There are plenty of gaming controllers available for mobile phones. Folks love to play their emulators on the go, after all. How do you improve on the mobile controller solutions that are already out there? You add Hall Effect analog sticks, for starters, and then you design the controller to fold up and tuck away under the phone itself. That's what the MCON from Ohsnap! does, and it looks really sweet.
Remember how fun Advance Wars: Portrait of Ruin was in co-op? It's not often that you find a turn-based strategy game that's so easy to play AND also supports the co-op. That's why we're pumped for Warside, the upcoming strategy game for Steam from Lavabird and First Break Labs (makers of Cthulhu's Reach). It plays a lot like Advance Wars, and we're dying to play it with friends.
Co-op fighting games (not beat 'em ups) are a rare and wonderful thing. There have been a few like Street Smart, Diesel Legacy, and the original Fatal Fury for Neo Geo (not the console ports). Well, the Fatal Fury series sadly dropped co-op support after the first game, but the franchise lives on. In fact, FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves is due out on April 24, and it looks impressive.
While there won't be a Double Dragon game in Arc System Works' upcoming Super Technos World: River City & Technos Arcade Classics, the Japanese publisher does have something special in store for Double Dragon fans this year... Double Dragon Revive, the slick 3D reboot of the classic co-op beat 'em up, is due out in October. Preorders have opened up and include a free bonus game. To further hype up aficionados, Arc System Works is releasing a series of developer diaries with lots of behind-the-scenes details and images.
Long ago, Technos was one of the big Japanese developers, gifting the Double Dragon series and many other fine games to the world. Sadly, the studio closed its doors in 1996. Happily, however, Arc System Works bought the Technos name and library in 2015 and has produced several quality games since then. 2020's Double Dragon & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle compiled an impressive selection of Technos' NES games. This year, Arc System Works will follow up with Super Technos World: River City & Technos Arcade Classics.
Even though we haven't covered Killing Floor 3 all that much, please don't mistake that for a lack of enthusiasm. Killing Floor 2 is one of my all-time favorite co-op shooters, and I thought the Killing Floor 3 closed beta was pretty terrific. Some other players must've had a different impression, however, providing lots of constructive criticism to Tripwire, the series developer. Hence, Killing Floor 3 has been delayed from its original March 25 release date to a nebulous "later in 2025" release window. Darn it!
Remember when Variable State, the developer of Virginia (the game, not the state), announced a PC shooter called Polaris would be coming in 2024? Well, it actually came out in early 2025, but that's pretty common in game development. The important part is that Polaris is here, baby, and it sells for only ten bucks.
What's a surefire way for a Steam game to reach more Steam users? Steam Deck support! That's just the tack adopted by Cthulhu's Reach from The Fine Arc and First Break Labs. This Steam Early Access title is a horror-themed bullet heaven shooter that features 4-player online co-op. Now that it's safely playable on Steam Deck, players can battle the terrors of the deep on the go.
We are lucky to have our Database Manager to write these monthly reports. Otherwise, we would have no time to do it. We are after all way too busy to "catch all those mons." No, we are not talking about Pokémon. That's for little babies! *contemptuous sniffle* We only play real games here at Co-Optimus! Like Monster Hunter: Wilds, the long-awaited 27th entry in the series that finally hit store shelves yesterday.
The original Gal Guardians: Demon Purge is a fantastic Castlevania-style co-op platformer, so it's great news that it'll soon have a sequel. Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark will arrive on consoles and PC in March - not too far from now! What's more, PQUBE has released a free demo on Steam that allows players to experience the opening of the game and its 2-player local co-op support.
As a part of the Steam Next Fest event, Forever Entertainment has released a free demo of THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2: Remake on Steam. The demo allows 1-2 local players to try the first level of the remake. Join James Taylor and Gary Stewart as they fight stop an army of undead zombies and monsters from taking over the world.
It's a rare treat to see a game that was previously non-cooperative gain co-op support. That's just what happened to Tetris Forever this week. The third game in Digital Eclipse's Gold Master Series (which also contains the delightfully quirky Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story) is a collection of new and classic Tetris games from throughout the franchise's history, plus documentary content. The arrival of Super Tetris, which supports 2-player local co-op, pushes the game count up to 21. That's a lotta Tetris!
