Killer Instinct

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_04]: Killer Instinct.

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Alright, welcome back and thanks for tuning into another episode of BarSILENCE.

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_00]: My name is Jameson and I'm your host.

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_00]: BarSILENCE is a super pod network production that's dedicated to exploring the very best

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[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_00]: as well as some of the very best podcast focused on retro gaming nostalgia and other gaming

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_00]: goodness.

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[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_00]: you should check out a B3DO.

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[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: In this episode, we're taking our fist full of quarters to the local arcade and listening

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_00]: to the bombastic and iconic soundtrack from the 1990s Killer Instant Games.

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_00]: The first Killer Instant was released thunderously into packed arcades at the height of

[00:05:45] [SPEAKER_00]: the fighting game craze in 1994.

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_00]: At this time, fighting games were fighting for every quarter against their competition.

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Capcom had just released the biggest edition of their top fighter, Super Street Fighter II

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Turbo.

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Primal Rage was introducing players to claymation like dinosaur battles, and the ever controversial

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Mortal Kombat II continued to top the charts expanding on the characters and fatalities

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_00]: of the original.

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Now it's worth mentioning that Nintendo wasn't active in the arcade scene at that time,

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_00]: and their last arcade game was 1985's arm wrestling, which was a spin-off to punch-o.

[00:06:16] [SPEAKER_00]: And after nine years of dominating the home market, the technology and the expectation

[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_00]: of gamers were very different.

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Nintendo's family friendly approached the gaming left them on the outside looking in.

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_00]: So to power their return to the arcades, Nintendo chose to work with the innovative team

[00:06:31] [SPEAKER_00]: at rare to develop a fighter of their own that took cues from some of the biggest games.

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Killer Instinct's inspirations included the finishing moves of Mortal Kombat, the idea

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_00]: of combos from Capcom and SNK fighting games, and they also brought over their unique

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_00]: visual style of creating silicon graphic career-ender characters from Donkey Kong Country.

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Then to differentiate this game even more, Rare developed an early example of motion capturing

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_00]: their characters to help bring an incredible sense of fluidity to each of the characters'

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00]: movements and attacks.

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Rare Artist and Designer, Kevin Bayless was a huge fan of Street Fighter II, and also

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_00]: David Marshall Artist, who helped record some of Jacob's moves.

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_00]: He also played a pivotal role in designing the game's combat system, devising a move set

[00:07:11] [SPEAKER_00]: of characters with weak, medium and strong attacks akin to Street Fighter.

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Kevin then collaborated with Nintendo's Kevin Webb to design a combo system that featured

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_00]: an auto-double to link different attacks, resulting in a complex but approachable system

[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_00]: of insanely long combos and combo breakers that became a defining feature of the game.

[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, the plot of the first game was focused on the killer instinct tournament,

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_00]: created by the powerful mega corporation called UltraTek.

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_00]: This nefarious corporation used their advanced technology to open a portal to another dimension

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_00]: to release the game's two headed Cyclops final boss named Idle.

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_00]: The game also allows you to select from 10 different fighters in order to win this tournament.

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Among the more human-looking fighters are the green leotard wearing secret agent, Black Worked,

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Jego, a warrior monk, TJ Combo, a heavyweight boxer, and Chief Thunder, a native American warrior.

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_00]: There's also more wild characters like Sender, who's in a scape convict transformed into

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_00]: a being of flames due to a failed UltraTek chemical test, and there's the fan favorite

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_00]: predator meets terminator cybernetty soldier called Vogueur. The game also features a

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_00]: philosopher Raptor human hybrid named Riptor, Saber Wolf, a werewolf, Spinal, and Undead

[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Skelton Warrior, and Glacius in icy alien that's abducted and forced the fight.

[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_00]: With the groundwork for the game laid out by Rare, Nintendo then partnered with WMS Industries,

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_00]: the parent company of Chicago-based arcade giant named Midway Games.

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_00]: In the 1980s, Midway had become a powerhouse in the arcade industry,

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_00]: and they were synonymous with some of the greatest games of that era.

