Metal Warriors is a fantastic SNES mecha side scroller where you pilot various types of mechs which you get hop in and out of (some parts of levels can only be accessed with your little jetpack guy) and it has split screen multiplayer pvp which I used to play on an emulator over an ip connection with my friend on dial up like 20+ years ago.
I always used to confuse that game with Cybernator/Assault Suits Valken, it’s weird that they’re so similar, especially since Metal Warriors is a Western developed game.