Fun Multiplayer / Party console games?

Most of the games I played when I was growing up were RPGs, mainly because I didn't have many friends. But now that I'm older, RPGs don't really entertain me like they used to. I like fighters, platform, the odd racing games, but I'm not really up on some of the newer games in these genres.

Some of the multiplayer games I'm familiar with are Smash Bros., Need for Speed, Mario Kart and a few select 2P games like Bloody Roar, Street Fighter, and Mario. That's really about the extent to my knowledge of multiplayer games,

I need some good multiplayer games to play at parties and stuff. :ninja:

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Whenever my friend had a party or whatever, we always used to play this one Xbox game called Hunter: The Reckoning. It wasn't the best game ever or anything, but it was a lot of fun, especially if you could get all four people playing in co-op.

I'll go ahead and say the obvious Halo/Halo 2. It was great being able to hook up to Xboxes and play 2 on 2 using two different televisions to do so, but even regular splitscreen is fun as well.

Another one that me and my friends play is NHL Hitz. I'm not even really a hockey fan, but this game is still great regardless. It's fun playing against each other or just playing together on the same team against the CPU.

Finally, I'll say the Hot Shots Golf games. These are the games that turned me on to golf in the first place, since they make it so fun and easy. They're great too since up to four people can play using only one controller. Trust me, multiplayer golf might not sound too fun, but play one of these games and it will change your mind.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Any Soul Edge/Calibur games are good for playing with a large group of people. If you enjoy sports games, I'd recommend those as well. I've found that they're fun to play and are also interesting for people to watch.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Fusion Frenzy. That game is fun with a group of people, period. Random mini-games, and whatnot..it's like Mario Party for the X-Box.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Super Monkey Ball is basically the greatest multiplayer game ever. The main mode is fun enough in multiplayer, but it's the minigames that excell at parties. Monkey Bowling and Monkey Target are musts for any multiplaying session.

4-player F-Zero GX is also excellent fun, but you'll need a large TV for it.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I think Star Fox Assault would be fun if you got four people playing multiplayer. Granted, I admit I haven't had much opportunity to do that, but the prospect of it always sounds promising. The only problem is that there's a lot to unlock for multiplayer in that game first, which can take some time. But once that's out of the way, well.

How ya doing, buddy?

You asked for it.

Dance Dance Revolution.

There's nothing like a pad game to attract your friends to a dance floor and make themselves look like fools trying to step acurately to Sean Paul's Get Busy. Either way, it's a fun game to have around. At least if you're all beginners, you all look like fools together, which isn't a bad thing at all.

If you want something out of the music genre, there's always the obligatory Halo 1 and 2, Super Smash Bros. Melee... If you want something that's NOT mentioned, try Crazy Taxi.

Even though it's not technically a multiplayer game, it's fun to see how bad your friends are when they drive a rabid taxi. It kept me and my friends busy for an hour.

FELIPE NO

Halo 2 never did any wrong.

There's also Super Monkey Ball that's pretty fun.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

If you can whip out an N64 and copies of Goldeneye and Mario Kart, you are basically set for the night. You can throw in a little StarFox or original Mario Party for a little variety.

For the PSX, I remember we played a lot of Micro Machines v4 and Poy Poy, which is a fabulous little game where you throw rocks at each other.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by BlueMikey

If you can whip out an N64 and copies of Goldeneye...

Played it recently? My god, it hurts the eyes!

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Power Stone 2 is the embodiment of multiplayer insanity.
You don't have to be good at all, because it's basically like Smash Bros. on crack, due to the crazy items and stages:

"Oh shoot! He got the Panther and the lightning dragon! You can hardly dodge those!"

"Damn, he has the screen-wiping dragon slayer sword! We're screwed"

"She picked up the cactus and smacked my face with it!"

"You died because you didn't grab the umbrella!"

How ya doing, buddy?

Being a big fan of the Viewtiful Joe series, I just recently picked up a copy of Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble(GCN) since it's cheap now, and I'm fairly surprised at how good it is. Not Smash Bros. good, mind you, but very good for the price it is right now. And it is very much like Smash Bros., only more goal oriented rather than player vs. player. (multiple goals per stage like "who can defeat more npc enemies," "who can collect more gems" and "who can do the most damage to the boss" to get points. Of course, if someone is far ahead of you point-wise, you can take them out to dramatically reduce their points...) With 4 players, it actually tends to be more chaotic than Smash Bros., so much so that I had to get used to it with 2 and 3 player matches first.

