Could there be a better combination than chicks in chainmail bikinis and zombies?  We think not, especially when we've featured both games in Co-Op Classics!  Brain eating undead and magic wielding warrior women are both headed to the Wii this week, via the Virtual Console service.

Twenty years ago today, the Sega Genesis was released in North America.  Known as the Mega Drive in Japan, the Genesis was a big hit.  The NES was dominant at the time, but that fabled console was a bit long in the tooth.  With the help of truly superb marketing (Sega does what Nintendon't!), and a certain blue hedgehog, the Genesis became Sega's most successful console.  It was also a great way to play co-op with a friend, with many stellar co-op games in the Genesis library.

Back in September, we reported that the reimagined Golden Axe game would lack any kind of co-op and that decision seemed to have been the death knell for the game. Today, Gamasutra posted part of a more in-depth interview that their sister publication, Game Developer magzine, had with Secret Level's Michael Boccieri. The interview is a fairly open and honest discussion about the challenges and difficult choices they had to make when they took on the task of bringing Golden Axe into the modern gaming age and is worth a full read. Of particular note, however, Boccieri had this to say about the removal of co-op:

This week's co-op session was a bit different.  With family over my house for my birthday party, my 5 year old nephew caught a glimpse of Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection sitting on my coffee table.  This of course meant he wanted to play it - and he wanted to play the games in co-op too!

This just in, from the "Why Didn't We Think of This First?" department.  Following up on a few previous news stories here, we bring you GamesRadar's list of the Top 7 Games that Should've Had Co-Op.  I must say, the list is a good one, though there are a few that should be there that aren't.

 Sega has just released a handful of new screenshots for their upcoming Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.  The collection features tons of classic Sega games like Phantasy Star 2, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage and more.  The best part is all of these games are upgraded to hi-definition graphics and most feature online play!

Sometimes, when a game DOESN'T have co-op, it's news worthy.  That's certainly the case for the remake/reimagining of one of our favorite co-op classics, Golden Axe.  Released next month, Golden Axe: Beast Rider will offer only a single player campaign.  That's right, no co-op mode, or any multiplayer features are available at all.  To make things worse, you can't even choose among the original three heroes; instead, the player will take on the role of Tyris Flare, only.  (To their credit, the developers promise that the other two heroes from the original will be featured in the story).  Of course, Tyris is wearing her obviously marketable chain mail bikini, pushing the borders of appropriateness.  This is, I suppose, reminiscient of the first Golden Axe.  Screenshots and videos indicate that the game is meant to evoke feelings of nostalgia, including beast riding (duh), potion gnomes, and even Black Adder, the big baddie himself.  It's too bad they missed the most important aspect: playing through with a friend.  Check this quote from Sean Ratcliffe, VP of Marketing at Sega: