Best Retro Multiplayer Games of All Time

Retro Multiplayer: When Local Co-op Was the Default

Before online gaming, before DLC, before progression systems that required hours of investment before a second player could join — retro local multiplayer was a social activity built into the hardware. Four controller ports on the N64, multitap adapters on PlayStation, the Game Link Cable on Game Boy. The design constraint was simple: two to four players in the same room, same screen or split-screen, competing or cooperating with minimal setup.

The best retro multiplayer games succeeded because their core mechanics were comprehensible in seconds and rewarding for hours. GoldenEye’s four-player split-screen, Mario Kart’s rubber-band items, NBA Jam’s two-on-two basketball — each game found the intersection between accessibility and depth that makes multiplayer games repeatable.

GoldenEye 007 — The Console FPS Multiplayer Standard

GoldenEye 007 (1997) invented the console first-person shooter multiplayer template. Four-player split-screen on a single N64, 20 maps, 33 weapons, multiple game modes including License to Kill (one-shot kills), and a character roster of Bond film characters combined with the N64’s analog stick controls to produce something that no home console had previously offered.

The specific GoldenEye experience — the proximity mines in the Facility level, the remote mines in the Complex, the Klobbs in the Bunker — accumulated into a multiplayer vocabulary that groups of players developed over repeated sessions. GoldenEye multiplayer was a social institution for N64-era households in a way that few games before or since have matched.

Super Smash Bros. — The Fighting Game Everyone Can Play

Super Smash Bros. (1999) solved the problem with traditional fighting games: the skill ceiling was too high for casual players to enjoy against experienced opponents. Smash’s solution — platform-based knockback that percent damage increased rather than eliminated, simple four-button inputs, familiar Nintendo characters — created a fighting game where skill differences produced exciting matches rather than one-sided defeats.

The original N64 game’s 12 characters (Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, Fox, Pikachu, Luigi, Jigglypuff, Ness, Captain Falcon), its four simultaneous player support, and its accessible design established a template that the subsequent Smash Bros. games expanded while retaining. No fighting game series since has matched its combination of accessibility and competitive depth.

NBA Jam — The Party Sports Game

NBA Jam (1993/1994) defined the party sports game. Two-on-two, no fouls, on-fire mechanics for consecutive baskets, actual NBA players, and an announcer who shouted “Boomshakalaka!” every time someone dunked from impossible height. The two-player cooperative or versus format meant skill differences between players mattered less than in simulation sports games — a single hot streak could change a game in seconds.

NBA Jam’s accessibility didn’t preclude depth: different players had different ratings, the fire mechanic could be exploited or defended against, and learning which players on which teams had the best statistical combinations gave experienced players an edge that didn’t overwhelm new players. It was competitive when both players were skilled and entertaining when one wasn’t.

Bomberman — The Multiplayer Puzzle Game

Super Bomberman (SNES) and Bomberman ‘94 (PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16) established the Bomberman multiplayer template: up to five players in a maze, placing bombs with timed detonations, collecting power-ups to increase bomb count, blast range, and movement speed, eliminating opponents with timed explosions. The mechanics were immediately comprehensible and produced genuine tension — caught in a corner with an opponent’s bombs about to detonate, the only option was to predict the blast radius and hope for a gap.

Bomberman’s consistency across platforms (Saturn, N64, PS1 all received versions) and its ability to produce engaging matches without requiring any mechanical knowledge beyond bomb placement made it the go-to local multiplayer game for mixed-skill groups throughout the 1990s.