Playing games with a loved one can be a challenging, but fun way to spend time together. Introducing your partner to games you love, or simply enjoying each other’s company while working towards a shared goal can create an invaluable bond. Even the frustration that comes along with co-op games quickly melts away when both people settle into the joy of experiencing a game together.
So, to help, here are a few retro games to check out that offer a co-op experience that can add a bit of fun to your Valentine’s Day.
Kirby Super Star
Kirby Super Star on SNES
Super Star has a focus that is a bit different from other Kirby games, as it splits everything into bite-sized adventures. The Kirby franchise also evolved to emphasize co-op or multiplayer gameplay and with the different various power-ups Kirby can suck up, it makes the game fun and exciting with each play-through.
When Kirby sucks up an enemy, instead of taking its power, player two can play as the enemy, helping Kirby throughout the level. It’s interesting to see what choices your partner will make depending on the power they receive and in which way they can either make the game easier or more frustrating for you.
Jackal
Jackal on NES
Jackal for the NES is played mostly like an arcade game, as it is an arcade game. Most of the gameplay is intuitive, you aim, shoot, and try to demolish as many enemy forces and obstacles as possible. It’s a classic arcade fun shared experience that we don’t see all too often in modern gaming.
The gameplay, although bare bones by today’s standards, is still something that is simple enough to not create massive frustration between the two players. It’s just a fun and fun game, you run and you gun.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time
TMNT IV on SNES
Honestly, this game may be the most fun coop game to play. The nostalgia felt from being able to relive an arcade beat ’em-up classic with your partner is idyllic. There’s nothing I can think of that’s more of an embodiment of classic 80s arcade gameplay than TMNT.
That being said, you don’t have to settle for TMNT IV if you want more. After TMNT 2, the games placed a high reliance on coop play. It could even be argued that the game series is not only meant to be played with multiple people running around as one of the four turtles using their varied weapons to attack anything that moves.
Gauntlet
Gauntlet Legends on N64
The Gauntlet series is a dungeon-crawling fantasy-based coop romp. You travel around the game’s world fighting monsters and working your way towards the exits. Each player controls a character with skills ranging from strength to magic to speed, but the fun is found in how each character supplements the overall goal to reach the end of the level.
Today, we have online games like Overwatch and Marvel Rivals where teams have different classes with different skills, used to try and defeat the opposing team. But here, this is where that same energy started, and being able to unplug and just fight some baddies in a pixel-based environment is a nice merge between nostalgia and chaos.
Pocky and Rocky
Pocky and Rocky on SNES
Pocky and Rocky is an often overlooked entry from the SNES era. It was originally released in arcades in Japan, but eventually, future releases made their way to the SNES with the newest game coming to all then-current-gen systems in 2022.
The overall gameplay of this game is a scrolling shooter, similar to a bullet hell game but a bit slower-paced. The game also has two player-specific mechanics where you can slide and hit your partner and effectively use them as a loose cannon projectile. Sounds fun, but I promise, when you’re dead set on killing something and get going across the screen to kill some random other thing, your priorities change.
These are just a few games to check out for today’s festivities. But there are countless more coop games out there, both retro and modern. Celebrating the love shared between you and your loved one, spending time together with someone you want to explore a relationship with, or simply bunkering down with someone you want to play games with are all things that capitalize on the one thing games are supposed to be: fun.
Hopefully, this list can get you started or at least inspire you to find more fun adventures to go on with the person you can most rely on.
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