A side-scrolling mech shooter with room to tune it
Stardust Galaxy Warriors: Stellar Climax puts you in a Galaxy Gear Mech as part of the new Galactic Police Force in the year 2087. It mixes shoot-'em-up shooting with brawler-style melee and a light touch of RPG upgrades. The campaign runs 10 levels with a tongue-in-cheek story, taking you from ocean depths through alien hives and haunted factories out to the edge of hyperspace. Beyond the campaign there's an Endless Gauntlet that gets harder the longer you last, and a Challenge mode with five predefined challenges.
Playing it together on the couch
Local co-op runs for up to 4 players, and Steam lists Remote Play Together, so friends can join over a remote session. Five mechs are available, each with its own special abilities and superweapon: Blue Falcon snipes with spears and missile barrages, Red Tiger fights in frenzied claw attacks with time-altering abilities, Silver Wolf dashes around dropping bombs, Black Bear shields allies so they become invulnerable while enemies die to their own bullets, and Amber Fox pulls in enemy fire and returns it tenfold. Picking complementary mechs matters, since some of them cover the team rather than just dealing damage.
Loadouts and rules you set yourself
You combine primary and secondary weapons, with up to 49 unique weapon combinations plus upgrades and power-ups. The arsenal spans pulse rifles, chain guns, rail guns, rockets, shotguns and space flamethrowers, so each player can build around their mech's role.
The game settings are unusually open. You can adjust health and shield amounts, fire rates, drop rates and hitbox sizes, and switch friendly fire on for a rougher session. That means the same group can go from a relaxed star ride to a maddening bullet-hell without changing games. Expect plenty of enemy bullets either way, and a synth-heavy soundtrack running underneath the whole thing.