Inspired-to-Independent Sistas

Another sprite-made bros pose. This time, being of a pair of indie platform games once obviously shown to be inspired by certain 90s gaming mascots (and I can't believe I'm the only one who could really make this kind of connection). On the left is Giana, everyone's favorite Mario knockoff with original copies being harder to locate than the Holy Grail, or at least that's what I got from and Wez in their top 10 gaming rip-offs. Later on, Giana would see the light of day again on the DS with that game being made by her original (and sadly now deceased) creator Armin Gessert from Time Warp Productions. She would later see her spotlight in the indie gaming market in Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, developed by Black Forest Games, which was praised by many. On the right is Sash Lilac from Freedom Planet, the premier game of GalaxyTrail Games made by Stephen DiDuro. Originally, it was shown to attenders at SAGE as a Sonic fangame, but DiDuro lost interest in making something derivative (and he doesn't mean for it to be your void-filler after playing Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric) and wanted to make his own product, turning Lilac into an anthropomorphic water dragon with some tweaked garb and the lady who voiced Germaine from Neurotically Yours (Dawn Michelle Bennett). Bit like 50 Shades of Grey when you think about it, only less sucky. So, we can consider them the ideal Mario and Sonic of the indie game market, respectively. And as of now, they each have sequels on the way, isn't that exciting?
More minor connections include:
*They collect gems along the way
*They are known to spin

Giana Sisters is owned by Time Warp Productions/Black Forest Games
Freedom Planet is owned by
The Frollo Show is owned by Chincherrinas