Killing Zone , a early PlayStation fighting game from 1996, pits seven infamous monsters against each other in a battle for supremacy. These initial seven monsters are all that can be fought, with no hidden characters to unlock or a final boss to conquer.
Most of the characters are slow and un-manoeuvrable, which may be intentional to represent their size and fighting styles. The attacks in the game generally fit the monster's abilities, such as the Skeleton's jumping sword attack or the Minotaur's gore-filled horns. However, this lack of skill-based gameplay means that brute force often wins out.
Killing Zone offers two game modes: Normal Mode and Auto Mode. In Normal Mode, players fight against six other monsters and their mirrored opponent in a single match. A second player can join at any time, making it the only way to play with a friend. Completing this mode reveals performance statistics, but no narrative conclusion, as the game lacks a story.
Auto Mode is an innovative feature that devotes most of its manual to. In this mode, players train and guide an AI-controlled monster through tournaments by pressing buttons on the controller to instruct it on certain moves. The monster begins with basic attacks and improves over time, gaining new abilities and responsiveness as it fights.
Despite Auto Mode's potential, the game is hindered by its lack of a save feature. This limitation restricts players' ability to progress and improve their AI-controlled monsters between sessions.