Wii games lack co-op mode and that’s a shame, says Infendo reader
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 at 7:27pm by Jack
Infendo reader and Infendo Radio listener Phillip F. wants to know where the heck the 2-player co-op went off to. I, for one, am inclined to ask the same question, especially after some extended play time with Contra 4 this winter.
what the hell happened to classic, simultaneous co-op adventure and platforming games? it’s not that i don’t have a problem with playing by myself, but it just seems like whenever i have a friend or a relative that i actually get along with comes over, i’m left dry of good 2 player games for us to play. usually i have to whip out Smash bros or some other racing/fighting/shooting game whenever they do.
secondly, if a game is multiplayer…it’s never co-op! it just seems that if an action adventure/platformer is released, they don’t include any multiplayer, or they chuck a large mass of minigames (usually around 40 or 50 for some reason) at us, or they include some crappy versus mode; neither of which show how good (or what) a game actually is.
while i’ll admit that there are some FPS that have been released that are co-op (such as halo 3), it just angers me that none of these developers even try to develop a good, co-op mode for wii games. i’m hoping that atleast someone can relate to me on this one, cause it just doesn’t seem like i’ve played a fantastic co-op game in quite some time.
Indeed. Co-op games would be a nice complement to the already social-as-heck nature of some Wii games. You’ve done it with the DS, Nintendo, now how about the Wii?
Alternate viewpoint: Are there Wii co-op games here or upcoming worth checking out? And, how about we all name our favorite Nintendo system co-op game from times past? Legendary Wings worked for me.
UPDATE: Meant to post this yesterday, and a comment from Infendo regular InvisibleMan jogged my memory. It’s an email to the Infendo squawk box from Shivy about Endless Ocean and co-op play:
I am in love with Endless Ocean. Playing it brings back fond memories of other games that focused on exploration and discovery, such as Myst and Uru.
One of the most impressive parts of the game was being able to go diving with a good friend of mine. We explored an undersea ruin together. The Wii’s limitations in communication (pre-set phrases and hand signals between the divers) actually made the experience feel more authentic, since divers wouldn’t normally be able to communicate through speech anyway.
I can’t speak praises of this game enough. It has easily become one of my favorite game experiences in recent years.
This reminds me of those times when I’d just go exploring in Vice City or San Andreas, looking for jumps or secrets. I haven’t played Endless Ocean yet, but I imagine I’d like it very much. Video games just don’t let you go exploring anymore, do they? actually, is exploring even considered a game?
February 5th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
This isn’t a new problem to me by any means. I’ve sen the entire last generation using a Genesis and MAME more the majority of my multiplayer gaming. I blame the lack of arcade style games on it.
February 5th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Totally agree. I would love to see an action/adventure or RPG type game that is co-op in the story mode.
February 5th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
I think the co-op mode in Mario Galaxy is pretty fun. Especially if you have one person that is more serious and one person that might rather watch TV (My wife and me).
Oh, and Legendary Wings is in my top-10 NES games of all time. I love that game so much.
February 5th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
One of my favorite games of last Fall was Resident Evil: UC purely b/c of the co-op play. It’s definitely some old school blaster action, but stands as one of the few co-op experiences. Some of my favs from the past were Bubble Bobble, Marble Madness, Snake, Rattle, & Roll, Battletoads, Ikari Warriors, TMNT:III, mostly NES games really and the co-op is why I still love those games.
February 5th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Star Wars is good for multi player, but other than that, I can’t think of anything.
As for old games, Contra!
February 5th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
most of my game time is spent on co-op, and the balance on multiplayer, so I agree that it’s a big deal. If a game comes out today without co-op, I’m generally scratching my head.
As for the past- I was all about the Perfect Dark Co-op. Loved it. But above all it was Contra III that ruled the day for me.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Super Smash Bros. Brawl has co-op for SSE.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Legendary Wings is such a great 2player co-op game.
