Introduction
Killer Instinct was a 1994 arcade fighting game by Rare with a distinct focus on getting big combos and systems to facilitate and counter that. A SNES port was soon developed and released in the summer of 1995, with a Game Boy version released a few months after. The Game Boy version has cuts such as needing to pare down moves to work with 2 face buttons and cutting out Cinder and Riptor to fit into the cartridge. With those cuts and the platform into consideration, this is a fine port that includes Super Game Boy support to play with 2 people on one cartridge via SNES controllers.
So there's these cool streamers called TieTuesday and MiniMatt that run this weekly stream series called That's Right, We're Gonna Cheat. It's about learning tech for games that might pop up in mystery fighting game tournaments to have a knowledge advantage against another opponent. Earlier this month on 9 September 2026 they were trying out Game Boy fighters that had 2 player Super Game Boy support and came across an easy and strong infinite with Sabrewulf. I thought that tech was both very funny and quite easy so I had this in my back pocket for a TAS idea. Come to the present (24 September 2026) I hit a road block with a different TAS where reused inputs desynced a good chunk into where I wanted to use them and needed something shorter to take a break from a long project. This one was fairly straightforward to TAS but also quite enjoyable.
Run notes
- Emulator used: BizHawk 2.11.1
- Game Boy in Super Game Boy mode
- bsnesv115+ core
- Plays on the hardest difficulty Very Hard
- Takes no damage, although I don't think taking damage would save time here
- Rotates a werewolf a bunch
Character choice explanation
Sabrewulf is the character with an easy infinite through the use of his Sabreroll. Of course the CPU opponents will generally try to dodge or block the move but I'll discuss this after explaining some other notable things first.
- Sabreroll
- 64A (forward, back, kick)
This is the main bread and butter move for the infinite. The Sabreroll is a roll forward that hits low multiple times and, notably, can be performed again while the opponent is in hitstun to combo into itself and doesn't cause pushback when hitting the opponent in a corner. Other moves can also naturally be performed after getting a hit so some rounds are ended with 5A (standing kick) to deplete the remaining bit of life to end some rounds quicker.
- Sabrespin
- 64B (forward, back, punch)
This is a lariat forward that hits mid multiple times that's fairly safe on block. The Sabrespin is used for some fights where using Sabreroll, jumping in, or walking forward didn't cut it in terms of getting close enough to the CPU opponent. While it's blocked it does give a good opportunity to get a Sabreroll in right after where the CPU opponent tries punish after blocking the Sabrespin.
- Combo scaling and how to work around it
- Sabreroll can combo into itself to get a 99 hit combo without any other moves. However, the combo scaling means that doing so would have diminishing returns that's very noticeable when doing two of them in quick succession. To work around that, delaying the next Sabreroll very slightly can get the full damage of the next roll at the slight cost of giving the opponent a chance to block and get out of the infinite loop. For the most part either the CPU opponents try and fail to punish that delay or they're stunned, letting the Sabreroll loop keep going. There's a couple of cases where the delay is impossible to implement due to the CPU opponent's actions so simply performing the next Sabreroll for lower damage but keep the opponent in place is done instead.
Stage by stage notes
Did you know that the Very Hard CPU opponents don't like players that try to rush down? Here's notes about what I did to get those Sabreroll loops going.
- Black Orchid
- Orchid jumps back when doing round start Sabreroll, so jumping forward instead and then doing the Sabreroll was the play to get the loop in for round 1. A round 2 start Sabreroll gets the loop in quickly due to positioning.
- TJ Combo
- TJ does an anti-air with any jump-in and jumps forward from a round start Sabreroll, so a Sabrespin is done round start instead to close the gap for round 1. For round 2, walking in and then using a Sabreroll when TJ jabs gets into the loop without a block.
- Chief Thunder
- Jumping forward and using a late air kick to prevent Thunder's block lets Sebrewolf get those rolls in. This works for both rounds.
- Sabrewulf mirror
- Round start Sabreroll beats the CPU round start Sabreroll for round 1. Jumping over the CPU at round 2 start whiffs the anti-air and sets up the Sabreroll loop.
- Jago
- Jago starts round 1 with a back jump, so a jump forward is done first. The Sabreroll is delayed to get Jago in the middle of an attack rather than having him jump when performing the move at the earliest possible moment after landing. For round 2, a crouch kick into the loop was a bit faster than getting a blocked round start Sabreroll into unblocked rolls.
- Glacius
- Glacius jumps back at round 1 start. Doing two forward jumps with a jump kick gets the Sabreroll loop going for that round. Round 2 doesn't need anything special as the Sabreroll gets under/past the projectile. I think the projectile starts airborne for some reason? My guess is that this is a low profile situation.
- Spinal
- Spinal walks back at round 1 start and jumps over Sabreroll when possible. An mpty jump forward followed by a Sabreroll when Spinal tries to attack gets the loop started. A delayed Sabreroll is all that's needed for the round 2 start into the loop.
- Fulgore
- Fulgore starts round 1 with a jump back and then a jump forward. An empty jump forward, jump forward kick, and a Sabreroll upon landing gets the loop started. A slightly delayed Sabreroll at round 2 start is all that's needed to get the 2nd loop going.
- Eyedol
- An empty jump forward into the Sabreroll gets Eyedol into the loop on round 1. A slightly delayed Sabreroll is all that's needed to get the round 2 roll loops going.
Special thanks
Special thanks to the cool streamers TieTuesday and MiniMatt. They're wonderful and maybe you should consider watching their streams.
