#Killer instinct rom n64 series#
Players can chain together a series of hits into "combos" for increased damage, with some combos requiring a specific, memorized sequences of button presses. Players fight with a six-button setup: three punch buttons and three kick buttons, similar to the controls in Street Fighter II. While the characters move and attack on a 2D plane, the background is depicted in pre-rendered 3D and gives the appearance of depth.
Like other entries in the Killer Instinct series, two characters controlled by humans or artificial intelligence fight in one-on-one matches to deplete their opponent's health meter. Killer Instinct Gold is a port of the arcade fighting video game Killer Instinct 2. Gold ultimately did not replicate the success of its Super NES predecessor, and the series remained dormant through its 2002 acquisition by Microsoft until its 2013 reboot. Critics recommended Gold primarily for fans of the series and genre, but IGN reported that even fans were upset by changes in the combo system and the absence of several well-liked characters. Reviewers preferred the Nintendo 64 port over the arcade release, and appreciated its audiovisual enhancements, but felt that its graphical upgrades and memorization-based combo gameplay were insufficient when compared to fighting games like Tekken 2 and Virtua Fighter 2. Gold was later included in Rare's 2015 Xbox One retrospective compilation, Rare Replay. It was released in other regions in May 1997. Gold was scheduled as a launch title for the new console but was delayed until its North American release in November 1996. Following the success of the 1995 Killer Instinct port for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Rare began a sequel for the same platform but transitioned development to its successor, the Nintendo 64, upon its unveiling. Rare was a prominent second-party developer for Nintendo in the 1990s, and their Killer Instinct series was produced as an exclusive partnership in response to the popularity of Mortal Kombat.