Misbegotten Multiplayer Mode: Difference between revisions

{{examples|Examples:}}

== [[Beat 'Em Up]] ==

* ''[[Battletoads (Video Game)|Battletoads]]'', as pointed out by [[The Angry Video Game Nerd (Web Video)|The Angry Video Game Nerd]]. The number of items is not adjusted, the two players can hurt each other very easily, if one of the players dies, both are sent back to the last checkpoint and one of the levels becomes literally [[Unwinnable By Mistake|Unwinnable]] because of a glitch in programming. Later ''Battletoads'' games for consoles mitigated this a little by offering an alternate two-player mode where the players can't hurt each other.

* ''[[Rise of the Robots (Video Game)|Rise of the Robots]]'' only allows player 1 to play as the "hero" Cyborg, whereas player 2 can choose any of the enemies. Player 1 will die. A lot.

* ''[[Super Smash Bros.]] Brawl'' has a lot of two-player action available in it. Some co-op options are well-done; Event Mode, for example, has events specifically tailored for two players, either by altering single-player events or just making new ones entirely. Some co-op features...don't work so well. In the adventure mode, "The Subspace Emissary", [[We Cannot Go Onon Without You|the game ends if player 1 is knocked out]], while player 1 ''can'' go on without player 2 if need be. (Barely [[Justified Trope|justified]] in that player 2 is just sort of...there, like [[Sonic the Hedgehog|Tails]], who is mentioned further down on this page.) It's still better than a lot of the other co-op modes, though, especially the [[Nintendo Hard]] [[Boss Rush|Boss Battles mode]]; they end in defeat if ''either player'' is KO'd.

* ''[[Punch -Out!!]]'' for Wii has a head-to-head mode that is regarded as this by many people, though others will argue that this mode is actually a very deep and intense battle of the wits and people are only disappointed that they can't play as King Hippo or Super Macho Man.

== [[First -Person Shooter]] ==

* The 2009 ''[[Wolfenstein (Video2009 Gamevideo game)|Wolfenstein]]''. While [[Return to Castle Wolfenstein|the previous entry in its series]] was known for its excellent multiplayer, the new game managed to completely ignore the majority (if not all) of the innovations RTCW brought. No wonder, just about every fan of RTCW's/''Enemy Territory's'' multiplayer consider the 2009 game to be a complete joke in this regard. Heck, the team responsible for the multiplayer component getting fired on release speaks volumes.

* Playing ''[[Quake II (Video Game)|Quake II]]'' in co-op with two players is already fairly painful, but becomes almost impossible with three or more players, because the levels are so cramped and killing your friends is stupidly easy. Fortunately, the [[Competitive Multiplayer]] modes are much better.

* ''[[BioBioShock Shock(series)|Bioshock 2]]'''s Multiplayer was [[So OK Its Average|Passable]] unlike some of the examples here, but was still an incredibly obvious afterthought.

* ''[[Gauntlet (1985 video game)]]'' is a classic arcade game meant to be played with two people, and its sequel with four. The PC port can also be played with four people, if they can somehow all fit at ''a single keyboard''.

* ''[[Super Mario Galaxy (Video Game)|Super Mario Galaxy]]''. The second player... can stop enemies! And bother Mario! [[Sarcasm Mode|How awesome!]] Thankfully averted in the second game, though, where the Co-Star Luma (controlled by player 2) can grab all sorts of items bar the Rainbow Star, and, in addition to freezing foes, also do its own Spin, which is just as effective as Mario's.

* ''[[New Super Mario Bros Wii (Video Game)|New Super Mario Bros. Wii]]'' is an interesting mix of this and [[Socialization Bonus]]. When there are two or more people playing, if one dies but has at least one extra life while the other remains alive, they can be rescued a while later. The characters' heads are also [[Goomba Springboard|rather good as trampolines]], and two small characters carrying each other can break blocks just like their Super versions. More items spawn from "?" Blocks as well. However, more often than not, the players will get in the way of each other, often leading to mis-obtained items, [[Total Party Kill|Total Party Kills]]s and much frustration, as any co-op [[Let's Play]] can prove.

** Shadow the hedgehog bought back this feature where a second player can control the helper characters (minus Black Doom, Eggman, and oddly, Charmy). Not very useful in "get to the goal" missions for the same reasons mentioned above in Sonic 2 and 3. However, instead of having to wait for the helper to re-appear if he/she falls off camera, this game now has the option to call him/her back to your side with a simple tap on the D-Pad, which makes it actually worth it in alternate missions like "collect X rings" or "kill X enemies". For added hilarity, you can use characters in their opossite missions: have fun using Sonic to beat GUN soldiers and then have him complain on Shadow.

* ''[[Brutal Legend]]'' had quite good multiplayer - for 1v1. While the game supported teams of up to 4v4, playing team games was often an exercise in futility. There was still only one stage and a shared money pool, which meant that whomever wanted the cheapest unit built "won" the argument. Additionally, having multiple avatars in the vicinity issuing orders confused the bejeezus out of the AI.

== [[Role -Playing Game]] ==

* Bethesda Softworks added gratuitous multiplayer mode to the first ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' [[Spin -Off]], ''Battlespire''. They never did it again.

* Troika, the makers of ''[[Arcanum: ofOf Steamworks and Magick Obscura]]'', were [[Executive Meddling|forced to include a multiplayer mode by Sierra]]. [[Writer Revolt|They promptly hacked out a single module and an almost completely unplayable interface]], which was promptly laughed at by the fan community.

* ''[[Lord of the Rings: The Third Age]]'' had a 2-player mode that was just like the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' examples above. Or worse, since your party is only 3 characters in this game, while all the above examples have 4-man parties, so ''someone'' is only getting one character.

* Believe it or not, but the early Infinity Engine video games (''[[BaldursBaldur's Gate]]'', ''[[Icewind Dale]]'') were all geared towards multiplayer as a legacy of their prototype, ''Battleground Infinity''. Said games included multiplayer modes... but nobody remembers that, thanks to them being the major codifiers for the story-driven single-player [[Western RPG]] genre.

* ''[[Dark Messiah (Videoof Game)Might and Magic|Dark Messiah]]'''s online multiplayer play more like a bad ''[[Half-Life]] 2'' mod than anything to do with ''Dark Messiah'', ignoring the singleplayer game's brilliant combat system, spells, classes and with far worse graphics. Of course, it was made by a different company altogether.

== [[Third -Person Shooter]] ==

* ''[[Psi -Ops: theThe Mindgate Conspiracy (Video Game)|Psi Ops the Mindgate Conspiracy]]'' is primarily a first person shooter with [[Psychic Powers]]. It has a CoOp mode that allows player one to steer and shoot the weapons, and player two to control the psychic powers. Unless both players are on the same page on what to do, things can get very... strange. Considering the dev team had so much trouble assigning buttons they couldn't find a way to fit in rolling or dodging (and thus both are absent from the game), this would be an ideal solution to games with lots of powers... if you had four arms or really good teamwork with player two (but lets be honest, the first is likelier).

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