Killer Instinct Arcade1Up Review & Real Arcade Comparison! | ULTRA Deep Dive! 

Thanks for checking out this review/comparison! I hope it's not too nerdy or deep haha! If you're watching this premier, hang out after for a live stream with a Q&A and some gameplay!

I'm glad you mentioned the missing ultra 64 in the intro its so iconic. I know for legal reasons they couldn't put it in but it takes away a lot from the experience

I can explain why you have noticeable input lag, which is one of the biggest challenges with software emulation. I'm into emulators myself and now have experience in this matter. One of the biggest issues effecting lag are LCD displays. Traditionally, LCD has been a very laggy technology compared to CRT. Because the liquid crystals have to physically move to change pixel color, they are slow by nature. Only in the last few years has LCD technology gotten advanced enough to finally switch as fast as CRTs. If you shop for "gaming monitors" you'll see the best ones advertise very fast response times, and very high refresh rates ( 144, 165, 240, 360 hz ). While this is a big improvement it's still not quite enough. Another problem is the lag that happens when a game has to pause to synchronize with the display. This is what "vsync" does. The problem is that process creates huge amounts of lag. But that has been solved too with the features known as "Freesync" and "G-Sync" ( also known as adaptive sync ). Gsync reverses the traditional roles played by monitors and emulators. Instead of the emulator syncing itself to the screen, the screen syncs its refreshes to the emulator or game. I can't stress enough how powerful and awesome this technology is, it's a total game-changer for gaming of all kinds! With a G-Sync enabled monitor, you can then turn vsync OFF in games or emulators. The game can then run at full speed without ever pausing to sync with the screen which is far more natural. Also the emulator can run at whatever refresh rate it wants, and it doesn't matter because the monitor syncs to match it. Many arcade games run at odd refresh rates like 54, 55, 57, 59, etc.. So when you have a GOOD gaming monitor with high refresh rates, fast response times and G-Sync, what you get is an AMAZINGINGLY low input lag that puts it on par with CRTs, and can even surpass it. I just bought two new gaming monitors myself ( GOOD ones ) and have tested it in tons of PC games, and MAME games. I've really been blown away with how good it is. It even beats CRTs for PC gaming since these screens go run at far higher refresh rates than CRTs ever could. Keep in mind tho that good monitors are not cheap, The ones I bought cost about $430 a piece. The fact that Arcade1Up's game has input lag means they either went cheap on the screens they use, or they don't know what they're doing, I'm sorry to say.

Amazing comparisons. This video is a massive help to the community thanks for your work.

Love your channel, love your reviews, you introduction into how u got into KI is just like mine. Was amazed when I first seen it back in 94, has been my all time favorite ever since, when I found MAME I also taught myself how to use it and was amazed to play the arcade version at home. Love your content!

That original n64 intro you made was absolutely awesome. Good job! 😃

Amazing review; nerding out is defiantly the way to go.

You have played more killer instinct in 1 livestream than I have my whole entire life, and I'm 52. BTW, I worked in the arcades when KI was new and delivered day 1. I was more a street fighter fan; we were so good that we knew every correct punch and kick button to counter every jump towards us, button press recation, and special. Other players hated our guts for that, but like you, we were true nerds as well. Very enjoyable video. Thanks for making it

Excellent video, dude. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

I admire your dedication and passion to the game. Thank you for all this information. You are the best. Take care!

I loved your video, ive been a fan of KI sicne it came out way back in the 90s it was my FAVORITE fighting game next to Mortal kombat. I loved all the nerdy info you gave about the arcade version plus all the other stuff i did not know. When i found out about Mame i felt the same way you did! Also at the end bout the bolts in the monitor thing that was awesome!!! Great video!! i am very tempted to get the 1uparcade macine, but may possibly wait till the pro series.

I loved the sound in the arcade. It was so amazing!

Best review yet. Way better than Twisted Chris could ever hope to do.

Best review I've seen.. Great video

Awesome Review, cant imagine it being any better! Thanks!

