You Had to Play with Your Friends with Local Co-Op
Gamers are so frequently spoiled with just how easy it is to play with other people. In the age of MMO-everything, people can click that little matchmaking button and hop into a 10+ player match that is mathematically proven to give you a balanced experience with like minded individuals who are in it to win it. Don’t even get started on MMORPGs, which drop you into a world populated with literally thousands of other gamers to share your space with.
But back in the day, gaming was a very IRL experience. No internet lag, no chat-trolling, no hacking. It was you and your friends, right in front of the TV, in the same room, playing to your heart’s content. Maybe that meant teaming up for a round of Zombies Ate My Neighbors!, maybe that meant duking it out in a heated match of Mortal Kombat, or maybe it meant tag teaming baddies in Jet Force Gemini. Either way, the meaningful moments shared with your friend at your side were unforgettable.
Of course, this led to some uniquely interesting systems and set-ups. Your pool of gaming talent was much smaller, allowing those who were skilled to rise to the top. While this often resulted in “great, guess we know who’s going to win” moments, there were undeniably awesome moments when someone swept through a Goldeneye game or perfectly played a game of Starcraft. Lugging around PCs to set-up LAN sessions were akin to crafting D&D sessions around a darkened table in the 70s and 80s. And don’t forget the screen-cheating in FPS games. But all these difficulties resulted in some of the best co-op games of all time, which are still fondly remembered to this day.
