T2: The Arcade Game (Sega Genesis/1992): One Star

Story:

Plot? I’m sure everyone out there who has seen “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” knows the plot. It’s the same for this arcade video game version, nothing has changed in terms of plot or gameplay for that matter (more on the latter in a bit).

Graphics:

“Lethal Enforcers” meets “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” is the best way to describe it. “T2: The Arcade Game” contains cheap-ish animation and some mixed camera stills for graphic. 

Controls: 

These are basic, responsive, and simplistic arcade-style controls. I’m sure everyone on Earth, just about, has played a side-scrolling, 2D, arcade shooter at least once before. Well, that pretty much sums up the controls side of this game. Really, all you have to do here is shoot, shoot, shoot, and shoot.

Gameplay: 

This is an arcade shooter that binds you to a rail (think “Die Hard 2″ in PlayStation’s “Die Hard Trilogy” except this is not in 3D here), the screen moves left to right, both slow and/or fast. You will blow away and shoot many enemies, hordes of them, as they come at you on screen, and these foes range from SWAT guys, flying aircraft, human-disguised terminators, exo-skeleton terminators, local authorities, and the lead foe of the game, the T-1000.

You will find that your weapon contains seemingly infinite ammunition but has a grace moment which will occur if you hold the fire button down for too long. It’s kind of dumb when you think about it, because it’s almost the same as having to reload your gun, so why not include that instead? Neither one makes it any better so I’m not sure what on Earth they were thinking. The game has seven levels ranging from the dark future war to the finale in the steel mill. Trust me though, it won’t matter because every level is pretty much the same and you’ll probably get bored and quit after the first level or so.

Overall: 

The game’s biggest issue is the boredom factor. It’s like they just took the plot and scenes from “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” and slapped an arcade video game format on it then said “Ok, everyone, this is the arcade version, send ‘em out to the stores”. The game does play very similar to “Lethal Enforcers” except that’s a far more interesting arcade game than this. You’re better off sticking to the regular 2D platform version of the game.

Rating: *