Happy 20th Anniversary to SNES Killer Instinct!

[Steven]

August 30, 1995. Today marks 20 years. Wow. If that doesn't make you feel old.

Share your SNES Killer Instinct stories here! Anyone buy it on launch day? What did you think of the port back in 1995? How do you feel about it today?

It seems people are divided. Some really love it and are impressed, while others can't get over how big of a downgrade it was compared to the arcade. Where do you stand?

[Tanooki]

Surprise I guess it is 20 years now. I never had an issue with the SNES one and was more shocked how accurate it was given the limitations of that hardware versions the 'ultra 64' hardware used in the KI cabinet they liked to advertise. Sure you lost the flashier death sequences off buildings and stuff, and none of the little FMV/renders at various places, but the fights and the general areas felt right. I played it for awhile back then, but it really fell out of favor with me as it was kind of a mindless button masher.

[Pr3tty F1y]

Love the game then, still love it today. Really enjoyed the inclusion of the 'Killer Cuts' CD soundtrack and the black cart was cool too.

The game, obviously, was a huge visual downgrade. I wish they could have used something like Mode 7 to get the stages that rotated around (like Orchid's roof top stage and Cinder's desert stage), but I"m sure it was an issue of the color limitations of the various modes and use of the (relatively) high color rendered graphics. The fact that there were a handful of hidden stages, ability to play as Eyedol, and decent endings, I think it was a great "port" all things considered but it's much more a new game unto itself that used scaled back assets from the arcade.

I'm not sure if others will agree, but after playing Killer Instinct arcade in MAME and then Killer Instinct SNES on Higan, the SNES controls just feel tighter and/or more forgiving. It's not that I can't pull off the same combos in either version, it's just that there is a small but noticeable difference in the timing of the too (perhaps greater animation in the arcade version?).

The biggest thing that pissed me off about the SNES version was Fulgore's pre-match/win pose photo. Images in magazines at the time (not sure if it was GamePro or Nintendo power) had him in a cooler pose that looked more like is "match win" pose but the retail release had some lame block pose which I presume was to highlight his claws. There is a beta version of the SNES game that was released some time ago and it does have the cooler pose. And yes, I know these intros/outros were animated in the arcade, but most of the still photos were still cool on the SNES.

Here's what I'm talking about:

Retail:
8274

Beta:
8275



I know it's stupid, but it's always bothered me. But we all know the real reason to play Killer Instinct. It was to show your friends this LOL:

8276

[cityside75]

I remember this day fondly. I'm not sure if I bought it on release day, but it was definitely within the first week of release. My buddy and I loved the arcade game and were both highly anticipating this release. I remember flipping it on and seeing/hearing the intro and thinking that they had nailed it. Of course, these days when you can easily compare the two side-by-side; which I did in a Youtube video a while back:

https://youtu.be/ruDUd5G4qag

Doing this, the difference become much more glaring and obvious, but back in the day I was pretty satisfied with this port, especially since the game itself said it would only be released for "Ultra 64", so I assumed an SNES port wouldn't be possible.

I knew they wouldn't be able to include the cutscene videos, but I remember hoping they were able to include accurate gameplay and combos (check), the announcer calling out the combos (check), the stage fatalities (check), and some of the more awesome effects, like the sparks from two projectiles colliding (so-so). I also really enjoyed the killer cuts CD and played it many times. Can't believe it's been 20 years!

[celerystalker]

I can't say I was into this game in any form. At the time this came out, my favorite fighters were Street Fighter II Turbo and Fatal Fury Special, and to this day I think they are still far more fun and playable. KI was all over Nintendo Power back then, and I remember those always being the articles I'd skim through quickly, as I thought the character designs were goofy, and the fighting system was inelegant. I still agree with my teenage self.

[Tanooki]

You know watching that video (in parts) I think Nintendo did a blowout job with Rare in that SNES port. You can't expect 3D shifting background, nor can you the FMV or the particle effects of that level of quality either. If you dismiss those inequalities and stack up how it handled, the remaining general look and sound of it, the tiering of the challenge as it went along, that game I think really did meet an expectation you could have of a system like the SNES. This came out in 1995, a system that was already 5 years old counting the Japanese launch against a system arcade hardware claiming to be a tease of the Ultra (N) 64. I never was huge on the arcade one, didn't see it much, but I had the SNES game with the CD and all that right when it came out and I played the crap out of it. Not as much as SF2 or MK1 where I got good with nearly anyone on the roster, but I got my kicks with Orchid, Jago, Thunder and sometimes Sabrewulf and Glacius a bit too. I was no pro but I could crack it with those first three and it was fun if not a bit cheap with those crazy chains.

I'm half tempted to check out that KI emulator, had no idea that existed.

