Thos of you who are longtime readers might remember my review of New Super Mario Bros. Wii last fall. To summarize, I felt the multiplayer was chaotic and messy, though fun at times, and it didn't feel very cooperative to me at all. I still stand by that review, though others obviously feel differently. Apparently, I'm not alone in my assessment of that title: Kotaku's Stephen Totilo mentions many of the same issues.
Why are we discussing a months-old game? Totilo compares the co-op of NSMBW to that of Donkey Kong Country Returns.
It went better than my first co-op Mario Bros. gaming last year.
He goes on the detail the cooperative elements that make Diddy and Donkey such a great team. Wildy differing abilities, working together to overcome obstacles... it's all in there. The original games in the series weren't the best examples of co-op, but that may all change when DK comes back later this year. Perhaps, after all these years, Donkey Kong will beat Mario at last, in a manner of speaking.