Image via Complex Original
It's a good thing online gaming is so popular now, because it's harder than ever to get a few friends together in the same room to play some games. But on the off chance you actually manage to get some buddies on your couch, you can do better than dusting off Goldeneye 007.
Not that we don't have respect for the classics. But despite the domination of online multiplayer, the local couch co-op game is not yet quite dead.
And because it's often indies who respect the couch, a lot of these games are pretty cheap. So the next time your buddies come over for a beer, consider busting one of these games out.
RELATED: The 25 Best Co-Op Video Games to Play With Friends
RELATED: The Co-Op Code: 10 Rules to Follow so Your Friends Don't Hate You
RELATED:Gallery: 10 Video Games Companies Re-Imagined as Best Friends
Mercenary Kings
Platform: PS4/Steam
Ya'll remember the good old days of playing Metal Slug in the arcade. Mercenary Kings isn't quite that, but it does look like the old cabinet classic, and it also has an addictive weapon-crafting system.
It's slow to start, but once you pass the first set of missions you and your friends can begin to build some pretty interesting guns. And the entire game can be played in four-player splitscreen—just make sure your TV is large enough.
Mario Kart 8
Platform: Wii U
See? Mad love for the classics. They can add all the shiny graphics and crazy features they want, but in the end Mario Kart will never stop being Mario Kart.
Between this, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, and the new Super Smash Bros. coming out this year, 2014 may finally be the right time to buy a Wii U.
Helldivers
Platform: PS3/PS4/PS Vita
Watch out for this one when it comes out later this year. Helldivers is sort of like Gauntlet, the old fantasy game you may have played in one of its many incarnations over the years.
Except Helldivers is set on hostile alien planets and has some of the tightest top-down, gun-slinging co-op gameplay out there. Working together with your teammates is paramount—especially because resources are limited and friendly fire is always on.
Sportsfriends
Platform: PS3/PS4/PC
Sportsfriends is really four games in one. Don't let it intimidate you just because one of these titles, Johann Sebastian Joust, requires you to get off your ass and move around. At least it's jousting and not dancing.
The other three games are BariBariBall, Hokra, and Super Pole Riders. Combined, they'll all provide hours of entertainment.
Nidhogg
Platform: PS4/PC
Hope you're not sick of pixels. The austere Nidhogg takes the concept of retro graphics to its most extreme, but when you and a bro are taking turns trying to stab one another in 2D neither of you you will give a hoot.
You take turns trying to charge each other's goals several screens to the right or left. If you kill the offensive player with your sword, the sides are reversed and you become the attacker. It's a neat little game of tug-of-war and surprisingly fun, considering its simplicity.
Jamestown Plus
Platform: PS4/Steam
Jamestown is another new-ish indie game that harkens way back to the days of top-down dogfighting games. These "bullet hell" games have their origins in classics like Centipede and Galaga, but they get way more intense than that, and Jamestown is a great modern take.
The core game is years old, but the "Plus" edition has new ships, new levels and new story elements. Also it's set on Mars, so it has that going for it. Look out for it out on PS4 this summer.
Earth Defense Force 2025
Platform: Xbox 360/PS3
Earth Defense Force 2025 is like every battle scene from Starship Troopers made into a video game, only slightly more Japanese.
It's all about shooting giant bugs with a huge range of firearms as they trample all over humanity. Somebody has to do it. And with two-player local co-op (four players can play online) it's perfect for a drunken night of carnage.
Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze
Platform: Wii U
If you don't mind a little frustration then there's nothing stopping you from enjoying the latest Donkey Kong Country game. Except maybe having to buy a Wii U, but as we've already been over, it may be about time to do that anyway.
The first player controls the legendary Donkey Kong, while the second plays as either Diddy, Dixie or Cranky Kong. It's a fun and challenging game, and if you played the originals on Super Nintendo then there's plenty of nostalgia to be had too.
Rayman Legends
Platform: Xbox 360/Xbox One/PS3/PS4/PS Vita/Wii U/PC
Ubisoft's rebooted Rayman series has wonderful visuals and super tight platforming action, and the whole of Legends can be played with up to four players cooperatively. The Wii U's Super Mario 3D World gets an honorable mention in this same category, although it came out last year.
But Rayman Legends beats it in at least one respect: Legends also has a competitive game mode, a soccer mini game called Kung Foot. It involves lots of ball-slapping—an average night for a group of dudes, in other words.
Trials Fusion
Platform: Xbox 360/Xbox One/PS4/PC
Trials Fusion is the physics-based dirt bike racer and stunt challenge that you've been waiting for—assuming you have been waiting for such a thing, and you really want one on the newest consoles and with local co-op only.
Yeah, Fusion lacks an online mode currently, but that will be added later. For now you and some pals can repeatedly crash on the same jump over and over again together. And that's what's really important.