9 Best Co-Op Games Still Stuck on Older Systems

2 hours ago 2

Published Apr 16, 2026, 3:35 PM EDT

Daniel has been playing games for entirely too many years, with his Steam library currently numbering nearly 750 games and counting. When he's not working or watching anime, he's either playing or thinking about games, constantly on the lookout for fascinating new gameplay styles and stories to experience. Daniel has previously written lists for TheGamer, as well as guides for GamerJournalist, and he currently covers tech topics on SlashGear.

A lot of modern gaming is focused on co-operative play. That’s pretty much the whole point of the friendslop genre, alongside cooperative shooters, platformers, and everything else. Ironically, though, given the modern scene’s love of co-op, there are actually quite a few co-op games from generations past that have been left in the proverbial dust. Whether they were home console games, arcade cabinets, or both, they either never made the escape from their original confines, or whatever escape they did make was eventually undone, plunging them back into darkness.

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It’s a darn shame, because, given the current co-op-loving paradigm, I think some of these games could have a chance to really make a name for themselves, or at the very least get properly reestablished in the collective unconscious. Rescuing these older games from the past would probably be an undertaking, especially when you take things like character licensing and implementing online play with rollback netcode into account, but it’s got to be better than just leaving them to languish in the limbo of lost media.

We’re specifically focusing on games that are not readily available to purchase and/or play, either piecemeal or through a collection. Some of these arcade games have technically had reissues of their cabinets, but that’s not something you can just buy on a whim.

9 Bonanza Bros.

Was Available, Then Wasn’t

The frustrating thing about rescuing older games from obsolescence is that your ability to keep playing them is largely dependent on the whims of their rights holders. For example, Bonanza Bros. is a classic co-op game originally for the Sega Genesis, often showing up in the pantheon of vintage Sega console titles alongside the likes of Sonic and Alex Kidd. If you wanted to play it, though, you missed the boat by a few years.

Bonanza Bros. is a stealth-action game in which you and a friend, as the titular brothers, engage in a city-wide crime spree, robbing banks, casinos, mansions, and more. Both brothers are supposed to avoid security forces while they swipe stuff, though you can also coordinate to draw officers’ attention and lure them away while your partner smashes and grabs.

Bonanza Bros. was playable digitally via the Sega Genesis Classics collection, which was available on modern platforms like Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. However, in 2024, that collection and all of its games were delisted from all digital marketplaces, leaving the brothers out of reach once again.

8 Ninja Baseball Bat Man

The Heroes We Need and Deserve

During the height of the arcade years, Japan got even more into things than we were here in the States, and as a result, they got all kinds of wild games we never saw on this side of the pond. One of my favorite co-op arcade games, specifically one that I got into way after the fact, was Ninja Baseball Bat Man. No relation to the other Batman.

Ninja Baseball Bat Man is a sidescrolling beat ‘em up in which four tokusatsu-styled, baseball-themed superheroes travel the world in order to retrieve several sacred baseball relics. It’s a completely bonkers game, with nearly every enemy being some kind of baseball monstrosity, but its sheer commitment to wackiness absolutely makes it worth experiencing. It’s at its best when you’ve got a full team of four, especially when everyone starts busting out their flashy special moves.

The game did fantastic in Japanese arcades, but sold like absolute doody in the U.S., which is probably why it’s never resurfaced again. The rights to the actual IP belong to its American designer, but the game rights belong to Japanese developer Irem, so they’d need to make nice if the game were to ever make a comeback.

7 Rampage World Tour

One of the best kinds of co-op gameplay is when you and your friends get the opportunity to just make an absolute mess of something. It’s like a rage room with less broken glass. Back in the 90s, if you wanted to smash stuff on a large scale with your buds, the game of choice was Rampage World Tour.

A reboot of the original Rampage arcade game, Rampage World Tour has a similar format: up to three players control giant monsters, traveling to major cities around the world and just totaling the place. Smash buildings, eat people, and just generally make a nuisance of yourself to rack up the highest possible score, occasionally screwing your fellow monsters over in the race for valuable points.

Rampage World Tour was originally released for arcades, followed by ports to the N64, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and Game Boy. Following that, the only time the game resurfaced was in the Midway Arcade Treasures 2 collection on PS2. Given Midway has completely dissolved, I don’t actually know who, if anyone, owns the rights to Rampage right now, so that’s a puzzle that will have to be solved before it can be ported.

6 Cadillacs and Dinosaurs

Admit it, the Title Made you Curious

The 90s were a truly fascinating time for pop culture, because it was largely an era of throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what stuck. If you were flipping channels on TV and saw an ad for something called “Cadillacs and Dinosaurs,” what would you even expect? A hybrid car enthusiast and paleontology show? Nope, it was a cartoon, which was based on an arcade game of the same name.

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs was an arcade beat ‘em up developed and published by Capcom in 1993, loosely based on a comic book series and serving as a water-tester before the premiere of that cartoon later in the year. You and two friends control a gaggle of good-looking people in a good-looking car, driving from place to place and pummeling bandits and actual gigantic dinosaurs with nothing but your bare hands and the occasional high-caliber firearm. It’s pretty awesome.

