the PS2’s life, in 2009, well after the PS3 had already launched. By that point a lot of people had already moved on from the PS2.

But surprisingly, this game is pretty fun. It’s a straightforward run-and-gun shooter — not complex or deep, but it’s not really trying to be. It has drop-in, drop-out co-op, plenty of shooting, and destructible environments. It kind of scratches an old-school itch that wasn’t really common in the PS2 library. It’s not one of the best games ever made, but it’s better than you’d expect.

ARMY MEN: GREEN ROGUE

Sticking with the same idea, Army Men: Green Rogue is another licensed game — this time based on toys — turned into a run-and-gun shooter. Gameplay-wise, it’s very similar to the G.I. Joe game above. It also has drop-in co-op, and you’re mostly just running around shooting and picking up different weapons.

It’s actually even more simplistic than G.I. Joe — there’s no cover shooting or anything like that. But I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. There aren’t many games quite like this on the PS2. This isn’t secretly one of the best PS2 games nobody knows about, but it does prove a point I keep coming back to: giving even a mediocre game a two-player option elevates the whole experience.

SPACE INVADERS: INVASION DAY

Space Invaders: Invasion Day never came out in the US on PS2 — it was exclusive to PAL regions and Japan, where it was called Space Raiders. It did eventually make its way to the US on GameCube. This one actually turned out to be pretty good. It takes the classic Space Invaders formula and gives it a fresh coat of paint, moving the action to a third-person perspective.

You control two humans moving left and right at the bottom of the screen, shooting down waves of enemies, with some boss fights mixed in. It's basically the classic formula with updated visuals, and I don't hear people talk about this one much. Teaming up with a friend to see how high a score you can get is honestly pretty addicting.

TWIN CALIBER

Twin Caliber only came out in Europe, and I'll be honest — it's not the highest quality game. The voice acting is terrible, the production values aren't great, and the gameplay is kind of weird. But I actually love this game, and I really didn't expect to.

It plays like a mix between an on-rails shooter and a third-person shooter, and it was clearly built to be a co-op experience from the ground up. There's a loose story about a cop breaking a prisoner out, and the two of you team up to shoot down zombies and other creatures attacking the prison. The dialogue and voice acting are over-the-top and pretty ridiculous. You each control two guns and can switch between two control modes — one where each stick controls an arm independently (which I found really hard to manage), or one where a single stick aims both guns while L1 and R1 fire them separately. You have zero control over your character's movement; they just walk forward automatically and plant in place once they hit a new area. Once you get the controls down, though, this turned out to be one of the biggest surprises in the whole PS2 co-op library for me. It's a legitimate hidden gem.

ALIEN SYNDROME

There was a PS2 remake of Alien Syndrome, but it only came out in Japan. It's a pretty faithful remake as far as level structure and objectives go, but now it's a twin-stick shooter instead of the original format. My own history with Alien Syndrome comes from the NES version, which actually had co-op and was pretty fun, and the Sega Master System version, which only had alternating two-player and no co-op at all.

The gameplay here is the same as you'd expect — you run around rescuing hostages, then head to the exit for a big boss fight. Visually it's nothing impressive, but it did the job for its time. They did make the enemies noticeably grosser than the originals, with slimy sound effects to match. Maybe that makes me a little bit of a psycho, but I actually kind of love that addition. This is another one that ended up being a lot better than I expected.

I.Q. REMIX

I.Q. Remix is a Japan-exclusive sequel to Intelligent Cube on the original PlayStation, and it’s the one entry on this list that plays nothing like the rest. It’s really a puzzle game, and I had to Google how it worked before I could make sense of it. Cubes roll toward you across a floor, and your goal is to destroy as many gray cubes as possible before you get flattened. Wait too long and the edges of the stage start closing in, so there’s a constant pressure to keep moving.

The whole campaign is playable in two-player co-op, and it turns into a real strategy game once you get the hang of it. Destroying a black cube speeds up the floor collapsing behind you, while green cubes are the key: blow one up and it leaves a marker, then when cubes roll over that marker you can hit triangle to clear out a whole chunk of them. You and your partner have to actually talk through the best path together. It’s one of the most unique games I played for this list, and I don’t hear anyone in the US talk about it, total hidden gem.

SENGOKU BASARA 2 HEROES

Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes is a Japan-only release, and it’s basically Capcom’s answer to Dynasty Warriors. If you’ve played any musou game before, you already know what to expect: huge battlefields, one hero mowing down hundreds of enemy soldiers, flashy special attacks, the works. The whole story mode is playable in splitscreen co-op, so you and a friend can each pick a warrior and clear the campaign together.

There’s a ton of untranslated Japanese text and dialogue, but none of it gets in the way of the hack-and-slash gameplay, which is really the whole point. It never got much attention outside Japan, which is the main reason I wanted to include it here. If you’re already a fan of Dynasty Warriors, this scratches exactly the same itch.

SENGOKU VS. GENDAI

Sengoku vs. Gendai is another Japan-exclusive 3D beat-em-up, part of Capcom’s old Simple 2000 line of low-budget titles. A lot of games in that series are pretty rough, kind of like Wii shovelware, but every once in a while there’s a genuine standout, and this one’s a lot cooler than I expected. It does get repetitive since you’ll lean on one main attack most of the time, but it also throws in guns as a fun wrinkle, limited by a meter under your health bar, and holding L1 locks onto an enemy so aiming isn’t a hassle.

Overall it still feels like a budget title, but nothing about it is egregiously bad, the biggest issue is just the repetitiveness and lack of variety in moves and enemies. I actually stumbled onto this one the same day I was researching for this video, which is exactly why I love digging through the PS2 library, there’s always something new to find.

RAGING BLADES

Raging Blades never made it to the US, but it did release in Europe and Japan. 3D beat-em-ups have a reputation for not working well, hit detection or camera problems tend to be the norm for the genre, but this one actually feels solid. It has classes and a roster of different playable characters, so there’s more variety here than in a lot of the other beat-em-ups on this list.

I don’t hear many people talk about this game, but I really like it, and I’d recommend it to anyone who’s into beat-em-ups. It’s one of the better 3D entries in the genre, and another example of how deep the PS2’s co-op library really goes.

FINAL THOUGHTS

That’s 11 co-op PS2 games you’ve probably never heard of, and this is really just part one. The PS2 library is so massive that I’m always finding new co-op games I haven’t played, so there’s a good chance more lists like this one are coming.

If there’s a game you think I should track down for part two, let me know in the comments. And if you want even more recommendations right now, check out my Top 20 Co-op PS2 Games video. Thanks for watching.

Explore more games in the PS2 co-op database.

zachariah hosoda

July 27, 2026

Top 20 Couch Co-op Nintendo Switch 2 Games

zachariah hosoda

July 27, 2026

The Switch 2 can obviously play original Switch cartridges, but for this list, I’m only counting games that have official Switch 2 ports. These are my picks for the top 20 couch co-op games you can play right now on Switch 2.

#20 HEAVE HO 2

Heave Ho 2 is the newest game on this list. It just came out, so I haven’t had as much time with it, which is why it’s ranked lower here. I loved the original Heave Ho, and this one is basically more of the same. The core gameplay is the same, but there are some new environments that help shake things up. It’s a great four-player co-op game, and pretty much anyone at any skill level can jump in and figure it out pretty quickly.

#19 BANG BANG BANDITS

Bang Bang Bandits originally came out on the first Switch, but only in Japan. This year it finally got a US release along with a Switch 2 version. It’s a light gun shooter, and we just don’t have enough of those. You use Joy-Cons and point them at the screen to shoot enemies, and you’re not limited to the Switch 2 Joy-Cons, the original ones work too. You can play with up to four players. The gameplay is simple: you aim, you move the cursor, you shoot enemies. There are 12 stages and boss fights, and the Switch 2 version improves the performance and resolution.

Now for the negatives: visually, it looks pretty generic, kind of like one of those modern arcade games you’d play at Chuck E. Cheese. Not a lot of depth, but that’s fine, I can look past that. The real downside is the Switch 2 version costs $40, and this feels like a game that should be more in the $10 to $15 range. I have no idea where that price came from, but if you can look past it, it’s a really fun game to play with anybody.

#18 STAR FOX

Star Fox is another new one on this list, and it’s a great remake. If you liked Star Fox 64, this is a great way to play it. I love the visuals, the gameplay feels solid, and even the co-op is fun. It’s a co-pilot mode where one player flies the ship and the other shoots enemies.

My main issue is that you’re stuck using Joy-Con controls. Player one has to hold the Joy-Con horizontally to pilot the ship, and player two has to use theirs in mouse mode to aim a cursor. I love having options, and I love that this mode exists. What I don’t love is that it’s the only way to play this co-op, which makes no sense. Just give us the option to use Pro Controllers and I’d have no complaints. I still had a lot of fun playing through the whole thing in co-op, but our hands were hurting by the end of it, because Joy-Cons just aren’t made for adult hands.

