Couch Co-op – Brawling Buddies

Welcome to Couch Co-op, your one stop shop for all things friendly and fiercely inclusive. This week we will be throwing punches and insults at our friends and enemies alike as we take a look at the punch ups that warrant a good team.

It’s not often that you find a fighting game that welcomes more than 2 players but on the odd occasion one developer breaks the mould and includes 4 player. To those brave enough to venture into what is a generally unknown market I commend thee.

Street Fighter X Tekken is one of the more unique games to allow 4 players and also one of the more difficult. To play with a group of friends in a legitimate match (i.e. not scramble) you need to have a decent understanding of the game’s mechanics. This is definitely not to be take lightly. If so, I can guarantee it won’t be long before you start swinging for your couch buddy as opposed to the on screen competition. Another issue with SFxT for co-op is there is a chance you might not even get to fight if your partner gets caught up and forgets to tag you in, or even worse they get beaten so badly you didn’t ever stand a chance of helping out.

There is a lighthearted side to SFxT that is insanely fun however: scramble mode. The game is already a bit flashy with lights and whistles going off everywhere but when there are 4 players simultaneously throwing fireballs and dragon punching their way across the screen you won’t know your ass from your elbow until somebody is dead.

Another 2D game that allows for the inclusion of a brother-in-arms is the most recent Mortal Kombat game, Mortal Kombat 9 to be precise. In terms of ease of play it is far friendlier to those who don’t quite grasp the concept of SFxT and still want to beat the living daylights out of each other. MK9 is easy to pick up and is relatively easy to play on a pad instead of an arcade stick, meaning anyone can play so long as there are enough remotes. With easy combos and a brutal and exciting atmosphere it’s always a great idea to stick on MK9 and go toe to toe with ninjas and robots alike.

Hell if 2D isn’t your thing you can always jump into a 3D realm and where better than Dead or Alive 4? The team mode plays very similar to that of MK9 with the players forming two teams of two and play until both health bars are depleted. Again this is far easier to pick up and play on a pad than SFxT. There is also the added bonus of 3D boobage for a slightly less mature audience who crave a little more flesh than usual in their fighting games. But in reality who turns down cyber boob, especially ones this bodacious?

In breaking the Couch Co-op mould, this next game does not include any form of co-op. Another overwhelmingly fun game for you and several friends for when you want to have an all out fist fight there is always Smash Bros. For many years you have been able to duke it out with Pikachu, Mario, Samus and the rest of the back catalogue of Nintendo characters. It’s frantic, fun and happens to be one of the first fighting games to allow 4 players at once.

So if you aren’t black and blue by now I urge you to get to the dojo and start fighting your way to the top. Sharpen your wits and strengthen your thumbs you don’t know what gruesome twosome lie around the corner ready to lay down the gauntlet.