T2: The Arcade Game
1991
- shooter
- arcade
- action
- science fiction
- single player
- multiplayer
The story
As the title states, this is the home conversion of the arcade rail-shooter based on the film Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Up to two players shoot through future and present levels as robotic killers reprogrammed to serve the human resistance. Both players wield a machine gun with infinite ammo that lowers its firing rate (overheats) as it is continuously fired. A secondary weapon (missile launchers in the future, shotguns in the present) has limited ammo but deals heavy damage. Powerups inside the game world include secondary weapon ammo and coolant for the machine guns, and are shot to be collected. T2: The Arcade Game features seven levels based on specific scenes or general concepts in the film. The first four levels act as a prelude, as the player guns down waves of metal Terminators across a post-apocalyptic Battlefield, a besieged Human Hideout, and through the security checkpoints of the enemy supercomputer SkyNet. After destroying the computer, players travel back in time to protect John and Sarah Connor, while also destroying every scrap of SkyNet research at the headquarters of its manufacturer. From there, players must fend off the indestructible T-1000 until the final showdown in the Steel Mill. Assets from the movie are used when possible, such as voice clips from Arnold Schwarzenegger, and close-up digital stills of Robert Patrick for the final battle against the T-1000. The Genesis and SNES versions also support lightguns (the Menacer and Super Scope, respectively).
What it’s like
Hard-edged, saturated arcade graphics with a grimy post-apocalyptic palette: rust-orange ruins, bruised purples in the future levels, and sterile fluorescent corridors inside SkyNet, all rendered in the chunky sprite style of early-nineties 16-bit home ports. The camera rides a fixed rail, so the view never strays from the action, and the screen fills with waves of metal killers that flicker, burst and fall apart in bursts of pixel debris. Sound is loud and mechanical: machine-gun chatter, the thud of heavy weapons, and digitized voice clips that drop in with the film's tough-guy cadence. It is a loud, short-burst game for a flat-out afternoon session, a quick energetic blast with a friend, or late-night arcade nostalgia. Pacing is relentless and reflexive, with little downtime between waves and a steady rise toward the Steel Mill showdown. Intensity is high: frequent stylized shooting and explosions, with destroyed robots spitting sparks and no blood or gore. Tense rather than frightening, and it suits players who love light-gun shooters, retro arcade fans, and anyone wanting pure, unapologetic action.
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