#17 BROTATO

Brotato is basically Vampire Survivors, but your characters are little potatoes. It has some roguelike elements: you move your character around, you don’t even push any attack buttons, they just happen automatically. You pick up randomly generated items and level up. It’s a wave-based survival game, and you can play it with up to four players in local co-op. Even though it seems incredibly simple, it’s addictive, just like Vampire Survivors. Honestly, it feels like the same game.

#16 HUMAN: FALL FLAT

Human: Fall Flat got a Switch 2 version, and I’ve loved this game since it came out. This is a really good port. It has five brand new levels, mouse control support that’s optional rather than mandatory, and 4K 60fps performance on Switch 2, which is a big step up from the original Switch version.

This is one of the games I played with my daughter when she was younger, and we’d just mess around, grabbing each other, trying to jump off ledges, stuff like that. It’s the perfect game to play with pretty much any skill level. The puzzles do get more complicated later on, but if you just want a casual experience of messing around in this world, it’s really good for that.

#15 DESTROY ALL HUMANS! 2: REPROBED

Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed is a remake of a game that originally came out in 2006 on PS2 and the original Xbox. You can play through the entire thing in split-screen co-op, and this updated version adds some new weapons plus a feature where your flying saucer can suck up humans and use their DNA to upgrade your abilities. It was a really great game back in 2006, and it still is now.

#14 BLOOD: reFRESH SUPPLY

Blood: Fresh Supply is another old game that got a remaster. This one’s a boomer shooter, an old-school first-person shooter heavily influenced by Doom. It originally came out on MS-DOS in 1997, and that version had no split-screen at all. The original Switch version of this remaster let you play four-player split-screen local co-op, but the Switch 2 version bumps that up to six-player split-screen. I haven’t tried that yet, but it sounds like a wild experience. The PS5 and Xbox versions actually support up to eight players split-screen local co-op, and one of these days I need to try that out.

#13 MARVEL COSMIC INVASION

Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a beat ‘em up that came out last year, and it’s kind of like Marvel vs. Capcom if it were a beat ‘em up. It doesn’t have the Capcom characters, obviously, but it does have that mashup of Marvel characters and a tag-team ability. At the start you each pick two characters and can switch between them on the fly, and you can pull off team attacks, which is cool. I really enjoyed this game and beat it in one sitting when it first came out, but it does get a little repetitive, so it’s not one of my favorite modern beat ‘em ups, but I still really recommend it.

#12 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: SPLINTERED FATE

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate takes TMNT and throws it into a roguelike, and you can play it in four-player local co-op. A lot of people call this ‘Hades, but with TMNT.’ I’m not sure how accurate that is, but I like the description. Each character has their own abilities, so with four players it’s nice to be able to work together, and the game encourages teamwork. Out of the four-player roguelikes out there, this is definitely one of the better ones.

#11 GOAT SIMULATOR 3

Goat Simulator 3 might be a surprise on this list, but I love this game. We don’t get enough open-world games that can be played in split-screen co-op, so that alone is cool. But this is also just a really fun, light-hearted, silly game I’ve had a ton of fun with playing alongside my daughter.

Most of the time she’s just screwing around the open world, blowing things up, headbutting enemies, and dragging them around with the tongue while I’m actually trying to do the objectives. But there were a few times we really worked together and teamed up to get things done. This might be the game I’ve had the most fun playing with my daughter in a while. She got really into it, we were laughing the whole time. It’s incredibly chaotic and overwhelmingly stupid, but in the best way possible.

#10 ROTWOOD

Rotwood is another beat ‘em up with roguelike elements. It plays like a beat ‘em up but also feels kind of like a Zelda dungeon crawler, since the levels are broken up screen by screen. You fight through randomly generated enemies, move to the next area, and eventually hit a boss fight. Between runs you have a home base where you do all your leveling up: buying new equipment, buying new skins, customizing your character, talking to villagers, even a little bit of farming. This is a game I ended up liking way more than I expected, and right now the Switch 2 is the only home console it’s on. The only other place to play it is PC.

#9 OVERCOOKED! 2

Overcooked! 2 is a game you can play basically everywhere, including on Switch. I feel like this is a game you either love or hate. It’s known for destroying friendships. If you don’t have the right team, it’s not fun at all, you’re just yelling at each other. But if you have a good team where everyone knows their task, communicates, and gets meals out fast and efficiently, that’s where this game really shines. It really depends on who you’re playing with. I’ve had plenty of runs that went nowhere and weren’t fun. But everybody knows this game, and it shows up on every co-op list for a reason. It’s just a great co-op party game.

#8 SCOTT PILGRIM EX

Scott Pilgrim EX is probably my favorite beat ‘em up of the year so far, and I think it improves on the original Scott Pilgrim game in a lot of ways. Mainly the progression system feels a lot more natural. We beat this game in one sitting, only about four hours, and we didn’t have to grind much at all. We just took out the enemies in front of us and moved from objective to objective without really stopping. The combat feels a lot better than the original Scott Pilgrim, I think. The juggling is still there, all the same characters you know and love are back, the art style is great, the music is awesome. Definitely a highly recommended co-op beat ‘em up.

#7 LEGO VOYAGERS

LEGO Voyagers is one of my favorite LEGO games ever made. It’s built entirely around two-player co-op, but unlike the other LEGO games that are based on a specific franchise, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Batman, this one is a standalone, totally original game just built around these little Lego characters. It plays differently too. It’s not really an action game, it’s a puzzle platformer. There are parts where you have to build things, but for the most part you’re solving basic puzzles that get harder as you go, like you’d expect. This is a great Lego game, one of my favorites ever.

#6 HYRULE WARRIORS: AGE OF IMPRISONMENT

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is the third Hyrule Warriors game, and this one is exclusive to Switch 2. It improves on the previous entries mainly because the performance is a lot better. Age of Calamity was kind of a prequel to Breath of the Wild with a lot of story, but this one is set more in the Tears of the Kingdom world. So if you love Zelda and want more Zelda lore, these games are great for that. If you like Musou games, Dynasty Warriors-style games, it feels like that: tons of waves of enemies, you hack and slash, you do specials. There’s nothing really new here, but that’s okay. It’s just fun if you’re into that type of game. This one might be my favorite in the series so far.

#5 REANIMAL

Reanimal is one of my favorite games of the year so far. I really enjoyed it start to finish. It gets very creepy, and I love the enemies; they feel unique, like nothing else I’ve really seen. It’s kind of a puzzle platformer at its core, but the puzzles are all pretty simple. We don’t get a lot of local co-op horror games, and I think they nailed the horror elements here. It’s one of my favorite co-op horror games I’ve ever played, and it’s a great one to play through in one or two sittings. It’s not very long.

#4 SEA OF STARS

Sea of Stars originally came out as a single-player game, but they later added local co-op for up to three players, and to me, that’s kind of a dream come true. We don’t get a lot of local co-op RPGs, especially turn-based ones, and they did a really great job implementing the co-op here. It feels like this was meant to be a co-op game from the start. I absolutely love the art style. Some of the best pixel art I’ve ever seen, and I’m a sucker for that 16-bit look. When it comes to local co-op RPGs, and I’m not just talking about modern ones, I’m talking about all of them, this is right at the top of the list. It’s one of the best ever made, so if you haven’t played this in co-op yet, I highly recommend it.

#3 SUPER MARIO BROS. WONDER

Super Mario Bros. Wonder originally came out on the original Switch, but there’s a Switch 2 port that adds some extra content. They added new characters. You can play as Rosalina and Luma, and if a player wants to control Luma, you move a cursor around that can collect coins and stun enemies. There’s also a new assist mode you can toggle on and off, which makes you immune to damage and adds fall protection. The resolution and performance are better too, and they added Bellabel Park, a social multiplayer zone with mini-games and stuff like that.

Those are just the new features, though. The main game itself is incredible. It’s probably the best co-op Mario game ever made. I really loved New Super Mario Bros. Wii, but I think this improves on it pretty much every way. You’re no longer bumping into each other and killing each other constantly, it just feels like a much better co-op experience. This really feels like a masterpiece to me, one of my favorite Mario games ever. It was already on the original Switch, but this is the definitive version of it.

#2 SPLIT FICTION

Split Fiction is Hazelight’s follow-up to It Takes Two, and it’s every bit as ambitious. You and a partner jump between two writers’ clashing sci-fi and fantasy story worlds, and almost every chapter throws a completely new gameplay mechanic at you that only exists for that one section. If you know Hazelight, this is what they’re known for: A Way Out, It Takes Two, and now Split Fiction, and they’re all incredible co-op games.

I don’t know if this one’s my favorite of the three, it might still be It Takes Two, but it’s still a great game, and they throw a ton at you. Pretty much every genre you can think of, and you’re jumping in and out of different styles of gameplay constantly. This is one of those games that really makes it feel like it belongs on Switch 2. Outside of Hyrule Warriors, this is probably the best example on this list of a game that couldn’t have existed on the original Switch. Everyone knows Split Fiction at this point, and that’s why it’s number two.

