I think you mean "was", considering it came out in 1994.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing_Commander:_Armada

You'll never understand gish until you play it, screenshots and even videos just can't explain what it's like to actually play the game. If you only rely on those you could be forgiven for thinking the game is just Sonic the Hedgehog with physics.

Only when you play the game do you realise that somehow the author accurately captured the feeling of being a semi-solid ball of goop with some kind of internal flywheel and variable mass and friction. Now try to imagine 2 of these blobs trying to squash, tear and throw each onto spikes and you have VS. mode.

Look at the controls and you'll realise this game is something truly unique.

Fortunately there's a demo available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

gish seems very purchaseable.

also i have to say : renegade ops is a fantastic 2-player same-screen game. my friend bought it for me the other day... easy to pick up, hard to put down.

http://youtu.be/DQwLYWixReE

why is nobody mentioning Heroes of Might and Magic 2/3 ? Also Doom2D

Forgetfulness.

I would like to add liero again because it is just that great.

I'm a bit shocked noone mentioned scorched earth though...

found scorched earth boring.

Then again, I enjoyed playing big red racing. if you are clever you can leave the track and moonbuggies are fun.

One game I always wished got more development was Tyrian Destruct - Destruct was a minigame hidden in Tyrian. It was an odd real-time Scorched Earth with a team of tanks. Each player had 5 tanks, like in Worms, but they were immobile, like in Scorched Earth. The kicker was it was real-time, like Liero. So you'd switch through your tanks and keep firing weapons. It was pretty flawed and nasty, but it was a very interesting take on the genre.

Dark alliances 2
Future Cop LAPD
Power rangers

YES!

I forgot all about that game, played it on PSX till my disk crapped out, loved it to bits. Precinct assault mode rocked.

future cop looks awesome!

Were cave-flyers any popular outside Finland? Wings 2 and Rocket Chase are probably the best ones to try.
You fly around in caves and shoot shit apart with various guns. Think Liero but with Asteroids-like movement, and more varied level design.

Also everyone knows Liero, but you should also try the game that inspired it, MoleZ. It's not that different but it's a cool change, it's better in many respects.

Then there's also Slicks'N'Slide, a top down racing game with weapons.

Hmm, all these games are made in Finland... Apparently so is Trine - is this just my limited vision or did ~all best splitscreen PC games come from here (Worms would be the lone exception)?


Edit: actually not sure about Wings 2, it was actually the original Wings that was the one we played in the 90's - not sure how 2 matches up.
Well, both can be gotten here:
http://www.jonneweb.net/pelit/category/4/
Wings 1.40 has both higher rating and more downloads, so maybe the 2 is just worse? Hard to say without trying.

Gunstar Heroes
(1-2p platformer/shooter)

future cop is pretty cool, at least the memories. (the 2 player vs-mode where you capture turrets and have to get a tank into the enemy base..no idea what rest of the game is like)

There are tons more of good same-monitor games, but most are pretty old and sometimes it shows :/
Superlow resolution,clunky controlls, no support for (modern) gamepads or just do not work..
I mean liero for example was great but not sure if I could still enjoy it today.
If you do not mind, then maybe also try:

Tank Arena (super original name, appearently the creator later worked on killzone for ps3)
http://www.jrouwe.nl/tank/
not sure how good this runs on modern computers, but was great fun.
2d tank combat with lots of levels and game modes.

Raiden 2
(cant find link)
shot'em up scrolling shooter

Clonk
http://www.clonk.de/?lng=en
There are several versions, do not remember which was best.
you are supposed to build a town, mine for resources and all that.
Somehow all the dudes always end up drowning in some mineshaft or exploding each other with firestones

also GeneRally...
http://alternative.gene-rally.com/

...and PUM
http://milzer.org/?page_id=28
think soldat, but much simpler and over the top.

I'm very happy for you if you liked GeneRally, but Slicks'n'Slide has the best top down racing of all time... best top down racing game of all time !

Micro Machines uber alles.

Battletoads, Battletoads in Battlemaniacs, Snake Rattle 'n' Roll

pocket tanks

Super Car 2 - Atari ST version
Lemmings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNL07BtCWUw

Always wished Spring Tanks would turn out that way.. with some TFC like classes..