Killer Instinct Gold Review

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3.1 stars
Average rating for this product is: 3.1 out of 5

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voiceman's Review of Killer Instinct Gold for N64

8th May 2009

Overall Rating

4 stars
  • Value for money
    4 stars
  • Graphics
    4 stars
  • Addiction Level
    4.5 stars
  • Multi-player
    Yes
Good Points

Rare added a few new things on the N64 version. A zoom-in camera move for the ultra combos, full 3D backgrounds, a practice mode witch is very interesting to master every character, a tournament mode and a really nice option menu. If you enjoyed KI2 in the arcades, you will have some fun with this port.. The six buttons on the N64 controller help the gameplay and unlike the KI port on SNES you don't have to use the shoulder buttons anymore. Hours of fun with friends.


Bad Points

Due to limited storage capacity of N64 cartridges, all the FMV of the original game were removed. It doesnt hurt the gameplay but takes away the game's beautiful presentation. Some character's frames were removed and the stages were redered in full 3D, taking away some details in the process. THe new characters are not very interesting in my opinion, Tusk/Conan is very clich and Maya is just boring. KIm-Wu on the other hand is not so bad. Wrong move to remove Cinder from the game. In general this port is OK but to me the arcade version is superior. If you still have a N64, try it out. If not, do some research on the net and find the Arcade version for MAME.


General Comments

In a time where arcades ruled the video game industry, Killer Instinct 2 was the long awaited sequel to 1994's Killer Instinct and was released in 1996. Sent back through time 2000 years in the past...Blah Blah Blah.. Honestly, who cares? The real deal with this game was always the gameplay and not the story. If the first one had a futuristic industrial theme, the second was more with an ancient, bronze-age kinda theme. The game looked different and Rare made somes changes here and there. They've taken out some characters (Cinder, Riptor and C.Thunder) added new ones (Kim-Wu, Maya, and Tusk), tweaked the combo system and added a 'Super bar' under the regular health bar. The game was, and still is very impressive and was way ahead of its time. Crazy combos, great animation, impressive sound effects and music and hours upon hours of 2 players replay value. A year later, the game was ported to the N64 in a 'Special Edition' version called: KI Gold. People who waited forever to see an 'Arcade Perfect' port of KI on home console would be satisfied. Well...Almost.

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