#1 ABSOLUM

Absolum is another beat ‘em up with roguelike elements, but it’s easily the best version of that combination I’ve played. It’s made by the same team behind Streets of Rage 4, and if you know my channel, you know I’ve talked about that game endlessly. This one takes a lot of those core mechanics from Streets of Rage 4 and adds roguelike elements plus some fantasy elements on top. It’s kind of like Streets of Rage meets Golden Axe.

The art design is beautiful, the soundtrack is incredible, and the gameplay is excellent. The fighting mechanics are just perfection. I can’t say enough good things about this game. It’s right up there with Streets of Rage 4 as one of the best beat ‘em ups ever made. Highly recommended. It doesn’t get much better than this.

FINAL THOUGHTS

So there you go. Those are my top 20 couch co-op Switch 2 games. We’re definitely going to be getting a bunch more this year, and there are some upcoming ones I’m really excited for. Lego Batman is finally getting ported to Switch 2, and Orbitals is at the top of my most-anticipated list. That one’s exclusive to Switch 2. When I do an updated list, that’ll definitely be included. The Outer Worlds, whenever it eventually comes to Switch 2, and Ninjala 2 coming out sometime next year are also worth watching for.

What’s your favorite co-op Switch 2 game? Let me know.

zachariah hosoda

July 20, 2026

Physics-Based Co-op Games are Weird

zachariah hosoda

July 20, 2026

Some co-op games are about teamwork, but these ones are about barely being able to walk.

SHARED BODY GAMES

Most co-op games give each player their own character, but this group of games everyone just shares control of a single body. And that goes about as well as you’d expect.

Octodad: Dadliest

Octodad: Dadliest Catch is kind of the classic example. One player might be controlling a leg, another an arm, and in the game you’re all trying to convince the outside world that you’re a completely normal dad, when of course you’re actually an octopus. Duh. Even just getting across the room feels like a huge accomplishment.

Manual Samuel

Manual Samuel. If Octodad wasn’t frustrating enough, this game makes you control pretty much every part of the human body. Walking, breathing, blinking, things most of us take for granted suddenly become major responsibilities. And it’s one of those games where even if you lose, it’s still just a lot of fun to play with your friends.

Limbbot

Limbbot is an upcoming game that takes the shared body concept and does it a little differently. Players work together to control a giant cardboard robot, with each person responsible for different functions. The demo is already available, and if you’re a fan of those awkward, chaotic co-op games, this is definitely one worth keeping an eye on.

TIED TOGETHER GAMES

In all of these games you’re actually physically tied together, so you have to communicate and figure out how to coordinate through obstacles and environments.

Phogs

The first one is Phogs. You and a friend each control one end of a stretchy two-headed dog. This one is definitely a simple idea, but it’s a lot more difficult than you might expect, since it’s going to take a lot of communication to solve some of these puzzles while you’re literally attached to each other.

Heave Ho

Heave Ho might be one of the purest examples of what a physics co-op game actually is. You grab walls, you grab platforms, and most importantly, you grab each other. The goal is simple: just reach the exit. But the actual experience is mostly just yelling at each other while your partner accidentally lets go.

Flying to the Finish

Fling to the Finish. Imagine a racing game where both players are connected by an elastic rope. Eventually you learn to use that rope to launch each other across obstacles. Before that happens, you’ll probably spend a lot of time running into walls. And you can just stop imagining that, because that game exists and it’s called Fling to the Finish.

Chained Together

We have to talk about Chained Together. This is one of the biggest physics co-op hits in recent years. Players climb enormous vertical levels while literally being chained together. The objective is to try to get as high as you can, and you’re literally trying to get out of hell. If anyone makes a mistake, you can drag your whole team all the way down, so you definitely want to get some players close to the same skill level. You can play this one with up to four players and local split screen.

Friendly Steps

Friendly Steps is another upcoming game that takes the idea of cooperative movement and makes it intentionally awkward. Even just walking around is kind of difficult, especially when you’re playing with friends because you need to sync up and try to walk together. The idea is you’re supposed to be drunk, so the controls are intentionally really awkward, using the left and right trigger for each leg to move. I briefly tried the demo and that version doesn’t have split screen capabilities yet, so this one is pretty much like Chained Together if you were drunk and could barely even walk.

Stuck Together

Stuck Together is about two toys that are literally stuck together. You’re mainly just going to be climbing, and in a sense it plays very similar to Heave Ho because you’re swinging back and forth to gain momentum to climb higher. Each player is able to grab on with their left hand and their right hand, and that’s how you do all your movement. The main challenge of this game really isn’t the obstacles or the level design. It’s just going to be who you’re playing with.

An extremely hard game

An extremely hard game comes out later this year, and this one takes the climbing and coordination formula and adds a very fragile egg into the mix. While you’re already trying to navigate these environments, you have an egg in the middle of both players, so you really have to be in sync and talk things out so you don’t crack the egg.

PHYSICS CHALLENGE GAMES

These are games where the world itself is kind of the challenge.

Heavenly Bodies

Heavenly Bodies is one of the most unique games on this list. You play as astronauts performing maintenance work in space, and the catch is that every movement follows the rules of zero gravity. Something as simple as opening a hatch can quickly turn into a disaster. I played this game with my daughter and my girlfriend, and we did have a lot of fun, but the majority of the time we were just trying to figure out how to do the basics of moving through the environment, and I don’t think any of us really got a good grasp on those basics.

Snipperclips

Snipperclips is a Nintendo Switch launch title that still feels unlike anything else. The main gimmick is that you are literally cutting pieces out of each other to solve puzzles. Sometimes you just have to fit a certain shape, sometimes you have to cut pieces out in order to move an item into the goal, and sometimes you need to cut a specific shape so it’s kind of like a hook or claw to flip a switch or move something. Snipperclips is great. It’s still one of the best co-op puzzle games ever made.

Good Job

Good Job is another game that came out exclusively on the Nintendo Switch. You have these basic normal office jobs, moving a projector, delivering a package, connecting wires, and you could do this normally, but sometimes these tasks aren’t quite as straightforward as you’d think, and doing it peacefully isn’t an option. As you get going, things become more and more chaotic, and you really start destroying the environment as you try to accomplish these jobs. That’s the fun thing about this game, just destroying everything in sight.

Untitled Goose Game

Untitled Goose Game was already great, then they added a second goose so you could play it in two-player co-op. This is a great example of a single player experience becoming a lot better by making it co-op. The main idea is you’re just these geese, and you go around terrorizing everyone in sight, solving really basic puzzles. For the most part this game is pretty easy and relaxed, though there are some later parts we got a little frustrated with, but it’s still a great co-op game.

The Stretchers

The Stretchers is another one that only came out on the Nintendo Switch. You play as emergency responders transporting injured civilians, and the problem is that controlling the stretcher is often more dangerous than whatever injured them in the first place. You can drive around the ambulance for fun, go off crazy jumps, clap and sing for no reason, but the main focus is picking up civilians and bringing them into the ambulance, navigating various obstacles along the way. You can do this individually by just dragging them, but the faster and more efficient way is to pull out the stretcher, one of you on each side of it. That’s when the real co-op gameplay comes into play.

Moving Out

Moving Out. If you ever moved furniture with your friends, you already understand this game, except now the physics are actively working against you. Some doors are just too small, furniture is always going to get stuck, and windows become shortcuts, though not always the easier route. If you liked Overcooked, this is very similar, but I feel like it’s a lot less stressful than those games.

All Hands on Deck

All Hands on Deck is a co-op puzzle platformer where you use rock, paper, scissors, and various items to solve puzzles. You play as these two hands, and when your hand is in the paper formation, wide open, you’re able to grab things and high-five. You turn your hand into scissors to cut a pathway or into a rock to punch or move certain things. Pretty much anyone can play this one, but it does get more and more difficult as you go.

Paddle, Paddle, Paddle

Paddle, Paddle, Paddle. As the name implies, there’s a lot of paddling in this game. Each player gets one paddle, and you have to paddle together and communicate to go the way you want to go, around all these crazy obstacles. There’s a lot of lava, a lot of rocks in your way, and sometimes you’re not always in a boat. This one’s really weird, and it definitely has a low-budget vibe. Well, it is only $4.99 on Steam, but it’s actually a lot of fun.

PHYSICS SANDBOX GAMES

These are games that do have various puzzles and obstacles to navigate, but the environment is a lot more open, and a lot of times the fun is just messing around in the world.

Human: Fall Flat

Human: Fall Flat, for a lot of people, is the game that defined physics co-op. The wobbly movement, the creative puzzles, and the unpredictable interactions are what made this one of the most popular games in the genre. I played it quite a bit with my daughter when she was younger, and we didn’t really even do a lot of the puzzles, we kind of just messed around, and that’s what I love about it. You can just grab each other and jump off a ledge, climb around, and mess with each other. This one is just good dumb fun.

