Killer Instinct (1994 video game)

Killer Instinct
Arcade flyer for Killer Instinct
Developer(s)	Rareware
Publisher(s)	Midway Rareware Nintendo
Designer(s)	Chris Tilston Mark Betteridge Ken Lobb
Programmer(s)	Mark Betteridge Chris Tilston Martin Hollis
Artist(s)	Kevin Bayliss Tim Stamper
Composer(s)	Robin Beanland Graeme Norgate
Series	Killer Instinct
Platform(s)	Arcade, SNES, Game Boy, Xbox One
Release	Arcade October 28, 1994 SNES August 30, 1995 Game Boy 1995
Genre(s)	Fighting game
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players simultaneously
Cabinet	Upright
Arcade system	Proprietary MIPS based hardware system
CPU	R4600
Sound	Digital Compression System (DCS)
Display	Horizontal, raster, standard resolution (used: 320 x 240)

Killer Instinct is a fighting video 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.

Critically acclaimed, 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 2013 revival of the franchise as a launch title for Xbox One. A port of the original game is included with the 2013 game under the title Killer Instinct Classic. Retrospective lists by various publications included it among the best fighting games of all time.

Killer Instinct plays like many other fighting games, in which the player controls a character to beat an opponent in a one-on-one encounter. The game borrows the attack set of Street Fighter and is also inspired by the finishing moves from Mortal Kombat. There are also several features that distinguish it from other franchises: