Killer Instinct

Download Killer Instinct and experience the intensity of this classic fighting game! Choose from a diverse roster of fighters, each with unique abilities and combos, and battle your way to the top. Are you ready to face the challenge? Play now!
a game by Rareware
Genre: Fighting Games
Platforms: SNESSNES, Arcade, GameBoy
Editor Rating: 6.9/10, based on 13 reviews, 14 reviews are shown
User Rating: 6.8/10 - 15 votes
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See also: Download Fighting Games, Arcade Games, Games Like Mortal Kombat
Killer Instinct
Killer Instinct
Killer Instinct

Killer has finally come home! Home to the 16-bit SNES, that is. This version of Killer isn't flawless, but it is surprisingly addictive and fun to play.

Natural Born Killer

In a bleak and desolate future, one corporation reigns supreme: Ultratech. Makers of advanced weaponry, they are also the sponsors of the top-rated Killer Instinct TV show, in which warriors from all walks (and crawls) of life compete for the right to call themselves the best...and to be granted anything their hearts' desire. The ten warriors slated for this version have many different desires. Some want fame and fortune; others want n all want to pound their enemies into submission.

The range of fighters, from an alien life form to a disgraced heavyweight boxer to Ultra-tech's deadliest robot, possess their own brand of brawling. Some use fists and feet, some use projectiles and claws, while others teleport, slide, and change form to win the battle. There won't be a dull moment during the bouts.

This unique fighting game works on a very fast, very simple, and quite effective combo system. Instead of your normal one-button, one- hit fighting style; you sometimes chain together 3 to 21 hits in a few button presses. While this style of combos is not for everyone and may irk fighting purists, it's certainly entertaining and fun to watch... the first time.

But ultimately, you end up doing a lot of watching. What fun is it to stand by and watch another player of advanced skill whip you until you scream "Uncle!"? Although moves called Combo Breakers enable you to break free from this barrage of beastly brutality, they don't work all the time.

Adding further to the humiliation are...Humiliations. Humiliations are embarrassing moves that totally disgrace your opponent by, for example, farting on them, exposing yourself to them, or otherwise robbing them of their dignity. The many other finishing moves will also do the job of making your enemy feel like a putz.

Basic Instinct

Although the arcade version broke ground with its rendered combatants, don't expect anything close to that here. The graphics are good -- but not great -- with lots of choppy movement and missing frames of animation.

ProTips:

  • Most players have a quick three-hit combo that starts with a Fierce Punch followed by a Medium Kick.
  • If you land a Monster or Awesome combo, try throwing a projectile just before your opponent lands.

The backgrounds are nowhere near the quality of the arcade version, and some of the better background effects, like knocking enemies off the high-rise and onto the roof of a parked car on the street below, were taken out. The scaling in and out of the stages that appeared in the arcade is absent as well.

The sounds vary between okay and awful. Some fighter's sounds are intact, like Sabrewulfs howling and whimpering, but some sound effects, like Fulgore's Teleport, are just a dismal din.

The music permeates each stage with a thumping house mix, but there's little variety. Also missing is the announcement of the combos, which amped the arcade excitement.

Control is not too difficult. Special moves can be regularly applied because most are fireball and Dragon Punch motions. You can also easily string together lots of moves for combos. But the tougher combos (like the Ultra and Ultimate) are button presses that need to be performed during another combo, which makes for a lot of confusion on the joypad.

KI Is OK

If you loved Killer in the arcade, you'll be slightly disappointed but not upset by this version. If you've always wanted to play Killer but were intimidated by the Killer Stinkers who seemed to always hang around the machine, this is a good version to practice on.

All in all, it's a good game with some flaws. It isn't as deep as Street Fighter or as well made as MK II, but it's in contention with those brawlers. Maybe not a Killer, but definitely a felon.

Download Killer Instinct

SNES

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
  • Pentium II (or equivalent) 266MHz (500MHz recommended), RAM: 64MB (128MB recommended), DirectX v8.0a or later must be installed
Arcade

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
Gameboy

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP

Game Reviews

If you're a fan of collectible card games like MagicThe Gathering, VampireJhe Masquerade or Rage and also happen to be a devotee of Nintendo's Killer Instinct, then we've got some news for you:Topps, Nintendo and Rareware have joined unholy forces to create the Killer Instinct collectible card game. Like other games of its ilk, the KI game will be available in starter decks (decks of around 60 cards which allow you to begin playing immediately) and booster packs (packs of around ten cards which allow you to customize your deck with other cards of different abilicards and will naturally be similar to the arcade game, but at the same time, will be a wholly different sort of experience. Look for the KI collectible card game on sale at your favorite pop culture shoppe in April.

Nintendo's fast-action fighting game of combo moves has been shrunk down and packed into the Game Boy. Now, you can take your favorite fighters anywhere you go in portable form and battle your way up the fighting scale of warriors on the go.

Besides the most obvious loss of Riptor, the characters remain the same. The moves and combos are the same for each character. But in this portable version, the ability to build up a great amount of attacks appears to have been lost in the conversion process. The programmers seem to have forgotten to bring over the one feature that made KI different from rest of the fighting game masses--combos. The combos are still included, but even experienced players will have difficulty putting together anything more than just a monster combo.

The appearance of the stages and the characters are decent and fairly close to real even for the miniature screen of the Game Boy. There is even changing background music (clicks and pops) that is almost as upbeat as its color big brother. The sound effects are the only area of irritation even in portable form. They sound like nothing more than two different tones of someone dragging a shoe across concrete. The louder noises are representative of a hit and the quieter ones mean that the opponent has blocked or that the move missed.

If you can't get enough of KI no matter where you look, try the Game Boy version. If you are looking for a new thrill, pass on this one and stick to what the Game Boy does best: puzzle and minimal action games.

People say:

2.0

Nintendo really butchered this game when they converted it over to the Game Boy. I wasn't expecting much, but this shouldn't have even been attempted. The graphics are pixelized beyond reasonable limits. They even removed Riptor, my favorite character. The audio is a series of bland beeps. Worse yet is the control. You can't differentiate between weak and strong hits, making many special moves impossible to do. Not even good while on the Super Game Boy.

2.0

Another example of an arcade translation that should never have been attempted on the Game Boy. It's fairly simple to figure out why this version of KI is going to go belly up. How can you expect a six-button game to be played on a two-button portable and still be remotely close enough to slap the same name on it? The character animations are a joke, the graphics are hideous and the sound is much more pleasant turned off if you're going to attempt playing this one!

3.0

This game should not have been converted to Game Boy. Being a fairly good player on the arcade version of KI, I thought I could at least pull off a few combos, but I was sadly mistaken. I couldn't pull off more than a six-hit before the computer turned around and pulled off a 22-hit Ultra. The fighters are pixelized almost beyond recognition and the "blip" and "bleep" sounds are annoying. If you own a Game Boy and really want KI, try it first.

3.0

This game's main draw was the intense graphics and killer sounds. Obviously the look doesn't translate to a portable system nor do the infamous sounds. Combos and moves are pretty easy to do, but the fact remains--it just looks weak on a portable. Only die-hard fans will really be able to get into it enough to sacrifice the graphics. One drawback is the limited buttons for pulling off classic arcade combos. It is an impressive job for what was intact, but why bother?

Yes! Here it is. Killer Instinct for the Super NES. This conversion looks pretty good and appears to have all the same moves as the arcade version, but will it be able to match it... or beat it? According to information acquired at the show, players can expect it to be the closest conversion from the arcade possible. Will the home version draw in as many players as the arcade version did? Do you want to see the finishing moves, humiliations and the killer combos that made the arcade game such a smash? Be sure to mark I the date when this game m comes out in the stores on your calendar and reserve your copy!

  • Manufacturer: Nintendo
  • Machine: Super NES

Here's one port-over from the arcade that looks and plays almost as good as the original! It's got a new combo structure and features some very kickin' tunes. The only drawback is that this was originally intended for the Ultra 64. Oh well...

  • Machine: Super NES
  • Genre: fighting
  • Players: 1 or 2
  • Publisher: Nintendo
  • Developer: Rare LTD

On March 30, 1994, Nintendo announced its first Ultra 64 game, Killer Instinct. Players drooled in anticipation. Its unveiling at last year's Summer CES was met with mixed reactions - it looked great, but most were expecting a 3-D game like Sega's Virtua Fighter. Still, that didn't stop the coin-op version of KI from smoking up the arcades, captivating players with hot rendered graphics, wicked combos, and flying blood. The anticipation for the rumored 'better-than-arcade' U64 version reached a fever-pitch. Then, with last May's announcement that the Ultra had been pushed back to next April, Nintendo stunned us yet again with a Super NES version of Killer Instinct. It wasn't 64-bit, but at least we wouldn't have to wait until April for a home version.

The result is a game that plays, looks, and feels like a cheaper version of the original. Don't get me wrong - it's amazing that Nintendo and Rare were able to fit the game on 16-bit at all, much less have it look as good as it does. But you've gotta remember that this game was originally made to take players to a new level of videogaming. This was to be the title that justified the need to upgrade to a more powerful machine like the Ultra 64. And the Super NES version, while still amazing in its own right, falls way short of its arcade counterpart. Some fairly major details were left out entirely, especially concerning backgrounds, special effects, and camera tricks.

Still, the game plays the same. Every move and combo has been faithfully ported over, and KI fans will find that all their hard-learned skills from the arcade will work just as good on the Super NES. The only real drawback the game ever had was that, other than the expansive combo system, it offered little over the standard fighting-game genre. But if quick fireballs, Dragon-Punch combos, and a little blood are all that you need to satisfy your 'Killer Instinct', then this game wins on all counts. GP

Hey, Killer Instinct has grabbed the arcades by the short hairs! If you think you've got what it dreams takes, let me take you by the hand and lead you down the path to Combo hell.

Come on, it's fun - really. This is the bloodiest game Nintendo has ever been associated with and, with its rendered characters and gloomy soundtrack, you're looking at a gory eyeful of beat 'em up goodness.

But first, here's a few words for the uninitiated:

Combos - The whole game is based around building combinations of moves. The more moves you can string together, the more damage you do, and the more points you rack up. Each character has a couple of button/joystick combinations that result in more than one hit. The idea is to find which moves flow naturally into each other, string them out, and reduce the opponent to a bloody mess. I've avoided giving all but a couple of the most impressive numbers (35 hit combos? Woo boo!), since that would fill a whole magazine by itself. GP

  • Manufacturer: Nintendo
  • Machine: Super NES

Here's one port-over from the arcade that looks and plays almost as good as the original! It's got a new combo structure and features some very kickin' tunes. The only drawback is that this was originally intended for the Ultra 64. Oh well...

  • Machine: SNES.
  • Manufacturer: by Nintendo.

Killer Instinct Knocks 'em Dead

Are fighting games still going to be the big sellers when the next generation systems hit the U.S. this fall? Sega, Sony, and Nintendo are counting on it. Each of these industry heavyweights is using cutting-edge brawlers to push their systems. However, with Sega's Virtua Fighter almost two years old and Sony's Toshinden an unknown title, Nintendo's award-winning Killer Instinct may be the big winner for the Ultra 64.

When Killer Instinct made its debut in limited test sites late last year, some players found themselves waiting for hours just to get a brief taste of the Nintendo/Williams technological wonder.

'The game has done incredibly well in all the test sites it was featured,' said Roger Sharpe, a spokesman for WMS industries. Williams is currently distributing the title in several major markets and malls all over America. 'They're lined up outside of the arcade just dying to try it.'

Killer Instinct shows off the capabilities of Nintendo's Ultra 64. However, a few gamers remain skeptical. When Game Players took to the arcades and talked to players, some said the game looked like 'Mortal Kombaton steroids,' while others commented that it didn't look much different from anything they'd seen before. It may take games like Cruis'n' USA and a rumored Mario title to impress jaded gamers and convince them that the Ultra 64 is a system they absolutely must have.

Ultimately, none of this may matter if the rumored Sony/Midway deal goes through, which would box Mortal Kombat 3 exclusively with the PlayStation.

Killer Instinct is a fighting game released in 1994 by Midway and Nintendo. The game was developed by Rare and was initially released for Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and Game Boy. The game was later followed by a spin-off called Killer Instinct 2. Killer Instinct was later on ported to Nintendo 64.

The game is similar to other fighting games. The player controls a character and has to beat an opponent in a one-on-one encounter. The attack moves are borrowed from Street Fighter and the finishing moves are inspired from Mortal Kombat, so we can’t say this game brings something unique to the market. However, it has something that distinguishes the game from other ones.

The player has a double energy bar. Each energy bar can be considered as a round of the battle. If the player loses a life bar, the fight stops and resumes again right away. The player who depletes the rival’s second life bar wins.

Combos can be easily performed in Killer Instinct. Instead of pressing buttons in a specific sequence, players can assign a special move to a key and this leads to the character delivering a string of hits with ease.

Finishing moves are similar to the ones in the Mortal Kombat series. Each character has its own set of finishing moves. The finishing moves can only be applied in special moments of the game, such as the moment when the opponent’s life bar flashes red.

One of the attack moves can be an ultimate combo, which allows a player to deliver a long string of hits, most of the time surpassing 20. If a player is caught within a combo, he can perform a combo breaker. This is a designated move which helps the character to break out of the combo before he is killed.

The story follows Ultratech, which is a powerful megacorporation that organized a tournament called exactly like the game, Killer Instinct. But not only normal competitors fight for the title, but also creatures made by Ultratech, who wants to test their strengths. The megacorporation manages to find a technology which can make bridges between dimensions, and signs up for the tournament a monster called Eyedol from another dimension.

Killer Instinct was well received by the press and players, being rated on GameSpot with a total average of 9 out of 10. The game for SNES received a total feedback of 8.6, while critics and press rated it with 8.2. The game for Game Boy was not a hit and was only rated with 6.7 by the players, and with a humiliating 2.7 by critics and press.

Killer Instinct is a fighting game, that received a high profile launch on the Super Nintendo, as well as on the Game Boy. It was developed by Rare, Midway and Nintendo. Initially released in arcades in 1994, and rumored to use an "Ultra 64" hardware engine, in reality the proprietary arcade hardware was co-developed by Rare and Midway.

Killer fans have nothing to worry about. Their favorite fighting game has shrunk, but still packs a powerful punch. The best portable fighter? Yep! Right after Street Fighter II for the Game Boy.

The Hit Parade

Although Riptor and Cinder were trimmed for memory's sake, the classic elements of KI were kept in-multiple-hit combos, fatalities, and fast gameplay are all here.

The story line is the same: best two-out-of-three rounds wins the Killer Instinct tournament. You get special moves, standard punches and kicks, and long-lasting ultra combos for each player.

How is this achieved with two buttons when the original KI was a six-button game? Hold a button down for a fierce punch or kick, or tap it for a weak punch or kick. This makes the control a little awkward but still masterable.

Killer Filler

The grainy graphics are dull... if you're comparing this game to the SNES version. For the Game Boy, however, the graphics are clean and fast, with lots of detail for such a small screen. And surprisingly, this is a game that looks and plays better on the Game Boy than on the Super Game Boy.

Although you won't hear an announcer state how many hits you've registered (as in the 16-bit version), you will hear some funky rhythms and some pretty tinny punches and kicks. ProTip: Crank some tunes on your Walkman, instead.

Basic Instinct

Killer fans will want to take this show on the road, because their favorite game is just as much fun on the green screen. Any GB enthusiast facing a long backseat ride home will enjoy this game. Street Fighter II Game Boy has a little more in the gameplay area, but Killer Instinct is more fun.

ProTips:

  • Add hits to the end of a combo with Spinal's Morph (tap Down, Down, Kick during any combo).
  • For more hits at the end of a combo, throw on the Shockwave (Down, Down-Toward, Toward, and tap Punch) or the Liquidize (Down, Down-Toward, Toward, and tap Punch).
  • End any multiple-hit (four or more) combo with the Phoenix (Down, Down-Toward, Toward, then tap Kick) and you have the Killer Combo.
  • You can string together a good combo starting with the Flik Flak (charge Away two seconds, then Toward and tap Kick). When opponents come in close, press Away and Kick.
  • Jago's Wind Kick Is usually the beginning of a long combo. Block against it.
  • Counter Fulgore by jumping the minute he begins to teleport.

The juggernaut of fighting games is now available for Game Boy! This is a game that, release weekend, outsold DKC and Earthworm Jim. I can't imagine why; it is far from the best fighting game. I guess hype goes along way nowadays...

Putting a game, such as this, on Game Boy seems a bit silly to me, but there are many out there ( who would disagree.This version, while laughable, graph-i ically, does retain most of its playability along with the character moves. So, even though you can't tell what's going on, rest assured that Glacius is throwing his snow ball- or whatever he does.

The question you must ask yourself before buying this game is: Did I like the SNES version because j of how good it looked, versus the arcade version, or because of how it played. If the latter is your response, check this out. If not, avoid this one.

Snapshots and Media

Arcade Screenshots

SNES/Super Nintendo/Super Famicom Screenshots

GameBoy Screenshots

See Also

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Mortal Kombat
Prepare yourself! The #1 arcade hit is here: from Sub-Zero, Rayden and the rest of the Kombat Warriors to the grueling endurance and intense mirror matches! Execute bone-shattering combos and awesome finishing moves! Defeat the half-human dragon Goro, and destroy the shape-changing Shang Tsung to become the Supreme Mortal Kombat Warrior!