So, I wanted to share with you my “elevator pitch” for something that Microsoft could do with KI in the next generation to tide us over before “Killer Instinct 4” is finished. This is not “what is going to happen”. This is not a prediction. And this is not me demanding something. This is just an idea I came up with and decided to write down.
The idea is called “Killer Instinct Ultra”. It’s an expanded and remastered edition of KI’13 with additional content. It would be released in arcades as “Killer Instinct Ultra”, mainly in an attempt to draw the larger Japanese FGC into the series, and then would be released on Series X as “Killer Instinct Ultra: Tournament Edition”. Aside from the touched up graphics, the game would include the following additional content.
New Characters
- Jack Matthews
- Before the Gargos invasion, he was a renegade cop who didn’t play by the rules. Now that it’s over, Ultratech is the global superpower, and he’s in charge of their new police force. His violence first, ask questions never approach to public safety dominates the streets. If you break the law, he’ll break your neck. Decked out in Ultratech’s high tech riot gear, he wields an electrified baton, a shock pistol, and grenades of all sorts. His retro costume evokes the Judge Dredd and Robocop franchises.
- Marcus Andriy
- A modern gladiator sponsored by Ultratech and top dog at their new Killer Instinct Tournament. Visually resembles a mix of a boxing champion, a wrestling heel, and a roman gladiator with cybernetic elements. He carries a curved short sword, a small square energy shield, and wears a helmet. But he prefers to use his fists, only taking out his blade when he has low health or activates instinct mode. His retro costume is meant to invoke the villains of the Rocky franchise.
- Arianna (“Shadow Orchid”)
- ARIA’s perfected humanoid body using the DNA of Orchid and Shadow Energy, resembling the description of her Arianna avatar from the Novella but with Orchid’s frame. She has many similar moves to Orchid but wields the electrified tonfa from Orchid’s KI2 appearance. Instead of the flashbang she uses the Explosive Arc technique from her robotic form, only with her hands instead of her legs. Instead of the Firecat she created glowing energy wings and dashes forward before whacking the opponent away (think the strike from ARIA’s Ultimate, only not as powerful). Instead of summoning Firecats in her instinct, she summons the fanfare drones from her ARIA appearance. During her instinct mode her skin turns ghostly blue and her hair turns white and waves in the air. Her primary costume is a tactical stealth combat suit (think MGS or Splinter Cell) with her Retro Costume looking straight out of The Matrix (sunglasses included)
- Rasputin
- The True Tsar and ruler of the Coven of vampires. Shares the same stance with Mira and a majority of her attacks as well, including Embrace. But he does not have the Trephine move and does not have her blood related abilities. Instead he utilized Psychokinetic abilities to enhance his own attacks. Instead of Blood Seekers he can summon a storm cloud that strikes his opponent with lightning three times, with the Shadow equivalent creating a tornado. Trephine is replaced with a psychokinetic pull in move. Instead of creating a blood scythe for Shadow Reaping, he unsheathes his sword. His primary costume is his look from the comics, with his Retro Costume resembling more classical vampires like Lestat from Interview with a Vampire or Alucard from Castlevania.
- Joanna Dark
- Top agent of the Carrington Institute, Joanna ended up in the Killer Instinct universe after investigating the dataDyne headquarters, Lucern Tower, and discovering a multidimensional weapons deal between dataDyne and Ultratech. She dual wields the Falcon 2 pistols, the Laptop Gun, and can drop 3 different kinds of mine (proximity, timed, and remote detonation). Her instinct mode switches her Falcon 2’s for Maulers and her Ultimate Combo utilizes the Slayer. Her primary costume is her Perfect Dark Zero costume and her Retro skin comes from the original Perfect Dark on N64.
- Raiden
- It’s been 6 years since the Guns of the Patriots incident and 2 since the World Marshall Attacks. The Global Economy has somewhat recovered, at least… until the Invasion. Now the world is devastated once again. With large corporations rising in the place of the collapsed governments. Which is why Hal Emmerich was so worried when the silent alarms at Shadow Moses Island were tripped. The island will be completely underwater soon thanks to global warming, and someone is trying to recover the long abandoned Metal Gear models on the island before they’re claimed by the sea. With the legendary soldier gone, Hal contacts his old ally Raiden, the cyborg ninja, to stop Ultratech from claiming these mechs and wreaking havoc on the world stage. Raiden is fast with his blade and can cut through virtually anything. His Zandatsu ability allows him to precisely target an enemies weak points and his “Ripper Mode” state enhances all his abilities.
- Donkey Kong
- As reciprocation for MS allowing Banjo into Smash and representative of KI’s Rareware legacy. DK is strong and fast with ground pounds, seismic claps, and roll attacks. He has his Coconut Gun and he can summon support from Diddy Kong. His modern costume is a slightly more realistic take on his current design, with his Retro costume hewing closer to his classic cartoony design. Kind of like what they did with Rash.
New Stages
- Speederbike Highway: Rash
- Coven Hangout: Mira
- The Hollow: General RAAM
- Warrior’s Battlefield: Eyedol
- Overgrown Warehouse: Kilgore (Alternate version of Ultratech Industries)
- Village of Ascension: Shin Hisako (Alternate Version of Village of Whispers)
- Sacred Ground: Eagle
- Urban Siege: Jack Matthews (Modernization of Streets Classic Stage)
- Ultratech Coliseum: Marcus Andriy
- Secret Lab: Arianna
- Winter Palace: Rasputin
- Lucerne Tower: Joanna Dark
- Shadow Moses Ruins: Raiden
- Kongo Jungle: Donkey Kong
New Gameplay Elements
- Ultimate Combos for the remaining cast.
- Return of Humiliations. Each character gets a unique choreographed dance.
- Retro Costumes for Shadow Jago, Omen, Kilgore, and Shin Hisako.
Brand new arcade mode with cinematic intros, rival fights, and endings. Replacing the original KI’s original disjointed arcade modes. After six fights, you will face your rival, then Marcus Andriy, then ARIA, then either Gargos or Eyedol depending on how you play and who you are controlling. If you play as Marcus Andriy, he will fight seven random opponents and then face his rival in place of the typical Marcus fight. If you play as ARIA, she will face seven random opponents, then Marcus, then her rival in place of the typical ARIA fight. If you play as Eyedol or Gargos, they will face seven random opponents, then Marcus, then ARIA, then each other as their rival fight. If you play as Shin Hisako, she will face seven random opponents, then Marcus, then ARIA as your rival. If you are playing as Jago, you will face seven random opponents and then Marcus as your rival
Rivals
- Jago vs. Marcus Andriy
- Sabrewulf vs. Riptor
- Glacius vs. Cinder
- Chief Thunder vs. Spinal
- Sadira vs. Hisako
- Black Orchid vs. Jack Matthews
- Spinal vs. Tusk
- Fulgore vs. TJ Combo
- Shadow Jago vs. Arianna
- Maya vs. Mira
- Kan-Ra vs. Aganos
- ARIA vs. Shin Hisako
- Kim Wu vs. Omen
- Tusk vs. Rasputin
- Arbiter vs. General RAAM
- Rash vs. Donkey Kong
- Gargos vs. Eyedol
- Kilgore vs. Eagle
- Joanna Dark vs. Raiden
While most of the game’s original cast returns, MS threw down some extra cash so Keith David could reprise his role as Arbiter in this version, as well as to get Dee Bradley Baker to record new lines for RAAM’s arcade mode.
New Cast Members
- Richard Epcar – Jack Matthews
- Quinton Flynn – Raiden
- Kyle Hebert – Marcus Andriy
- Grant Kirkhope – Donkey Kong
- Ihor Mota – Rasputin
- Eveline Novakovic – Joanna Dark
- Christopher Randolph – Otacon
- Karen Strassman – Arianna
- Chris Sutherland – Diddy Kong, Daniel Carrington
- Louise Tilston – Cassandra de Vries
Mick Gordon returns to compose the new character themes. Grant Kirkhope, David Weis, Eveline Novakovic, and Jamie Christopherson guest compose and collaborate with Gordon on the themes for Raiden, Donkey Kong, and Joanna Dark. Jason Miller does vocals for Raiden’s theme. DK’s theme contains musical references to Killer Instinct’s “It’s a Jungle” track in addition to his own series. The game’s theme music is a remix of Orchid’s KI2 theme “Play Hard”.