Killer Instinct

The Good
Released in 1995, Killer Instinct was a fighting game from Rare and Nintendo. It is nothing more than a lame rip-off of Mortal Kombat, and just about every other 2D fighter from that era. Thankfully it is mostly forgotten today. The few that remember it seem to like it. Yet I suspect that many of them only like the game because it is forgotten, because this game is lousy.

There is nothing good about this game. It is not fun. The characters are lame. It sucks. Oh wait, I thought of a good thing this game offers, it shows how much better other fighting games are. And also shows that Rare is an overrated developer. Now on to the bad aspects of the game.

The Bad
The claptrap plot of Killer Instinct involves a fighting tournament called originally enough Killer Instinct. And the tournament plot is none to original either. This dubious contest is put on by an evil corporation, more originality from Rare. Some of the fighters want to win, others are out to stop the corporation. By helping it and fighting in it…..right.

Speaking of the fighters you have got to get a load of these lame asses. There is the Raptor, ripped from Jurassic Park and named properly enough Riptor. Glacius, the ice using fighter, that is a knock of Subzero, hell some of his attacks are identical. There is the Indian fighter, a lame knock off T. Hawk from Street Fighter. The even ripped off Eternal Champions, a little known fighter from the Genesis, with the female ninja that knocked of Shadow from EC.

Where Street Fighter, had some characters with normal names like Ryu and Ken. Every single combatant in this tripe has a comic book name, and no that is not a good thing. With names like, Fulgore, Jago, and Spinal.(What no tap?) It’s just lame. Even over the top Mortal Kombat has some normal named fighters Liu Kang, etc. Furthermore the fighters make no sense. It seems like the game makers just sat down and came up with fighters that they think would be cool in a game. But anyone with half a brain,(I.e. not those who enjoy this game.) will think a werewolf vs. a cyborg vs. a ninja vs. a dinosaur? WTF?

The entire game is based around combos. Which is simply moronic. As many are impossible to pull off with the shitty SNES pad. Yet the A.I. has no trouble doing 50 hit combos, right, that’s called Bullshit. The A.I. also likes to stand in a corner and constantly execute the same moves. Fun. The fatalities, yes, they ripped off the name from MK, don’t even look cool they are quite lame to be honest. The one thing they did not rip off MK is one of the few things that would have made the game better that being an “M” rating. Yes this game is only “T”.

Even the sound and graphics were ripped off. The “realistic” fighters are Mortal Kombat. As are the cheesy voice overs. Danger! Killer Instinct! Shit Sandwich! Okay, I made up that last one. The “techno” sound track is not really techno at all. And if it were it would be the worst the genre had to offer.

The Bottom Line
It really is a shame that this game is remembered at all. As it deserves to be forgotten. Nowadays people are so quick to say that some thing is a rip off or clone of something else. For example I have seen morons say that Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is a rip off GTA. Yet those same morons do not realise the Killer Instinct is a clone of Mortal Kombat, and just about every other better fighter out there. Unless you want to punish yourself stay away from this game.

The Good
This was the first game for Gameboy I ever had. I'm sure glad I have it. This is a wonderful fighting game on any standards. I've always been a fan of Mortal Combat but this game is better. Wonderful sound and tons of levels and enemies. This game is an excellent gem game. It has many attacks and maneuvers with challenging gameplay. An excellent storyline and a crazy hard boss.

The Bad
This is a wonderful game and there's really not much I didn't like. Really, all I didn't like is that you couldn't save your progress.

The Bottom Line
Killer Instinct is an amazing fighting game that every fighting/martial arts fan should have. If you liked Mortal Combat, you'll love Killer Instinct. This game has amazing sound and levels with tons of enemies. An advanced gameplay and AI, this is a game that you'll cherish forever.

The Good
Killer Instinct (KI) is the king of SNES one-on-one fighters, as well as one of the prettiest games available for the console – despite the inherent graphical limitations that keep this conversion from completely matching the arcade original. The soundtrack is an appropriately driving techno/industrial mix.

There is an outstanding mix of characters fitting a variety of different styles and archetypes (martial artist, boxer, amazon, ice-man, fire-man, wolf-man, cyborg, etc.). In short, the cast is both well-balanced and full of personality – for a fighting game, at any rate. The number of characters, along with the seemingly endless number of combinations (some of them hidden), gives this title considerable replay value. Tournament play is available for one or two players, and there is also a practice mode that is very useful in learning how to execute the complicated combo moves and combo breakers.

The Bad
The combo moves were influential on the rest of the tournament fighting genre, but they are also KI’s biggest flaw. Fighting without using combos is a sure way to lose, and they are often quite difficult to master. The gamepad makes things both better and worse; the buttons are nice and close together for fast pressing, but the directional pad isn’t as good for smooth rotating motions as an arcade joystick is.

KI can be rather frustrating, especially since its AI seems to cheat. Believe me, it’s a lot better at pulling off those “impossible” 80-hit combos than any human player would be. Also, you can be fairly successful (but not dominant) just by mashing buttons in random combinations. This makes the game easy to get into, but then you’ll hit a wall when you attempt to go from smashing buttons to smashing your opponents with any kind of consistency. Frankly, I don’t know how many gamers out there will have both the skill and the patience to really master KI. I’m sure they exist, but I’m certainly not one of them.


The Bottom Line
The game that stole some of the 16-bit thunder from Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct will be a hit with fighting game fans who like colorful characters and combo systems. If you don’t like combo moves, though, you should avoid KI at all costs.