This won’t really be a proper review as fighting games like this aren’t my style. I’m not competent enough at playing them to give a proper opinion on it, but as it’s part of Rare Replay, I figured I’d experience what it has.
One thing I can comment on is the presentation. The visuals are rather nice indeed. The characters are in the style Rare used for Donkey Kong Country: impressive 3D models were made, and then turned into 2D sprites. The 3D stages look really nice for an N64 game as well, with some nice glossiness and reflections to some of them.
The main mode is arcade, where you fight each character in turn before facing off against the boss. It feels a bit like Street Fighter 2 in terms of multiple types of punches/kicks and lots of combos to move. There are some spammy moves which can be used against the AI, but I imagine a competent player would be able to counter them.
Other modes include modes where you use multiple characters in a row, first one to lose all of theirs loses, as well as training and practice modes to help you learn combos. There’s also a tournament mode for playing with lots of people.
What I find really odd about Killer Instinct Gold is that there’s no basic Vs mode. You can launch an arcade against an opponent, but there’s no basic single match mode. On top of this, there’s also no stage menu, instead you need to both press button combos at the same time to force a certain stage.