Killer Instinct (Arcade)

Killer Instinct is pretty much what would happen if Mortal Kombat ditched the digitized actors in favor of prerendered CG characters and featured a gloriously bombastic announcer.

Prerelease Info

Unused Graphics#

Character Select Portrait#

An unused icon exists as the first position in the character select portrait graphics. This was most likely used for characters that did not have completed portrait graphics early in development. It is currently unknown what the overlapping "CC" stands for.

Unknown Stage#

There is evidence of an unused stage within the game. Unfortunately, there is not enough data to fully compile what the stage may have looked like, as only 6 sections exist. It appears to share props from other stages within the game, and may have been an early concept for one of the final in-game stages, or a new stage entirely.

Screens#

A logo for "Thriller Instinct", seemingly an early name for the game. While no official reason for the name change has ever been given, a likely guess is that it was due to legal concerns over the Michael Jackson song Thriller (even though the word "Thriller" itself isn't copyrighted)

Takes on the "Winners Don't Use Drugs" and "Recycle It, Don't Trash It!" PSA screens seen in most arcade games released in the states at the time, alongside a comparatively more uncommon advertisement for G.R.E.A.T., a group dedicated to preventing gang violence and youth crime. Why these aren't used is a complete mystery.

Unused Sounds#

There are two unused voice clips of the announcer announcing characters named "Heatshade" and "Pyrotech". These were intended for the character select screen and were early names for Cinder.

Speaking of Cinder, he has a few unused voice clips too.

Unused Text#

Tutorial/Tips#

What remains (found at address 8803C6A8) is very incomplete, which makes it difficult to tell where in the final game it may have appeared. Due to the lack of inputs and fully fleshed out move lists, it is believed that this idea was scrapped early on.

WP MP HP AP WK MK HK AK CG

BLOCK LOW ATTACKS

BLOCK HIGH ATTACKS

PERFORM SPECIAL MOVES WITH BUTTON HELD DOWN THEN RELEASE

AUTO-DOUBLES THE SECRET OF MULTIPLE BLOWS

HIT AN OPPONENT HIGH WHEN THEY'RE DUCKING

ENDOKUKEN
WIND KICK
LASER BLADE

ROLLERCOASTER
SPINFIST
POWERLINE

TRIPLEAXE
SAMAMISH
PHEONIX

ABSORB
POWERSWORD
SKULLDASH

FIREFLASH
TRAILBLAZER
INFERNO

EYE LAZER
LAZER DASH
LAZER UPPERCUT

TAIL FLIP
DRAGON BREATH
RIPTRAKE

LIQUID ICE
ICE LANCE
ICE BREAKER

SABREROLL
SABRECUT
SABREPOUNCE

LASERKEN
HELLCAT
FLIKFLAKFRENZY

References#