[00:08:39] [SPEAKER_00]: By the 90s, Midway continued to dominate with mega hits like Mortal Kombat in 1992,

[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_00]: NBA Jam in 1993, and Mortal Kombat 2 in 1994, making them the perfect collaborator to bring

[00:08:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Killer Instinct to life. This collaboration with Nintendo allowed Midway and Rare to code

[00:08:56] [SPEAKER_00]: develop and market games using an arcade board that was functionally very similar to what would

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_00]: become Nintendo's next home console. This of course, cleverly allowed Nintendo to directly tell

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_00]: gamers that the next generation of gaming was going to be just as impressive when they get their

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_00]: own Ultra 64. The crazy thing was that the Killer Instinct attract mode practically

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_00]: promises to gamers with this famous clip. Personally, I'm still kind of surprised that they

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER_00]: did this and put a date to it, especially considering that the system was renamed to the Nintendo 64

[00:09:31] [SPEAKER_00]: and it wouldn't be released until 1996. This delay led Rare to develop Killer Instinct for the

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Super Nintendo and Game Boy in 1995 instead. So while that promise of ultra proportions was

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_00]: never fully realized, Killer Instinct's blend of unique characters, really animations and creative

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_00]: combo systems, ended up creating one of the loudest and most impressive arcade releases ever.

[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_00]: By May of 1995, Killer Instinct had become one of the top five highest-grossing arcade games

[00:09:58] [SPEAKER_00]: of that year. And I want to try to gaming monthly even declared for now the undisputed

[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_00]: king at the arcade's is Killer Instinct, and it most definitely was. Now of course, the

[00:10:13] [SPEAKER_00]: was composed by Grand Orgate and Robin Beanlin in their first soundtrack for a Rare game.

[00:10:18] [SPEAKER_00]: The mood setting, guitar wailing introduction track that opened the show is called the Instinct.

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_00]: This version, along with many others that will be listening to, comes from the soundtrack album

[00:10:26] [SPEAKER_00]: that was released with the Super Nintendo version of the game called Killer Cuts.

[00:10:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Robin Beanlin, during an interview, explained that this soundtrack was created after the arcade

[00:10:34] [SPEAKER_00]: music was developed, which makes these versions one of the best ways to experience the uncompressed

[00:10:39] [SPEAKER_00]: and truest representations of these songs. So let's get into these killer tunes.

[00:10:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Up first, we're going to listen to the full length remix of Jagos theme called Do It Now by Grand

[00:10:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Orgate. After that, we're going to listen to another song by Graham called controlling transmission,

[00:10:54] [SPEAKER_00]: which is the theme for glitches. This track is a pure energy dance beat with cool voice samples

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_00]: from the games announcer, and it also has the, we are controlling transmission sample that comes from

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER_00]: 1963 intro of the outer limits. Then we're going to switch genres but not composers with the

[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_00]: dark industrial theme of folklore called Full Bore. After that shredder of a tune,

[00:11:15] [SPEAKER_00]: we're going to listen to two songs by Robin Beanlin. First up is Cinder's theme called

[00:11:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Trailblazer, followed by the unique track from the Killer Cuts album called The Way You Move.

[00:11:23] [SPEAKER_00]: This track is an absolute slapper of a 90s dance anthem featuring the clever that beat his rare

[00:11:28] [SPEAKER_00]: voice sample, and it also features the killer instincts iconic announcer with his own rap

[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_00]: groove. We'll keep that 90s dance vibe going with Organs' theme called K.I. Feeling,

[00:11:39] [SPEAKER_00]: featuring the vocals of Faye Nubro, who will hear later again in this episode.

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Backing that track up, we'll be another Robin Beanlin creation called Yo-Check This Out,

[00:11:47] [SPEAKER_00]: which is the hip hop and dance and views theme for the American flag wearing TJ Kamba.

[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Next, we'll listen to Oh Yeah by Graham Norgate, which is the thumping theme of Chief Thunder

[00:11:56] [SPEAKER_00]: before wrapping up this block with the final song called It's A Jungle by Robin Beanlin.

[00:12:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Just like the song, The Way You Move was also created exclusively for the Killer Cuts album.

[00:12:05] [SPEAKER_00]: This one is another sugar-y sweet 90s sounding slamer of a track.

[00:12:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Alright, let's do it now. Time to pump up the volume for the killer groove and I'll be back after

[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_00]: that to talk about the sequel Killer instinct too, and its N64 release, Killer Instinct Goal.

[00:31:12] [SPEAKER_05]: It's a killer, the killer is a killer, the killer is a killer, the killer is a killer.

[00:32:30] [SPEAKER_07]: One, two, three, put it down!

[00:33:15] [SPEAKER_07]: Three, kick it!

[00:33:44] [SPEAKER_07]: 1, 2, 3, quick it down!

[00:40:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Killer Instinct Tuesday's development quickly filed the release of its predecessor using

[00:40:29] [SPEAKER_00]: the exact same hardware to expedite production.

[00:40:32] [SPEAKER_00]: This game launched in our Cades in January of 1996, just 14 months after the original

[00:40:37] [SPEAKER_00]: and only five months after the Super Nintendo version.

