A Dream Come True

In 1994, Killer Instinct was released in arcades across the country with a SNES port on the way. After much success, production soon began on a sequel. In 1996, Killer Instinct 2 was released in arcades with Killer Instinct Gold being the port that would make its ways to homes everywhere via the Nintendo 64. The franchise was a hit and people would flock to these machines as the game would scream "ULTRA!!!!" across the arcade. The game is remembered for some if its key design points such as being able to break your opponents combos and its diverse cast of anything from a killer robot who looks like a cross between the Terminator and the Predator named Fulgore to a werewolf named Sabrewulf who resides in his family castle and can control the bats that plague the estate. Many people were hopeful that the franchise would be able to use its success as a way to stay in the fighting game genre along side other favorite franchises such as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, but sadly that wasn't the case. Fans never got any word of a sequel and could do nothing but hope for a 3rd installment in the franchise, so when Rare, who was the company who developed the first two Killer Instinct games, was purchased by Microsoft Studios, things began to look bleak for the future of the franchise.

Fulgore

Sabrewulf

In 2013, almost 20 years later after the original game's release in arcades, fans got a taste of what they thought could only be a dream as the Xbox Press Conference unveiled an exclusive trailer at the Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Killer Instinct E3 Reveal Trailer (Click Me)

It was official, Killer Instinct would finally get a 3rd installment and it would be exclusive to the Xbox One. It looked true to form with long combos and veteran characters returning.

I'm Damian Gonzalez and ever since I saw that reveal back in 2013, I was grateful that we would finally get another Killer Instinct. I wasn't old enough to experience the games in arcades but I had both the SNES port of the original and the N64 port of Gold and remember growing up playing these games and loving them. As soon as I saw the trailer, I told myself that I going to put in as much effort as I needed to be great at this game. Little did I know what that would require from me and the journey it would take me on, along with those that I would meet on the way. This blog is to share some of the experiences I can attribute to Killer Instinct over the past few years with anybody who comes across.