Wobbly Life

Wobbly Life is a lot like Human: Fall Flat, but in an open world environment. There’s jobs, vehicles, mini games, plenty of missions, and a lot of opportunities to mess around, just like Human: Fall Flat. This is another one that’s really great to play with kids.

Amazing Frog

Amazing Frog is one of the weirdest games on the list. You play as frogs in a weird open world, with stunts, explosions, and all kinds of nonsense. I’m not sure how else to describe this game, but it is actually really fun.

Watch Out for Goblins

Watch Out for Goblins hasn’t come out yet, but there is a demo available, and I actually played this on a live stream with my friend Shawn. Just like these other games, this one is really just about messing around in a fun world. You start out as a goblin with nothing but a pair of underwear on, and you can go around and grab different pieces of clothing and wear them. Moving around just feels weird, you’re very wobbly, and when you jump it feels like you’re launching yourself into the air. You can just go around and slap each other and other goblins. We didn’t really accomplish anything when we played this game, but we still had a lot of fun just jumping around and ramming into each other. So when this game does come out, I imagine we’ll probably give it another try.

Goat Simulator 3 and Goat Simulator Remastered

And we have Goat Simulator 3 as well as Goat Simulator Remastered, the games in the series that actually have local co-op. I feel like this is probably the game that kind of started this whole genre, whatever it’s called, physics-based sandbox game. It just takes that idea of being in a big environment and running around creating chaos, not really knowing exactly what the point of the game is. Of course there are objectives if you want them, but I think most players are just seeing what you can break and what you can climb up on. I remember when I first heard about Goat Simulator, I think it was from my nephew when he was a little kid, and I didn’t understand anything about this game, it just looked really dumb. Since then I’ve played it a little bit more, and I still don’t understand anything about it. But I don’t have to, because it’s fun.

FINAL THOUGHTS

So there’s a bunch of weird physics-based co-op games. I’d say the main theme between all of them is they don’t really take themselves too seriously. It’s the perfect kind of game to casually play with your friends or any partner at any skill level, because you don’t have to be good at these games. You don’t have to master the controls or the gameplay to actually enjoy it and laugh at it and have fun with your partner. And those are some of the purest co-op experiences you can possibly have.

zachariah hosoda

July 15, 2026

The Story of Co-op Fighting Games

zachariah hosoda

July 15, 2026

Most fighting games are built around beating up the person sitting right next to you, but there are some where you can team up with the person sitting next to you instead.

Over the years, developers came up with a few different ways to make fighting games more cooperative. Sometimes they put multiple fighters on screen at the same time in two-on-two battles, and then sometimes they let players team up against a boss, and that becomes a two-on-one battle. But the more common option is usually tag team games. There’s really not a ton of co-op fighting games, but there might be more than you’d expect.

THE TWO-ON-TWO BATTLES

These games are the truest form of co-op fighting games. One of the earliest examples is Yuyu Hakusho: Makyo Toitsusen on the Mega Drive. This game came out in 1994 and it was developed by Treasure. It actually has four player support. You can do a free-for-all where all of you are fighting each other, and of course it has one-on-one battles, but the coolest part is the two-on-two. They actually have a tournament mode so you could team up against two other AI opponents, and that concept is still kind of unique today.

Yu Yu Hakusho: Makyo Toitsusen (Sega Genesis)

Treasure would eventually revisit a lot of those ideas on the Nintendo DS. They came out with two more anime-based games, Bleach: The Blade of Fate and Bleach: Dark Souls. Both of these games featured multiple fighters on screen, team battles, and multiple planes you could jump back and forth from. If you played that Yuyu Hakusho game, a lot of these mechanics will feel very familiar. These games aren’t exactly direct sequels, but they definitely feel like spiritual successors.

MORE FOUR-PLAYER FIGHTERS

Another game that took a similar approach was Guilty Gear Isuka. Instead of traditional oone-on-onematches, Isuka also had four player battles. As you’d expect, attacks can come from both directions, so the game actually implemented a dedicated button to turn your character around. Certain iterations of this game even included a co-op beat ‘em up mode. It’s definitely one of the weirder entries in the Guilty Gear series, but it’s also one of the few fighting games built around multiple active fighters.

Street Fighter X Tekken did something very similar through its scramble battle mode, also supporting four player matches. But that’s not the only time Capcom did something like this. Back in the 90s, Capcom made Saturday Night Slam Masters, also known as Muscle Bomber in Japan. On its surface it looks like a wrestling game, but it’s really a fighting game disguised as a wrestling game, and it also had two-on-two battles. It came out in arcades, then was ported to the Genesis and the Super Nintendo. If you don’t want to team up against the AI, this is a really fun party game, and if you have a four-player adapter, you can do two-on-two matches with your friends. They also released an updated version called Muscle Bomber Duo, which only came out in arcades and totally removed the one-on-one option so it had more of a focus on the actual team gameplay. In this version the wrestlers also got some extra special moves, plus a dedicated button for grappling so you no longer just walked into the opponent and did it automatically.

And the newest game on this list, Diesel Legacy: The Brazen Age. This is one of the few modern attempts at building an entire fighting game around co-op gameplay. This one is definitely not my favorite on the list. I played it when it first came out and it never really clicked. I’ll definitely have to revisit it, because the games I mentioned before it handled co-op fighting in a much better way.

THE TWO-ON-ONE BATTLES

Like I mentioned, there were a lot of fighting games where you could do two-on-one battles. This is a concept that seemed like it might not actually work that well, but I really enjoy it. It’s not as easy as you might expect, having two against one. It’s designed really well to feel like it’s actually challenging and balanced.

The Street Fighter Alpha series is probably the most famous example. The first Street Fighter Alpha is fairly limited, as you can only play as Ryu and Ken versus M. Bison, and you have a shared health bar. This is where the term “dramatic battle” originated, and this mode was designed to directly recreate that big fight in Street Fighter 2: The Animated Movie, where Ryu and Ken have an incredibly emotional, dramatic team up and battle M. Bison. They continued to use this term in future releases. People in the arcades knew of this term just through word of mouth, but it wasn’t actually seen on screen as an official menu option until 1996, when Street Fighter Alpha was ported to home consoles on Saturn and PlayStation. In the arcade version, to play this mode you had to enter a code at the start menu: both players had to press and hold the start button simultaneously and press up then release start, then player one had to press up-up-light punch while player two simultaneously pressed up-up-heavy punch. Do it correctly and the screen cuts directly to the hidden M. Bison boss arena.

Street Fighter Alpha 2 – Dramatic Battle mode

Alpha 2 has a similar mode, but you’re able to choose more characters and go up against four different bosses. Unfortunately this one was only available in certain regions of the arcade release, and it’s still hidden behind a secret code, though it was a little easier to pull off. In the arcades, once you insert your coins, you press and hold all three kick buttons at once, then while holding those buttons you press the start button, and keep holding it until the character select screen loads up. Fortunately, the home console versions just have this mode included in the menu, so you don’t have to do any of that. Alpha 3 improved on it even more, with a dedicated story mode where you can play through the entire game in two-player co-op, two versus one. Years later, Ultra Street Fighter II came out on the Nintendo Switch and did the exact same thing: two players could select characters and work together two-on-one against an AI controlled opponent.

The earliest example of this concept I ever saw was Fatal Fury. This one had the same two-on-one matches, but it really wasn’t the main focus. The implementation here is very weird. At the character select screen, player two joins in and you both select your characters and start a match, so from there it’s two against one, but then at the end of every match you have to fight each other one-on-one. And that kind of sucks. Whoever wins moves on to the next match, and then you have to join in again. So it’s not ideal, but it’s cool that they even included this back in the day.

And we can’t forget about Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story. This was a game ported to a number of consoles, based off the biopic of the same name. But this game is terrible. It’s very clunky, the controls are stiff and not very responsive, and you can’t even choose your own character. You both just play as Bruce Lee for some reason. I would definitely just avoid this one if you can.

GIANT MONSTER BRAWLS

Then we had some giant monster games. King of the Monsters had players go up against giant creatures, battling through the cities before ending up in a big boss fight with one of these giant monsters. It’s not a traditional fighting game, and it actually has some beat ‘em up mechanics, but ultimately the core gameplay feels like a fighting game, so it should be mentioned. Monster Maulers took a very similar approach, also having you take on giant monster bosses. It’s one of those arcade games that feels like a fighting game, a boss rush, and also again had some beat ‘em up elements. And then there’s Oni: The Ninja Master, an arcade game I just found out about myself, which is another one very similar to those last few, teaming up doing two-on-one battles against giant monsters. Like those other games, I think this one is often overlooked, and when it comes to co-op fighting games, it’s totally a hidden gem.

Then there were some titles that had fighting game elements but also included other gameplay. In the arcades we had Mega Man: The Power Battle and Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters. These games took Mega Man gameplay and turned it into a one-on-one fighter, so you and a friend team up and do two-on-one fights against classic Mega Man enemies. Still to this day, these are some of the only Mega Man games you can actually play co-op. And Granblue Fantasy Versus took an RPG and made the battles feel like a fighting game, which is one of the most unique games on this list.

