Wrestling isn’t something we talk a lot about here, but when you think about it, the wrestling industry and videogames are very closely related.

From the dedicated Fire Pro community creating tons of custom content for the game, to Suda 51 putting wrestling references all over his games, to the annual WWE games.  It seems wherever you turn in videogames you are going to see some kind of wrestling reference.  It makes this current kickstarter project not a huge surprise, but this is certainly something different.

Rudo Resurrection is a 2.5D beat em up featuring the top stars of Chikara.  For those of you not familiar with Chikara, let me summarize.  Chikara is an independent wrestling organization based out of Philadelphia and it looked to change the image of wrestling by keeping things family friendly and enjoyable for all ages.  Chikara features over the top Lucha Libre influenced characters and surprisingly deep storylines featuring ancient artifacts and giant monsters courteous of it’s sister promotion Kaiju Big Battel.  The in ring action is heavily focused on tag teams and just like the characters, is heavily based on the Lucha Libre styles of high flying action.  Chikara is also famous for their Trios matches (three man tag teams) with the annual King of Trios tournament being their biggest event of the year.

If that all sounds perfect for a videogame, that is exactly what Rotary Games thought when they created this kickstarter.

Rudo Resurrection is inspired by the side scrolling beat ‘em up games that we love – games like Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, X-Men Arcade, TMNT, River City Ransomand others we played as kids. Our love of beat ‘em ups doesn’t stop there! We here at Rotary Games are also heavily influenced by some of the newer submissions to the genre like Castle Crashers, Shank and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Our game will pay homage to these classics and new games alike, while attempting to move the genre forward utilizing newer gameplay elements and cutting edge technology to make the experience feel new and fresh. With Rudo Resurrection, we hope to appeal to gamers of all ages and play style preferences, but especially the fans of eye-popping, comic book style graphics and beat ’em up style gameplay.

We’ve partnered with CHIKARA to utilize their colorful cast of characters in Rudo Resurrection. If you’ve ever wanted to see a comic book come to life, CHIKARA is for you! CHIKARA’s rich history and diverse characters will complement our action packed style of gameplay. Even if you aren’t a member of the CHIKARMY, Rudo Resurrection will still be a blast! If you are a fan of wrestling (casual or hardcore) or even just a fan of classic beat ’em up games, Rudo Resurrection will deliver loads of fun and action.

The game will feature classic beat em up gameplay but with a Chikara touch.  The characters moves will be based on the moves they perform in the ring and you will be able to form teams of trios, perform trios attacks, and tag in and out as you please.

The story for the game will also feature classic Chikara stylings…

The great and devious UltraMantis Black has long used CHIKARA as his own personal game of chess, using others as pawns in his nefarious plans. Lately, he has lost his grasp on CHIKARA as other factions and groups have taken control from him. This has led UltraMantis Black to hatch his most devious plan yet. He has assembled a dark army of familiar faces from CHIKARA’s past utilizing his knowledge of the dark arts. With a force so malevolent, UltraMantis Black will not only seize control of CHIKARA but the entire world. It is up to the members of the CHIKARA roster to rise up and face UltraMantis Black and his undead atrocities and to put an end to his tyrannical, totalitarian rule.

The Goal Rotary Games is asking on this project is $50,000 and with 11 days left they have only raised $15,000.  There is still time to get the word out though, consider hopping over to the kickstarter page and dropping a pledge down is this interests you.  The game is set to release on PC if the project is funded and will be utilizing the new Unreal 4 game engine.