The Co-op Chronicles: 7 Top-Tier Co-op Games

Today, this little blog celebrates it’s 7th birthday! A lot has changed over the years with this space starting life as a place for Guild Wars 2 guides and Smite patch notes, evolving into a spot for some sporadic game reviews, anime lists and now even music posts, but despite the content changing, one thing has always remained the same… I’ve always come back to share my favourite things over the years.

I was struggling to come up with an idea on how I should mark this pretty huge milestone, until it suddenly became obvious that there’s one small section of my gaming preferences that I don’t often talk about here – local co-op games! When people typically think about local co-op games, it’s usually party games that come to mind. I decided to specifically avoid party games on this occasion to show that there are plenty of other amazing games out there that you can play with a friend, or three, that have much more depth to them. I absolutely LOVE to play video games with my fiancée and we’ve found some absolute bangers over the years, so today I’d like to kick off The Co-op Chronicles, a blogging series dedicated to co-op gaming, and share 7 of our favourite local co-op games that I think everyone should give a go!

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Dragon’s Crown Pro

PS4 (2018) / 1-4 players

Starting strong with Dragon’s Crown Pro, one of my favourite games of all time. With Vanillaware’s stunning art style, excellent storytelling and incredibly fun side scrolling action gameplay, Dragon’s Crown Pro was such a treat to play from start to finish. Each dungeon-crawler style level brought something fresh with differing branches so even when repeating stages over and over for quest purposes, it never became boring. Just the overall beauty of the game, from the animations to the sound design, deserves your time, and the decision to make this game this a co-op experience was the absolute cherry on cake. It also has one of the best cooking mini games I’ve ever come across in video games!

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RESEARCH and DESTROY

Steam, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox X/S (2022) / 1-2 players

As one of the most innovative games I’ve ever played, RESEARCH and DESTROY brings a unique blend of real time action meets turn based combat as you control a team of 3 scientists (per player) who must RESEARCH in order to DESTROY the supernatural beings that are threatening to take over the world. Featuring a wide range of weapons and gadgets, you can customise your scientists’ builds to do some really crazy things that makes for some incredibly satisfying moments with plenty of replayablity thanks to the wide range of of levels. As fun as RESEARCH and DESTROY is by yourself, it’s 10x better when played with a friend and provides an overall thoroughly enjoyable experience you don’t want to miss out on!

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River City Girls

Steam, Switch, PS4, Xbox One (2019), PS5 (2022) / 1-2 players

River City Girls is a free roaming beat ’em up brawler with bright stylish pixel graphics that was introduced as a spin off to the Kunio-kun series. Play as Kyoko and/or Misako as they set out to rescue their kidnapped boyfriends over a selection of levels with interesting boss fights and and various other objectives to earn EXP and money to spend on new combo moves. Although it doesn’t have the most fluid gameplay, it’s so much fun regardless, and the script is fantastic! Featuring a great voice cast, banging OST and addictive gameplay, River City Girls will surely keep you entertained for hours, even more so with a friend!

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Streets of Rage 4

Steam, Switch, PS4, Xbox One (2020) / 1-4 players

Released 26 years after its predecessor, Streets of Rage 4 is a side scrolling beat ’em up that follows the style of the popular 1990s Streets of Rage games. Despite its design overhaul, it’s clear that this instalment is still part of the same series but with a few new added features to bring it more up to date with modern standards. Featuring 12 new stages and a mix of both brand new and familiar characters, Streets of Rage 4 will provide non-stop entertainment with plenty of replay value, a top-tier OST and stunning hand drawn animations. The Mr. X Nightmare DLC adds even more hours of excitement to the game with a new survival mode, 3 new characters and customisable move sets. If you’re a fan of the previous Streets of Rage games, you won’t want to miss this!

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Rayman Legends

Steam, PS3, Xbox 360, PS Vita, Wii U (2013), PS4, Xbox One (2014), Switch (2017) / 1-4 players

This game has so much to offer that I can easily recommend it as one of the best local co-op games ever created. Rayman Legends is so incredibly accessibility for any kind of gamer at any age and available on so many platforms there’s no excuse not to play it! With a vast variety of vibrant levels featuring differing mechanics, Rayman Legends provides hours of enjoyment that will keep you coming back for more. Each section also ends on a synced up rhythm level to a handful of well recognised songs to put an even bigger smile on your face, and there’s added challenges for those seeking something more difficult which unlocks a selection of remastered levels from Rayman Origins as a reward.

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It Takes Two

Steam, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox X/S (2021), Switch (2022) / 2 players

It Takes Two is the only game on this list that is specifically designed for 2 players and therefore does not support single player gameplay. The levels have been cleverly designed to involve both players simultaneously which reflects on the story as we follow May and Cody who have hit a rough patch in their marriage and are accidentally turned into dolls by their daughter. The backdrops reflect areas within May and Cody’s home which help them to rekindle their relationship as they work together to return to normal. The story is extremely heart-warming with stunning visuals and so much attention to detail that you can totally lose yourself in every single level. It Takes Two really sets the bar high for modern co-op games, and I hope other developers will follow their example in the near future.

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Heavenly Bodies

Steam, PS4, Xbox One (2021), PS5, Xbox X/S (2023), Switch (2024) / 1-4 players

Float around in space with up to 3 friends in Heavenly Bodies, a physics based puzzle game with 7 levels (plus DLC) that feature a variety of challenging missions with surprisingly varied mechanics for a game which such straightforward controls. Don’t get me wrong, Heavenly Bodies can be incredibly frustrating at times, but it’s also super rewarding and incredibly fun to play with a friend – I can only imagine the chaos with even more players! If that’s not enough to win you over, the game also has an excellent story to accompany its interesting puzzles and extra challenges for those keen to test their patience…

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I hope at least one of those games caught you attention! If you’re looking for any more co-op games, I made a list over on my Steam Curator page which I’m always adding to with each game completion.

Thanks to everyone who’s stopped by my blog over the years, and I hope you’ll stick around for future posts as I don’t plan on going anywhere just yet! Here’s to another year of blogging!

Thanks for reading!