THE TAG TEAM CO-OP FIGHTERS

This is where most fighting games ended up. Instead of having both players on screen at the same time, you took turns tagging in and out. Obviously this is not the ideal way to play with someone, but I still had a ton of fun playing some of these games back in the day, especially at the arcade.

Probably the most famous example is Tekken Tag Tournament. As the name implies, the entire game is based around tag team fighting. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 grew that idea and added more playable fighters. And then we had all of those Marvel fighting games, which I think really elevated the tag team genre and made it a lot more popular. First we had X-Men vs. Street Fighter, which introduced the concept to a lot of players, then Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter built upon it even more, and Marvel vs. Capcom took the idea even further.

And then we had the Dead or Alive games. A lot of them have tag team mechanics, and the one I played the most was Dead or Alive 3 on the original Xbox. I was just blown away by this game. It was my favorite game on the original Xbox for a while. I remember seeing the graphics and thinking nothing will ever look better than this. I got really good at this game and would team up with my friends and do tag team matches all the time, and sometimes we’d get four people together and do two-on-two tag matches.

One of the most interesting games in this category is Mortal Kombat from 2011. The tag mode isn’t just about swapping characters. Players could extend combos, set up for assists, and actually coordinate attacks in a way that felt more cooperative than some of the other tag team fighters. Unfortunately, that mode never returned in any later Mortal Kombat game.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Co-op fighting games never really became a major genre. There were some standout games, but as you can see, a lot of them were just tag team based. What’s your favorite co-op fighting game? And if I missed any, let me know.

zachariah hosoda

June 22, 2026

Why Goof Troop Is Still One of the Best Co-op Games Ever Made

zachariah hosoda

June 22, 2026

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.

zachariah hosoda

June 22, 2026

20 Retro Co-op Games That Are Still Worth Playing Today

zachariah hosoda

June 22, 2026

Some retro games are really only played for nostalgia, but these ones are still fun because they're genuinely great co-op games.

A lot of the games on this list are decades old at this point, but I'd still happily sit down and play them today. Some were arcade classics, some were console exclusives, and a few of them really haven't been matched by modern games.

This isn't a hidden gems list. You're probably going to know most of these games already. That's because they're really good. These aren't ranked either. They're just 20 retro co-op games that still hold up today.

TMNT: Turtles in Time

The arcade version of Turtles in Time is absolutely great. It's one of the best arcade beat 'em ups ever made.

I have a lot of memories of going to my local arcade pizza parlor, Savagand Pizza, right down the street from my house. During birthday parties, me and my friends would all circle around the Turtles in Time cabinet.

It's one of the most approachable beat 'em ups ever made. Anyone can jump in and start button mashing. And of course, I think the Ninja Turtles are timeless. The visuals are still cartoony and fun, and TMNT is still going strong today. My daughter likes it, and they just keep rebooting the franchise over and over again.

A lot of Turtle games are worth revisiting, but Turtles in Time is still one of the best. The Super Nintendo version is awesome too.

Contra III: The Alien Wars

Contra III on the Super Nintendo is fast, difficult, and still one of the best run-and-gun shooters of all time.

I recently played through it again with the Konami Code, because I really suck. And honestly, I think this game is a masterpiece from start to finish. It's nonstop action.

Even the top-down sections, which some people don't love, do a good job of breaking up the pace. One cool detail that I didn't learn until years later is that if you select Two Players A at the title screen, the top-down levels become split-screen. If you choose Two Players B, both players stay on the same screen.

It's just a neat little feature that gives you options. But yeah, Contra III is one of the greatest run-and-gun games ever made and one of the most influential games in the genre.

Streets of Rage 2

I've talked about Streets of Rage 2 endlessly.

To me, it's the best beat 'em up of all time. It's probably the most influential beat 'em up ever made and helped define what the genre could be.

The soundtrack is incredible. The combat feels great. Every character plays differently. I could go on forever about this game, and honestly, I already have in other videos.

It's an obvious choice for this list.

Secret of Mana

Secret of Mana is another masterpiece.

It was one of the first co-op RPGs where you could play with three players on a home console, and that absolutely blew my mind back in the '90s.

To this day, I think it's one of the best co-op RPGs ever made. The combat timing can feel a little weird if you're not used to it, but once you understand the rhythm, it feels really good.

Please don't take that out of context.

Seriously though, I can't say enough good things about this game.

Goof Troop

Goof Troop is one of my favorite co-op games of all time.

It's probably the closest thing we had to a co-op Zelda game for a very long time. Goofy is stronger, Max is faster, and the puzzles are genuinely fun.

Combat is simple. You don't get weapons. Instead, you're throwing barrels, catching barrels, and tossing them back and forth between players. The boss fights are fun, the music is fantastic, and the whole game is just incredibly well designed.

This was probably my favorite co-op game from my childhood. I was obsessed with it then, and honestly, I still am.

River City Ransom

River City Ransom is one of the all-time great co-op games.

Part beat 'em up, part RPG, part open world, this game was way ahead of its time.

When I first played it, I didn't really understand it. I kept trying to treat it like a linear beat 'em up. Once I figured out that you need to take out the bosses one by one and explore the map, everything clicked.

Then you start earning money, buying upgrades, punching faster, kicking harder, and suddenly you're destroying enemies with ease.

If you've never actually sat down and beaten River City Ransom, I highly recommend it. It's not a very long game if you know where you're going. Pay attention to the NPCs because they'll usually tell you exactly where to head next.

All you kids out there, play River City Ransom. You won't regret it.

Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers

The NES didn't have a ton of co-op platformers, but Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers is one of the best.

This game was clearly built around co-op play. You're Chip and Dale, and the mechanics are easy to understand once you spend a little time with them.

Unlike a lot of NES games, it's actually pretty approachable. Most players can sit down and beat it after a few attempts.

When it comes to co-op games on the NES, this is absolutely top tier.

Kirby Super Star

Kirby Super Star is the perfect game to play with your kid, your non-gaming partner, or honestly your grandma.

Anyone can play it.

The second player becomes one of Kirby's helpers, created from his abilities. If they die, it's no big deal. Just grab another ability and bring them back.

That makes it perfect for less experienced players.

Out of all the co-op Kirby games, this one is still my favorite. I was obsessed with it as a kid, and I think it holds up incredibly well today.

I also love Kirby's Dream Land 3. The art style in that game is amazing. You really can't go wrong with either one.

World of Illusion

World of Illusion is another fantastic co-op platformer.

What makes it special is that it actually requires teamwork. You're not just running side by side.

There are sections where one player has to launch the other to a higher platform. Then that player drops down a rope and pulls their partner up. There are moments where Mickey has to rescue Donald and vice versa.

The game constantly asks both players to work together.

It's simple, but it felt incredibly innovative at the time. There really weren't many co-op platformers doing this kind of thing back then.

It's still one of my favorite co-op Genesis games.

Goemon's Great Adventure

I love the Goemon series, but Goemon's Great Adventure is the game that really made me fall in love with it.

The N64 was known for 3D games, and while I liked plenty of them, I missed traditional 2D gameplay. Then I saw this game.

Not only was it a side-scrolling platformer, it was also co-op.

That was a no-brainer for me.

I don't know if it's objectively the best Goemon game, but it's definitely my favorite co-op game on the N64.

Sunset Riders

I love run-and-gun shooters, and Sunset Riders is one of the best.

The arcade version is fantastic because it's four-player. The Genesis version is only okay, but the Super Nintendo port is excellent.

Years ago, me and my friend Will decided we were going to beat it. We sat there and played it over and over until we finally got good enough.

No cheats. No shortcuts.

I don't know if the game is actually considered difficult, but at the time it felt like a huge accomplishment.

Compared to games like Contra or Metal Slug, I think Sunset Riders is a little more approachable, which makes it a great entry point for the genre.

Metal Slug X

If I had to pick a Metal Slug game, I'd go with Metal Slug X.

It's basically an upgraded version of Metal Slug 2 with better performance, more weapons, different enemy placements, and a handful of visual changes.

The biggest improvement was fixing the slowdown that plagued the original release.

The pixel art is incredible. To me, Metal Slug is one of the main reasons to own Neo Geo hardware.

I remember playing this in an arcade called Bumpers at the mall. Later, I got the PlayStation version, which lets you use unlimited lives. Me and my friend Danny sat down and played through the whole thing together.

We died constantly. We laughed constantly.

Everything about this game just works.

Bubble Bobble

Bubble Bobble looks like a game made for babies, and I mean that in the nicest way possible.

The gameplay is incredibly simple and approachable. Anyone can understand it within a few minutes.

That doesn't mean it's easy though. The difficulty ramps up significantly as you progress.

As one of the earliest co-op platformers, Bubble Bobble helped establish a lot of ideas that would influence games for decades.

When it comes to single-screen co-op platformers, it's one of the most important games ever made.

