9 Indie Video Games That SAVED Doomed Franchises
6. Road Rash Became Road Redemption
Road Rash was a 1991 motorcycle racing game for the Sega Genesis that had the amazing feature to punch, kick, and beat your opponents with weapons during the race. Originally conceived thanks to a developer at EA asking if he could take over production because he "wanted to make the game kick ass." Oh how great it would be to get promoted in all of our jobs that way?
Road Rash spawned a few sequels and spin-offs, including a skating game called Skitchin'. The successive games, as well as Skitchin' and the final installment - 2000's Road Rash: Jailbreak, failed to acquire the same praise the original did. Though to be fair the sequels also garnered slightly less controversy, given that it was 1991 and you literally beat other races with chains and clubs.
We skip ahead to 2009 when a man named Ian Fisch put out a blog post calling for EA to release a new Road Rash. After seeing no progress there he went to Kickstarter to fund his own spiritual sequel and acquired over over $170 thousand for what became Road Redemption. Though the $40 price tag was considered a little much for the game, given its glitches and poor balancing, many praised it for capturing the brutal arcade-like feel of the original Road Rash.