[00:40:40] [SPEAKER_00]: This time around, the focus was to improve the handling of the characters and their moves,

[00:40:44] [SPEAKER_00]: aiming to make combat more strategic.

[00:40:46] [SPEAKER_00]: New features included parries, counter attacks like throws and the new Supermeter.

[00:40:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Ken Lobb had mentioned during development that reducing the excessive defense of play was

[00:40:55] [SPEAKER_00]: the highest priority.

[00:40:57] [SPEAKER_00]: And while some fans were bothered by these gameplay changes, others felt that the shift from

[00:41:01] [SPEAKER_00]: a defensive to an offensive strategy made the game faster, more exciting and significantly

[00:41:06] [SPEAKER_00]: raised the stakes for each fight.

[00:41:08] [SPEAKER_00]: The plot for Killer Instinct 2 follows the ending of the first, creating a cannon that

[00:41:12] [SPEAKER_00]: work at Defeas Idol and sets off a massive energy, creating a time warp that sends

[00:41:16] [SPEAKER_00]: some of the combatants back to the thousand years in time and allowing demon Lord Gargos

[00:41:20] [SPEAKER_00]: the greater rival to Idol to escape from Limbo.

[00:41:24] [SPEAKER_00]: This game's roster is now expanded to 11 characters, each with their own motivation for

[00:41:28] [SPEAKER_00]: surviving this dire situation.

[00:41:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Returning characters include Orchid, Jego, Sabre Wolf, Spinal, and TJ Kamma.

[00:41:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Full-gore is replaced with the Mark II enhanced prototype, Glacius also returns but is actually

[00:41:41] [SPEAKER_00]: this time replaced in the story as another member of the same species that's imprisoned

[00:41:44] [SPEAKER_00]: by Gargos' followers.

[00:41:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Interestingly, in 1996, SuperPly Magazine reported that rare used data from the first

[00:41:51] [SPEAKER_00]: games arcade machines to determine which characters were the least popular as a way of deciding

[00:41:55] [SPEAKER_00]: which of them would be excluded from the sequel.

[00:41:58] [SPEAKER_00]: However, during a 2013 interview with RetroGamer, Kevin Bayless explained that the changes

[00:42:02] [SPEAKER_00]: were actually made in order to aim for more variety and fighting styles.

[00:42:06] [SPEAKER_00]: He further explained that they had initially hoped to include the original characters as

[00:42:09] [SPEAKER_00]: unlockables, but this feature didn't really make it into the final game.

[00:42:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Characters that didn't return were Chief Thunder, Sinder and Riptor who had either died

[00:42:18] [SPEAKER_00]: in the first game or didn't end up warping through time like the rest of them.

[00:42:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Their spots on the roster are now filled by new fighters though.

[00:42:25] [SPEAKER_00]: The first of which is Kim Wu, a non-chuk wielding martial artist whose ancestors originally

[00:42:30] [SPEAKER_00]: banished Idol and Gargos.

[00:42:32] [SPEAKER_00]: She's now tasked with doing the same thing.

[00:42:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Next is Maya, the Amazonian queen of the ancient world who took part in banishing Gargos

[00:42:39] [SPEAKER_00]: but is now forbidden from returning to her homeland after his reappearance.

[00:42:44] [SPEAKER_00]: And then finally there's Tusk, a barbarian from the north and the sole survivor of his

[00:42:48] [SPEAKER_00]: warrior tribe after the great battle to remove Gargos.

[00:42:52] [SPEAKER_00]: By the time the killer instinct too was released, the arcade market was starting to

[00:42:55] [SPEAKER_00]: recede as console started to catch up to their coin-ob-conervars.

[00:42:59] [SPEAKER_00]: The Nintendo 64 was finally released in June of 1996, just six months later.

[00:43:04] [SPEAKER_00]: By November of that same year, Killer instinct gold was released for the new system

[00:43:08] [SPEAKER_00]: just in time for the holidays.

[00:43:10] [SPEAKER_00]: So while the original game practically promised a 1-1 recreation of Killer instinct

[00:43:14] [SPEAKER_00]: for this Nintendo console, Killer instinct gold's release didn't quite meet those expectations

[00:43:19] [SPEAKER_00]: for many of the fans and reviewers.

[00:43:21] [SPEAKER_00]: The Nintendo 64 had less memory so the backgrounds were less impressive and the character models

[00:43:26] [SPEAKER_00]: were lower resolution and the game kind of suffered from frame rate drops of various times.

[00:43:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Despite these issues, Killer instinct gold was still the premier fighting game on the Nintendo 64

[00:43:35] [SPEAKER_00]: thanks to its responsive controls and exclusive new modes like training, team battle and team

[00:43:40] [SPEAKER_00]: elimination battle.