Timesplitters 2 has been one of my main party games this past generation (haven't played Timesplitters 3). Unfortunately, it doesn't have the 16-player lan, vehicles and huge levels that Halo has, but it's a very fun, and funny, game (and up to twelve bots if you don't have enough players anyways). Its time-travelling theme lends to it a variety of levels, from wild west showdowns to futuristic robot wars, and a variety of interesting weapons from the different time periods, including the mighty brick, which can be thrown for MASSIVE DAMAGE. Some of the most fun I've had with it is in flamethrower matches, because once you're lit on fire you can run around touching others to set them on fire, as you search for water or a fire extinguisher to put out your own flames. It also has an incredibly fun game mode - Monkey Assistant. The player in last gets a set 1-5 monkeys who help him... not be in last place anymore. It has lots of great characters to choose from, like a snowman riding on a flying carpet, Giggles the Clown, and (if you thought Oddjob was cheap, wait until you see) Robofish. If you like Goldeneye and Perfect Dark, odds are you'll like Timesplitters 2.

Last but not least, an oft-overlooked gem is Kirby Air Ride, which, party-wise, is vastly superior to its contemporary Mario Kart: Double Dash. I think the biggest problem is that people just try and judge it on the races - big mistake. City Trial is where it's at. You and your opponents duke it out while searching the city for stat power-ups and better machines until the time runs out, at which point you are given a randomly selected competition - could be a race, a target flight, a battle - so hopefully you've prepared. A hint is often given towards the middle of the City Trial that may help you know which machine to get and which stats to try and better yourself in, but, well, sometimes the hint lies.

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Many Pietriot gaming nights have been pretty much based around Mario Golf on GameCube. Three other people mashing the various taunt buttons as you're trying to take the shot is absolute comedy gold. Especially if two of you have chosen Donkey Kong and Wario, they have the best taunts. CONSTANT confusing noises and yelling boom out and speech bubbles consume the entire screen. GOTTA... HIT.. THE BALL, CAN'T.. SEE!

Tiger Woods on PS3 better have taunts. Every one of them being "yes".

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Josiah

I think Star Fox Assault would be fun if you got four people playing multiplayer. Granted, I admit I haven't had much opportunity to do that, but the prospect of it always sounds promising. The only problem is that there's a lot to unlock for multiplayer in that game first, which can take some time. But once that's out of the way, well.

Scratch that idea. Multiplayer is about as hopeless as the regular game, and the first major challenge would be getting your friends to play it once they see it. The second challenge is actually seeing each other on the splitscreens.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by BlueMikey

If you can whip out an N64 and copies of Goldeneye and Mario Kart, you are basically set for the night. You can throw in a little StarFox or original Mario Party for a little variety.

Take caution with Mario Party though, if you choose one of those "keep rotating the analogue sticks round and round" minigames than you can almost say goodbye to your control pads. Playing Mario Party with others, I always go for these mini-games. Problem is, you have to play the board game over and over again so you can buy the mini-games so make sure you have bought some of the best ones because you might find the board to be a bit of a bore.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by electric_eye

Take caution with Mario Party though, if you choose one of those "keep rotating the analogue sticks round and round" minigames than you can almost say goodbye to your control pads.

That only applies to Mario Party 1, the rest are safe from analog destruction.

Goldeneye is still an awesome multiplayer despite the graphics outdate. If you are a wuss and can't stand the graphics, try Timesplitters 2 or 3 which are a Goldeneye clone with decent graphics at 60 fps.

Another game that is incredible fun to play with friends is "Chu Chu Rocket". It looks like a low budget simple game, but it has so much fun hidden inside. Best Dreamcast multiplayer game hands down!. Emulated in chankast works perfect, give it a try, the adrenaline is only compared to Quake 3.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Best party game ever is Eye Toy Play or any of the other Eye Toy games.

A bunch of pissed up people and an eye toy is a no fail recipe for awesome.

