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Killer Instinct 2 follows on where the first installment left off. Unlike the Mortal Kombat Fatalities, the Killer Instinct 2 's finishing moves do not feature brutality or blood. Each character has two Ultimate combo moves (one of them can be executed without executing a combo), the Humiliation sequences were dropped, and the Ultra combo feature is still intact. Now each character can only execute these attacks when the opponent's second life bar flashes red (unlike the first Killer Instinct the opponent falls when he or she loses all of his or her energy bars). The finishing moves have also been reworked.
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A player can assume a standing defensive position and cause the attacker to temporarily freeze if the parry is successful, and from there either perform a special stunning technique or a three-hit variant of a Special Move. Parry, an advanced new addition, allow an open counter-attack after a successful parry block. Punches break kick doubles, and kicks will break punch doubles. Unlike combo breakers in the first game, which also required a three tiered 'rock, paper, scissors' system based on strength to break, combos are now broken depending on the type of attack. In an apparent effort to help ease this dominance, combo breakers are now easier to perform. As a result of the weakened normal moves and other changes to the system, combos have now become more devastating in Killer Instinct 2. Additionally combos can be extended using throws, super linkers, manual-doubles, and super end specials. Additionally, Super Moves can be placed into combos, greatly increasing their damage and potency as well as being unbreakable. Unlike the first game, players can now open up combos with new and much less risky moves than before (most notable a close Fierce punch or close Fierce kick). By pressing a certain strength button after an opener move, a player will launch an auto-double and initiate the combo system of the game. The combo system has its roots in the original Killer Instinct. After the bar reaches a certain point, the player can use a multi-hit Super Move which is usually an extended version of a normal special move. This super bar fills as a fighter takes damage or executes an attack that is blocked by the opponent. Normal special moves no longer are judged on priority, but instead follow a three tiered ' rock, paper, scissors' system, in which a certain special move will always break another certain special move (similar to the three tiered system in Soulcalibur).Īdditionally, a Super bar has been added to the game (similar to Street Fighter Alpha or The King of Fighters series). Additionally, characters can be knocked down much easier with normal moves than in the first game, ending the possibility of opening with a 'glitch' combo and also weakening the effectiveness of normal moves. Throws have been added into the game to deal with blocking characters (as opposed to the top attack in Killer Instinct). However, normal moves have lost a lot of their priority and range, as well as gaining extra recovery time. The matches, as with Killer Instinct, revolve around a three strength system (Quick, Medium and Fierce). As with the original Killer Instinct, when a character's original life bar is fully depleted, he or she will fall to the ground, and immediately begin on his or her second lifebar.Īs with the first game, Killer Instinct 2 relies on an automatic combo subsystem in its matches. As with most fighting games and indeed its predecessor, two characters square off with the goal of depleting the opponent's life bar.
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