Oh Rare, how you teased and teased and teased about a third installment in this much loved fighting series. From Christmas cards featuring the KI3 logo to hints in games such as Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. A possible Killer Instinct 3 has been mentioned by the media, fans, and the developers, Rare, themselves, so why hasn’t there been a third installment yet? Based on franchise history alone, it deserves one. Let’s dive into past games to see why they’re so popular with the hardcore fighting fans.

Killer Instinct was first released on Arcades way back in 1994 by Midway, and later published by Nintendo for release on the Super Nintendo and Game Boy. The game was developed by Rare across all platforms. KI quickly became popular due to its over-the-top automatic combos, No Mercy finishers, Humiliations, Ultra Combos, Ultimate Combos, Combo Breakers, and, of course, unique characters. All brought together by the powerful mega-corporation, Ultratech, in a tournament to test the company’s experimental creatures in mortal combat, the warriors of Killer Instinct fought as if they were just waiting to be picked up on Xbox Live.

It has been 13 years since Killer Instinct’s sequel hit the arcades and Nintendo 64. That’s a long time for a much loved series to be dormant, but over the last year we’ve been hearing more and more whispers that Killer Instinct may be making its long overdue return to the gaming world. Since Rare is now owned by Microsoft, we know that if it ever is released, KI3 will be an Xbox 360 exclusive. You have seen the rumors in our Rumor Killers feature, but we have yet to see any hard evidence that could support these claims. What if KI3 was in production? Would it be a simple upgrade of the original, making it faster, better-looking, and, most importantly, online compatible? Would we see all the loved characters -- Jago, Fulgore, and Orchid, to name a few -- make a return? Rare once stated that they would have to come up with some new gameplay idea before even considering reviving the series. I am on the fence about that; I don’t think they need a new idea to revolutionize the fighting genre. Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Soul Calibur (I can keep on going), are all still running, so why not KI?

So what would we want from Killer Instinct 3 then? Well, we would want all the characters back, for sure, but we would also like to see a few new ones. Imagine what Rare could come up with now. Maybe they could put a piñata in there? Actually, scrap that one, but you get my point. And with the power of the 360 behind it, we would expect KI3 to be gorgeous, with stunning level designs and backdrops that pack a punch or two. Maybe each stage could have multiple levels, allowing you to use the surroundings to your advantage or smash someone off of a cliff and continue the fight at the bottom, a la Dead or Alive 4.