Five games with useful features for co-dependents.

By Joe Fourhman | July 18, 2008

This is not one of those Games Your Girlfriend May Enjoy articles. You can Google that on your own; somebody publishes one of those every other week. This is a look at five recent games with interesting and unique optional features, designed to allow a second player to participate in some helpful fashion without necessarily “playing.” The key criterion here is that the second player doesn’t HAVE to do anything, but what he or she does do is compelling and useful for the main player… and fun for both.

These games are largely single-player affairs that allow other people to get involved, without the often-crushing responsibility to play the game correctly in order to continue. The neat trick is that this allows parents or children or other non-gamers access to the complete experience without any sacrifice in the gameplay or presentation… and more importantly, without requiring intense gaming skills. (Although the list will get more complicated as we get near the top!)

#5 Zack & Wiki: Search for Barbaros’ Treasure (Wii, 2007)

Zack & Wiki is a puzzle game sort of like all those cool closed-room Flash games. Everything you need to complete the level is found inside it, it’s just often a matter a figuring out the proper sequence of events.

While Player 1 is controlling Zack, other Wii Remotes can jump in to provide assistance via John Madden’s favorite discussion method, the telestrator. By drawing directly on the screen, the other players can direct P1’s attention, suggest items to examine, and draw naughty words in mid-air. Also, it makes a neat magic marker squeaky sound.

#4 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3, 2008)

Many games allow you to instantly save screenshots, but often that feature gets a bit hard to handle when you’ve got a Metroid stuck on your head. Enter MGS4 and the ability to turn a second controller into a dedicated camera without mucking up P1’s item/weapon selection.

When activated, the second player can snap off pictures during anything that isn’t a cutscene (fine, fine, go make a Metal Gear Cutscene joke). The HUD changes a bit to reflect that the cam is online, and there is a teency shutter effect, but it’s nothing that will crimp a major boss fight.

#3 Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, 2007)

As Mario beebops his way across mazes of planetoids, a second player can aim their Wii Remote like a gun, collecting and shooting candy-colored projectiles called star bits. Mario uses the bits as currency throughout the game, so there is a danger that a trigger-happy P2 will break the bank!

Perhaps more importantly, the second player has the ability to interact with the onscreen characters. Clicking on a baddie freezes them in place, making treacherous runs through Chain Chomp territory far less difficult. Clicking on Mario causes him to jump, which can be both an incredible boon and a deadly mistake, depending on whether P1 was expecting it.

#2 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GameCube, 2003)

This was a fascinating implementation. Once Link finds the Tingle Tuner item, a second player can be added to the game using a Game Boy Advance and the GBA/GameCube Cable. This person – playing as Tingle himself – gets an onscreen cursor that can be floated across Link’s path to drop bombs on enemies. Bombs (and other Tingle-specific items) cost money, so if this mode is attempted there is a strong need for the players to communicate.

The Tingle player can also pull up dungeon hints on the GBA and access a gameworld map to help seek buried treasure. Koo-loo-limpah!

#1 Mario Kart Double Dash!! (GameCube, 2003)

Definitely the most intense game on this list for our neophyte P2, Double Dash rewrites the book on Mario Kart, allowing two players inside the same vehicle. Player 2 takes the backseat and handles all of the usual MK weaponry, often seen hilariously trying to balance a stack of three koopa shells. And if P2 is feeling like branching out, driver and gunner can quickly swap positions by coordinating a stab at the Z button.

Although Double Dash took some lumps for messing with the long established Kart formula, the lack of a two-player co-op mode in Mario Kart Wii now seems like an unfortunate oversight.
I know I missed some. For example, I hesitated to include Sonic 2 – perhaps the original non-threatening co-op game thanks to Miles “Tails” Prower – because I don’t think the Tails Player can actually do anything useful. If you think of any, add them in comments!