Top 10 Asymmetric Co-Op Games

Now, we know what you’re thinking: “Wind Waker never had a co-op function!” While that is true for the Wii U port, “Wind Waker” had an accessible co-op function, if you possessed a GameBoy Advance link cable for the Gamecube. Titled the “Tingle Tuner”, a second player could control Tingle and through the GameBoy Advance, can get an idea of Link’s surroundings, find valuable items, or hidden paths. As a bonus, the two players are given a side objective in finding the golden Tingle statues. Your pay will be big enough to make you yell “Kooloo limpah!”

While the game overall has some of the weirdest controls for a single player campaign in Nintendo’s history, “Star Fox Zero” does have an enjoyable experience…in the form of cooperative gameplay. As co-pilots in the iconic Arwing, two players can split the tasks of a single player experience, with one player shooting every enemy in sight while the other puts their piloting skills to the test. This fixes a majority of the issues of playing through the game via single player, providing a better control scheme and more entertaining experience in taking down Andross with a friend or younger sibling. Oh and uh “Do a barrel roll” – we legally have to say that every time.

Ever wanted to run a restaurant with a close friend? Now you can as chef and waiter. Both equally hectic in multi-managing, one player takes orders and maintains sanitation while the other cooks a variety of different foods, each with specific button patterns. As your business grows, so will the number of customers and upgrades for recipes. However, this often means additional buttons and keys will need to be pressed for a satisfied customer and possibly, tip money. Better get your fast fingers ready. “Cook, Serve, Delicious” will challenge your management skills.

The Wii U has certainly been a rocky console, but some developers have put its awkward gamepad to some good use in game design! “Affordable Space Adventures” is one of those treasures that lets you and up to 2 other friends voyage into the depths of space (where else?), encountering strange extraterrestrials that don’t seem to take a liking to your presence. If you want to survive, you’ll have to work together as pilot and engineer; one player steers the ship while the other uses the gamepad to maintain the engines, thrusters, and scanners. These will play a factor not just in exploration, but in awakening hostile beasts. So sit back, relax, and try not to crash the ship.

Here, you and a buddy take on the roles of Russian spy Katya Kozlova and expert hacker Martin Symborski in order to track down a killer and bring them to justice. Playing as Katya will depend on the player’s ability in shooting and sneaking around facilities to avoid being spotted. Martin, on the other hand, can use enemy security cameras to observe the environment and help guide Katya to key locations, bribe guards, or drop health and ammo supplies. What makes “Clandestine” such a unique experience isn’t just the James Bond atmosphere, but the engaging and suspenseful gameplay that successfully replicates those tense moments between agent and hacker that we see in our favorite spy films.

After the success of “Mario Kart 64” and the release of the Gamecube, we were all curious to see the Mario Kart series make the jump into a new generation. Nintendo could have easily recycled the formula, but went the extra mile and introduced something new to the series (at the time); cooperative racing. In “Double Dash”, one player can take the duties of driving while the other can fire shells place bananas, or sideswipe other racers. With this feature, it can be crucial in communicating with your partner if you want to go for the gold. What made the partner system even more interesting was matching different characters with each other.

Ever wanted to control your own Starship Enterprise? Don’t want to wait for the upcoming “Star Trek VR” game? Lucky for you “Artmemis Bridge Simulator” has you covered. You can gather up six of your friends to maneuver your own spacecraft to take on other teams in galactic warfare. Each player looks at an entirely different screen, making communication an incredible importance on achieving victory. For example, you may only see enemies and allies on radar, but another could only focus on firing and reloading weapons. It’s a voyage that Captain Kirk would be jealous of.

The Wii U port of this game offers a more unique cooperative adventure than it does on the other platforms. “Rayman Legends” allows another player to use the game pad to control Murfy, a greenbottle fly who proves to be one of the trickiest and useful game characters. Murfy can assist Rayman and friends in navigating through courses by cutting rope to allow swinging or dropping hazardous obstacles, move or rotate platforms to avoid spikes, or activate switches to secret areas. While he is available to use in the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game, Murfy proves the Wii U’s significance in multiplayer by having that extra fifth player support. What can we say? The more, the merrier.

At a glance, the Sonic series doesn’t seem like the type of game to be appropriate for cooperative gameplay. Not unless “Sonic 3” has anything to say about that. In this game, a second player could take control of Tails in order to help Sonic reach higher ground. This could lead to barely escaping death or locating secret areas. What’s better is that Tails can never die or make Sonic lose rings. It’s almost enough to make us feel bad for calling the little guy useless…unless you let Sonic drown. Better get comfortable because you and your friend are going to have a long night if you want to find the seven Chaos Emeralds. The worst part? You can’t rely on Tails all the time.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions…

“Super Mario Galaxy” (2007)

“Lucky & Wild” (1992)

“Gyromite” (1985)

“Jet Force Gemini” (1999)

No cooperative game has proven to be more unique than this one. Using the supported virtual reality headset, one player is given a bomb with a large number of symbols and puzzles scattered around the bomb. Any additional players must make use of the printable “manual” and communicate with the defusing player about what they see. This can prove challenging from the confusing symbols and number patterns. If that wasn’t stressful enough, it all rests in the one player’s hands to effectively describe what they see in order to win. Red wire or blue wire? Yeah, you wish it were that simple.

Do you agree with our list? What's your favourite asymmetrical game experience? For more videos you can enjoy with a friend, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.