When was the last time you experienced this?

[Steven]

A friend, sibling or loved one came over, you guys played a random 2 player game and you beat it? It's gotta be one of gaming's greatest pleasures. This past weekend my brother wanted to play, of all games, Brawl Brothers. I don't know why he picked it, but he did, and I gladly booted it up. Our good friend bought it back in the day and I can remember playing it then. It was nice to go through it with my bro.

When we got to the last boss, I was on my last life and he had two left. We depleted the boss' energy bar and cheered, but then it was revealed he had another bar to go!

Oh the agony. We both screamed "JALECO!" in unison (an old sibling childhood joke that Jaleco games are freakin' hard). We got him down to half a bar left when I finally bit the dust. I cheered my bro on, who was now on his last life. When he cleared the boss' health bar we cheered -- and quickly jeered when ANOTHER bar revealed itself. "JALECO!"

There was no way my bro was going to win, with only 3/4 his life left. He rallied for one of the greatest gaming comebacks I can recall in recent memory, and won with literally less than an INCH of his life!

There's nothing quite like having a loved one pick a random 2 player game, you guys go through it and finish it in clutch fashion. It definitely took me back to the mid '90s when your typical lazy weekend consisted of renting a game, and whether it turned out good or bad, devoting your entire weekend to it to squeeze the most out of your (dad's) money

[jordandavid]

i picked up gunstar heroes from a local used video game store probably six or seven years ago (for $3) after the owner strongly recommended it.

My best friend and I took it home and played it right away, and beat it relatively quickly as it's not a long game, but we still had a blast with it - especially screaming at the board game stage, which I'm assuming has a 1/1 trillion chance of literally possibly lasting forever if one were so unlucky.

Either way, gunstar heroes is a great game, the customizability of the different type of shots, different style of levels, and co-op gameplay are a blast.

on a side note, what are some games with similar gameplay to gunstar heroes? (for any system really, I have most of 'em)

[Nescollector]

Great story Steven, that does bring back memories. Back in the nes days, a friend and I got high most of the time we jammed, so you can imagine how that was.

[cyberfluxor]

That's a cool and unique story. It's been a long time since I've had a friend or two over and actually blast through a game, they're usually more interested in changing things out within a few minutes of game play. Back in the day we'd run marathons on a Friday night and play through titles like Dynamite Cop, House of the Dead, Gauntlet, exchanging turns in Resident Evil, or whatever. Most of my family care little for video games, however around family gatherings the Wii does get quite the amount of action from all ages!

[Oobgarm]

Jaleco!

[JudgeYohance]

Contra, first time I was able to get through that game beginning to end without the contra code was only because my friend Matt came over while i was playing and we finally beat it together. Glorious times. Internet may have given us the ability to play with more people but nothing beats being able to swear at a game kicking your ass with your friends in the same room.

[Hawksmoor]

on a side note, what are some games with similar gameplay to gunstar heroes? (for any system really, I have most of 'em)

Rapid Reload, aka Gunner's Heaven, for PS1. Great game.

[Edmond Dantes]

Not long ago I had an experience like this with--of all things--Ms. Pac-Man for the Sega Genesis.

A cousin brought it over and we played the co-op mode, and then... the game looped back to the first maze, and we were like "Holy shit did we just beat Ms. Pac-Man?!?!?!?!"

It was a moment, to be sure!

[allyourblood]

Great story, Steven. Thanks very much for sharing!

It's been a long time since I've had a friend or two over and actually blast through a game, they're usually more interested in changing things out within a few minutes of game play.

And this is precisely why I so rarely get the chance to play through a game with friends; everyone gets bored within a half-hour (regardless of what game we're playing) and wants to play something else. I think I'm the last person I know that has maintained their childhood attention span for video games.

[Steven]

Internet may have given us the ability to play with more people but nothing beats being able to swear at a game kicking your ass with your friends in the same room.

Amen brotha!

Not long ago I had an experience like this with--of all things--Ms. Pac-Man for the Sega Genesis.

A cousin brought it over and we played the co-op mode, and then... the game looped back to the first maze, and we were like "Holy shit did we just beat Ms. Pac-Man?!?!?!?!"

It was a moment, to be sure!

Edmond, that's another reason why I love the feeling of your friend picking the game. Like with Brawl Brothers and Ms. Pac-Man, these are titles we probably wouldn't hand-pick ourselves to play first, but when our friend does, we're forced to focus on it and go with it. Many times, you come to appreciate the game for what it is, especially in 2 player mode. Laughing, shouting and cursing with a human friend next to you can make any average game that much better, and any good game, excellent.

