Imagine you gathered together a group of video game journalists and told them to recall their fondest memories of the classic Sega arcade game, Golden Axe. Now imagine you created a video montage of said journalists discussing said memories. Now imagine watching that video and not once hearing the word "multiplayer." Seems a little weird, no? And yet, not once in a new Golden Axe: Beast Rider mini documentary (embedded after the brdeak) does a single person mention one of the biggest (if not the biggest) features from the original Golden Axe, multiplayer. Now, we're not saying Beast Rider will be an awful game -- in fact, it looks pretty decent -- but come on. Really? Nobody remembers how awesome it was to take on Death Adder with a buddy? Nobody remembers how our brother used to kick us in the shins when our dwarf accidentally clipped his barbarian with our trusty battle axe?

Anyhway, the team at Secret Level seems to be pretty dedicated to the Golden Axe legacy. We just hope someone explains the lack of multiplayer. Somehow, we get the feeling that the answer will sound something like this: "Do you know how successful God of War is?"

The fall from grace. Unless your heart is nothing more than a cold, shriveled lump, you probably don't like to witness a once-respectable series slowly degrade. It's happened to many franchises. Often the decay is gradual, with gamers slowly noticing a decline in quality and is correlated with slumping sales. Other times a single misstep can throw an entire series against the ropes and nearly into submission. Either way, it's never pleasant to witness failure. Well, almost never.

What was once a prominent pillar in the stealth world has been slowly regressing into mediocrity. The Tenchu series was one of the first and most successful entries in the emerging stealth-based genre of the late 1990's. Though games involving evasive maneuvering over combat had been around for awhile, they truly flourished in 3D. From the onset, Tenchu was there. Peered with and rivaled against other top-notch franchises such as Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell, the word "Tenchu" was synonymous with heart-thumping, adrenaline-pumping sneaky gameplay. But everything eventually dies. And the Tenchu series received a terminal illness in the form of Tenchu: Dark Secret. Unless somebody steps in and performs some sort of miracle, we might have to talk to Tenchu fans about video game heaven. It's where all game franchises go when they pass away. All of Tenchu's friends are there, like Golden Axe, ToeJam & Earl, and Ecco the Dolphin (Sega, please prove me wrong on these).

It's been three months since we've seen any moving pictures from Golden Axe: In Name Only, but is that enough time to prepare yourself for a new trailer? Have you had enough time to get ready for footage of a title that's so clearly not a Golden Axe game that it's almost kind of adorable? Are you ready for "Not this day!" sure to be one of the classic video game lines of all time? Most importantly (and prominently), are you braced for the most gratuitous digital ass shot of this or any other decade?

Feel free to watch above, just don't say we didn't warn you.

As totally rad as arcade classic Golden Axe might have been in 1989, developer Secret Level's decision to axe co-op from the game's upcoming sequel is akin to castrating the series of the one thing that made it worth playing at all. Since hearing of the studio's misguided design choice, we've been pining for the opportunity to ask anyone who'd listen for an explanation, a chance we got this week at E3 when we cornered Sega's VP of marketing, Sean Ratcliffe.

"Rightly or wrongly, we don't have co-op multiplayer in the game," he offered, a statement that was met with a short, yet uncomfortable pause. "I think as much as anything it's taking inspiration from the original series but in terms of that multiplayer co-op the developer decided that they didn't want to take the game in that direction."

"If Golden Axe: Beast Rider is successful," he added, "we can then come back with something else that maybe will have the co-op mode that everyone is wishing this game has." Or, you know, you could give people what they want in the first place instead. Just a thought.

We were heartbroken to learn that the upcoming re-imagining of the once beloved arcade franchise, Golden Axe: Beast Rider, would not feature any co-op gameplay. Our faith in the title was admittedly shaken -- though this debut trailer has officially piqued our interest. After all, who needs friends when you have gigantic, mountable dinosaurs? Though we would have preferred to see some footage of some unassumping, puntable power-up gnomes, the combat in the above video certainly looks enticing -- though the gameplay featured in this preview might be lost on you if your monitor is unable to display the 400 shades of brown apparently used to create the game's visual aesthetic. May we suggest adjusting the title to the slightly more appropriate Burnt Sienna Axe?

The brand new console Golden Axe was on display at Sega's media day event. In this modern reimagining of this classic arcade game, players take on the role of Amazon warrior Tyris Flare. In a variety of skimpy outfits, players must vanquish the evil Darth Vader Death Adder. At Tyris' disposal are massive beasts -– and you'll do more than just ride them. These beasts are killing machines that can be used in a variety of ways.

These beasts are tools. According to Joystiq, "you don't heal them and care for them; you use them and grab another. But they're also alive. If they get attacked, you'll have to deal with a feisty beastie." Enemies also have access to beasts, so for those that are interested, you can "expect some hot beast-on-beast combat action."

Unfortunately, Golden Axe: Beast Rider will not feature co-operative play of any sort. Apparently, this was a conscious effort by the developers at Secret Level, to ensure that they refine the combat just right. Expect co-op in the myriad of sequels to follow, should Beast Rider proves to be successful.