"Killer game with Golden power"

In the year of 1994, the Nintendo 64 was shipped to America. The games were very few, but all so revolutionary and just plain fun. Buyers were dazzled by the beautiful world of Mario in his new 3d platformer, and were shipped to space to fight either for the Jedi in Star wars in SOE, or Star Fox crew in Star Fox 64. They even were able to do killer tricks at the beach in Waverace. But, among these games existed not one single fighter. Fans of Nintendo, and Namco alike, were disappointed. What with Tekken 2, and all the other fighting games that were out for Saturn and Playstation, many fighting fans saw no light of day when an N64 fighting game came to the market. That was until Nintendo brought out War Gods. It was a horrible attempt to send a coin-op fighting game to the n64. Many players were furious. One could not sit 5 minutes in the game without humming their grey controllers across the room from the frustration of the horrible controlling and gameplay that existed in War Gods. One day, a game came by called KI Gold. It was a rehash ( and remake) of the enticed KI game for the super nintendo. The question that gamers had in mind was ''Is this a game worth playing?'' The answer lies here.
Gameplay: 9
The gameplay is awesome, or shall I at least say the fighting is. The actual game isn't that great. I mean it has many modes, but no unlockable players. The game does have extra options to unlock in the game, so that is a plus! The game has 6 modes. The six modes are arcade, battle, team battle, tournament, training, and practice. Neither modes will keep a player bored. However, the one downfall to the game is the limited amount of character (which is 12).
But there is one quality in the game that redeems, eclipses, and eliminates all the poor traits to that game. It is the speed. Before Marvel vs. Capcom 2 ( the fastest fighting game in the market) came out, KI gold was the first really fast fighting game to be marketed. The game runs smooth at normal pace, quick at fast pace, extreme frenzy at ludicrous paced! The game is a button masher, so beware Tekken players, but the button mashing does not dull. Because a character can do a combo (of about 20+ moves) that lasts 5 fives and inflicts a penetrating crater into the opponents life meter. The game isn't about who can do the fanciest of moves. It derives on who has the fastest fingers in the west. If you, as a human, do not have fast hand coordination, then you will inevitably suffer. This game works on speed. Sometimes, my hand hurts (from constantly gliding my hand across the controller with much speed for about 10 minutes) and my body is left to sweat. Yes, this game IS a workout, but it is so worth it. This game is all about gameplay.
Story: 2
A bunch of people come together and fight. It is the overused storyline that most fighting games live off of.
Graphics: 7
The graphics look pretty bad in this game, and I don't mean that as a compliment. The some of the creatures in the game look like the 'old-type' of claymation that one would see in old horror films about gigantic creatures. Remember those films? The creatures looked like globs of putty pressed together and painted dark. That is kind of how the exteriors look in this game (except the characters in KI Gold had many colors, and clothes, drawn on them. And their faces font look cheesy of fake. Their mouths move when they speak!). I do like the frame rate offered in this installment. It HAS to be running 80 FPS during some on the combos. Because my eyes, to this day, still can not focus, or clearly perceive the characters when they go into the translucent combos. It looks like a mix between the brawls found in Looney Toon cartoons and Jackie Chan films. It's quick enough too hardly see. The battles are outrageously bizzare as well as impressively exhilarating.
Control: 7
Don't worry about the control. ITS COMFORTABLE ENOUGH. All you do is focus on trying to bust the moves as quickly as possible. By the way, the blocking system is horrible. That's what I gave the 7 for in terms of control.
Music: 7
The music is good, not classical or even above average, just good. It fits the scenes real well. For instance, when fighting on rooftop, you listen to a techno-esque song. Will fighting Glacius (in the Arctics) you listen to Cold sounding themes. I would not buy the soundtrack though.
Replayability: 10
This game is all about the Gameplay. I say it again mainly because it will not keep you bored. Multiplayer is highly recommended, because (if you have a few friends, who are interested in video games, in the same room with you), you could duke it out with them, and show off your speed and fluidity as you scrape their player's skulls across the pavement. Be ready to hear your freinds gasp with excitement from the speed that was some how jammed together in this cartridge. Contests are also great (out of game wise), once I made 15 dollars... Well, getting back to the subject, the replay is to be remembered.
Overall: 7
Although the gameplay is Killer, the game is a bit limited and gets exhausting after sitting at it for thirty minutes (not from boredom, just from physical exhaustion). I would tell anyone to have this game in the collection, because it is great for friend gatherances and will keep you occupied on slow days. It may be 20 dollars at Funcoland, but hey, it is 20 bucks well spent for an underrated, and very rare, fighting game.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/19/02, Updated 04/19/02