Apart from that, Worms wins every time.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I found Ratchet: Deadlocked to have a pretty good co-op mode. It's fun and as challenging as you want it to be. Best of all you can use it for single player too if you so desire. It may not be the best R&C game, but the co-op mode makes it the best multiplayer R&C game.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

When I was at my convention this weekend, there were basically 5 games played. In order of how much time people where around them from high to low:

Naruto 4 (GC)
Super Smash Bros Melee (GC)
Soul Caliber 2 (GC)
Halo (Xbrick)
DDRMAX/DDRMAX2 (PS2)

The last two honestly didn't get that much love. Everybody was all over 4-player Naruto. Just make sure to get a freeloader since it's still not state side. And prepare for lots of laughs.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Magic

Scratch that idea. Multiplayer is about as hopeless as the regular game, and the first major challenge would be getting your friends to play it once they see it. The second challenge is actually seeing each other on the splitscreens.

I don't think the latter is much of a challenge. I mean, you get anywhere near somebody and a little diamond pops up on them. If you can't spot that, you must have a small TV or something. And on top of that, when you're close enough to someone, most of the aiming is actually done for you.

Anyways, I second Summonmaster's suggestion for Power Stone 2. I remember getting most of the items in that game, and it is just nuts at times. The only qualm I have with it is that some of those weapons (like the Thunder Rod) are a bit by way of cheap. Some of the power forms of the characters have kind of cheap moves too, as some of them are near impossible to avoid (like Mel's barrage of falling money bags). But all that aside, if the settings are done right, it can work quite well. Whatever you do though, don't let someone get the Powerful Buster and just leave them alone. That thing can take off as much as a quarter or perhaps even a third of your health, not to mention that it'll kill your power form.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

If you have 4 controllers, Gauntlet can be surprisingly fun.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Almost any FPS would do well in my group of friends. We used to play tekken tag a lot along with super smash bros. melee ( I go after Kairyu always)

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

though bouts of revenge sparked by greed and betrayal often weasel their way into the scene, Zelda:Four Swords is rather entertaining. someone always manages to spark some dissatisfactory cooperation which ends up creating a chain of shouts and flailing trying to get through the stage. then of course there are the less chaotic minigames that are fun for a while. my personal favorite though is the shadow battle mode which is as it sounds, a free for all zelda battle royale. especially great for relieving the forementioned tensions.

the people at a birthday party i recently attended seemed to be rather fond of Taiko Drum Master, which is relatively easy to pick up and fun to boot. i don't think there'll be a sequel any time soon stateside, but there seem to be a bunch of JP installments.

it takes an affinity for MMOs and a willingness to commit hours upon hours, but Phantasy Star Online can provide more than enough entertainment for one evening (and it's 4p).

Wario Ware$ inc. is also a good party game. the games are of the tutti-frutti japanese flavor, and only last a few seconds but really get the adrenaline going as they come in rapid succession... forcing the brain to nimbly process the objective and complete the microgame. the multiplayer game itself adds depth to the 1,2,3,THINKFAST!1,2,3,THINKFAST! behavior.

OMG, whatever happened to Bomberman1?!one?!?1?
Bomberman is definitely par for partying. It comes in the different flavors depending on which console its played on, hence equating to a unique multiplayer experience. though the 3d bomberman type seems to draw the most attention (n64)

other multiplayer games that i'm neglecting to describe
chu chu rocket
snowboard kids
gotcha force
pokemon stadium
worms armageddon/3d
frequency/amplitude
point blank

FELIPE NO

All of my friends typically play fighting games. Even if it's 1v1, we still take turns until whoever is winning loses their streak.

It depends on what you have.

Dreamcast - Chu Chu Rocket, Power Stone 1/2, Soul Calibur, Mars Matrix (for completely confusing and for lol, because you're going to die anyway), Giga Wing (same reason), Ikaruga, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Capcom vs. SNK 2

PS2 - Capcom vs. SNK 2, MvC2, Garou: MotW, Last Blade Collection, Treasure Box, Neogeo Battle Coliseum, Dodonpachi Daioujou, ESP Galuda, Mushihimesama, Ibara, Metal Slug 1-5, Puyo Pop Fever, Tekken 5, Soul Calibur III, 3rd Strike, obviously more which I'm not listing

I won't list Gamecube games since I've never played one with someone else. SSBM has already been mentioned, too.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Bloody Road: Primal Fury for the Gamecube is fun to play with a group. Just take turns when someone dies. Smash bros has already been annouced i see, thats always a great group game. It gets no sweeter than mario kart 64....

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