[bb_hood]

I got Killer Instinct for Christmas the year it came out. The copy I got came with a guide as well.
I played it alot, its a great game. Many original characters. The game is very combo oriented, much more than mortal kombat or streetfighter. Such a fun game.
The N64 version, Killer Instinct Gold is an awesome game as well. The snes version might be showing its age a little bit at this point in time, but the N64 Killer Instinct is as awesome as ever. Played so much Killer Instinct back in the day, in the arcade and at home. Back then I definitly preferred KI (and especially KI Gold) over Streetfighter or Mortal Kombat.

[Pr3tty F1y]

I got Killer Instinct for Christmas the year it came out. The copy I got came with a guide as well.
I played it alot, its a great game. Many original characters. The game is very combo oriented, much more than mortal kombat or streetfighter. Such a fun game.
The N64 version, Killer Instinct Gold is an awesome game as well. The snes version might be showing its age a little bit at this point in time, but the N64 Killer Instinct is as awesome as ever. Played so much Killer Instinct back in the day, in the arcade and at home. Back then I definitly preferred KI (and especially KI Gold) over Streetfighter or Mortal Kombat.

Because of a disagreement between my brother and myself (he wanted EA sports games), I never got my N64. Truthfully, in the end, the Sony Playstation was probably the better buy at the time. However, I still love 1st/2nd party N64 games much the same I love my Wii U's 1st/2nd party games.

That being said, I can't express how much I was disappointed with KI Gold. I didn't even have it and it disappointed me. The change in art direction moving from KI to KI2 really turned me off. I so hoped for an arcade conversion of KI for the N64. Even if it couldn't have the FMV of the arcade in a cartridge, it was just such a cool game at the time. I can't say whether KI Gold is a good or bad game, as I never played it, but I'm still sad that the "Ultra 64" hardware never panned out (even though KI and Cruis'n USA arcades were completely advertisements of the "Ultra 64" brand). The KI arcade hardware was a crap polygon pusher compared the N64 (which was a crap polygon pusher compared to the Playstation), so we are probably better off in the end that the chips fell where they did. However, the promise of the arcade KI at home and never getting the real deal still eats at me. But, hell, at least you can play the real arcade version in MAME. I'll take it as a consolation prize :)

[Tanooki]

Now that's something I didn't even think to go into, KI Gold. I never bought it new as it was one of two games that had the balls to go over $50 at retail then as it was $70 and MK Trilogy was $75. I ended up getting them on the after market much later on. I've had gold 3 times and got rid of it each time. I didn't like the changes to how it played or looked, so I'd go back to the original. I don't recall liking the sequel in the arcade the one time I hit that too on some vacation.

[bb_hood]

Wow, im really surprised at how many people dislike KI Gold.
Ive played it alot and I really think its a supurb fighting game. I think the graphics are really well done and look great, especially for a N64 game. But mostly I like it because its really fun, the combos really make the game.

[Az]

Share your SNES Killer Instinct stories here! Anyone buy it on launch day?

Here's a stupid launch day memory that is one of those odd things you never forget.

I was working at a Ma and Pa video store in a shopping center where a Wal-Mart was. After I started work that afternoon a friend of mine comes in with this other guy I knew. The guy with my buddy had 2 shrinkwrapped copies of KI to sell for $20 each and wanted to see if the owner wanted to buy them. I called the owner and asked him and he said no way, even though it was a great deal and we didn't have a copy of it in the store yet he knew the carts had to be stolen at that price.

I figured they were anyway, but after I told him they didn't want to buy any he told the rest of the story: he had stolen 5 or 6 copies of this in one whack at once from Wal-Mart. They kept their games behind glass cases and apparently the clerk had a buggy full of carts and got distracted when shelving them. While his back was turned this douche walks up and grabs a handful and waltzes on out the door. At the end of the day at least 5 people in town were playing $15 launch day copies of KI courtesy of him.

[Tanooki]

Ballzy to admit it, but going back that far in store cameras if they existed there weren't likely to be clear enough to get a face to match with the story you got told by the idiot to do any good. Someone tried that now, they'd be finished.

[Emperor Megas]

Urgh. I really didn't like Killer Instinct 2, so I never bothered playing KI Gold. I hated KI2 as much as I loved the original Killer instinct.

[Tanooki]

I really think a lot of people felt that way about KI2 vs KI. Think about how long it has been before another was kind of made there alone on the xbox? That is a LOT of years to bring that one back and I don't recall a lot of fanboy frothing for it like the huge gap between Street Fighter III and IV in comparison.

[otaku]

I used to play the snes version at a friends house as a kid and in 96 or 97 my brother and I got the n64 version. He always played as the werewolf character. Recently a small local tabletop game store has a little arcade in it and they have KI and so I stop in now and then and drop a few quarters in :)

[SpaceHarrier]

All that's left of my SNES copy of Killer Instinct is the soundtrack, Killer Cuts. This was the first music cd that I owned.