In the weeks leading up to Microsoft's E3 conference last night in LA, the company had repeatedly teased that a "historic" franchise from Twycross studio, Rare, would be making a comeback. That alone was enough to send the internet into a frenzy, as people pondered what the mystery game could be. After all, Rare has an incredibly impressive back catalogue, from Sabreman on the ZX Spectrum in the 1980s, through to classic shooters Goldeneye and Perfect Dark, and even the more recent Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts and Viva Piñata? So what would the newly resurrected game be? Blast Corps? Jet Force Gemini? Grabbed by the Ghoulies?
As it turns out, the answer to that question was the often forgotten beat 'em up Killer Instinct, which is set to receive a "next-generation" make over when it launches on the Xbox One. Originally released in the arcades, before being ported to the SNES and Game Boy, Killer Instinct took a slightly different approach to the many of the other beat 'em ups of the time by making use of highly detailed, pre-rendered character sprites. Pitting two bizarre characters together in a one on one battle, it was a question of button mashing vs. memorising combos to see who won between, say, a ninja and a Wolfman.
A sequel to the game has been rumoured for years, but at last night's E3 conference, Microsoft made it official by revealing a trailer for the all new game. Taking a markedly different approach to the earlier games, Killer Instinct will actually be a free download on the Xbox One, which contains a single character. If you want to play as any of the other characters from the full roster, you'll have to buy them either separately, or as a package, for a currently unspecified price.
For a first look at the beat 'em up, and some rather 1980s themed action, why not take a look at the trailer below:
