7 Best Superhero Co-Op Games

Superheroes are pretty great solo, but it’s the team-ups that define them. From comic book crossovers to cinematic universes, few things hit harder than superheroes coming together. And some super-hero games let players live that fantasy: picking their favorite characters, combining powers, and pulling off flashy combos as a tightly-knit unit.

These games don’t just let players save the world, they let them do it together. Whether it’s local couch co-op or full-blown online chaos, here are the best superhero co-op games that deliver on power, partnership, and pure fun.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order

Snap Together, Smash Together

The third entry in the classic top-down brawler/RPG hybrid franchise features over 30 playable Marvel characters, from Avengers to X-Men to Guardians of the Galaxy. With up to 4-player local and online co-op in a drop-in/drop-out format that’s woven into the game’s progression, affecting bonuses like health, energy and resistance. It adds a tactical twist to team-building.

Heroes have synergy attacks that combine their powers for devastating effects. The story revolves around Thanos and the Infinity Stones, told through flashy cutscenes and boss fights with interesting mechanics. The game offers a perfect mix of button-mashing action and light strategy.

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes

Break Bricks, Not Bonds

In classic LEGO game fashion, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes features 2-player split-screen co-op allowing you to play through the entire campaign with a friend. Except, here, it can be done online as well as locally. The seamless drop-in, drop-out system allows friends to help in solving puzzles, platforming, or just causing mass chaos.

Featuring over 150 playable characters with their own signature powers and silly animations, and an original Marvel story involving Galactus, Loki, and Dr. Doom, the game also has plenty of side content and secrets built around co-op interaction. The humorous tone and light difficulty make LEGO Marvel Super Heroes a great pick for casual play sessions.

Gotham Knights

Two Capes Are Better Than One

Although it received less-than-stellar reviews, Gotham Knights is still a pretty darn fun time if you have a friend to bring along for the ride. Set in a post-Batman Gotham, players can take control of Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin, and Red Hood to fill in his shoes.

Featuring a story based on the Court of Owls and personal arcs for each member of the Bat-family, the open-world design gives players the choice of splitting up to maximize efficiency or team-up for style points. With RPG-style looting, crafting, and gear upgrade mechanics, progression is shared, so players don’t miss out upon swapping characters.

X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse

Mutant Mayhem, Now With Friends

With an expanded cast and darker overall tone, the sequel to 2004’s X-Men Legends allows for up to 4-player local co-op. Featuring both X-Men and Brotherhood characters working together in a quest to take down Apocalypse, each playable character has unlockable powers and a branching skill tree.

Co-op play lets players combine powers for hard-hitting team-based attacks, like Storm electrifying Colossus. There’s also strong RPG elements with gear drops, stat upgrades and team bonuses, as well as dungeons that are built around puzzles and combat best tackled together. Despite being one of the older entries on the list, X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse still holds up.

Spider-Man: Friend or Foe

Tag-Team Webslinging, Anyone?

For a more lighthearted tone in the form of a simplified beat-’em-up aimed at younger audiences, look no further than Spider-Man: Friend or Foe. Featuring 2-player local co-op for the full story mode, the second player is able to control any unlocked sidekick, whether it’s one of the heroes or villains.

Combat is basic yet satisfying, with tag-team finishers and simple combos. The game puts a strong focus on character pairings and their unique interactions. With level design that’s mostly linear, but features enough branching paths and light platforming to keep things fresh, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is an excellent pick for younger players looking to fulfill their power fantasy as the friendly neighborhood hero, and his not-so-friendly enemies-turned-allies.

Justice League Heroes

Saving the World, One Button-Mash at a Time

Offering a similar experience to X-Men Legends but focusing on DC characters instead, Justice League Heroes allows players to take control of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and more in 2-player local co-op. The game combines melee brawls, ranged powers, and flight mechanics all in one.

It also contains a fair share of character banter in a story involving Braniac and Darkseid threatening earth. Levels are designed with teamwork in mind; one player might need to distract enemies while the other solves an objective. And, just like X-Men Legends, it too features RPG-style upgrades, as well as alternate costumes and unlockable characters.

The Wonderful 101: Remastered

One Hundred Heroes, One Controller (Or Two-To-Five)

Though not based on any pre-existing superhero franchise, The Wonderful 101 carries the spirit of team-based world-saving action and dials it up to eleven. Having the crisp combat that Platinum Games is so well known for, the game features up to 5-player local co-op in its “Unite” mode, a recreation of the chaos from the glory days of arcades.

Although co-op isn’t part of the main story, it exists as standalone missions separate from the main campaign. It’s made up for, though, by the combination of over-the-top humor, satirical nods to tokusatsu and superhero tropes. Add to that the combos, weapon transformations, and crowd-control spectacle, it all adds up to make for the perfect chaotic couch co-op session.