Killer Instinct Gold

"Where did Rare go wrong!?!"

Where should I start with this game. Well let's start with the good things about it. Killer Instinct Gold has some passable music..and...a good option menu....and...some o.k voice overs for the characters..and.(thinking)..good reflections of characters on certain levels and fast loading (thinking) uhh...that's it! Now the BAD. I love Killer Instinct on SNES, but on N64, Rare just messed up the KI series. What were they thinking! The characters look pretty nice on the character select screen, then when you play the game, the characters look very very ugly! They look like mashpotatoes(ugh)! The characters outfits looks like a tarnished spoon, except when they win a battle. When someone wins the battle, the characters do the same stance, which is very boring, and the characters face looks smuged(yuk)! Truth be told, the levels look dull, but you can tell Rare really tried, adding rain to levels, and by adding breaking objects to some levels. The game also has a new training and focus training option. The game basically teaches you how to play with all the characters, and other fundamentals to the game. Oh, did I forget to mention, the fatalities in the game 100% absolutly SUCK!!! The First KI on SNES was way better than N64 KI Gold. Most of the Fatalities in Killer Instinct Gold are plain, dull, weak, and stupid. The animations in the game is poor!
Killer Instinct Gold recieves a 3 out of 10

Graphics: are you joking/10 (no really, a 4/10)
The graphics are very poor, and does pretty much nothing to show off the N64 graphics. Rare had to be rushing or something, to make a game like this. I hope that they learned from their miscalculation with the graphic card!
Enemies are dull and breakable objects are plain. Fatalities looks very ugly. SNES version looked better. Nothing more said here!

Controls: 3/10
Takes awhile to get use too. I guess the default buttons are the best way on the N64, but you can customize the controls. The controls in KI GOLD are slow and sometimes late. Now the controls are sluggish, very,very slugish! Thanks to Rare for the unforgiving moves for the characters. (The stupid's control moves for characters I've ever seen for a fighting game, or any game for that matter.) I don't know why they added the analog stick support, because a simple move in the game is insane!

Gameplay: 4/10
Characters move so unrealistic! The characters even breath while standing, still unrealistic! Combos look pitiful, but sometimes exciting. The Ultras are dull, and fatalities or finishers are stupid and weak. You can, however, change the game speed (even to Ultra Fast)! But that doesn't make up for the weak sorry gameplay! SNES version was better(with the fast cheat)

Fun Factor: 5/10
The fun factor in this game is low, thanks to the graphics and slow controls. The characters looks good ONLY on the CHARACTER SELECT SCREEN, and the records screen. There are a number of options you earn on the option screen, by completing Arcade mode. The music is o.k, but nothing new or special. There's also a new type of training and focus training modes. These training modes will bore you after about 5 minutes. The New modes such as, Tag, Focus Training, Training, Eliminate, and other creative feautures aren't enough to keep a gamer(s) occupied or happy. Instead this game makes you unhappy and fustrated! The Characters moves should have been similiar to those like KI in the SNES, but instead, Rare screwed it up big time. I had a harder time beating the game on Very Easy difficulty, than I did on Master difficulty!

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 08/05/04