KILLER INSTINCT

Killer Instinct

Killer Instinct is a fighting game developed by Rare and published by Midway and Nintendo. It was released as an arcade game in the fall of 1994 and, the following year, ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and the Game Boy. The game's plot involves an all-powerful corporation organising a fighting tournament. The story was adapted in a limited comic book series published under the short-lived Acclaim Comics imprint.

Killer Instinct features several gameplay elements unique to fighting games of the time. Instead of fighting enemies in best-of-three rounds bouts, each player has two life bars. The player that depletes the other player's life bars first wins the match. The game also introduced "auto-doubles", a feature which allows players to press a certain sequence of buttons to make characters automatically perform combos on opponents. Also featured in the game are "combo breakers", special defensive moves that can interrupt combos.

Killer Instinct 2

Killer Instinct 2 follows on from the plot line that the previous installment ended with. Eyedol's death at the hands of Orchid accidentally sets off a time warp, transporting some of the combatants back in time and allowing the Demon Lord Gargos to escape from Limbo. Now, trapped 2000 years in the past, the warriors that survived Killer Instinct, along with several new faces, fight for the right to face Gargos in combat, but Chief Thunder, Cinder and Riptor did not return. Each character that survived the journey from the first game has a corresponding background story, while new characters on this installment are native inhabitants of this past time period. Some fighters, like T.J. Combo who survives from the original, just want to get home. Others, like new character Tusk, want to bring an end to Gargos and his reign of evil. This time there is no tournament or prize money, just a fight to the finish with the fate of the future hanging in the balance.

The legendary fighting game franchise is back with next-generation visuals, over-the-top action, a wild cast of combatants, rocking reactive music, and C-C-C-COMBO BREAKERS! Choose from amongst a wild cast of combatants each with fluid animations, unique combat tactics, and flashy special attacks. Utilize an open-ended combo system to rack up huge combos as your opponent looks for openings to break you and turn the tides of battle. Go online and test yourself against players from all over the world, or brush up on your combat skills in detailed tutorials.

Killer Instinct Gold

Rare was a prominent second-party developer for Nintendo, and produced the Killer Instinct series exclusively for the company as their response to Mortal Kombat. Following the success of the 1995 Killer Instinct port for the Super Nintendo home console, Rare began a sequel for the same console. They transitioned development to the Nintendo 64 upon its announcement. Gold was scheduled as a launch title for the new console but was delayed until its North American release in November 1996. It received a wider release in May 1997.

It was also included in Rare's 2015 Xbox One retrospective compilation, Rare Replay.

Killer Instinct: Season 3

Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition

FIGHT ON!

Discover your Killer Instinct! Play the legendary fighting game with stunning 60FPS visuals, over-the-top action, a wild cast of combatants, rocking reactive music, and C-C-C-COMBO BREAKERS!

Features:

• Includes all 26 characters from Seasons 1-3, including Shadow Jago, Rash from Battletoads, Arbiter from Halo and General RAAM from Gears of War

• 20 stages with intense stage destruction

• Killer Instinct Classic 1 & 2 for Xbox One

• Explore the lore, characters and history of Killer Instinct with all-new behind-the-scenes videos, trailers and art

• All the music of Killer Instinct, including Killer Cuts

• Competitive online multiplayer matches with state-of-the-art fighting game netcode

• Test your skill online in Monthly Ranked Leagues

• Cinematic story modes

• Extensive Dojo tutorial teaches all the core mechanics for Killer Instinct

• Train an AI combatant and challenges your friends to asynchronous matches in Shadow Lab

Xbox Live Features:

• Play Anywhere with online multiplayer Cross Play with Windows 10 and Cloud Save between Xbox One and Windows 10

• Killer Instinct includes rich Xbox Live features like Achievements, Game DVR, Leaderboards and more

Definitive Edition

Killer Instinct 2 Classic

Killer Instinct 2 Classic is a complete port of the original arcade hit from 1996. Thrown back 2000 years in time by Ultratech, the surviving combatants from the first tournament plus new fighters from across time must battle each other for the right to face Gargos and decide the fate of the world. Who among them has the killer instinct?

This enhanced version for Xbox One features competitive multiplayer over Xbox LIVE, an enhanced training & practice mode, and achievements. Killer Instinct 2 Classic is included in the Season 2 Ultra Edition bundle. To play KI 2 Classic, you must purchase Season 2 Ultra Edition.

Killer Instinct Classic

The smash arcade classic returns in all its glory! Shadowy conglomerate Ultratech has organized a merciless fighting tournament of unprecedented scope and brutality. Lured by Ultratech’s promises or driven by their own motives, fighters from all over the world have gathered to compete, including a mysterious warrior monk, a disgraced heavyweight boxing champion, a convict made of living flame, and the reanimated skeleton of an ancient warrior. Who among them has a true Killer Instinct?

Cancelled SNES port of Killer Instinct 2.

Killer Instinct: Anniversary Edition

The 10th Anniversary Update brings with it two versions of KI:

The Killer Instinct Base Game will be FREE TO PLAY on all platforms: Xbox consoles (One, Series X|S), Windows PC, and Steam. The free KI base game will feature one free weekly rotating Fighter and Single-Player, Local, and Ranked modes.

The Killer Instinct Anniversary Edition will include all 29 Fighters, and all Premium Content ever released: the VIP Double XP Booster, holiday accessories, and more. This edition replaces the "Definitive Edition," which was delisted upon release of the Anniversary Edition.

The 10th Anniversary Update will go even further, with a few more changes:

- Improved matchmaking. We want to make it easier for folks to find matches quickly, regardless of which platform they’re playing on.
- Optimization for Series X|S consoles.
- Balance updates. That’s right – new meta for Killer Instinct, more than five years after the last adjustments!

The following Mature-rated content included in KI Definitive Edition will NOT be included in the Anniversary Edition:
- Definitive Edition App (featuring developer interviews, concept art, Killer Cuts soundtrack)
- Xbox KI Classic 1 & 2
- But DON’T WORRY! If you already own Killer Instinct Definitive Edition digitally, you will still be able to download the above content even after the Definitive Edition is retired.

Anniversary Edition

Differences from the arcade version includes that of a training mode, a tournament mode and other options.

Single player

Multiplayer

Fighting

Rare Limited is a British video game developer and a studio of Xbox Game Studios based in Twycross, Leicestershire. Rare's games span the platform, first-person shooter, action-adventure, fighting, and racing genres. Its most popular games include the Battletoads, Donkey Kong, and Banjo-Kazooie series, as well as games like GoldenEye 007 (1997), Perfect Dark (2000), Conker's Bad Fur Day (2001), Viva Piñata (2006), and Sea of Thieves (2018).

Tim and Chris Stamper, who also founded Ultimate Play the Game, established Rare in 1985. During its early years, Rare was backed by a generous budget from Nintendo, primarily concentrated on Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) games. During this time, Rare created successful games such as Wizards & Warriors (1987), R.C. Pro-Am (1988), and Battletoads (1991). Rare became a prominent second-party developer for Nintendo, which came to own a large minority stake in the company, with the release of Donkey Kong Country (1994). Throughout the 1990s, Rare started selling their games under the trademark name "Rareware" and received international recognition and critical acclaim for games such as the Donkey Kong Country series, Killer Instinct (1994), GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie (1998), Perfect Dark (2000), and Conker's Bad Fur Day (2001).

In 2002, Microsoft acquired Rare, which retained its original brand, logo, and most intellectual properties. Rare has since focused on developing games exclusively for Microsoft's video game consoles, including Grabbed by the Ghoulies (2003), Kameo (2005), Perfect Dark Zero (2005), and Viva Piñata (2006). In 2007, the Stampers left Rare to pursue other opportunities and, in 2010, the company's focus shifted to the Xbox Live Avatar and Kinect, releasing three Kinect Sports games. In 2015, Rare developed Rare Replay, an Xbox One-exclusive compilation containing 30 of its games to celebrate its 30th anniversary. Rare's most recent game, Sea of Thieves, was released in 2018.

Several former Rare employees have formed their own companies, such as Free Radical Design, best known for producing the TimeSplitters series, and Playtonic Games, best known for Yooka-Laylee (2017). Rare is widely acknowledged in the video game industry and has received numerous accolades from critics and journalists. Rare is also known as a secretive and seclusive studio. Several Rare games, such as Donkey Kong Country and GoldenEye 007, have been cited as among the greatest and most influential games of all time, though some fans and former employees have been critical of the company's output under Microsoft.

Rare

Nintendo is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it first produced handmade hanafuda cards and also tried several small niche businesses such as a cab company and a love hotel. Nintendo developed into a video game company, becoming one of the most influential in the industry and Japan's third most valuable listed company. The name Nintendo translated from Japanese to English means "Leave luck to Heaven".

Nintendo

Playtronic (Playtronic Industrial) was a joint-venture between Brazilian companies Gradiente and Estrela. It was responsible for manufacturing and distributing games for Nintendo consoles in Brazil.

Playtronic

nintendo switch online

retroachievements

nintendo gateway system

English

Interface

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Side view

A status of release where the game has gone gold. Typically this is referred to as 1.0.

Full Release

Action

Fantasy

Science fiction

Gameplay Video

Steps to reproduce, what you expected to happen, and what actually happened...

Title is required

You haven't submitted any bug reports yet. Found an issue? Use the button in the bottom-right corner to report it.

No bug reports yet

My Bug Reports

Report a Bug

Title

Briefly describe the bug...

Untitled

Help us understand how the site is used so we can improve it.

We use our own and third-party cookies to improve your browsing experience, analyze site usage and personalize content.

Essential for the site to function: authentication, language and visual theme.

Allow us to remember your preferences and personalize your experience.

Choose which types of cookies you want to accept. Necessary cookies cannot be disabled as they are essential for the site to function.

Cookie settings

Choose a Cover

Price drop!

Best offers

Alternative Titles

Subtitles

Regional Titles

All Terrain

Archaeologist

Archivist

Backlog Guru

Rookie Collector

Connector

Conqueror

Constructive Critic

Curator

Dedication

Editorial Legend

First Cartridge

First Impression

Follower

Full Shelf

Gameplay Master

Genre Explorer

Golden Display

Golden Pen

Get one of your lists to receive 10 or more visits.

Influencer

Level 10

Level 25

Master Collector

Multiplatform

Museum Legend

No Prejudice

Organizer

100%

Physical Present

Platformer

Puzzle Solver

Real Shelf

Serious Library

Sincere

The End

Time Traveler

Veteran Hero

Voice of the People

Welcome

You reached

You are now {title}!

{username}'s Gamification

XP History

{count} games tagged with {keyword} on Shelve·ly. Shelve the ones you paused, mark the ones you finished.

Games tagged with {keyword} on Shelve·ly. Shelve the ones you paused, mark the ones you finished.

Games tagged {keyword}

Similar Games

Trending Keywords

Review title

What did you think of the game?

Add to collection

Name

My Collection

Game lists

Describe the games you want to include using natural language

Create Smart List

Modify the prompt to get a new AI result. The list filters and games will be updated.

Regenerate smart list

Lists

Achievement unlocked!

You have achieved {tierTitle}. Keep it up!

You reached level {level}!

My Notifications

Notifications

You have accumulated {xp} XP. You are doing great!

XP Milestone

The platform you're looking for doesn't exist or has been removed.

Browse and discover {name} platform, its commercial versions, and video games on Shelve·ly. Filter by genre, rating and year.

{name}

Description

The variation you are looking for does not exist.

Platform variation

The platform version you are looking for does not exist.

Platform version

Discover the most notable reviews and opinions about video games

Edit review

The review must be at least 50 characters

Your review has been published successfully

Your review has been updated successfully

Title (optional)

Write a review

Try different search terms or adjust the filters

Search games

Explore games and add the ones that interest you most

Developers

Publishers

Platforms

Alternative Titles

Game Modes

Perspective

Themes

Keywords

Links

Release Dates

Language Support

Killer Instinct

Description

Media

Related games

Similar Games

Community reviews