Highlights
- Nintendo has a history of adding co-op to their biggest franchises, catering to families who want to play together.
- Some internal franchises, like Boktai and Golden Sun, have never offered co-op for their main campaigns, but adding this feature could revitalize the series.
- Even turn-based RPGs like EarthBound and the Mario and Luigi games could benefit from adding co-op, providing a new and exciting experience for players.
Most of Nintendo’s biggest franchises have offered co-op at some point. They are a family-facing company with fun and accessibility as their main goals. It makes sense to add multiplayer to a series to cater to big families who want to enjoy their gaming time together.
Nintendo has a multiplayer game in almost every genre, from platformers like Mario to action games like The Legend of Zelda and shooters like Splatoon. However, there are a few internal franchises that have never offered co-op for their main campaigns. Even some exclusive third-party games have remained single-player for the most part. Does it make sense to add co-op to these six games? Let’s dive in and find out.
6 Boktai
Boktai is one of the wildest series to ever grace the Game Boy Advance. It was a Konami action title wherein a young boy, Django, received a powerful gun with the power of the sun to fight vampires. Here’s the kicker. There was a solar panel built into the cartridge to harvest the real sun’s energy, forcing players to get outside. This was years before Pokemon Go was doing that. Players could shoot or hack away at monsters with wanton abandon, or they could sneak around dungeons Solid Snake style.
This Metal Gear Solid influence should not be surprising because Hideo Kojima had a hand in creating the series. There were three games on the GBA, with the third one remaining exclusive to Japan to this day. There was a sequel game on DS, Lunar Knights, and that was the final entry. This series did include various versus multiplayer modes but no co-op features were ever added. What would be cooler than slaying vampires with a buddy?
5 EarthBound
EarthBound is the Western name given to the overall Mother series in Japan. It makes a lot of sense why these games have never received co-op as they are turn-based RPGs. Nintendo games have received co-op through turn-based mechanics before like in Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels of the Starry Skies. So, there are ways to make it work, but co-op is less exciting unless players have direct input.
Fans haven’t even been able to play Mother 3 officially yet ever since it launched in 2006 for the GBA. The idea of Nintendo making a Mother 4 and rebranding it as an action RPG with co-op seems wild. Nintendo is unpredictable though, so anything is possible. They may even release Mother 3 at some point and for free via the Switch’s retro online connection. Wouldn’t that be a shock?
4 Golden Sun
Golden Sun is another turn-based RPG that has never received co-op for good reasons. However, the first two games on Game Boy Advance did have versus modes wherein players competed. So, the fundamentals were there for what could have been a co-op experience. Golden Sun games are divided into traditional turn-based gameplay and more action-heavy puzzle solving like in a typical entry in The Legend of Zelda series.
The last game was on the DS in 2010, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, and that resurgence didn’t do that well commercially. Could a co-op game help revitalize the brand? It’s been a while since the developer, Camelot, worked on anything besides Mario-based sports titles. However, they may still have the magic in them to try something quirky.
3 Kid Icarus
Kid Icarus started as a small series of two games with Metroid-like aspirations. There was one on the NES and one on the Game Boy. It was decades before Kid Icarus: Uprising appeared on the 3DS in 2012. Technically, that game does have multiplayer but not for the campaign. It’s a competitive arena match with some cooperation in mind, but it felt more like a mini-game than a full-fledged addition.
The inclusion was a step in the right direction though as was the game overall. The execution left a lot of players scratching their heads as the control scheme was cramped on the 3DS. The game would be a great candidate for a remastered Switch port. If that ever happens, Nintendo could add proper co-op to the campaign. If things go well then maybe they could green-light a sequel too wherein co-op was built into the backbone right away.
2 Mario And Luigi
The Mario and Luigi games were the third iteration of the idea. It all began on the SNES with Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, followed by Paper Mario. This third concept allowed players to control Mario and Luigi separately as they were mapped to different buttons. This applied to traversal as well as combat.
It always made sense to add multiplayer to the games, since there were only two playable characters. This changed in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story wherein Bowser had his own campaign going on alongside the two plumbers. Still, co-op would have worked for most of these titles. Even though AlphaDream, the developer, is now defunct, Nintendo could still revive the series. A Mario co-op RPG sounds like a blast.
1 Wario Land
Another great use of the license would be to revive the RPG franchise as one starring Wario and Waluigi instead. The internet would eat that up. That’s an alternative idea to Mario and Luigi getting co-op, but a better idea may be to add co-op to the Wario Land series. It has never happened before, and maybe it never will. The last game, Wario Land: Shake It, was released for the Wii in 2008.
It’s never been remastered, or even ported. This oddball platforming series is in dire need of a revival in any form. What better way to bring it back than with co-op in mind? The multiplayer-focused Mario games, like New Super Mario Bros. Wii, do well. Imagine a Wario Land title wherein Wario and Waluigi were joined by some WarioWare characters like Ashley, Dr. Crygor, or Jimmy Thang.