It's time for another pair of videos for Co-Op Classics. This week, we look at an early co-op game known more for the characters than the co-op: the original Mario Bros. arcade. Mario was joined for the first time by his brother Luigi in an attempt to defeat turtles and other critters from coming up the sewer pipes. Our second video is from the co-op golden age of the early 1990s: Sunset Riders. Four Wild West types team up to collect the bounties for dangerous criminals. Horses, gunfire, dynamite, and a train chase, Sunset Riders has it all.
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Released way back in 1983, Mario Bros. was a follow up to Donkey Kong. In that game, the now-familiar hero was known only as Jumpman; in Mario Bros., he was given both a name and a brother for the first time. Designer Shigeru Miyamoto was said to be inspired by the teamwork elements of Joust when developing Mario Bros. While both players can certainly work together, there is a large element of competition. It's very easy to mess with your partner, flipping a turtle over at just the wrong time or bumping them in midair. Be sure to look for the adorable shell-less turtles, too.
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This game is one of the best of the arcade era for co-op fans. Not only was it four player, but each character had a unique look and weapon. Sunset Riders wasn't a simple side scroller, either; throughout the game, you could jump up and down balconies and trains, ride horses, and shoot in eight different directions. Bonus stages mixed up the action quite nicely, and the colorful graphics and campy dialogue were fantastic. The music in Sunset Riders is superb, and would have been quite at home in any of the spaghetti western movies that inspired it.