Topic: Retro co-op suggestions?

Been playing co-op games with my 6 year old son the past few months and am looking for suggestions. Difficult part is that I’m looking for non-violent and non-competitive games. He loved Unravel 2 on switch, has also enjoyed Dark Chambers on Atari 2600 and Shift Happens on switch. Console restrictions are pretty much anything that can be emulated on a hacked Genesis mini up through N64 and PS1. And switch.

@HoyeBoye Toejam & Earl is a good non-competitive game on the Genesis. The extent of the violence in the game is throwing tomatoes at enemies on occasion, and the enemy attacks on you which isn't much. They pop like balloons instead of dying. It may not suit your criteria or your taste, but it's worth a look if you are not familiar with it.

Oooh. I totally missed this game growing up. I’ll give it a go!

Bubble Bobble.

If you don't mind the odd bit of cartoon violence, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles beat em up games are good fun too.

I would recommend Wiz N' Liz on Sega Mega Drive/Genesis.
A completely non-violent co-op game with a fun twist where you're saving bunnies and collect letters with a time limit.
You can also find vegetables to create temporary upgrades for your characters.

A really underrated game.

@dmcc0 Great picks! And I’m going to keep the TMNT beat em ups in reserve. He joined me once when I was playing the Sailor Moon beat em up and he got real amped up. Gotta use those strategically.
@sarato I’m shocked at how Wiz n Liz sucked me in. I decided to test it out after work and ended up getting dinner to the table late.

@HoyeBoye World of Illusion(Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck) is a two player platformer on the Genesis that people seem to like. Great Circus Mystery(Mickey and Minnie) is another platformer on both Genesis and SNES and is two players. They might meet your criteria as well.

@HoyeBoye It's a very addicting game. The soundtrack is also made by Matt Furniss, which to me is a huge plus.

@sdelfin Toejam and Earl was fantastic! We rolled credits on it last night after a few nights of save scumming. This game has so many elements of Angband. The mystery/randomized present contents, multiple levels and you can fall back down to lower levels, randomized levels. Such a great experience.

@HoyeBoye Really glad to hear the game ended up being such a hit for you. I have always loved the game, and it was one of my earliest Genesis games after seeing it in TV commercials. The concept is not for everyone, but I have recommended it before with good results. I played it with a friend a while back and it was a hit then too. There are a few sequels that might be worth a look. The fourth one from a few years ago seems most similar to the first. I haven't gotten around to playing it yet. Thanks for following up and letting me know you liked so much.

I have a 5 year old daughter! She's really into Sonic characters, so we played Mania with her playing as second-player Tails or Knuckles. The problem was, it was a bit frustrating to get left behind so often, but more recently we started Superstars and she likes it much more.

We haven't gone very retro yet because she's learning how to play and I don't want to see her frustrated, but we played the Origins versions of MD Sonic games, and NES Chip and Dale in the Disney Afternoon Collection. I'd recommend that one, it's easy for NES standards, beautiful and fantastic music!

Chip and Dale is a great suggestion! We have that same problem with Sonic games; Tails always gets left behind. The other problem is that my 6 year old always wants to be Knuckles. Does Superstars handle co-op better than the older games?

Over the last 2 months, he’s been wanting to play Pikmin but the only co-op Pikmin is 3 and there’s problems balancing 3 captains with him in levels designed to use 3 captains. Thankfully, there’s a multiplayer mod for Pikmin 2 that is his new favorite (and mine, too!).

Superstars zooms out when players separate, the camera follows the one who goes first, not only the player one, and when someone is left behind they can return immediately with the press of a button. Also, players can choose any of the four characters, so your son could always be Knuckles if he wants! The game itself feels a bit bare-bones and I wouldn't call it my favorite, but she loves it!

Writing down everyone's suggestions here, for our future sessions 🙂