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I was given the green light to pilot Esports at my school. Unfortunately, it has to be a club with no funding. So I have been researching and observing other local Esports teams in my area and they all recommend creating a weekly "game club" and then starting next year only competing in Smash and MK. So today was the first day of Game Club.
We had a good turnout for our first meeting with about 50 kids (out of 300) showing up. We had about 20 kids playing video games (on 8 consoles, one plug-n-play, and a mini MAME cab) while others were playing Magic the Gathering, Pokemon Card Game, and Chess.

The video games that were running were:
Maden 12 - PS3 (2 players)
Super Smash Bros Brawl - Wii (2 players GC controllers)
Mario Kart Wii - Wii (4 players)
Power Stone - DC (2 players)
Marvel vs Capcom - PS1 (2 players)
Super Mario Bros 3 - NES (2 players)
Tetris (& Dr. Mario) - SNES (2 players)
Street Fighter 2 CE - Genesis (2 players)
Frogger - MAME Cab (1 player)
Pac-Man - JAX Handheld (1 player)

These are all of my consoles from home that I had double of. I was worried that since these were the poorer quality selection of my consoles but only problem I had was the lack of good controllers. Many of these controllers are in bad condition since the good ones are at home. I bought and have more GC controllers (off-brand) on the way for 4-player Smash and new (off-brand) PS3 controllers on the way since we were using worn-out ones. I may one day get two more DC controllers to play 4 players on that too. I will be working with the PTA to reach out to the community looking for donations of not only video game-related stuff but also board games, card games, TVs etc. So we will see where this takes us.

OK, now I need some advice. I want all co-op games that are fast and allow players to move in and out quickly (winner stays) to keep the kids engaged. The following were not huge hits: SMB3 and Tetris. I may keep Tetris, but any suggestions for an NES game? The handheld Pac-Man game can be replaced (put Pac-Man on the cab) and I have an oXBOX and another Genesis I could hook up, so any ideas on other games I could rotate in that are school appropriate?

The spoiler below has some images of my cramped set-up:

I used to run both a retro gaming club as well as an eSports team at the high school where I've spent the past ten years teaching. I ultimately wasn't able to generate enough interest to keep it going, but it's awesome that you're taking a crack at it!

For NES, it's tough because a lot of kids just aren't interested in games that primitive by today's standards, but anything high score related is probably a good idea like arcade ports. I'd personally recommend Star Soldier, Life Force, or Gradius.

ElkinFencer10 wrote:I used to run both a retro gaming club as well as an eSports team at the high school where I've spent the past ten years teaching. I ultimately wasn't able to generate enough interest to keep it going, but it's awesome that you're taking a crack at it!

For NES, it's tough because a lot of kids just aren't interested in games that primitive by today's standards, but anything high score related is probably a good idea like arcade ports. I'd personally recommend Star Soldier, Life Force, or Gradius.

Thanks. The administration think I am crazy for adding this to my schedule and think that I will pull my own Cross Country and Track athletes away from traditional sports, but at 25 years of teaching, I have nothing to lose. I took over the running program at my school my first year and it is a successful program... let's see if I can make this work too.

Unfortunately, since there is no budget and I have to use what I have they will play the NES, or I can hook up the Genesis or oXBOX instead. I was thinking of Legendary Wings as a co-op shump?

This is an awesome endeavor, SB! Great to see classic gaming being passed on to the next generation, and it's admirable that you're using your own personal items to get the club going.

Regarding NES games, one game that instantly comes to mind is Blades of Steel. The games are quick and it's easy to pick up and play. I didn't play this game until much later after it came out (around the late 90s) and still had a great time with it. Another in the same space I can think of is Tecmo Super Bowl.

Another game that might be worth giving a try on the NES is TMNT: Tournament Fighters. It's head-to-head and the matches are relatively quick, so kids can easily rotate as well.

NES, quick drop in and drop out? Bomberman.

Ohhh. Both TMNT TF and Bomberman are both on the NES multi cart I have at school.
Good call. Thanks.
Keep the ideas coming!

SpaceBooger wrote:Ohhh. Both TMNT TF and Bomberman are both on the NES multi cart I have at school.
Good call. Thanks.
Keep the ideas coming!

To be clear, I don't think the original Bomberman included two-player simulataneous play. You have to go to Bomberman 2 for that, and the multiplayer on that one is excellent.

More NES suggestions:

It's co-op and not head-to-head, but Bubble Bobble is best with two players, and it's really fast and chaotic and pretty easy to drop in and out of. Levels are very short and you can get passwords for every level.

If you don't mind importing, there are a lot of good, and fairly cheap, sumo wrestling games that offer two-player head-to-head.

NES Ice Hockey is pretty good head-to-head. Games are pretty short. It is very simple.

Rampart is available on NES as well as other consoles. It has a very solid two-player mode and matches are just a few minutes.