[portnoyd]

Oh the agony. We both screamed "JALECO!" in unison (an old sibling childhood joke that Jaleco games are freakin' hard). We got him down to half a bar left when I finally bit the dust. I cheered my bro on, who was now on his last life. When he cleared the boss' health bar we cheered -- and quickly jeered when ANOTHER bar revealed itself. "JALECO!"

Not exactly on topic, but my friend and I would always shout AGGRO CRUSADE in WoW whenever a constant stream of repops would fall on top of us (which happens a fair amount). When I coined this phrase, it was right at the beginning of TBC, which if you were there, you'd understand why I came up with it.

[obesolete]

Now, my question is, did you play on the regular "Brawl Brothers" setting or did you opt for the YXBAYXBAYXBAx100 code at the JALECO screen to open the japanese version?

I've actually only played "Brawl Brothers" once and got frustrated with the sewers and never played it without the code ever again. I still don't know what the story is as I've never gone through the game without japanese text. XD

[Eleuthria]

I don't think I've ever had that exact experience, I grew up mostly sticking to single player RPG games. But last year me and 3 friends I used to go to high school with, now across the country, all ended up buying Borderlands, and we took it from beginning to end 4-player online. The next weekend we bought the DLC and did it again.

It really was an a great time to be able to play a game start to finish with friends I can only see a few times a year, separated by thousands of miles.

[kedawa]

I think Halo 3 was the last co-op game I've finished with a friend in one sitting.
One of these days I need to find another Doom-oholic to co-op the Final Doom for PSX in system link mode with me.

[thom_m]

This story represents perfectly why, IMO, real life 2-player gaming is WAY better than online gaming. It reminds me of when my cousins (I have LOTS of them) came to my place to play rounds and round of Contra with me and my brother.

In fact, I did something similar this weekend. My brother was visiting (he lives more than 1k miles away from me, so I don't get to see him often) and we fired up the SNES to play some Rock'n'Roll Racing, a game we both love. We didn't beat the game, but played for hours, while downing some Heinekens and talking about our lives, our problems...it was awesome, a true sibling bonding moment.

[PentiumMMX]

The most recent example of this I can think of was when I was staying over at my sister's house one weekend; as I teamed up with my brother-in-law to rip through the arcade version of Altered Beast on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. That felt good...

[Steven]

Now, my question is, did you play on the regular "Brawl Brothers" setting or did you opt for the YXBAYXBAYXBAx100 code at the JALECO screen to open the japanese version?

I've actually only played "Brawl Brothers" once and got frustrated with the sewers and never played it without the code ever again. I still don't know what the story is as I've never gone through the game without japanese text. XD

We played through the original. The sewer bit was definitely a bit infuriating, but other than that, we really enjoyed Brawl Brothers. The emphasis on throwing is crazy in that game. I think I punched maybe like 10 times total. It was throw after throw with Lord J. I believe his name is.

This story represents perfectly why, IMO, real life 2-player gaming is WAY better than online gaming. It reminds me of when my cousins (I have LOTS of them) came to my place to play rounds and round of Contra with me and my brother.

In fact, I did something similar this weekend. My brother was visiting (he lives more than 1k miles away from me, so I don't get to see him often) and we fired up the SNES to play some Rock'n'Roll Racing, a game we both love. We didn't beat the game, but played for hours, while downing some Heinekens and talking about our lives, our problems...it was awesome, a true sibling bonding moment.

Yep, those are the awesome moments we live for as gamers. Well said.

[G-Boobie]

Great story, brother! That's the kind of stuff that makes gaming worthwhile.

I can only think of one example of a similar experience, but it involved Halo 2 which isn't particularly "classic" yet. My brother Dave and I are fairly close, but we have wildly different tastes in games. I like fighting games and horror games, he likes JRPGs and Baldur's Gate style western RPGs.

I'd picked up an Xbox to play multiplayer Halo 2 with my roommates at the time, and Dave came over to check it out. He and I quickly got tired of shooting each other and decided to try out the campaign. We ended up playing straight through it. He didn't leave for home until eight AM, and I don't think I've had as much fun playing a game since. We still talk about it.

Couch gaming is the best kind of gaming. The internet is great and all, but nothing beats actually being there with the folks you're playing with.

[Superman]

I would have thought there would be more responses on this topic. I guess there are more lonely games than I thought!

Reading your story in particular, Steven, I pictured myself there. Although the manufacturers name is different (me and my friend prefer to yell at Capcom) the story is the same.

It certainly is a great experience, and one that I haven't had in quite a few years. My friend is going to be staying with me for awhile, so we should get a chance to relive some old memories and create some new ones!

[Ninjamohawk]

My fiance and I played through SMB 3 last weekend start to finish no whistles. Spur of the moment. It was excellent.