Earlier today at Gamescom, Microsoft officially announced Season 3 of its Xbox One and Windows 10 fighting game Killer Instinct. Season 3 will include plenty of new characters, with multiple new characters available at launch rather than just one.
More characters, story modes, and tweaks would be good enough news for fighting game players, but Microsoft dropped an even more exciting bombshell today as well. Rash from Battletoads is coming to Killer Instinct Season 3. In fact, the "beta test" version of Rash is available to play right now! Read our quick impressions, gameplay video, and how to get the amphibious new character!
How to catch this Rash
To get beta access to Rash from Battletoads, you need to either own at least one piece of Killer Instinct downloadable content (Season Pass, Combo Breaker Pack, or KI Gold) OR have played the original Battletoads in Rare Replay for Xbox One. If you haven't read our hyper-detailed Rare Replay review, hurry it up, dude!
Assuming you qualify for Rash, you still need the latest Killer Instinct update to catch him. As of this writing, the update was not available to simply download yet. It's rolling out tonight and tomorrow. Still, there is a way to force the update! Just uninstall the game and redownload it. The updated version should then download, Rash and all. If you get in a real hurry, Rash can be played in Training Mode when the game download reaches 20 percent completion.
Once you get the update, Rash will automatically appear in the bottom-left corner of the character list – no need to download him separately. Naturally, he does not have a story mode, but he can be played against the AI or other players.
The beta version of Rash will be available until September 8th. He will return with Killer Instinct Season 3 in early 2016.
How does Rash feel?
Iron Galaxy and Microsoft warn that Rash's appearance and moveset have not been finalized yet. The Rash we get in Season 3 won't be exactly the same as the one we scratch today. Still, he looks quite cool already. If you've ever played a Battletoads game, you'll recognize him right away. Rash is the sunglasses-wearing Battletoad. His default color is green, but his alternate color is a red that somewhat resembles the brown color of fellow Battletoad Pimple.
Rash's punches and kicks work differently than other Killer Instinct characters, for now anyway. Players can mash away at any punch or kick and they will continuously combo. Even if the enemy winds up in the air, they can keep the combo going. This reduces the need to switch between other punches and kicks in order to maintain a combo.
The 'toad with a 'tude's special moves have been lifted directly from the games. He can turn into a wrecking ball and swing across the screen (like Spider-Man in the Marvel vs. Capcom series), perform a headbutt with ram horns, and kick with a giant spiked boot.
Pushing all three punches performs the Wicked Tongue, in which Rash's tongue lashes out and pulls him towards whatever it catches. Use it like Scorpion's spear in Mortal Kombat or just to move around the stage.
Rash's Instinct move "Turbo Tunnel" requires his Instinct Meter to be fully charged. After that, players can hit High Punch + High Kick to enter Instinct Mode. For the duration of the mode, any time you press HP + HK, Rash's Speeder Bike (from the infamous bike levels of Battletoads) will zoom towards your opponent. It can even be summoned in the air – Rash will hop down onto the bike and slam into his foe.
Finally, Rash has an Ultra Combo like other fighters. Ultras can only be performed when an opponent's health is very low. Whittle down your enemy's life, start a combo, and perform the Ultra input (Fireball motion + all three punches) to pull it off. Right now, Rash's Ultra is simply a very strong punch – not a true Ultra. We can expect Iron Galaxy to turn it into a full combo when Season 3 catches Rash.
The modern Killer Instinct is developed by Iron Galaxy, but Killer Instinct itself is a Rare property, just like Battletoads. With Rash showing up in Killer Instinct, the Battletoads guesting in Shovel Knight, and Rare Replay including two Battletoads titles, it's safe to say that the Battletoads are coming back to the gaming world. Let's just hope we get a new Battletoads sequel soon!
- Killer Instinct Season 2 Ultra Edition – Xbox One – ~21 GB – $39.99 – Xbox.com Link
Does Rash joining Killer Instinct scratch your itch for more Battletoads or what?
