Best Offline Multiplayer Games

[profholt82]

What are your choices for the best multiplayer games of all time? All genres are included, and games can be co-op or vs. However, no PC games and no online multiplayer or local Lan party stuff please. We're talking 2 or more players gaming together on the same TV. From the Odyssey and 2600 to the PS3 and 360 and everything between, I'd like to know what everyone's choices are for the best of all time.

[Soulis]

These are the ones i enjoyed the most and the platforms where i played them:

Goldeneye (N64)
Street Fighter 2 Turbo (SNES)
Street Fighter 3: Third Strike (MAME)
Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Super Mario Kart (SNES)
Final Fight (Sega Mega CD)
Worms (PS1)
Worms Armageddon (PC)
M&M: Clash of Heroes (360/PS3/PC)
Mortal Kombat 2 (Mega Drive/MAME)
Mortal Kombat 3 (Mega Drive/MAME)
Mortal Kombat 9 (XBOX360)
Snake Rattle & Roll (NES)

[M4R14NO94]

Hmm... let's see...

Perfect Dark (N64, dunno how the XBLA version fares)
Worms Armageddon/Worms World Party (PC)
Tekken 5 (PS2, especially on Team Battle mode)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (360. Yeah. Splitscreen was fun IMO)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
Most versions of Wheel of Fortune.
GoldenEye 007 (Wii)
Any version of You Don't Know Jack.
Twisted Metal 2 (PS1)
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (Wii)
Def Jam: Fight for NY (PS2)
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (PS2)
Jackass (PS2. It ain't bad!)
Sega Ages 2500 Vol. 9: Gain Ground (PS2)
Sega Ages 2500 Vol. 26: Dynamite Deka (PS2)
Sega Ages 2500 Vol. 15: Decathlete Collection (PS2)
Star Wars: Battlefront II (PS2)
Splinter Cell: Conviction (Xbox 360. Co-op campaign is great)
Unreal Tournament (PS2)
Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360. Found it fun from what I remember)
San Francisco Rush 2049 (N64. Mostly on Battle Mode)
Nearly any fighting game (my choices: Marvel vs. Capcom 2, SF3 Third Strike, SF Alpha 3, Mortal Kombat II, Ultimate MK3, KOF2006, and Tekken 5 again)

Might remember more later.

[Robotwo]

Medieval Mayhem or Warlords on the Atari 2600

[Kamahl]

Medieval Mayhem or Warlords on the Atari 2600

This.

I'm going to vote for a not very well known one: Unreal Championship 2 for the Xbox. So much fun I had with that game.

[profholt82]

Some solid choices so far, gentlemen. I wasn't familiar with a few of those titles. Would anyone else like to weigh in?

[TrekkiesUnite118]

Any Super Smash Bros.
Any MarioKart
Any MarioParty
Any Mario Sports title
F-Zero GX
Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 and 2
Any Soul Calibur
Any Street Fighter (except the First one obviously)
Any Capcom Vs game
Virtua Cop 1 and 2
Saturn Bomberman
Guardian Heroes
Fighters Megamix
Virtual On (Any really)
Power Stone 1 and 2
Vampire Savior
TMNT Turtles in Time / Hyperstone Heist
Sonic Allstars Racing Transformed
Pikmin ( I think 2 had multiplayer, don't remember if 1 did or not).
Starfox 64
Starfox Assault
Goldeneye
Perfect Dark
Halo (any really, though one was the most fun)
Any Dead or Alive

Those are about all the ones I remember having the most fun playing with my friends.

[The Jackal]

World of Illusion is great fun in co-op 2 player, I definitely suggest that.

[Blades]

Saturn Bomberman
Guardian Heroes
Fighters Megamix
Virtual On (Any really)
Power Stone 1 and 2
Vampire Savior
TMNT Turtles in Time / Hyperstone Heist
Sonic Allstars Racing Transformed
Pikmin ( I think 2 had multiplayer, don't remember if 1 did or not).
Starfox 64
Starfox Assault
Goldeneye

That game is so fun multiplayer. It's even more fun if you go online with your friend and race or battle with people who spend way too much time playing.

[M4R14NO94]

Warlords

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah! Love that game.

[Guntz]

I'm sad that nobody mentioned TimeSplitters 2 or its sequel, Future Perfect. If GoldenEye 007 is too old for you, TimeSplitters is your game.

Also, Pikmin 1 is single player only, but the sequel has an improved challenge mode which basically allows co-op objective gameplay instead of head-to-head competitive.

[profholt82]

I'm sad that nobody mentioned TimeSplitters 2 or its sequel, Future Perfect. If GoldenEye 007 is too old for you, TimeSplitters is your game.

You did, so don't be sad Guntzy. I used to play the crap out of Time splitters at the arcade with my buddy. What's the deal with the Genesis fighter though? How is it called Time splitters? Its nothing like the game (and it sucks).

[Guntz]

You did, so don't be sad Guntzy. I used to play the crap out of Time splitters at the arcade with my buddy. What's the deal with the Genesis fighter though? How is it called Time splitters? Its nothing like the game (and it sucks).

Sounds like you're talking about Time Killers.

I was talking about these two games:

[sketch]

Checkered Flag (Atari Lynx) - this is an underrated racing game
Rampart (Atari Lynx; other versions are probably just as fun but I've only played this one multiplayer) - puzzle action at its finest
Xenophobe (Atari Lynx) - great co-op play
Bomberman (any 2D version) - best game to blow up friends
Final Lap Twin (Turbografx) - I always found this a ton of fun when played with a friend, even though it doesn't seem to be very well respected
NFL Blitz (N64) - the only football game I ever liked, and a lot of fun against friends
Goldeneye (N64) - one of the few games that made deathmatches enjoyable; I've since soured on the entire format
Mario Kart 64 (N64) - classic fun which has never been surpassed by later iterations (although perhaps equalled)
Soul Calibur (Dreamcast of course) - I'm only a casual player of fighting games, but I put a lot of time into this one with friends
Bust a Move 2 (N64/PS/Saturn) - Dropping bubbles on your friends is always gratifying
SF Rush 2049 (Dreamcast) - The racing sucked, but the battle mode provided hours and hours of fun
Virtua Tennis (Dreamcast) - Best Sports Game Ever
House of the Dead 2 (Dreamcast) - So much fun both 1 and 2 player, and damn hard!
Advance Wars (Game Boy Advance) - Best turn based strategy game, and more fun when played with a friend
Skylanders Giants (PS3) - Very easy, but a lot of fun and played through multiple times with my daughter
Lego Star Wars III (PS3) - More fun playing with my daughter

Looking at this list, I realize that I haven't really enjoyed much offline 2 player gaming since the Dreamcast era (the PS3 games are more a function of my daughter enjoying the games and bringing me along for the ride - they're fun games, but not in the league of the rest of the list). Not sure if that's because the genre has suffered, or because I have less people to play with offline these days. Maybe a combination of the two.