Killer Instinct (1994 video game)

Killer Instinct
Arcade flyer for Killer Instinct
Developer(s)	Rare
Publisher(s)	Midway (Arcade) Nintendo (SNES/GB)
Designer(s)	Chris Tilston Mark Betteridge Kevin Bayliss Ken Lobb
Programmer(s)	Mark Betteridge Steve Patrick (SNES) Robert Harrison (GB)
Composer(s)	Robin Beanland Graeme Norgate
Series	Killer Instinct
Platform(s)	Arcade Super Nintendo Entertainment System Game Boy
Release	Arcade NA: October 28, 1994 SNES NA: August 30, 1995 EU: September 21, 1995 AU: 1995 Game Boy NA: November 1995 UK: December 14, 1995
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade system	Proprietary MIPS based hardware system

Killer Instinct is a 2.5D fighting game developed by Rare, published by Nintendo and manufactured by Midway. It was originally released for arcades in October 1994, and ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Game Boy the following year. The game's plot involves an all-powerful corporation organizing a fighting tournament. The story was adapted in a limited comic book series published under the short-lived Acclaim Comics imprint.

According to Ken Lobb, during his time at Namco, the groundwork for Killer Instinct started as a Namco's fighting game project in the early planning stages, titled Melee (which itself later became Weaponlord). Aspects of Killer Instinct's core gameplay were influenced from SNK fighting games, namely both the World Heroes and the Fatal Fury series, particularly Kim Dragon and Kim Kaphwan characters.^[1]

Killer Instinct featured more detailed graphics and more diverse characters than any other games of its genre^{[citation needed]} as well as some 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.

A critical and commercial success, Killer Instinct, was followed by a sequel, the 1996 arcade game Killer Instinct 2, later ported to the Nintendo 64 as Killer Instinct Gold, as well as a new 2013 game rebooting the franchise, serving as a launch title for the Xbox One. An emulated version of the original game is included with the 2013 game, under the title Killer Instinct Classic. The SNES version of the game was re-released on the Nintendo Switch Online service on February 21, 2024. Retrospective lists by various publications included it among the best fighting games of all time.