It's a big year for Bomberman fans, with Super Bomberman R 2 finally coming out later this month. That game won't feature co-op, however, so it falls on other games to pick up the slack. One such game is the upcoming Dynablaster from BBG Entertainment. To learn more about Dynablaster's Bomberman-style gameplay and co-op features, w...

River City Girls 2 is one of this generation's biggest and best beat 'em ups, combining smooth combat, action RPG mechanics, and a delightful story into one compelling package. Whereas the first game only supports 2-player local co-op, RCG2 launched with 4-player local and 2-player online co-op. We thought that's where the co-op features would end, but WayForward surprised us by adding 4-player online co-op to the Xbox Series S|X, PlayStation 5, and Steam versions of the game. Now we're talkin'!

First announced back in June, the "Dimension Shellshock" DLC for TMNT: Shredder's Revenge is out now on consoles and PC. The $8 downloadable content adds two new playable characters, a co-op survival mode, and additional color palettes for each character. These additions will add new life to the game for experienced players, especially those who like a challenge.

Following up on their deck-building, roguelite hit, Monster Train, developer Shiny Shoe set their sights on making another roguelite; this time with a focus on turn-based mechanics and the ability to play with friends. Inkbound became available via Steam Early Access this past May and already showed a lot of promise. This past week it received its first free major update, "The Starship of Terrors," that added a bunch of new features and improved a number of things based on community feedback. We spoke with founder and CEO Mark Cooke about this update, along with inspirations for Inkbound and the challenges of balancing classes for solo and co-op play.

Let's face it: The big thing in August was Baldur's Gate III. There is no way to sugarcoat it. This month saw 30XX finally leaving Early Access on Steam, the surprise releases of the QUAKE II-Remaster and Age of Empires IV for Xbox, the addition of local co-op to the founder of a new genre (Vampire Survivors) and even the long-awaited (?) return of a much beloved (citation needed) German video game icon (TM). But none could overshadow the (fully earned) success of Larian's juggernaut CRPG. Considering how stacked this month was, not just in terms of co-op titles, that's quite a feat.

Inkbound, the new co-op roguelite from Monster Train developer Shiny Shoe, received a big update last week, titled "The Starship of Terrors." This was a significant milestone for the title as it not only added new content to the game - including a new character class, a new zone, a new daily challenge, and a new way to craft your ideal build via "trinkets" - but it also tweaked and refined a number of existing features; it's also entirely free.

The first DLC for TMNT: Shredder's Revenge, titled "Dimension Shellshock," is due out on August 31. The DLC's primary additions are two playable characters (Karai and Usagi Yojimbo) and a survival mode, all of which should add lots of thrilling beat 'em up fun. Dotemu and Tribute Games recently published an extended gameplay preview that showcases the new characters and mode, and also reveal even more of the DLC's copious background character cameos.

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons from Secret Base and Modus Games might just be the best beat 'em up of the year, but no game is perfect. In fact, this one launched with a common complaint: distracting pop-up notifications that occur whenever a player defeats three or more enemies with a special move. Thankfully, the latest update allows these notifications to be turned off. What's more, a promising balance update is in the works.

Co-Optimus and Extra Life are both celebrating their 15th anniversaries this year, and what better way to celebrate than with prizes! All you have to do is join our team and start raking in donations for the Children's Miracle Network Hospital of your choice.

Ah, July... such a calm month compared to the "Not-E3-craziness" of June. The database master "only" added 98 new entries to the database, many of which were older titles we were still missing, like all the shoot'em ups by famed Japanese developer Triangle Service.

Mickey Mouse knows a thing or two about platforming. He once braved the Castle of Illusion, and would go on to have 8-bit and 16-bit platforming adventures in the World, Land, and Legend of Illusion. Now Mickey is returning to his roots and bringing his friends along in Disney Illusion Island from Disney and Dlala Studios, which launched exclusively on Nintendo Switch today. This one features gorgeous cartoon-style artwork and 4-player local co-op.

Way back in 1987, the arcade version of Double Dragon was the first beat ‘em up to feature co-op. All these years later, it’s still a big deal when the series gets a new entry, despite the uneven quality of games like Double Dragon IV. Thankfully, Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons stands among the best games in the series.....