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.