[00:43:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Now on the other hand, the music for this sequel was praised for its adrenaline pumping tracks,

[00:43:46] [SPEAKER_00]: higher audio quality and character specific themes.

[00:43:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Graham Norgate at the time was tasked with composing the soundtrack for Blascore on the

[00:43:53] [SPEAKER_00]: 10 to 64. So the compositions landed in the hands of Robin Beeland, who's worked for this game

[00:43:59] [SPEAKER_00]: fantasticly continues to build on the foundation that the original game established.

[00:44:03] [SPEAKER_00]: So, starting things off for our next block is a great example of Robin's work on the soundtrack.

[00:44:07] [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to first listen to Orkid's theme called K-I Feel The Two.

[00:44:11] [SPEAKER_00]: This track features the return of Feyn New Burrows vocals that are excellently paired with a

[00:44:15] [SPEAKER_00]: killer high energy beat that's a great theme for this fan favorite character.

[00:44:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Next, we'll dive into my us theme which is a fast-paced dance jam

[00:44:23] [SPEAKER_00]: that's used with woodwinds and a heavy dose of animal sounds perfectly matching our Amazonian Queen stage.

[00:44:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Following that one, we're going to listen to Kim Woos theme that has an excellent

[00:44:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Asian musical flair and back it up with Jagos theme which is powered by masculine sounding

[00:44:38] [SPEAKER_00]: chance in an ultra cool citadeline. We'll switch genres for the next track as we get into the

[00:44:43] [SPEAKER_00]: pop and dance beat of TJ Combos theme, the brings back Feyn one more time as well as giving Kevin

[00:44:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Bayless and the Lance credit for their additional vocal work. After that jam, we'll move to

[00:44:53] [SPEAKER_00]: glacius's theme which blends in industrial sounding elements with other worldly vocal samples

[00:44:57] [SPEAKER_00]: that likely come from our Ice Man himself. Then last for this block, we're going to listen

[00:45:02] [SPEAKER_00]: to the absolutely shredding metal guitars and choral samples from folers theme. This tracks epic sound

[00:45:07] [SPEAKER_00]: is blasted through with the excellent guitar work of none other than rare composer Grant Kirk Hope.

[00:45:12] [SPEAKER_00]: And, assuming the drilling and mechanical sounds come from our robotic terminator.

[00:45:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Alright, let's be able to power baby. It's time to get down to the excellent tunes

[00:45:20] [SPEAKER_00]: of Killer Instinct 2 and I'll be back after that.

[00:59:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Alright, so that's the show. Hopefully you guys have enjoyed this episode about

[00:59:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Killer 1990 sound of the early Killer Instinct games. If you want to interact with the show and

[00:59:49] [SPEAKER_00]: tell me what you think about my selections in this episode, you can follow me on a variety of social

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[00:59:58] [SPEAKER_00]: those locations are exactly where you can find great screenshots, artwork, music clips and various

[01:00:03] [SPEAKER_00]: information about the gamecitter featured in each episode. Check the show noted to follow along

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[01:00:25] [SPEAKER_00]: course, if you're feeling giving, you can always support barsalas on Patreon. For already subscribing,

[01:00:30] [SPEAKER_00]: I want to thank the members of the leech and a VGM for supporting this show. Zoey, Alusa

[01:00:34] [SPEAKER_00]: and Cameron, I very much appreciate you ultra cool kids and I really hope you've enjoyed this episode.

[01:00:40] [SPEAKER_00]: If you want to join these supremely cool people and become a member of the leech and a VGM,

[01:00:45] [SPEAKER_00]: you can subscribe for as little or as much as you want and you'll get access to a bonus episode

[01:00:49] [SPEAKER_00]: of awesome music each month. Be sure to check the show now for a link to learn more.

[01:00:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I would also like to thank friends of the show and leech and members Aaron of the excellent video

[01:00:58] [SPEAKER_00]: game for ID podcast, Super Pod Saga, as well as Professor Tom of the Shoes in Academy VGM Club.

[01:01:03] [SPEAKER_00]: You can and should check out both of these shows wherever you get your podcast as well as on

[01:01:10] [SPEAKER_00]: all right, to wrap up the show I've got one more track for you. We're going to listen to

[01:01:14] [SPEAKER_00]: the Gargos' themes rocking guitars by Grant Kerko. This song is awesome and Grant is an absolute

[01:01:19] [SPEAKER_00]: legend in this one. So get ready to shred and double bass drum yourself into a supreme victor.

[01:01:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this final song and as always, thanks again for listening and I'll see

[01:01:30] [SPEAKER_00]: you guys next time.