Guardian Heroes

Guardian Heroes is one of the best games that not enough people have actually played.

Originally released on the Sega Saturn, it later got a remastered version on Xbox Live Arcade, but that's about it.

The art style is beautiful, and it's another early beat 'em up that mixed in RPG elements. A lot of modern beat 'em ups are still borrowing ideas from this game.

I keep saying it throughout this list, but Guardian Heroes was ahead of its time.

That's really the theme here. These games weren't just good when they came out. They influenced the games that followed.

Gunstar Heroes

Another Treasure classic.

Gunstar Heroes took a lot of what Contra did and made it faster. It also introduced weapon combinations that allowed for a ton of customization.

The level design is fantastic, the bosses are memorable, and the game constantly throws new ideas at you.

Despite all that, it's still pretty approachable because you have unlimited continues. If you fail, you can just keep trying.

Me and my brother eventually beat it through sheer persistence. We definitely weren't experts.

It's one of my favorite co-op gaming memories.

ToeJam & Earl

ToeJam & Earl is one of the most unique games ever made.

It might honestly be the first co-op roguelite. It has procedurally generated levels, random items, exploration, and a structure that feels surprisingly modern.

The game doesn't take itself seriously. It has this weird Nickelodeon-style '90s humor that I absolutely loved.

But the thing that really blew my mind was the dynamic split-screen. If you're together, you're on one screen. If you separate, it splits.

I thought that was magic when I was a kid.

A lot of people bounce off ToeJam & Earl because they approach it like other games. That's a mistake. This game is doing its own thing.

Slow down. Listen to the music. Appreciate the humor. Enjoy the exploration.

And if you still don't like it, well... I guess you're a lost cause.

Twisted Metal 2

Years ago, me and my friend Will played through every co-op Twisted Metal game.

Twisted Metal 2 was always our favorite.

This is one of those games that defined the PlayStation for me. It made the PS1 feel edgy and mature. Games like Twisted Metal, Loaded, and later Metal Gear Solid made the console feel completely different from what came before.

Maybe the graphics haven't aged perfectly, but I've actually grown nostalgic for that early PS1, Saturn, and N64 3D look.

When it comes to vehicle combat games, Twisted Metal 2 is still my favorite.

Perfect Dark

I was obsessed with GoldenEye.

Then Perfect Dark came out and we basically never played GoldenEye again.

Not only did it have similar gameplay, but it added a co-op campaign, bots, and a ton of extra options.

My friends and I would load up four-player split-screen with a bunch of AI opponents and just go nuts.

The frame rate absolutely collapsed.

We did not care.

Back then there weren't many split-screen co-op shooters, and Perfect Dark stood out because it offered so much more than anything else.

It's still one of my favorites.

Gauntlet Legends

Gauntlet Legends is pure nostalgia for me.

The same group of friends that I played GoldenEye and Perfect Dark with also played a ton of Gauntlet Legends.

We'd stay up all night during sleepovers grinding levels and fighting monsters.

Somehow, despite all those hours, I've still never beaten it.

I think we spent so much time leveling up and messing around that we eventually got distracted by other games.

But regardless, Gauntlet Legends is one of those core gaming memories that will always stick with me.

The Simpsons Arcade Game

The Simpsons Arcade Game might not be the best beat 'em up ever made, but it's definitely one of the most iconic.

The gameplay is incredibly simple. You punch, jump, perform a jump kick, and occasionally pick up an item.

That's about it.

But the mechanics are so solid that it doesn't matter.

Like Turtles in Time, this was another arcade game that I played constantly with my friends.

And if you were a kid in the '90s, The Simpsons felt edgy. It felt like you were getting away with something.

The game also included fun co-op attacks and little competitive mini-games between stages, which helped keep things fresh.

Most importantly, it proves that beat 'em ups don't need complicated combo systems.

Just make the gameplay fun.

And make sure it's at least two-player co-op.

I'm not playing a single-player beat 'em up. Come on.

Final Thoughts

There are plenty of games that could have made this list, and I'm sure some of your favorites didn't.

So let me know what retro co-op games are your favorites.

And if there's anything on this list you haven't played yet, I genuinely think every single one of these games is worth sitting down and playing with a friend.

zachariah hosoda

June 9, 2026

The Cozy Co-op Game Nobody Played

zachariah hosoda

June 9, 2026

Some games stick with you long after you finish them.

And here's one of those games.

A lot of smaller co-op games end up getting buried, especially the quieter ones. And Voyage is probably one of the best examples of that. It's one of those games that I've brought up before and I'm going to bring it up again because I just think more people need to play it.

Voyage is a cinematic puzzle platformer with local co-op. And if you've never heard of it, that's kind of the whole reason I'm making this article because this game deserves a lot more attention.

What Is Voyage?

Voyage is a short co-op adventure where two characters wake up in a strange world with almost no explanation.

There's no long intro dump, no massive tutorial, no character constantly talking at you, explaining every detail of the world. You just jump into the game.

You start moving through forests, ruins, strange landscapes, abandoned technology, and mysterious locations, slowly trying to understand where you are and where you're going.

And the best part is you can finish the entire thing in one sitting.

The game never really rushes to explain itself. And honestly, I think that's one of its best qualities. It respects the player enough to let you experience the world first.

It's a game told without any dialogue. Instead, the story is told through visuals, movement, music, and the relationship between the two characters.

So many modern games are just loud, and they're afraid to have moments of silence. They constantly stop gameplay to explain things. They repeat objectives or tell you exactly how you're supposed to feel.

Voyage does the opposite. It trusts that the player will just be able to experience the game and figure things out on their own.

And because of that, I think this story just feels more personal. You're not just being told what to think. You're absorbing the world as you move through it.

There's room for interpretation, and I always appreciate that.

The Visuals and Atmosphere

Visually, this game is beautiful.

It has this hand-drawn watercolor look where every screen just feels carefully crafted. At times it looks like a moving storybook. Other times it feels dreamlike.

There's a lot of detail in the environments, but it never feels cluttered. The colors are vibrant without being overwhelming. The landscapes feel peaceful, but also mysterious.

And because the game doesn't bombard you with combat or dialogue, you actually have time to notice all of it.

You get to slow down and take the world in.

That's something a lot of modern games forget to do.

I've played through this game three times now, and there were definitely moments where me and my partner would just stop moving because the visuals and music together created a really peaceful atmosphere, and we just needed to soak it in.

Why the Co-op Works So Well

This game works really well as a co-op game.

It's another place where Voyage really shines.

A lot of co-op games technically allow two players. One person usually ends up feeling less important or just dragged along for the ride.

That's not the case here.

Both players feel equally involved. You help each other climb ledges. You move objects together. You solve puzzles together. And you navigate the world as a pair.

Neither player feels useless.

Neither player feels like they're just following behind.

It actually feels like two people sharing the same journey.

And I think that matters a lot in co-op design because yeah, if one player gets bored, the whole experience kind of just falls apart.

Voyage just avoids that completely.

Relaxed Puzzle Design

The puzzles are really relaxed.

So, if you're looking for brutally difficult puzzles, this probably isn't the game for you.

Mechanically, this is a very simple game. The puzzles are mostly about moving objects, activating paths, helping each other reach places, and interacting with the environment.

I'm sure there's going to be plenty of people that are going to wish that this game had more challenge.

I don't see that as a weakness for this game.

The puzzles are just not the main event.

They exist to keep both players engaged and moving forward together without killing the atmosphere.

You're not going to spend 40 minutes stuck in one room yelling at each other.

This is the kind of game where the gameplay supports the mood instead of overpowering it.

I think a lot of co-op games could learn from that.

Why Voyage Feels So Cozy

Voyage is cozy.

That's the best word for it.

It's peaceful. It's warm, quiet, and emotional.

There's very little danger, very little stress, very little conflict, and somehow it still holds your attention.

And I think that's really hard to pull off.

Most games rely on non-stop action, upgrades, combat, or challenge to keep players engaged.

Voyage relies almost entirely on atmosphere and emotion.

The Soundtrack and Emotional Design

The soundtrack does a lot of heavy lifting here.

It's subtle, emotional, and immersive without trying too hard.

Nothing feels overdramatic. Nothing feels forced. It just complements what is actually happening on screen.

There are moments where the visuals and music line up perfectly and you kind of stop thinking about mechanics entirely.

You just really sink into the experience.

This is genuinely one of those games where I'd recommend playing with headphones or decent speakers because it really does make a difference.

The Little Details That Make Voyage Special

There are little touches throughout Voyage that really stick with you.

The pacing feels intentional.

Even the way the camera frames scenes sometimes makes it feel less like a traditional game and more like you're watching a story unfold around you.

And then there's the hug mechanic.

You can hug each other.

It doesn't unlock anything. It doesn't give you points. It's just there.

And honestly, I kind of just love that because it tells you exactly what this game values.

It's about connection over complexity.

Shared experience over challenge.

Why Nobody Played Voyage

So, why didn't this game blow up?

