Killer Instinct is a series of fighting video games originally created by Rare and published by Midway, Nintendo, and Xbox Game Studios. The original Killer Instinct was released for arcades in 1994; the game was then released for the Super NES and Game Boy in 1995. Its sequel, Killer Instinct 2, was released for arcades in 1996; the game was then released as Killer Instinct Gold for the Nintendo 64. The series was rebooted with the release of Killer Instinct (2013) for the Xbox One.

Games

Killer Instinct (1994)

Killer Instinct is an arcade fighting game developed by Rare and published by Midway. Initially released in arcades in 1994, the game advertised it would launch in 1995 for an intended "Nintendo Ultra 64" home console. The Ultra 64 eventually materialized as the Nintendo 64, but never received a version of the original Killer Instinct. Instead, the game received a high-profile launch on the SNES, released on 10-27-1994, which bundled a CD of remixed game tracks with a limited edition black-colored cartridge, as well as a release on the Game Boy handheld the following year. Both the SNES and Game Boy versions were published by Nintendo. A digital port, titled Killer Instinct Classic, was released as part of a bundle with its 2013 sequel's first season on Xbox One. The SNES version of Killer Instinct was re-released as a Nintendo Switch Online game on February 21, 2024.

Killer Instinct 2 and Killer Instinct Gold (1996)

A 1996 arcade-only game developed by Rare, licensed by Nintendo, and manufactured by Midway. It was the sequel to Killer Instinct. The game was also ported to the SNES, but never released. It was later ported to the Nintendo 64 console under the name Killer Instinct Gold, and the port was published by Nintendo. A digital port, titled Killer Instinct 2 Classic, was released as part of a bundle with its 2013 sequel's second season on Xbox One. Killer Instinct Gold was also included as part of the Rare Replay compilation release.

Killer Instinct (2013)

A reboot of the Killer Instinct series, developed by Double Helix Games under supervision of Ken Lobb, and the first game in the series to be published by Microsoft Studios, was released in November 2013 as a launch title for the Xbox One. Following the acquisition of Double Helix Games by Amazon, Iron Galaxy Studios took over the development of post-launch content. A Windows 10 version was released in March 2016 on the Windows Store, and via Steam in September 2017.

Gameplay

Killer Instinct is a fighting game featuring one-on-one combat. 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:

Characters

Merchandise

A collectible card game based on the series was manufactured by Topps and released in 1996; it was Nintendo's first foray into collectible card games and contained low-resolution renders from the original game. There are two comics series inspired from the Killer Instinct saga, the first is from 1996, from Armada, and the second is from 2016-2017, from Dynamite Entertainment, best known for The Boys comics, in a partnership with Microsoft.