(LAST UPDATE: 6/29/09)
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Developer(s): Rare
Publisher(s): Midway (Arcade), Nintendo (SNES/Game Boy)
Designer(s): Chris Tilston, Kevin Bayliss, Mark Betteridge
Platform(s): Arcade, Super Nintendo, Game Boy
Release: October 1994 (Arcade), August 1st 1995 (SNES), November 1995 (Game Boy)
Characters: Orchid, Jago, Combo, Glacius, Thunder, Riptor, Sabrewulf, Cinder, Fulgore, Spinal, Eyedol
Related Games: Killer Instinct 2, Killer Instinct Gold
Story: A tournament
held by Ultratech soon turns to a battle for survival. Fighters from agencies,
temples, castles, labs, and outer space converge with different vendettas
and a common goal, to be "Champion Of Ultratech."
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Review:
Killer
Instinct was a 2D fighting game, using impressive-at-the-time 3D-like
digitized graphics, and also introduced the biggest combos ever to be seen in fighting game.
KI also featured a fatalities and humiliations and every character
(heavily inspired by the likes of Mortal Kombat 2 ). At it's debut,
the way Killer Instinct looked made it seem like somewhat of a rip off of Mortal Kombat, but may
have actually offered
a superior gameplay experience (in some opinions).
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The gameplay
at the time was something different from the norm, and was very combo
oriented... There were a variety of ways to set up and finish combos, and
with an ultra/finishing combo (initiated when a fighter's health was low)
skilled players could pull off combos upward of 70-hits or more, which always
impressed any bystanders at the arcade. 
The game also featured "combo breakers" which were pretty damn cool
looking, but probably caused 75% of all cabinets to have to be repaired, since mashing
random buttons and the d-pad sometimes worked quite well. 
Although there was no "dash," all the characters had a decent variety of
moves, and a good variety of combo possibilities. Killer Instinct also
introduced the "double life bar"... instead of winning two rounds,
each fighter starts the fight with two bars of energy. There's a brief pause
when a fighter loses their first bar, then the match resumes. That small detail
was another attribute made KI "stand out" as a unique fighting
game.
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Each cabinet also featured a "highest combo record" for each
character, which was fun for skilled players trying to get their initials on the
list... *sigh* Simpler times.
Killer Instinct also had the arguably the best soundtrack at the time, and graphics
also impressed
in the mid 90s. The character designs were also well done, all of which had
interesting play styles... Still highly memorable characters to this day. The
SNES port was a decent console port at the time, though it differed greatly from
the arcade version both in graphics and gameplay slightly. Many graphical
effects were missing from the home version, such as the awesome FMV character
victory sequences, and the background "scrolling back" as characters
moved apart (which was arguably the KI's most awesome graphical effect). In the
arcade version during certain combos on "building top" stages, the
camera angle would change dramatically, showing a birds-eye view as the airborne
character was launched, only to fall ALLLL the way back down to get hit a few
more times... *sigh* Good times. Good times.
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- Review is for Arcade version of Killer Instinct - |
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9 / 10 |
Closing Comment:
I have to admit... When I first saw Killer Instinct in the arcades, I
didn't like it... As an 11 year old Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat fan, I was like
"that's stupid, they're trying
to be like Mortal Kombat." Then after pulling off my first Ultra Combo,
I was hooked... 
I anxiously awaited the SNES home port (picking it up on the first day of
course), and though it wasn't nearly as impressive as the arcade version, I
played the hell out of the home version. Then I appreciated the arcade
version even more... I really missed those awesome camera angles and projectile
effects in the SNES version. 
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Good old Killer Instinct was no doubt a memorable and
quality fighting game for it's time... Graphically impressive, fun, and
innovative. Although the arcade intro itself ended up lying about it's "home release in
1995 on the "Ultra 64." No need to patch the error... Just leave it as is. 
Hilarious. ~F.Yagami,
Webmaster
of TFG
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