Wow Chris, I've been a huge fan forever and I'm just watching this. I had no idea you made that website, I used it as a kid for so long (thanks for helping me play it on mame ;) Wild. As always, love your content and I appreciate you

Absolutely killer review Chris, no pun intended. You covered little details everyone else missed.I definitely agree that the highlight of the cabinet is the on line play. I'm seriously considering picking up a MK 30th anniversary specifically for the on line play. Something that's been missed since the old arcade days. One comment I will make regarding the input lag and this is just my opinion with no actual facts to back it up, may be due to the LCD. Using an arcade CRT, carries no lag. Will be interesting comparing the game through Mame on a CRT vs LCD for comparison. Thank you for sharing!

Great review man love this game. I’m finally going to assemble mine as I’ve been having shipping issues. My first cabinet arrived broken and the second one was “LOST” with FedEx. Till I finally last night. On my way home to assemble it now. Hopefully this one is in one piece. Hope I can catch you on a stream and play against you online!

Awesome video. Thank you Chris!

Good review! Nice info. A lil overly picky about button colors and things but still a great review. I will be picking this one up soon. I have had a couple real ki’s over the years and always sold them when the prices got high. Nice job bro

Finally good hyper spin working on my pie 3 and the pc hyper spin version pretty exciting enjoying your reviews nice

Awesome review Chris! Hopefully the guys from arcade1up take note of this and make some adjustments to the KI pro line edition before release. just hope the price is reasonable lol

Dude I’ve just discovered this and this is amazing ! I’m buying one Tuesday

Those nerd out sections and side by side comparisons are truly important for someone like me. I've been on the fence about buying KI since day one, I almost bought it as my first cab over BB. However, the negative outputs were very concerning when it was a $800 cab. Now its on sale, updates to issues in this video have been applied, and your video makes me want to go ahead and get the cab.

Excellent review! Waiting for the updates and fixes before getting mine. Great job! paPOw!!!

Great job on the review. Nerd reviews are great

great Job Chris! I would hope you could get your hands on a pro model when it comes out. I know its highly unlikely but if you did that would be damn cool to see all the versions next to each other!

Since I’m gonna get an Arcade1Up soon Living In Europe,because thanks to your Videos,I know how to make bigger combo!I cant wait to have it in my living room! 👍

I've had zero problems with mine. Love it. Not sure what there's to complain about.

Exactly correct on the replacement stick and button replacement issue. I'm am 100÷ in agreement with having to replace these things if you are a serious player.

THANK YOU

Excelente revisão! Bem poderia ter um ARCADE desse no Brasil!!

Dude, you're the guy that started KIOnline? That's crazy. I definitely remember that site. I was in the same boat. KI was and still is my favorite game, but it seemed like the rest of the world didn't really care about it, so that was really cool finding other fans of the game. Also, the XBOX ONE version of KI1 also has the corner glitch. I remember specifically reporting it to them when it first released and their official response was that it was a "proper emulation of a glitch that was in the arcade..." I'm like, I literally have the original hardware, you're wrong. At least now, 10 years later, they're believing you guys and finally fixing it for 1up. Anyway, great video!

This looks like one class game and an excellent video my friend, and nothing wrong with being a nerd😃liked and subbed👍🏻

I was 12 when I finished this machine. Always with Orchid or Fulgore. Man.. what a game, I'll record a theme cover soon.

Great job. Thank you.

Way late to the party, but that may have been the most solid complete review I’ve seen on any cabinet. Wow.

Awesome review dude! To be honest, Arcade 1Up cabs aren’t worth the money imo, but each to their own. I love everything arcade, so I’ll be back for the next one 😎👍✨

Nice thorough review. I really wish arcade1up would have sent you a cab to test for them you know the game more than most and I haven’t seen anyone else find the glitches you did or be as thorough but they did a good job doesn’t look like there were too many problems . I like where arcade1up is going with their new cabs slowly making them more and more legit with slightly bigger sizes and slanted bigger screens and control panel etc but to me theylle always be an item that needs upgrading and I’m fine with that as long as they get everything else right which they are in the right direction now. Some peeves about this cab to me is the non slanted panel and the marquee has no bezel and the I like the extra height but hate that it’s an added panel must have been an afterthought but that would bug me and I am willing to garauntee that this was made around the same time as the 30th anniversary mk cab which has all my gripes fixed and the pro cab which has more upgrades but still I’m optimistic

I thought I loved K I alot , you're obsessed 😂

Great video! I want this really bad but I'm holding out for the pro version.

