Double Dribble, all the way!
Oh yes and Ice Hockey rocked too.
Jackal was a fun 2 player game. My friend and I liked to split up the prisoners between us. Of course sometimes one of us would be a jerk and hog them all, then the other person would nab as many as they could when they died.
It was funny how POW’s in games just stood there and waved. Oh no, heaven forbid they actually attempt to approach me…no they’re just going to stand out there like an idiot waving their arms around. They got legs, they can move!
Wow. That took me way back. That game was so fun. When we discovered the cheat code that got you 99 lives we were in hog heaven.
How hard is it to get a Nintendo and this game these days?
There are lots of NES emulators for your computer. I use one called Jnes and it seems to work pretty good. Combine that with a cheapo game controller from Wal-Mart and you have yourself a nintendo that never breaks and all the games you could ever think of.
I prefer FCE Ultra, mainly because it has a button to speed up the game. However, it can be hard to find ROMs for certian games.
Say, is there a way to hook up an actual NES controller to a computer?
There are commercially available adaptors for PS2 controllers. I seem to remember a site somewhere giving instructions for performing a nes-to-PC conversion. Can’t remember where, though, and it likely involves solder.
Super Spike VBall/World Cup Soccer.
Two games in one. Hilarity.
My mistake. I was thinking of later games on other platforms that allowed multiple players.
Hell Yeah!
That game rocked. My college roomate and I played it all the time. I like games where you can team up, and we kicked butt on this one.
http://www.dreamcliff.com/personal/daniel/jump/index.html
This site has something that will allow you to connect up to five NES or SNES controllers to your PC’s parallel port. DIY instructions, kits, or the full thing available.
Now that you’re using an emulator, this opens you up to something that’s very difficult to play on a real NES: translations. The Whirlpool is a good place to find translation patches for NES games, as well as other consoles. Note: This site only handles patches, not the ROM images themselves. You’re on your own, there. You’ll need a tool (such as SNESTool or IPS, easily found at almost any emulation site) to apply the patches.
Technos Ice Hockey kicks all other hockey games in the teeth as far as I’m concerned. Lots of other unreleased Tecnhos games were translated, and they all rock.
This is bringing back memories… beating Final Fantasy for the first time, when I was 16, on a 386. Talk about sloooooooooooooowww…
My first thoughts were:
Blades of Steel
Dr. Mario
Jackal
Contra
Tecmo Bowl
As these have all been mentioned, I’ll submit some two player non-simultanous play games.
Arkanoid
City Connection (stupid but MASSIVELY addictive)
Super Mario 3
Freedom Force (with the light gun)
Golf
PinBot (my dad got into Nintendo Power! for his high score)
Skate or Die (had both modes, simultaneous and not)
Also, Anticipation and Jeopardy in the board game arena.
I have and still play all of these games. 
SNK made a really funny game called something like Ikakuru Warriors or something like that. It was an overhead shooter. Easy, but fun.
That would be Ikari Warriors. You actually liked that?
Of course, I have a cousin who likes Baby Boomer. That game is pure shite in a powder blue cartridge.
I was pretty young when I first played it, but yeah, I thought it was a pretty good game, and I think several other people loved it as well. I’ve seen it mentioned in various magazines and game forums as a classic. What did you dislike about it?
Jeopardy!
For a system with no keyboard, it’s a decent implementation. Yesterday I beat a friend 22400 to -1000, so I may be biased.
Yeah, Contra’s a good one… that’s one where I end up talking and coordinating extensively with the second player, which adds to the fun.
Also TMNT 2: The Arcade Game. Lots of fun unless the other guy dies and you’re stuck with a double helping of enemies…
Here’s one nobody metioned: “Quattro Sports”. The soccer game is great! And the BMX game is incredibly frustrating.
Other good ones:
Dr. Mario
Mario 3
Ice Hockey
Life Force
Duck Hunt where one guy shoots and the other controls the duck
North & South, Contra and Battle Toads! Also the Double Dragon game are cool with two people.
I was going to mention Tengen Tetris too! Tengen Tetris has a cooperative mode, where you play together on the same screen (ie it’s not split into two separate screens, you have to place your pieces together). It’s so hilarious to play this when you’ve been drinking just a little. 
“GET YOUR PIECE OUT OF THE WAY OF MY PIECE!!! AHH! NOOOOOOO!”
Ice Climber! The play control sucks in this game, but playing it with someone else is a treat.
Even though it’s not simultaneous, I have to say Super Mario Bros. 3. Especially strip SMB3 where you remove an article of clothing if you die.
… Not that I’ve done that.
If I met a woman who would do that with me, I’d propose with twenty-four hours.
Base wars – for those of us who thought regular baseball was boring.