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs never even made it out of the arcade, with plans for a CPS port ultimately scrapped. I’d assume Capcom still has the final say on the IP, at least as far as games are concerned, so maybe it’ll pop up in a collection someday.

5 Alien vs. Predator

No Relation to the Movie

Alien vs. Predator (1994)

If I said “Alien vs. Predator,” you’d probably think of the 2004 crossover film first, right? In actuality, Alien vs. Predator is a standalone, dedicated crossover media franchise dating all the way back to 1989. This is why Capcom was able to make an Alien vs. Predator sidescrolling beat ‘em up arcade game in 1994, a full decade before that movie came out.

Alien vs. Predator gives you and up to two friends control of a selection of two human cyborgs and two Predators as you battle through a massive swarm of Xenomorphs. Unlike a lot of beat ‘em up games, in addition to melee combat, all of the characters have unique ranged weapons, including guns for the humans and energy weapons for the Predators. Ammo is unlimited, but it takes time to reload, so you have to stick and move so you don’t get caught defenseless.

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Alien vs. Predator was very well received when it launched in arcades, but the only form it’s appeared in since then was as a pack-in game for the Capcom Home Arcade, which you can’t buy anymore. Given the presence of both Aliens and Predators in other game franchises like Mortal Kombat and Dead by Daylight, though, perhaps Capcom could be persuaded to play ball some other way some other day.

4 The Simpsons

A Blast Despite Itself

Logic dictates that, for a licensed game to be good, it should adopt the most elements possible from its source material. A lot of licensed games don’t do this, which is why most of them are bad. However, a game like The Simpsons shows this is a bit of a horseshoe phenomenon; it’s possible for a licensed game to diverge so heavily from the source material, it loops back around to being incredible.

The Simpsons is a sidescrolling beat ‘em up in which up to four players control the titular family in an exceptionally strange quest to rescue Maggie after she’s kidnapped by Mr. Smithers, of all people. What follows is a rampage through Springfield and realms beyond it, as you pummel numerous dudes in suits, the walking dead, and figments of your own imagination.

The Simpsons did get a digital port for the Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2012, but it was delisted for unspecified reasons about a year later, not that you could access either of those consoles’ storefronts now anyway. I can’t even begin to imagine the kind of copyright pretzel it’d take to port it nowadays, especially with Disney in the mix.

3 CarnEvil

The Best Game to Ever Traumatize Me

Out of the many arcade game genres that haven’t quite been able to make the jump to modern platforms, light gun rail-shooter games have had a particularly rough go at it. Light gun peripherals aren’t exactly in vogue anymore, so only certain platforms like the Switch 2 or PC can even facilitate these games as they’re meant to be played. Out of all the light gun classics, one in particular I don’t hear nearly enough people talk about is CarnEvil.

CarnEvil is… pretty much exactly what it sounds like: an evil carnival. Specifically, it’s a light gun rail shooter in which you blast your way through several attractions at a demonic, undead carnival, including a haunted house, a freak show, a rollercoaster, and other delightfully upsetting attractions. It absolutely revels in its excessive violence, which in turn makes it a lot of fun to play with a friend.

I actually hate this game, not because it’s bad, but because I first saw it in an arcade when I was way too young, and it… left an impression. As a result of that, every time I saw it afterward, I’d conscript a friend into playing it with me to take “vengeance” upon it, so I guess I’m technically a fan?

Like D&D Without the Pencils

One of the most respected names of the arcade era was Gauntlet, the hack-and-slash, dungeon-crawling fantasy adventure game, incorporating elements of tabletop character-building into an action-packed adventure. The original is a certified classic, and its first 3D sequel, Gauntlet Legends, is a pretty great time in its own right.

Gauntlet Legends has up to four players controlling color-coded fantasy warriors, journeying through polygonal 3D dungeons, swinging swords and slinging spells at anything that runs at you. A big difference from the original game was the addition of a leveling mechanic, in which you accrue EXP and gradually improve your character’s stats like strength, speed, and armor. Even if you were playing in the arcade, you’d get a password between levels you could use to retrieve your character, so you could always pick up where you left off.

Gauntlet Legends was developed and published by Atari, though the most recent game in the series was published by Warner Bros. Games in 2014, so they’re probably the ones to ask for this.

1 Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder

The Phantom Sequel

Golden Axe Revenge of Death Adder gameplay

Developer

Platforms

Release Date

Sega

Arcade

July 1992

Speaking of prestigious games, Sega’s Golden Axe is one of the most respected names in the realm of sidescrolling beat ‘em ups and co-op gameplay. While it’s easy enough to play the original game, though, the same can’t be said for its sequel, Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder, not to be confused with the Genesis-only Golden Axe II.

This arcade-only release follows the same basic gist as its predecessor: grab a few friends, pick a couple of fantasy warriors, and hack and slash your way through the countryside in pursuit of the doer of foul deeds, Death Adder. The combat and magic systems are similar, but the big change is the introduction of branching paths. The paths you take decide the levels you play, and depending on the version you’re playing, you may either skip some levels entirely or have to go back and do them later.

The game sold very well in its release year of 1992, but has never seen any kind of representation outside of its arcade cabinet, likely due in part to Sega’s decision to make a different game for the Genesis. It has been released on a couple of home reproduction cabinets, but that’s about it.