Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics debuted on most platforms last year, followed by an Xbox release this year. Right out of the gate, it was a really impressive collection, hence the high rating in our Co-op Review. Still, it seems that the collection had some room for improvement. This week's update adds local versus modes to each fighting game, graphical enhancements for Marvel vs. Capcom 2, new artwork and music, and more.

In the time before bullet hells, shoot 'em ups featured sharp level design and more deliberate gameplay. Konami's Gradius is undoubtedly one of the finest shoot 'em up series of the 1980s and 90s. Players will finally be able to enjoy many of those games on modern hardware thanks to GRADIUS ORIGINS. The upcoming compilation collects 7 arcade Gradius titles, most with multiple versions to choose from. What's more, four of them will support 2-player local co-op!

Honestly? There is not much to say about March. Our release calender was filled but not overwhelming. So we got the usual mix of new releases. Like the ones entering (Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone) or leaving (Time to Morp) Early Access. The retro-inspired (The Phanom, Kemono Heroes) ones as well as re-releases of old classics (Castle of Shikigami III). The surefire hits (Split Fiction) and the ones that were expected to be hits but didn't quite make the landing (Rise of the Ronin on PC). And of course tons and tons of indie release (Party Club, Astroloot).

We are lucky to have our Database Manager to write these monthly reports. Otherwise, we would have no time to do it. We are after all way too busy to "catch all those mons." No, we are not talking about Pokémon. That's for little babies! *contemptuous sniffle* We only play real games here at Co-Optimus! Like Monster Hunter: Wilds, the long-awaited 27th entry in the series that finally hit store shelves yesterday.

It's a rare treat to see a game that was previously non-cooperative gain co-op support. That's just what happened to Tetris Forever this week. The third game in Digital Eclipse's Gold Master Series (which also contains the delightfully quirky Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story) is a collection of new and classic Tetris games from throughout the franchise's history, plus documentary content. The arrival of Super Tetris, which supports 2-player local co-op, pushes the game count up to 21. That's a lotta Tetris!

In January, we hit another milestone for our database: We now have 15,000 entries for active co-op games. "Active" means that the game is still technically playable in co-op in some form and hasn't been fully become inoperable by a server shutdown. To give you a bit of additional perspective on that number, back in 2020, we were at around 6,000 entries. So our Database Master definitely has been busy the last few years - and we'll make sure he continues to keep busy! *whip crack*

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! ;)

Back in October, No More Room in Hell 2 from Torn Banner Studios (developers of the Chivalry series) debuted on Steam. The game is in Early Access, so it's far from finished, but that means that updates have been coming at a steady pace. The latest such update adds a Firefighter Zombie enemy, improved climbing, bug fixes, and much more.

The Game Awards - which featured quite a few co-op titles this year - be damned: the biggest highlight of December for most of us was Path of Exile 2 entering Early Access. Even in this early state, it seems to successfully scratch that itch the lukewarm reception of Diablo IV left behind. Hopefully it can keep up the momentum until release.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge kicked off a wave of nostalgic beat ‘em ups that shows no signs of slowing down. While none of these challengers have managed to match Shredder’s Revenge in quality, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind, from Digital Eclipse and Atari, comes the closest so far. With a s...

When we look at our release calender, its fascinating to note that even in this digital age without any retail restrictions, there's still one day in the week most of the games are released: Thursday. What's more, almost everyone agrees that Saturday and Sunday are off limits for new releases.

The last few years have seen a bevy of beat ‘em ups based on classic shows and movies. There’s TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge and The Karate Kid: Street Rumble, as well as upcoming games like Toxic Crusaders and Lady Death: Demonicron. Canadian developer Maple Powered Games recently released their own nostalgic beat ‘em up in the ...