I don't want to get too big for my britches or anything, but sometimes we games journalists have a lot of sway in the industry. For instance, we just published our Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2 co-op review today, and on the very same day, D3 Publisher finally updates the Steam version of Earth Defense Force 6. Coincidence? I think not! The update fixes a killer crash that afflicted some AMD Radeon users, reduces load times, and more. You're welcome, EDF fans! ;)

Slimes are a beloved type of monster that appear in Dragon Quest and many other games. Soon, they'll even be getting their own game courtesy of Pancake Games and Whitethorn Games. Slime Heroes is a "Soulslike" action adventure with 2-player local co-op support. That's twice as many slimes! Players will be able to get their hands on all that double slime action on February 13.

Arcade-style basketball games like NBA Jam are good, but how do we make them better? With robots, of course! It's a formula as old as time itself. Jollypunch Games has used this common knowledge to create RoboDunk. The robotic basketball game has just arrived on consoles and Steam, and it even features 2-player drop in, drop out local co-op.

Forever Entertainment's The House of the Dead: Remake was a pretty good new version of the classic Sega light gun shooter, even if the modern graphics lost some of the original's Japanese charm. Thus, we're glad that Forever will be releasing THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2: Remake in the spring of this year. The Dreamcast version of HotD2 was terrific, so hopefully, the new version will pack a similar level of gory fun.

Everything's better in co-op, and that includes 3D platformers. Boti: Byteland Overclocked from Purple Ray Studio and Untold Tales is one such game, a robot and technology-themed platformer that debuted on Steam last year. Now Boti is getting ready to head to consoles in January, and it will include both 2-player local and online co-op.

Gal Guardians: Demon Purge was one of my favorite games of 2023, featuring tight Castlevania III-style gameplay and great local co-op. This must be my lucky day, as Inti Creates and PQUBE have just announced a sequel called Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark. The new game will be a full-fledged Metroidvania platformer with support for both local and online co-op, and it's coming to all platforms in March.

The holiday season is a great time for two things: playing video games and petting cats. What better way to combine those two beloved activities than by playing Cat Quest III, the cat-themed cooperative action RPG? But there's only so much Cat Quest III to go around, so you can't just play it forever. That's where today's free update comes in. The Steam version of the game has just gotten a bunch of new content, and that content will come to consoles before long as well.

If you like the Kingdom series of 2D strategy/resource management games, you're in luck. Kingdom: Two Crowns recently got a DLC expansion, and now a developer called Brain Seal has released a similar game called Monarchy. In Monarchy, one or two local players will work to build a base, gather resources, and fend off raiders in a colorful 2D setting. It looks easy and the controls are simple, but there's a lot of depth behind this crown.

People still love SNK's Neo Geo system after all these years. The arcade and home hardware produced games with a memorable and unique look. Nalua Studio is keeping the dream alive, then, by launching Vengeance Hunters on both Neo Geo hardware and modern systems. This all-new beat 'em up definitely looks the part, and it supports 2-player local co-op as well.

Earlier this year, Digital Eclipse and Atari announced two DLC expansions for Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, the comprehensive collection of Atari games and documentary content. The first DLC, "The Wilder World of Atari," arrived at the end of September. The second DLC, "The First Console War," will launch on November 8. It promises 19 new games and lots of behind-the-scenes materials, though we don't expect any of the new games to feature co-op multiplayer.

You know which classic game deserves a modern sequel? Zombies Ate My Neighbors, a beloved horror-themed top-down shooter that is currently owned by Disney. A new sequel is super unlikely, but a spiritual successor is on the horizon. indie developer Curse Free Studios announced Demons Ate My Neighbors! years ago, and now it seems like they're making some progress. A mobile game will come out early next year, and the main game is still in development.

Falcom's Ys series is a venerable line of action RPGs. Starting in the days of the NES and Turbografx, Ys continues today with the tenth mainline game, Ys X: Nordics. The new game sees Adol, the series protagonist, teaming up with a lady pirate named Karja to battle an evil army of immortal monsters. Ys X is out now on PlayStation, Switch, and Steam. Most excitingly for us, the Steam version supports 2-player local co-op!