Nearly 100 years ago (or something like that), Atari released a single-player shoot 'em up of sorts called Caverns of Mars on home computers. Caverns is relatively unknown due to not having been ported to the consoles of its era, but it was recently included in the robust Atari 50: The Anniversary Collection for modern platforms....
Hamster's Arcade Archives series offers no-frills versions of numerous classic arcade titles. On Switch, the lineup even includes several arcade games from Nintendo! The Arcade Archives Nintendo titles never go on sale, which makes the current sale super exciting. Co-op classics like Mario Bros. and Ice Climber and non-co-op games like Don...
If there's one thing retro gamers love, it's a good compilation of classic games. As it so happens, Atari and Digital Eclipse have recently released exactly such a game with Atari 50: The Anniversary Collection for consoles and PC. This one collects a staggering array of titles from Atari consoles and arcades past, plus offers some new games to boot. It's a wild mix of games that, thankfully, includes more than a handful of local co-op games.
It has been a while since we shared iiRcade news, but that's mostly because there haven't been many new co-op releases for iiRcade lately. That will change soon, thankfully! Starting with last Friday's release of Toki (a cool single-player run-and-gun platformer starring an ape), iiRcade will release a total of four arcade games from TAD Corporation, a Japanese game developer. The next three releases include Blood Bros, Cabal, and Heated Barrel, all shooters which feature 2-player local co-op!
Yar's Revenge is a Atari 2600 shoot 'em up that released in 1982 and is still fondly remembered by gamers of the era. During the Xbox 360 days, Atari released a 3D rail shooter which added co-op but reimagined the insect protagonists as human-like characters. 40 years after the first Yar's Revenge (!!!), the series is due for a comeback with Yars Recharged on modern consoles and PC. This one hews closely to the original, with playable space flies, 2D shooting, and the welcome addition of local co-op.
Earlier this month, Sega announced the Mega Drive Mini 2 for the Japanese market. The new mini console will feature over 50 games, 20 of which will be Mega CD games. Excitement for this type of product largely depends on the included games, so Sega is announcing the Mega Drive 2 Mini's titles in batches. The latest batch of games includes the co-op classic The Ninja Warriors and several ports of arcade classics. Interestingly, an analog flight stick will be available for the Mega Drive Mini 2 as well.
Today, Sega of Japan announced a new mini console, though it might not be the one that fans really wanted. The Mega Drive Mini 2 is a miniature version of the Mega Drive 2 (known as the Sega Genesis 2 in North America). It's not just a reskinned Mega Drive Mini, though: the new console will feature 50 games from both the Genesis and Sega CD lib...
Our previous Co-Op International looked at the Japanese versions of Double Dragon II. This month we follow up with River City Ransom. Think the GameBoy Advance version is the best? No way! Read on to discover the River City Ransom that never left Japan but does feature awesome co-op.
Believe it or not it's been 30 years since the classic game Missile Command has hit the arcade. In celebration of the milestone Atari has partnered with web game portal OMGPOP to create a 7 player co-op version of the game that's completely free.
Asteroids is one of the best games of the Golden Age of the arcade. The original Asteroids was almost perfect; regretfully, it lacked co-op play. Thankfully, this oversight would be fixed many years and several iterations of the series later.
The never ending quest for the earliest co-op video game continues this week. Coupled with the quest is a touching, heartbreaking story from my childhood. What more could you ask for? Grab an ostrich and a lance as we check out arcade golden oldie Joust, this week's Co-Op Classic. You may recall a previous Co-Op Classic column featuring Mario Bros. It seems the "true" co-op gameplay of that game was inspired by that of Joust. Released in 1982, Joust was a real standout from other arcade games of the time. For one thing, the cabinet had truly distinctive art. The biggest appeal though was the simultaneous two player gameplay. Taking turns in Pac-man is all well and good, but sometimes, you and a friend want to play at the same time. Joust allowed you to do just that.
