History Main / ColorCodedMultiplayer

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' started out as merely a parody of this trope. [[spoiler:Later, the Reds and Blues discovered that the two armies who were pitted against each other were just simulations for Freelancer Agents to train. Which finally, after most of eight seasons, actually made the Reds' and Blues' really mad.]]
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* In the ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' franchise, Player 2 is traditionally yellow (only in ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamCourse'' was the yellow Kirby named "Keeby.") Allegedly, this is because Kirby's creator, Masahiro Sakurai, and Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto disagreed as to what color Kirby should be: Sakurai wanted pink, Miyamoto wanted yellow. Sakurai won out, but yellow Kirby was kept as Kirby's secondary color as a MythologyGag.

* Atari's ''VideoGame/{{Combat|Atari2600}}'' for the UsefulNotes/Atari2600 has different-colored tanks, biplanes, and jet fighters for each player. Likewise also Mattel's ''VideoGame/ArmorBattle'' for the UsefulNotes/{{Intellivision}}.

* The Link Arena mode in the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' games assigns blue units to the first player slot, green units to the second slot, red units to the third slot, and purple units to the fourth slot.

* Atari's ''VideoGame/{{Combat}}'' for the UsefulNotes/Atari2600 has different-colored tanks, biplanes, and jet fighters for each player. Likewise also Mattel's ''VideoGame/ArmorBattle'' for the UsefulNotes/{{Intellivision}}.

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Gradius}} Salamander]]'', a spinoff of the original ''Gradius'', has one player piloting a blue ship and the other player a red ship. These ships were later identified as the Vic Viper from the original ''Gradius'' and the newly-introduced [[ShoutOut Lord British]] (or [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Road British]], as it was called in the localization of the NES port) and they actually have different sprite designs in the arcade version. The Lord British would later appear as a selectable ship in ''Gradius Gaiden'' for the [=PlayStation=].

** ''VideoGame/WarcraftII'' attributes a separate faction (though the game isn't advanced to support every faction's individuality like naval units or mages) to each color: red orcs are Blackrock, blue humans are Stormwind, purple humans are Dalaran, purple orcs are Twilight's Hammer, etc.
** ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' has twelve colors (and black, usually reserved for neutral units but units can be made to appear one color), but the colors can be swapped out in-game to blue for your units, teal for allies, and red for enemies regardless of ownership.

* ''Shadow of the Ninja'' assigns the first player the purple-clad ninja Hayate and the second player the orange-clad kunoichi Kaede. Their sprites are different, but their movesets are identical.
* In ''Ninja Crusaders'', the first player controls Talon a red ninja, while the second player controls the blue-clad Blade.

In two-player games, you typically see Red and Blue; four-player games almost always add Yellow and Green. Red and Blue have historically been used, such as the red and blue corners in boxing, whereas the other two are included for ChromaticArrangement.

* In ''Super Sprint'', the first player controls a blue car, the second player controls a red car, and the third player controls a yellow car. The AI-controlled drone cars are always gray.
* In ''Super Off Road'', player one controls a red truck (or optional dune buggy if they play the Track Pak version), player two controls a yellow truck, and player three controls a blue truck. The AI-controlled truck of "Ironman" Ivan Stewart (or "Lightning" Kevin Lydy in current re-releases) is white, though it appears gray due to graphical limitations. The NES version had a green truck in place of the white truck if four human players compete.

%%* ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'', ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'', and other first person games at the time followed suit.

* {{Euro Game}}s commonly use color-coded pieces for worker placement and scoring.

* In ''VideoGame/PacManArrangement1996'', the second player controls a green Pac-Man, while player 1 plays as the classic yellow Pac-Man. Both otherwise play identically.

** ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' lets players be Kirbies of different colors, but they can also choose between King Dedede, Meta Knight, or Waddle Dee, who don't have Kirby's trademark PowerCopying, but they do have [[DropTheHammer their]] [[CoolSword own]] [[BladeOnAStick weapons]].

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros''