Killer Instinct Review

Everone knows that Nintendo is not quite known for creating fighting games. The company is known for its signature Super Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda and Metroid games. However Nintendo teamed up with Rare to create a fighting game which used a technology similar to their hit 1994 game, Donkey Kong Country. The result was the arcade fighter Killer Instinct. The SNES version was releasd in 1995.
The story behind the game, as with most fighting games, is quite lame. An organisation called "Ultratech" is pitting various fighters against each other for its own ulterior motives. There are ten fighters which are Thunder, Cinder, Glacius, Fulgore, Jago, Orchid, Riptor, Sabrewulf, Spinal and T.J. Combo. The characters themselves show a fair amount of variation, from the ninja-ish Jago to the robotic Fulgore to the dinosaur Riptor to the red indian Chief Thunder. The boss is Eyedol. The game offers a vast amount of moves for each character, including special moves, secret "combo-breakers," ultra combos, finishing moves, humiliations (a bit like Mortal Kombat's "friendships"), stage fatalities and more. What Killer Instinct is really known for are the combos. Depending on the number of hits they range from "triple" to "blaster" to "monster" to "ultra." Despite all this variation, I only enjoyed a few characters like Jago, Combo, Cinder and Thunder.
Just as in the Donkey Kong Country games, the graphics are amazing. The backgrounds range from medieval castles to rooftops to factories to canyons. The fighters have fluid animation, flashy moves and various coloured outfits to choose from. The sound effects are not bad, but some characters make weird noises, for example, Cinder, Glacius and Riptor. The music is extremely well done. Each background has music which matches its atmosphere. I loved Jago's stage back then (a bit like Ryu's from Street Fighter II). The game controls quite well, but some attacks are unavoidable and quite often you'll get beaten up by some cheap move, despite how strategic you get. The game balance is also a bit off. If you want to win, choose Combo, Jago or Fulgore. If you want to lose, pick Sabrewulf, Riptor or Spinal. Ironically, the computer controlled Spinal provides a good challenge. Eyedol is also a worthy opposition, but like I said above, if you make a single wrong move somewhere, you may end up getting beaten up continuously until you die.
Overall however, for a company that's been making side-scrolling action games and adventure games, Killer Instinct is a surprisingly good effort in the fighting game department. If you want a really solid game for your SNES, with great graphics and music that will provide hours of fun and amusement, Killer Instinct is for you.

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