Killer Instinct and I.

Many have come to discover that Killer Instinct is my defacto fight series to play. While I do of course adore Street Fighter, Taiyo High School, and Punch out. Killer Instinct wasn't my introduction to the fighting genre. This was given to that of Tekken. Killer Instinct I made the encounter when watching several fighting game videos years ago to better understand the genre.

The character line up for Killer Instinct was absolutely random, I favored such due to the fact the other fighting games I had run into. Were on the wall with their performances and rather cast were completely humanoid with an "evil" side. I'm aware KI 2013 gave off evil characters, it was far to late for them to do so for me not to care for it.

Suppose I'll begin with my opinion on the first title of course...

I simply was new to the Arcade emulation sequence of course and Killer Instinct was the first title I was more then prepared to take on. It was a mess, it was far to button oriented then I had realized and because of it. I was placed in a realm of helplessness. Nevertheless I still attempted to play on! Throughout the years Orchid would be the one who would put a hole in my speedrun attempts. I went from that of Sabrewulf to Glacius, ultimately ending up on my main and favorite Jurassic characters to date, Riptor!

Video of my gameplay attempt for the SNES.

 

 

 

 

I will make this clear as I owned the N64 version before I attempted to play the Arcade version of Killer Instinct 2. There were a massive bundle in terms of graphic and cutscene changes but overall the game had certain tweaks I prefer over the Arcade version.

Riptor was terminated at the end of Killer Instinct 1 unfortunately as they were ousted by TJ Combo as stated in the intro sequence of the game. Albeit once again I had to rotate between characters once more since Riptor was absent and I was then forced to select either Jago,Sabrewulf, or Glacius as they were the only ones I could fully function. After several gameplay attempts and retries.

For the N64 port, I was at my best with Glacius as his reach and overall combo potential can be pulled off with sheer ease. In the Xbone re-release of Killer Instinct 2 I was superior with Fulgore as his quicker gameplay took advantage of his machine like persona.

I wasn't a massive fan of this titles story, let alone soundtrack. TJ Combo does maintain the best theme of this title with Kim Wu not falling to far behind. Other tracks such as Sabrewulf, Spinal, Orchid, and Fulgore felt far to different from their original adaptations and for such it is hollow for them in this title. Maya and Tusks while interesting didn't leave a powerful impression. Gargo's theme was absolutely generic as you can tell of course I am not fond of this titles soundtracks, while I prefer the Arcade renditions of some tracks, I prefer the sound effects in the N64 version as they have far more devastating weight to them.

The original video I used as a strategy guide to mastering Glacius in the N64 version. Quite amazed it's still on Youtube quite frankly.

 

No soul will ever understand the excitement I felt when this was announced while my personal favorite would be returning in another season pack. I was of course well suited with what I was given of course and I will never turn back from those moments.

With the mixture of Killer Instinct 1 and 2's character base, combined with a superior score. This title was everything I had hoped for and so much more. Gained the call that Riptor would be returning of course and was identified as far more then what I had suspected. Albeit I wasn't a fan of her redesigns of course. That being said she still played as powerful as I wanted her to be.

As she once more relied heavily on speed and reach, rather then power and defensive play.  That's not to say she wasn't the only one I'd favor. Gameplay wise, it was everything I dreamed it would accomplish of course, story I didn't mind deeply for, content was also a step forward I enjoyed. Musically was worth a tear from God.

I do debate of course which tracks are my favorite and least favorite but I will state I despise Orchid's theme. As it sounds far to aggressive and unnecessarily annoying after the first loop. Her theme aside the rest of the cast's tracks I don't mind. The newer characters as well took a while to getting used to but I am not inclined to state which is better or which is worse. As a majority of the set gave I Mortal Kombat vibes.

Now then, I suppose I'll share my favorite ad images of the titles and my favorite tracks from each release and I will be including port versions if their is a sound difference of course.

  

  

Favorite tracks of course:

Killer Instinct ( Arcade Version ) - Orchid

Killer Instinct ( SNES Version ) - Sabrewulf 

Killer Instinct ( GB/GBC Version ) - Fulgore

Killer Instinct 2/Gold ( Arcade Version ) - TJ Combo

Killer Instinct 2/Gold ( N64 Version ) - Glacius  

Killer Instinct 3/2013 - Cinder's Theme: Inferno  

For those of you curious of course, yes I have read the comics while they do add far more depth into the lore I didn't find myself deeply favoring them as much as I had hoped to.