Capcom's Dungeons & Dragons Brawlers
When it comes to dragons in video games, most people immediately think of the many games with Dragon in the title. Old school grognards might mention Dragon Warrior, while modern gamers probably think of Dragon Age, or even Skyrim. All of these titles, though, are single player affairs. RPGs, most of which have a strong dragon presence, usually are intended for one. That's fine, but this is Co-Optimus, and we are looking for teamwork and cooperation between multiple players in this list.
We can still go back to the original RPG, the tabletop sensation that brought the gaming world such concepts as levels and hit points: Dungeons & Dragons. The venerable D&D license intersected with cooperative gameplay elements on a few different occasions, but the most memorable are Capcom's D&D side scrolling brawlers: Tower of Doom in 1993, and Shadow over Mystara in 1996.
RPGs and beat-em-ups might seem like an odd mix, but the formula was used to great success in River City Ransom, among other games. By the mid 90s, the brawler was king in the arcades, and Capcom was the cream of the crop. Couple their peerless expertise with the most influential role playing game of all time, and you have a recipe for success. The distinctive character classes, signature spells, and famous monsters of the tabletop game were converted seamlessly into video game form. You would be hard pressed to find better examples of the beat-em-up in any era. Cementing it's place on this list, the series included the biggest, baddest dragon boss you'll ever find, pictured above. Yeah, dragons are awesome.
So there you have it, the all-time best co-op games featuring dragons.There is one honorable mentions that is great in its own right, but didn't quite make the list: Rampage, with Lizzie, a fire-breathing giant reptile as a playable character. Did we leave your favorite dragon game off the list? Let us know! In the meantime, may you find luck throughout the remainder of 2012, year of the dragon.