I would LOVE to see a Wii updated version of the game on Wii ware, or even a 360 version on X-box live arcade .
February 5th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
>.> Geesh, shame on ALL of you for forgetting Battalion Wars 2.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
I gotta say, I really dig this comment. Everything is either party/mini-game or single player epic on Wii.
Every really great game seems to be single-player, except my personal top two, RE:UC, and Geometry Wars: Galaxies.
I think this is not just a problem on Wii specifically though. If you look at the other consoles, anything that isn’t a shooter is only single player.
What the hell happened to player-2?
February 5th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
I totally agree about the lack of arcade games equallying less co-op games. Its quite disappointing actually. Good thing that I play a lot of older games then. ^_^
Looking forward to House of the Dead 2+3 Return for some good co-op play.
February 5th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
I agree 100%, I miss the days of playing Co-Op games with my little brother on the older systems especially…
Super C, RIVER CITY RANSOM, Streets of Rage series… good times.
I tried to relive those days; I have Legend of the Mystical Ninja, Gunstar Heroes, Altered Beast, and Contra III on VC.
February 6th, 2008 at 12:40 am
Co-Op gaming is so under-valued in the industry it drives me nuts.
I don’t have much time to game these days, when I do, I like to play games with friends, it gives me the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone as it were, spend time with friends and game.
BUT while this used to mean Final Fight, Contra, Rainbow Six, and countless other classics, these days co-op is almost never considered.
I buy Rainbow Six games exclusively for their CoOp, and while the Galaxy coop is erm, there, its mostly a gimmick / throw in and thats it.
Playing games WITH friends as opposed to AGAINST them should be far more common than it is in this industry.
February 6th, 2008 at 4:02 am
I used to love co-op Streets of Rage 2 and Gunstar Heroes in the old Megadrive/Genesis days. I do wish that kind of co-op would come back.
I actually think that it disappeared in the transition to 3D games. It’s still present in FPS, because they operate either as online multi-player or as split screen. In 3D action games, however, there’s a real unwillingness to include co-op as it makes level design difficult. In the old days games would just stop you being able to scroll the screen unless both players were moving forward. Now that’s seen as a cheap get out that won’t wash in big virtual environments. The devs just haven’t come up with alternatives though.
February 6th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Did someone say it was time for a 2D sidescrolling Double Dragon remake?! No? Oh, I thought I heard it…
February 6th, 2008 at 10:45 am
One co-op game for Wii that I found to be fun is Alien Syndrome. Sure it doesn’t have the best graphics, and that is why I think most people give it a bad rep. Running through a maze blasting aliens all the while powering up your character’s abilities kept me entertained for awhile. But my friend didn’t like this game, so I guess it is a hit or miss.
February 6th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
You guys are forgetting Endless Ocean, too! That one has Co-op… kind of. (There would be no other way to play it, actually!)
February 6th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Legendary Wings!!! My mind is blown with nostalgia feelings, i would have never remembered that game by myself, it was very very cool.
February 6th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Completely agree with this. We need more old arcade co-op fun.
…and NinKenDo +1.
I had a very nice time playing RE:UC with my sister.
February 7th, 2008 at 12:59 am
Legendary Wings was something of an oddity the videogame world at that time. It was a popular arcade game in japan, but it was never actuaally released for the famicom. It was a good shmup, very very difficult fo the 8 year old crowd that was playing the nes. Way tuffer than life force.
February 7th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
100% agree, we need more co-op games! i used to love most of the games mentioned. playing with friends and family. remember guerilla war or iron tank. how about double dragon? some of the all time classics…i’d love to see a new double dragon, just add more than 4 characters with different colored clothes.
February 7th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
My wife and I have had fun playing Zack and Wiki together. The second player’s role is limited to pointing and drawing on the screen to indicate what to do or check next, but it’s still fun to try to figure out the puzzles together, as it is easy to get stuck by yourself.