Attention everyone! This is an emergency episode of Review Crew! Last week, when I posted a look at the worst games on every console (according to Electronic Gaming Monthly) there was one game that really stood out – Killer Instinct on the Game Boy. The comment section was filled with people shocked the game was on the list, defending it as one of the Game Boy's best fighting games, not the worst. With no Nintendo Classics being added this week, I wanted to dig deeper into this debate and see if Sushi-X was just the outlier or if the rest of the magazines hated Killer Instinct on Game Boy as much as EGM? To answer that question, I decided to flip through the pages of Nintendo Power, GamePro, Computer & Video Games and more classic magazines that reviewed this game back when it first came out. Get your combo fingers ready, because we're dialing up a brand-new episode of Review Crew.


By now, everybody knows the story of Killer Instinct. It was originally announced alongside Cruis'N USA as one of the first two coin-op games that would specifically use Nintendo's 64-bit hardware, which meant that the game we played in the arcade would be perfectly recreated on the home console. Of course, none of this went as plan. Nintendo would ultimately delay the new console by more than a year, kicking off a series of chain reactions that involved a Killer Instinct sequel and a well-received Super NES port that shrunk the original game down to fit in a 16-bit cartridge. If you were impressed by that, then it bodes well for Rare's next magic trick, which involved stripping even more of the visual fidelity away in order for Killer Instinct to fit on Nintendo's aging Game Boy. This mean stripping away all of the color and SGI effects and shoving what at the time was a state-of-the-art arcade cabinet onto an old, 8-bit, monochromatic handheld console. There were people who said it couldn't be done, but Rare was determined to prove them wrong. Let's see what the critics said.

If you watched my breakdown of the worst games on every system (according to Electronic Gaming Monthly), then you already know that EGM absolutely hated the game. Earning a pitiful 2.5 out of 10, this was EGM's worst-reviewed Game Boy game. Andrew hated the game so much that he used the word “butchered” to describe Killer Instinct: “I wasn't expecting much, but this shouldn't even have been attempted. The graphics are pixelized beyond reasonable limits. The audio is a series of bland bleeps. Worse yet is the control. You can't differentiate between weak and strong hits, making many special moves impossible to do. Not even good while on the Super Game Boy.” Fighting game expert Sushi-X liked it a little more, arguing that “obviously, the look doesn't translate to a portable system nor do the infamous sounds. Combos and moves are pretty easy to do, but the fact remains – it just looks weak on a portable. Only die-hard fans will really be able to get into it enough to sacrifice the graphics. It is an impressive job for what was intact, but why bother?

Now, before you get ready to leave an angry comment, you need to understand that Electronic Gaming Monthly was the outlier here. Every other magazine liked the game considerably more. For example, giving the game a 3.4 out of 5, I wouldn't say that Nintendo Power was passionately in love with Killer Instinct on Game Boy, but they didn't outright hate it like EGM. Nintendo Power liked that it was “a true Game Boy tournament fighter with excellent play control” with “enhanced Super Game Boy sound and color.” However, they were disappointed that “some cool moves are missing” and that it's “not nearly as complex as [the] Super NES and arcade versions.” They put the blame on “fewer control buttons result in simpler play.”

As we move up the list, we see VideoGames: The Ultimate Gaming Magazine give the game a 7 out of 10, while Game Informer went with a slightly better 7.25 out of 10. GamePro was even more impressed, going all the way up to a 4 out of 5, concluding that “Killer fans will want to take this show on the road, because their favorite game is just as much fun on the green system. Any Game Boy enthusiast facing a long backseat ride home will enjoy this game. Street Fighter II on Game Boy has a little more in the gameplay area, but Killer Instinct is more fun.”

Oh, you think that's impressive? Just wait until you get a load of Computer & Video Games. Paul Davies absolutely loved the game, giving Killer Instinct a score of 91%, easily the game's highest marks. “I'd much rather Nintendo bid Game Boy farewell with another Zelda or Mario title, but there's no denying Rare have achieved something outstanding with Killer Instinct. Again. So long as you approach the game with a mind that it's kind of a toy version to mess around with, it's exactly what any fan could hope for – minus the two problem characters. It's easy as ever to stumble across big-hitting combos, which is less rewarding when playing the computer than matching wits with a friend, so this is definitely one to line up on the train/beach/plane, whatever.”

It's adorable how Paul thought Nintendo was saying goodbye to the Game Boy in 1995. Oh buddy, they were just getting started. When it comes to Killer Instinct, most of the critics agreed. As fighting games on the Game Boy go, this is one of the better ones. That said, the overall average is 68%, dragged down by EGM's absolute hatred for this version of the arcade hit. With so many varied opinions, perhaps you should try Killer Instinct on Game Boy for yourself and see which side of the debate you land on.