Road Rash Creator Hopes To Revive The Franchise

Dan Geisler, creator of the classic racing-combat game Road Rash would like to resurrect his magnum opus, assuming fans are interested in the idea.

Yesterday a Reddit user going by the nom de internet “kybobs” posted a thread to the site asking why the Road Rash franchise has seemingly vanished from the gaming industry. Much to kybobs’ surprise, his question was answered by none other than Dan Geisler, the man who created the series in the first place. Though Geisler was unable to explain the legal and technical issues preventing the creation of a new Road Rash title, he did offer fans a glimmer of hope for the future of the franchise.

“[Road Rash] hasn’t resurfaced because I was burned out after Road Rash 3,” Geisler writes. “But I’m ready to do another one now. I just needed 20 years off. I’m ready to make a better one now. I miss playing it too.”

“If there is enough interest, Ill do a Kickstarter [fundraising drive] on it,” Geisler adds.

Speaking as a child of the 90s who spent far too much time murdering my fellow racers at 90MPH with a well-placed taser blast to the ribs, this news is undeniably exciting. However, as we mentioned above, Geisler said nothing of the legal hurdles a new Road Rash title might face. The intellectual property of the series is owned by EA, which published the franchise in the first place. We don’t know what Geisler’s relationship with EA looks like, but it seems likely that to create a new Road Rash he’d need EA’s permission.

Then again, his willingness to start a Kickstarter drive to fund the creation of the game indicates that Geisler has, at the very least, ready access to the IP and some level of clout that would allow him to pitch the concept to EA, if nothing else. That, combined with the usual complications of game development mean that the creation of a new Road Rash game might be difficult, and it could be years before we see the finished product — if it ever emerges.

That said, forget cynicism. This is Road Rash we’re talking about. As unlikely as a new game in the franchise might be once all the realistic factors are taken into consideration, we desperately want to see the series revived. The modern gaming landscape is sorely lacking in motorcycle racing games, particularly those in which you’re rewarded for beating the stuffing out of your opponents with whichever makeshift weaponry you’re most comfortable clubbing/stabbing/electrocuting people with at high speeds. Hopefully Geisler can make things work, as we can’t even begin to imagine what a modern Road Rash might look like — well, beyond the copious amounts of blood and almost certain inclusion of gorgeous motion blur effects anyway.

Source: Reddit