I can only give you one thumb up, you deserve 3 thumbs up good sire

A ton of love went into this video. Thanks a TON for uploading. On the fence regarding the new MVC2 and wanted to know more about the sizing differences and buttons. Thanks for uploading!

9:56 on god... man hearing that announcement still gives me gooose bumps! I'm still waiting for my Ultra 64 from 1995

Man i want one so bad. I love this and ki2. Man….thanks bud

This review couldn't have come at a more perfect time. I just bought a cabinet from Game Room Solutions, and this was the one and only emulation I asked about. Clearly a raspberry pi 4 won't cut it so I can play KI, so I've already made plans to upgrade to PC internals... I need KI in my life, again.

Excellent video review. Love it. You think it's worth waiting for the pro version? I agree with you, I would have love if they left the ultra 64 intro. Its the best original intro I've seen. Thank you !!!

Very nice and honest review! Its hard for me to watch reviews of people who gets paid or got the cab free. Im hoping to get the pcb, dont really care for the cab itself.

I spent 2 hours last night playing against the same guy and had a great time. The online play is where it's at. Marquee, don't care, sticks and buttons I can't play with so happs are coming Monday. Z313 is coming tomorrow so sound will be cool. I wish the screen was bigger but the game is there and that's all that Matters, I'll beat up on some proline guys when it comes out. Thanks for all the input, I've been following for a few years and pumped that I own the (proper, not snes) version. TSR68

Don't worry... I loved the nerdy stuff since I'm particular as well about the details. Thank you for this review. As you requested, yes, this video helped me decide further from buying the Arcade1UP machine due to that input lag. But I wasn't really going to buy it anyways. Unless it goes much lower than the $500 sale price I've seen.

you must be thrilled about the KI Pro announcement lol

holy shit you built that website!? I freCkin remember going to that site a whole lot, thanks for having such a cool resource!!!

To deal with the input difference, I have to take advantage of the large buffer window in KI. So for example when doing combos, I hold the last direction of an input during combos when pressing the attack button needed. Helped a lot with not dropping combos.

I put Happs in mine. I also put a sheet of white paper behind the marquee art to keep it from being too blown out. I also added a subwoofer and changed out the speakers. Overall I'm mostly bummed about the attract mode being trash in comparison and the size of the deck being very cramped for 2 players. But owning my favorite arcade game ever is a great feeling!

Great in depth review of the A1up cab! I have a question about the input lag on the Arcade1up KI, would you be able to test and see if the input lag is reduced when the smoothing and scan lines are turned off? I suspect the extra processing time for those effects may be what’s causing the added lag.

Thanks for answering all of my questions during your livestream. Another one for you: should we hold out hope that Code Mystics is working on fixing the input lag and combo-dropping? That seems to be the most alarming issue I’d have that would prevent me from wanting to get this version or the Pro

I played on numerous Cabinets when this game was originally released. This game blew away everything that was out at the time. Yes! For a time SFII & MK were a thing of the past. For a very short time I may add. However there are 2 things I remembered about this game that made broken beyond belief. Eyedol by was a one sided affair. It was like the Old School Akuma in the Street Fighter series. He was by nature way more powerful than any other character. The other thing I didn't like was the Cinder spacing glitch that involved his Flip Kick. If you practiced the distance it made his kick flip unblockable. You simply couldn't win if a person knew the spacing & timing. Thank the Lord not many players knew about this glitch. I'm sure some did, but wanted to be fair. How we learned about it was a guy desperate for tokens at the arcade. I'm sure people found other ones, but I wonder if the were as cruel???

Oh man, BattleToads Arcade !

definetely, this game was ahead of that time

Wow what a great review! Nice work. Did you try the scan lines set to CRT filter? I feel like that gives it the best image on the 1up version.