Honestly, I think Voyage got overlooked because it doesn't sell itself in an obvious way.

It's not packed with combat. It's not some giant online game. It doesn't have crazy boss fights or massive progression systems.

It's just a short, beautiful co-op experience.

And in today's market, games like that often get buried.

But that doesn't make them any less meaningful.

Not only that, it's just a small-budget indie game that people probably just didn't even notice or know what it was.

And for a while, it was only on Steam, so console gamers probably missed it.

But now it's on just about every modern platform.

Just because the game doesn't quite fit into the mold of modern gaming doesn't take away the unique experience that it offers.

Sometimes these smaller indie games that are more focused on just having an experience, telling a story, or capturing a certain feeling, actually stick with you longer.

They have a long-lasting impact on you.

At least for me, I would much rather have a game like this over a AAA massive budget game with unlimited marketing behind it.

There's a time and place for those games, but sometimes I think games like that have so many people involved that they kind of lose track of what they were trying to do to begin with.

The great thing about these smaller indie games is they really do stay true to the developer's original vision.

Co-op Games as Art

I love the conversation of video games being art.

And there's a number of games that have been thrown into that conversation. They've been called art games.

Games like GRIS, Journey, Shadow of the Colossus, and Limbo, just to name a few.

These are games that often tell a story in a unique way. They're atmospheric. The music and visuals often work together. Sometimes they have little to no dialogue, and the story is told through actions and gameplay.

This style of video game, the art game, has become one of my favorite genres in all of gaming.

But even though we see plenty of games that are described as art games, we don't really see that many of them that are actually built around co-op.

Reanimal is a recent example that was built around co-op, and I think it did a really great job.

Voyage just might be my favorite co-op art game.

Playing Voyage With My Daughter

I played this game with my daughter a couple of years ago. She must have been about six years old, and we beat it in one sitting.

You might think that a game like this could be boring for a little kid because it might not keep their attention, but believe it or not, she was able to focus the entire time.

I think it's because the game does a really good job of constantly moving forward.

Even though the puzzles aren't that challenging, that works in its favor because you never really get caught up or slowed down.

If you do have to stop to do some kind of puzzle, it's pretty easy to solve and then continue forward.

That's the main driving force of the game.

You're constantly moving forward.

A Game Meant to Be Experienced Together

You don't know why, and you don't really need to know why.

Even when you get to the end, the story is pretty vague. You don't exactly have a clear answer.

It's all up for interpretation.

But like I said, this game is about the experience.

While you're moving through the environments, you just take it all in.

The visuals, the music, and the overall atmosphere.

And the fact that you're able to share this with a partner is, I think, why it's so special to me.

I think video games all have different goals and purposes.

Some are meant to be challenging where you just try over and over again until you get good at it.

Others are just meant to be experienced.

Voyage is a game meant to be experienced with a partner.

Voyage Isn't for Everybody

I don't think this game is for everybody.

I think a lot of people are going to play this and not enjoy it.

You might not be able to just slow down and take it in, and that's okay.

This game is probably just not for you.

And to be fair, Voyage really isn't a perfect game.

There are a few parts where you're going to have to backtrack a little bit.

And sometimes when you're moving something for a puzzle, it takes way too long.

So there are moments like that that could turn people off.

But if you are open-minded and you want to try something that's a little different, something a little more relaxed and cozy, give Voyage a try.

You really only need two hours and a partner.

One of the Most Underrated Co-op Games Ever

Voyage really can be one of the most unique and meaningful co-op experiences that you can ever have.

I cover a ton of couch co-op games. Hundreds of them. Retro games, modern games, obscure games, hidden gems, new releases, and AAA games.

And Voyage, for some reason, still sticks in my mind years later.

That tells me something.

Not every game needs to be massive to matter.

Sometimes a game can be small, simple, and still leave a lasting impression.

Voyage definitely did that.

If you want non-stop action, this isn't it.

If you want hardcore challenge, this isn't it.

If you want constant combat and huge set pieces, this is not it.

If you want something more cozy, relaxing, and you just want to have an experience with your partner, that's what Voyage is.

To me, this is easily one of the most underrated couch co-op games I've ever played.

And honestly, I think way more people should experience it.

zachariah hosoda

June 1, 2026

Couch Co-op Games Coming in June 2026

zachariah hosoda

June 1, 2026

These are the couch co-op games coming in June and some recently announced news.

But first, let’s talk about some of the games that came out in May that I didn’t cover last month.

May Couch Co-op Games I Missed

Forehead Chip

This is a retro sci-fi pixel action game inspired by 80s and ’90s movies. The game supports couch co-op and it plays like a run-and-gun platformer. I haven’t had a chance to try this one out yet.

Project Solar

Project Solar got a demo on May 5th. This is an open-world, fully 3D split screen co-op game with asymmetrical gameplay.

One player controls this larger robot named Ray while the second player controls a smaller drone called Pip. Each character has different abilities, so the game is built around cooperation.

The visuals look really nice here, and I still need to try this one out.

Gangs of Asia

Gangs of Asia also came out on May 5th, and this is a game described as a multiplayer strategy brawler hybrid, so that sounds really unique.

And of course, I’m a sucker for pixel art, so I definitely plan to try this one out.

Dead as Disco

Dead as Disco entered early access on May 5th, although this build of the game does not include local co-op. The full version is supposed to include co-op gameplay.

It’s basically a rhythm-based brawler where combat syncs to the music. I played the early access version a little bit and it was a really good time.

Hydroneer

Hydroneer added four-player split screen to PS5 and Xbox on May 8th. This was already available on PC.

I wish more sandbox games still did local multiplayer like this because most crafting games like this completely ignore split screen.

Stitchlings

Stitchlings came out on May 12th and it’s a totally free game. It’s a co-op puzzle platformer with these cute stitched art style characters.

I haven’t had a chance to try this one out yet, but it has some really good reviews on Steam.

The Clubies

On May 13th, The Clubies was released. This is a 3D platformer that looks pretty cute, and you can play this one with up to four players locally.

I’ll probably end up trying this one out, too.

R-Type Dimensions 3

R-Type Dimensions 3 came out May 18th. I always love seeing old games get modern releases, but this is mostly getting negative reviews.

I think that’s mostly because of some performance issues and some glitches, so hopefully that gets patched out in the future.

The Last Conduit

The Last Conduit came out on itch.io on May 18th, so if you have a PC, you can actually play this game for free.

It seems kind of like a top-down hack-and-slash dungeon crawler, maybe with some tower defense added as well. From the trailer, I gathered that there is this portal where you have to grab things to put in there to strengthen it. And while you’re doing this, you have to fight enemies and keep them away from the portal as well.

Seemed like this one might be pretty fun.

Goonect 2

On May 20th, Goonect 2 came out. This is a sequel to a game that exclusively came out in Japan. I wasn’t familiar with that game, but this looks like a 3D platformer where both characters are connected and you have to obviously work together to get through this environment.

Schrödinger’s Cat Burglar

Schrödinger’s Cat Burglar came out on May 21st, and it’s a puzzle adventure game where you play as these two cats.

Vortica

Vortica came out on May 25th, and it’s another action roguelite that involves shooting down a bunch of aliens.

Bounty Brawl: Most Wanted

Bounty Brawl: Most Wanted came out May 28th. You can play this game with up to four players locally, and it’s a fast-paced action roguelike.

Duo Quest

Duo Quest recently got a demo, and this is another one that’s built around co-op. It mixes some deck building and RPG mechanics.

I’m definitely going to try this one out.

Dang Darn Island

Dang Darn Island came out May 29th, and this is a top-down action roguelike game with some Indiana Jones vibes. It seems like it might have some Overcooked elements as well.

Notable May Couch Co-op Releases

Here are some of the most notable May releases, games that I mentioned last month and now have actually come out.

Mad King Redemption

Mad King Redemption came out into early access on May 14th, and I played this game a couple weeks ago on a live stream.

My first impression is I love the art style here and the gameplay feels really good. It definitely reminds me of Golden Axe, but I found the game to be incredibly difficult and there were a few glitches here and there.

Overall, I really enjoyed it and I want to play it some more.

Wheelmates

The demo for Wheelmates came out last month. It’s a game clearly inspired by It Takes Two, but you’re in RC cars.

Really, the only complaint that I had were the controls, which makes navigating and doing just about anything kind of difficult. So, hopefully the full release fixes some of those issues.

Directive 8020

Directive 8020 came out on May 12th, and it’s kind of getting mixed reviews.

I played this for about an hour, and I did like what I saw so far. As a local co-op experience, it’s not exactly ideal as one player is going to just kind of sit there on the sidelines while the other player is walking around and going through the story beats, and then you just switch back and forth.

LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight

LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight came out on May 22nd, and on Steam this is getting overwhelmingly positive reviews. People are praising the overall gameplay as well as the visuals.

I haven’t had a chance to try this one out yet, but I’m definitely looking forward to it.

Couch Co-op Games Coming in June 2026

Here are some of the games that actually have official release dates coming out in June.

