"Stays True To The Old School Fighting Games"

KI: Gold was the first game I got for N64 in Christmas 1996 and I still play it to this day. I'm working on GT: 3 A-spec, FF5 and FF8 and I found myself playing KI: Gold instead, why? BECAUSE IT'S FUN! Beating your opponent bloody with combos gives me such a thrill even though it doesn't compare to Final Fantasy or Gran Turismo 3. Were you ever mad when an amazing 2-D game went 3-D? Like Megaman or Castlevania, those were classic games which in my opinion were ruined by taking it away from it's original style and made 3-D. KI: Gold manages to have some 3-D in it which makes it look better but improves the game at the same time! This is no Street Fighter, but it's definetly the best fighting game for N64.

Introduction

KI: Gold is a fighting game for the N64 with 11 chracters and a whole lot of combos! Some characters that were a main part of the story were taken from Killer Instinct, put into N64 and 4 more characters were added (Gargos, Maya, Tusk and Kim). Every character is unique in their own way and of course, you're gonna have to kill them all!

Modes of Play:

Arcade: Fight your way to the top and defeat Gargos! For 1 2 player battle the second controller must press start.

Team: Assemble a team of fighters and battle the other team until 1 team's fighters are dead and the others win with glory.

Team Elimination: Each character only dies with an ultra, ultimate combo, or an o-combo ultimate

Training: Train your skills to learn the ways of fighting with a sselected character

Focused Training: Choose a perticular area to train in (such as combos, special moves).

Options: Change the difficulty of the game, change the speed etc.

Graphics: 7/10

The graphics aren't so great anymore, but when this first came out for N64 it was VERY impressive. I remember comparing this to Killer Instinct 1 and laughing my head off. The characters are detailed, some of the levels you fight on were taken from the original Killer Instinct but have been made much more realistic (such as breaking points in the walls, cans exploding).

Play Control: 10/10

Well it's pretty straight forward if you ask me. This button does this kick, this button does that punch and so forth. It doesn't take a long time to learn, but some of the moves and the combos are a different story. Some of the combos and special moves are hard to do at first if you haven't already played a fighting game like Street Fighter. I hear people whine about the play control because they can't do a combo it's no fault of the play control, you just need to get a little better!

Sound: 8/10

The sound is actually very good. The music for each level matches the environment your are in well and it sounds pretty decent too. It's got the standard grunts and screams which bring you even deeper into the game. Although the sound is good I usually get so lost in the game to even notice it :)

Difficulty: 10/10

Well of course you can change the difficulty to suit your skills.

Game Play: 9/10

Oh My God this game is fun! There is always intense action and fighting going on to keep you busy. The combos give you thrills especially if it's a really long one. This game has the finishing moves (like Mortal Kombat) and ultras which can hit your opponent 30+ times! Ever tired of losing by someone doing something really cheap? You can turn off cheap juggles to let the best gamer win. The options in this game are infinite after you open them all up. You can turn blocking off, throws on and so much more that adds change and variety do you can never get bored!

Replay Value: 9/10

This game can be replayed over and over and over again without it getting boring. You can play as 11 different characters and get all of their best endings, then complete all their trainings and after all the secrets are unlocked you can change so many of the options in the game for infinite possibilities! The many options change the game play to give the added replay value to it. For example you can turn off blocking and throws, change the speed turn on and off cheap juggles and SO MUCH MORE!

Buy or Rent? BUY

This is the best fighting game for N64, it started that way, as N64 dies, it ends that way.

Final Evaluation: 9/10

This is the best fighting game for N64 and I will keep on playing it for a long time.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/28/01, Updated 07/28/01