Awesome review man. Always trust your opinion. Wating for your video on the joysticks! Also one question. When changing the joysticks do you use a 4 or 8 way? I have tried it through mame with a 4 way i found that the controls were more tighter and easier to do compared to an 8 way. What do you recommend?

I loved killer instinct when it came out. It was so loud and grabbed my attention immediately. Played the hell out of snes version. Was disappointed in killer instinct 2. Oh welp. Great video

Hey Chris! Brand-new Arcade1-up player and general KI rookie here. I’m having quite a hard time learning how to combo; are there any online guides you know of that are useful for learning the button combinations, or any general tips you can share on how you first learned? Also, are there any ways to practice combos without having to go into 2-player mode (something like practice mode on SNES)? I struggle to get any good combos in during AI matches because I’m too busy getting whooped on…

Man is there any way we can get your intro put into the Arcade1Up cabs? Like seriously, ask them. That was great!

Great review Chris, so when you changing your online controls to Happs?

hi nice video, i have a question... is it possible to play this game as it looks in a modern day console? maybe a ps4? the only killer instinct version that i have always seen on emulators is the super nintendo version but i really love this one, thanks

I’m going to get one hopefully by the end of the year for a birthday gift. I know my mom is going to get mad at me 💀💀

The corner glitch is present in the xbox one digital releases too. Literally just posted a few days ago.

Some of glitches you mentioned happens in the Xbox series x version of the game also. The two person on each other glitch and the cut off combo glitch. The cut off combo glitch needs to be patched. That issue happens in the Classic Mode. In Final Game Mode where everything is patched, all the combos connect.

well i have a meme table top that i wanna turn into a MK/KI system and was wondering if there was anyway i can play you with that?

Yeah I also experienced an input lag when pulling off Orchid's spinning blade move. I also experienced a glitch where being stuck in the corner. Lastly, I experienced a crash when beating the game with Sabrewulf in KI2 where after the ending, it went back to the main menu, not showing the end credits.

I have a question. In the original Killer Instinct arcade game, I've heard that TJ Combo and Orchid have an alternate stage called "The Street" (not to be confused with TJ Combo's KI 2 level). How is this alternate stage accessed?

I just remembered, in some version(s) of the game(original arcade), you dont use cinder to make yedol, you use reptile. and the combination is different, but easier

The only two cabinets that blew me away were Killer Instinct and Soul Edge. The cabinets were so loud and bombastic

MVC2 Pro, 2023. Get ready.

If I had the 1UP Killer Instinct, I'd add Nintendo and Midway logos to the artwork and Marquee just to confuse my friends lol..

I figured you would go with the PRO SERIES one.

Just found your video bro. Add me to the 35K KI fan base.. I was a teen in the 90s and KI was #1 favorite fighting Arcade of all time. The other one I really liked close to KI was Soul Calibur. Like yourself, I'd spend hours on end playing this game at the Mall. Needless to say, I'd love to get one for the house, but I honestly don't know where to start. It would actually be great if I can play it on my home PC instead, but that seems a bit more complicated. Do I just buy the machine off Amazon or eBay? Is there anything else I would need? Which would be the best bang for the buck in terms of these Arcades? I'd really appreciate if you could point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance. Subscribed..

Play on Xbox one I only got one to play killer instinct love it all of them

Glacius forever :)

There’s a crt scan line option also if you click on the scan line option instead of going left or right. It’s the better of the two imo

Arcade 1UP emailed me to Confirm Dimensions of the Pro Cabinet as: Weight: 94lbs Assembled Dimensions:23” D x2 2.4” W x 67.5” H Box Dimensions 49" x 26" x 16"

Hey bro how are u have a question I have purchased a arcade1up Killer Instinct what are the codes for fast mode and slow mode and combo breaker

$700 is way too much. Make them $400 again let's go!!!

Now I want it to play Battletoads

The outlines are on the plexi so the LED strip can light them up.

I know I'm (really) late to the party, here... but I thought A1U was going to put this into the Midway / KI cabinet design, with the slanted control deck?! Did I dream that?