Unrailed 2

Unrailed 2 launches on June 7th. The first game was already one of the better chaotic teamwork co-op games out there, so I am interested to see how they expand on that formula here.

Lost Castle 2

Lost Castle 2 is coming out on June 11th. This is a 2D beat ’em up with some roguelite elements.

I’ve heard a lot of people compare it to Castle Crashers. I never played the original one, but I know people like it. I’ll probably be checking both of them out sometime soon.

Adventures of Elliot

Adventures of Elliot comes out June 18th. This is an action RPG with some Zelda-like elements. It has a really beautiful HD-2D art style.

The co-op is just an assist mode where you take control of this fairy character. So, we’ll see how involved that actually is.

Dark Scrolls

Dark Scrolls was supposed to come out in May, but they pushed the release date back to June 22nd.

This is one of my most anticipated games. It has some really nice pixel art that looks like the NES, and it’s an auto-scrolling run-and-gun shooter, so I’m excited for this one.

The Artifactory

The Artifactory is coming to Switch on June 25th. This was already out on Steam.

This is another Overcooked-like, but this one seems to be more focused on witches and a magical theme.

Star Fox

The biggest announcement we got was a complete surprise, which is Star Fox, a complete remake of Star Fox 64.

This one comes out June 25th. Similar to Star Fox Zero on the Wii U, this game has a co-pilot option where one player takes control of shooting and the other takes control of the ship.

I would have liked to see a split screen co-op option, but I do really enjoy this kind of gameplay as well.

What I’ve Been Playing Recently

Here are some co-op games that I’ve been playing recently.

I just finished Cult of the Lamb a couple of weeks ago, and it’s definitely one of my favorite couch co-op games I’ve played recently.

I just started Baldur’s Gate 3 again, which is obviously going to take me forever because that game is massive, but it is a goal of mine to finally play through that game and finish it co-op.

I also replayed a game called Voyage, which is the third time I’ve played through it. Outside of modern games, I’ve been going through and playing every single co-op Super Nintendo game and getting footage for an upcoming project.

Like I said, I played Mad King Redemption a little bit. I also played Saint Slayer, which is a Castlevania clone that has co-op, and it’s incredibly hard, but I do recommend it if you like those types of games.

And with my daughter, I’ve been playing Rotwood, which is also another game I would really highly recommend.

So, yeah, I’ve been pretty busy with some co-op games lately.

Retro Co-op News

Project Neon

Project Neon was originally released on the Neo Geo in 2024, and now it’s getting ports to the Sega Saturn, the Dreamcast, as well as the N64.

What’s interesting is the Saturn version is actually going to be cartridge-based, and I think that’s the first time that’s been done.

This is a vertical scrolling shoot ’em up with co-op. And I always think it’s cool seeing entirely new co-op games still getting developed for old hardware.

Overserved

Those same developers also announced another game called Overserved.

It’s described as a mix between Bomberman and Smash TV, and it supports up to eight players. So, it’s primarily a competitive game, but there are team options. Theoretically, you could do four humans against four AI bots.

This one is coming out on Neo Geo, Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, as well as modern platforms, and there’s going to be options to actually play this online with crossplay between all platforms.

So, that is pretty interesting.

They’re also releasing a four-player adapter for the Neo Geo itself, and that has never existed before. That hardware was always limited to only two players, so maybe that’ll open the door for more four-player homebrews on the Neo Geo.

Guardian Heroes

Recently, Treasure has been posting some cryptic stuff around the 30th anniversary of Guardian Heroes.

I’m trying not to get my hopes up too much about this, but hopefully this means some kind of re-release or sequel announcement.

If you don’t know Guardian Heroes, it originally came out on the Sega Saturn and then there was a remake that came out on Xbox 360 Arcade. It’s a really great beat ’em up with some RPG elements. So, anything related to that game I’m excited for.

Disney Afternoon Collection

Disney Afternoon Collection just came out physically on the Switch and Switch 2, so that means more people can finally play stuff like Chip ’n Dale and Goof Troop again.

Evercade Neo Geo Collection

The Evercade also just announced a new Neo Geo collection. The co-op games that are included in that are Metal Slug 4, Blazing Star, Robo Army, Three Count Bout, and King of the Monsters.

So, that’s a pretty solid co-op lineup.

Lethal Wedding

There’s a new game for the Sega Genesis called Lethal Wedding. This is hitting Kickstarter on June 2nd.

The demo for this game has been around for a few years and I’ve actually covered it on the channel, but it plays a lot like Zombies Ate My Neighbors. It’s a pretty decent game, so I’m looking forward to the full release. It sounds like it’s getting ported to some modern platforms as well.

New Couch Co-op Announcements

Cappy Castaway

A new trailer for Cappy Castaway came out, and it has some behind-the-scenes interviews with the developers.

This is a story-based cozy game that was announced a couple of years ago, so hopefully we get a release date soon.

Bot Fest Station

Bot Fest Station was just announced, and this is a 1 to four-player tower defense game.

Taival

Tyal is another game that was just announced, and this one I’m really excited for.

It’s a four-player split screen action RPG with Minecraft visuals.

Lucky Duckies

Lucky Duckies is a 3D platformer, and you can play in split screen co-op.

Just hearing the name alone, it’s not really something that would interest me, but the gameplay itself actually looks pretty interesting.

Aye Aye Captain

Aye Aye Captain is a four-player pirate game where you’re constantly repairing your ship, fighting off enemies, and doing some exploration.

Box Knight

Box Knight is another action RPG, but with a hand-drawn art style and a lot of humor.

Wild n Chill

Wild and Chill was announced. This is a sequel to Cast and Chill, which was a cozy, relaxing fishing type of game.

This seems to be very similar. It has really nice pixel art just like the original game, but this one is focused on foraging, hunting, and building things around your off-grid cabin.

I’m always looking for new cozy games to play, and this one looks great, too.

Redemption: The Sin Eternal

Redemption: The Sin Eternal is a supernatural horror game that you can play in split screen co-op.

Visually, it looks pretty good, and some of the monsters actually look kind of creepy.

We definitely need more 3D games that are split screen co-op, and I’m always looking for horror games, so I’m hoping this one is good.

Wish for Eternity

Wish for Eternity has a teaser trailer.

This game is still in very early development, and the expected release date isn’t until 2028, but I really like the visuals here.

This is a dungeon crawler where you play as these two spirits, and it seems to be built around co-op where you’re going to solve puzzles together. So, I’m definitely going to keep an eye on this game.

Toziuha Night: Nosferatu's Curse

Toa Knight: Nosferatu’s Curse just got a trailer, and it looks like a Castlevania clone with 8-bit graphics.

You can play this one in two-player co-op. There’s no release date for this yet, but if you know me, I love games in this style. So, another one that I’m going to keep an eye out for.

World of Anterra

World of Anterra got a new gameplay trailer. I didn’t know about this game, but I guess it was announced a few years ago.

It’s an open-world RPG with pixel art visuals and turn-based combat. I think this game looks really interesting and it’s supposed to be coming into early access sometime this year.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion

If you’re a fan of Marvel Cosmic Invasion, we got two new characters, Cyclops and the Thing.

I did really enjoy this game, so I’ll probably try this out.

Outward 2

Outward 2 finally got a release date. It’s going into early access on July 7th.

The Crimson Hunt

A trailer for a new third-person shooter just came out called The Crimson Hunt.

I don’t know too much about this one. Visually, it looks pretty good. And it looks like you can play the whole game in split screen co-op.

Lost in Tandem

Lost in Tandem is supposedly coming out in July.

This is a 2D cinematic platformer where you play as a girl and this robot.

Showcase Highlights

There were a couple of showcases that highlighted some upcoming couch co-op games. I think a lot of these games were already announced previously, but they have new trailers.

61 Indie Showcase

The first one was 61 Indie Showcase.

There were 61 games here, but the only couch co-op game that I could confirm was Twins of Olus.

This looks like a top-down action game where there’s this spirit that is attached to the main character. So, I’m guessing player 2 will take control of the spirit.

Visually, this game looks pretty nice. But yeah, that’s pretty unfortunate that out of all of those games, this was the only one announced.

AG French Direct 2026

The other showcase was the AG French Direct 2026.

The couch co-op games that I was able to confirm were Tiebreakers, which is a tennis-themed run-and-gun shooter, and it has a nice hand-drawn art style.

Heave Ho 2 is officially coming out sometime this summer. No official date yet, but this is one that I’m definitely looking forward to.

Clerks and Quirks now has a demo available and this seems like another Overcooked-like game.

Last Moon was already announced previously, but they mentioned it again. This looks like a top-down action RPG with some Zelda vibes as well. I really like the art style for this game, so I’m definitely looking forward to it.

Final Thoughts

So, there you go. Some notable releases from May, a handful of games coming out in June, and some couch co-op news.

There’s quite a bit of couch co-op stuff still happening today, and hopefully some of these caught your attention.

Which games are you most excited for?