Road Rash co-designer and programmer Dan Geisler joined in a bit of Reddit conversation about game remakes yesterday. A Reddit by the name of kybobs posed the question “Why hasn't this game resurfaced?” alongside a loading screen picture from a Sega Megadrive era Road Rash game. Surprisingly for kybobs and many other thread watchers, Geisler replied personally, saying he “just needed 20 years off” as he was burned out after developing the first three Road Rash games.
Road Rash is a motorcycle racing game in which it doesn’t pay to play fair. You control a motorcycle rider who is willing to push, punch, kick and cattle-prod opponents to win a race. It was also one of the first racing video games to feature “active traffic” while racing against your opponents.
Dan Geisler was the co-designer and programmer of Road Rash 1, 2 and 3. On Reddit yesterday he responded initially to the Road Rash remake request by saying “It hasn't resurfaced because I was burned out after Road Rash 3. 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, I’ll do a Kickstarter on it. btw thanks for the post.”
VG247 reports that later on Geisler said he would talk to EA in order to get rights to the Road Rash name, if possible. For programming the game he will probably use Unity for portability but the game would be heading to the “PC for sure”. Turning to the game’s mechanics Geisler said “I would keep the mechanics 2.5D. When you go full 3D physics I think you lose something. Although a new version would be in 3D, I’d restrict the physics as needed, because reality tends to suck.” He added that “I wanted the handling to be like the old mechanical arcade games. It was all about reaction time and picking a lane. Randy Breen the co-designer and producer of the game gave me a motorcycle physics book early in the project. I put it up on my shelf and never looked at it”.
Geisler was scornful of the Road Rash games EA produced after he left the development team. “They f***ed it up. I did 1, 2 and 3. Now it’s time for a 4,” he proclaimed.
In October last year Criterion Studios, famous for the Burnout series of racing action games, hinted that some kind of combative motorcycle title may be in the works. If this is under EA’s wing then it may not be possible for Dan Geisler to wrest control of the Road Rash name as it’s a definite clash of interests.
Would anyone back a Geisler made Road Rash revival on Kickstarter?