Great review. At 700 tho, I have to pass, I don't see where they justify that price tag. Hoping they drop below 500 at some point, was really hoping for something during that Arcade1up red cross blood drive, but that was a let down. I just don't understand, with any of the fighting cabs, why Arcade1up doesn't install quality controls.

Is the button lag still preset even after updates?

ever thought of upgrading the harddrive in the original cab?

Is there ample room for 2 players in person? I Know it's smaller which is why I ask. Thanks in advance!

Can you still do the shadow moves on the 1up version?

Sorry but the input lag in this KI A1up is not great. And this is what's causing you headaches for sure trust me. Mame is the best alternative. But since you have a Real arcade, the #1 choice for you Chris is obvious. I'm glad you did this face off, and i'm happy with Mame 139 now more than ever, because as far as i'm concern the only issue is that emulation is approx 2 second faster than real hardware in a 1 minute round which is a minor issue compare to the A1up input lag. And since i am using a 1ms input lag monitor i know for sure now that i am almost on par with the original hardware. So big thank you for the nerdy stuff really, that was helpful to me. I am not going to purchase an A1up unit as the input lag is awful compare to mame and a good monitor. So screw A1up even though they did a good job with some games. I do agree though that the online feature for this KI unit is indeed a plus for this cabinet, but this input lag issue for me is wrong and all the glitches they left in there should have been fixed before release which is very unfortunate. Thank you Chris for this video and keep them coming ! Love your channel. Cheers budy !

Does anyone know if they cut content from this port? I heard they removed orchids fatality??

Cool. And it looks like Arcade1Up cabinet, despite it's price, has some really bad quality with everything. It's like the thing with my mouse for PC. Back in the days, when i first time got my very first PC on my birthday, i had mouse from Logitech that was heavy, but it served me for, about 10 years non stop, or even more. It was falling from the table because of my cats, it was thrown by me it to a wall, because i was too angry at some games back in my school days and i even pour some coffe on that mouse, and after cleaning, it was working like nothing happened to it. And it stoped working only after 10 years or so by itself without me doing anything. These days, i lost count on how many mouses i bought for my PC. And i already tired of replacing them all the time! They have so bad quality that, they stop working by themselfs without me doing anything. And because i tired to buy another mouse every month, i decided to find working parts from other mouses that i still have and replace them in my current mouse, that was broken or not working. The same with, what it looks like, Arcade1Up. You can't buy one without been ready to replace something, because of how cheap it's parts and stuff in it is. And i'm saying this by looking at your videos and from hearing what you said about Arcade1up cabinet. But i never tried any real or emulated arcade cabinet by myself. I never played any and i have no idea how it feels and what it looks like in real life. But, as far as my understanding goes, arcade cabinets is just a, like this huge old computer with one game inside of it. That is how i see it, from technical perspective. All tho, i don't understand any technical nuances, but my brother does. He was fixing TVs and computers when i was just gonna start going to school lol Anyway, cool comparison video. But i still didn't get, how do i make KI look good and not pixelated on Mame. Cause, i found this, already put together mame with KI dilogy in it, with everything ready for it to work, on some website about killer instinct project or, whatever it's name was. And it works good, but it looks pixelated. Sure, i can turn on smooth filter and scanlines, but then it will hurt my eyes, cause i prefer clean image over the filtered one. And so, after playing Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter and tons of other games on Mame without filters and with clean image, playing KI with filters just hurts my eyes. And without filters KI looks very bad.

Hmm. Been a long. But I always used U64emu to emulate KI. I'd like to see how it compares.

Ok So I found you today on Christmas Day, 10 months after this was posted and this thing is going on sale for boxing day. Glitches fixed? Wait for pro? Buy it...?

In one of your streams you said that getting locked trapped in the corner of the screen happened in the real arcade ?

So would it be worth just getting an older Arcade 1up cabinet and converting it? $700 still doesn't seem worth it for the quality.

I wonder if it has the same glitches the arcade has....like shutting the game off with riptor(?) And the slo-mo glitch?