Why The 2025 Terminator 2 Retro Game NEEDED To Be Made

For arsenic agelong arsenic determination person been video games, determination person besides been atrocious movie tie-ins. And with the objection of the Nintendo 64 classical GoldenEye, the ‘90s was arguably the worst decennary for turning movie golden into video crippled slop. Independence Day? Stinker. Cliffhanger? Utter bollocks. Men In Black: The Game? We each needed neuralising aft that one.

Despite its smash deed occurrence astatine the movie container office, 1991’s Terminator 2 wasn’t immune from this curse. It besides experienced a less-than-stellar video crippled treatment, published by Ocean Software connected the ZX Spectrum, Amiga, and different platforms, and not 1 of the galore versions was adjacent adjacent to being worthy of the film’s classical status.

“I retrieve playing the Ocean T2 crippled from mode back,” recalls Mike Tucker, decorator and programmer astatine developer Bitmap Bureau. “I deliberation they went all-out with the blend of crippled designs successful there, including 1 wherever you had to rewire the Terminator's arm. And past there's a sliding artifact puzzle [to reconfigure the Terminator’s face].”

Tucker’s colleague, pixel creator Henk Nieborg, besides remembers the Probe Software Terminator game, based connected the archetypal movie and released for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. “It was conscionable a precise elemental usage of the license,” helium says.

“If you look astatine the Mega Drive and Super Nintendo versions of Terminator 2, [they’re] beauteous woeful really,” Tucker concludes.

T2's iconic motorcycle pursuit becomes a high-speed pursuit level successful Terminator 2D: No Fate. | Image credit: Bitmap Bureau

Since the ‘90s, though, games similar Spider-Man 2, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Alien: Isolation person proved that the tide has somewhat turned. Making a crippled based connected a movie is nary longer the instant captious nonaccomplishment it erstwhile was. And with nary movie workplace demands to motorboat alongside a marque caller film’s opening weekend, immoderate developer tackling The Terminator 2 present would person arsenic overmuch clip arsenic needed to revisit the 34 year-old classic. With that successful mind, the accidental to perchance close the wrongs of galore erstwhile failed Terminator 2 attempts wasn’t conscionable thing that the squad astatine Bitmap Bureau thought would beryllium amusive to do… it was thing they felt they needed to do.

“I got an email from Reef Entertainment asking maine if I would beryllium funny successful doing a task with them, and it would beryllium a licensed project,” Nieborg recalls.

“Terminator was connected the table,” says Tucker. “And erstwhile it was offered to us, being immense Terminator fans, particularly myself and Henk, it was conscionable excessively bully an accidental to crook it down.”

“Having rather a large licence attached to an indie game, that's rather an antithetic situation,” Nieborg adds.

It was an unexpected offer, but a invited one. Bitmap Bureau’s specialty is retro-style games, with a backmost catalogue including the top-down shooter Xeno Crisis and side-scroller Final Vendetta. And truthful erstwhile a retro movie licence arrived successful their laps, the squad jumped astatine the accidental to usage their skills to make what could beryllium the eventual Terminator 2 video game. And truthful Terminator 2D: No Fate was born.

The archetypal measurement towards Bitmap Bureau’s extremity was plotting retired precisely what a Terminator 2 crippled would look like, down to the finest details. Afterall, with 34 years of bequest and expectations, thing little than a afloat realised, eventual Terminator 2 acquisition wouldn’t beryllium bully enough.

The Skynet Centurion, primitively designed for T2 but ne'er used, was turned into a brag for a aboriginal warfare level. | Image credit: Bitmap Bureau

“It's been a batch of amusive adapting the assorted scenes of the movie into pixel form,” says Tucker. “Usually, erstwhile you marque your ain game, you tin conscionable bash what you want. But wrong the confines of a license, you person to beryllium precise careful. You person to marque definite you get each those iconic scenes successful the movie and construe them into immoderate benignant of game.”

One of those iconic scenes was the movie’s opening sequence. Director James Cameron offered a small, unforgettable glimpse of the aboriginal warfare awaiting beyond Judgement Day, with a grizzled John Connor starring the absorption against Skynet. But portion this series is visually impactful, it’s lone a fleeting infinitesimal of the movie with nary evident gameplay translation.

“You don't really spot that overmuch of the aboriginal warfare successful the archetypal 2 Terminator movies,” says Tucker. “So yeah, we had to get creative.”

“We really got a caller brag successful there,” says Nieborg, referring to the level’s main adversary. “I had to marque that myself [and] get it approved by [movie accumulation company] Studio Canal.”

“Luckily determination was a batch of conception creation flying astir that we were capable to marque usage of,” explains Tucker. “And there's 1 brag successful peculiar called Centurion, [a immense mech tank] which appears connected the Terminator 2 pinball table, bizarrely.”

Expanding connected tiny scenes from the movie is lone 1 measurement towards creating the cleanable Terminator 2 game, though. To marque the eventual experience, Bitmap Bureau acceptable retired to correspond arsenic galore of the movies’ classical scenes arsenic they could.

Depicting the T-800's bare brawl country was a situation solved by 'creative shading.' | Image credit: Bitmap Bureau

“I deliberation the astir contentious country was the barroom fight, which has the Terminator successful bare signifier walking around, beating up bikers,” recalls Tucker. “I deliberation we were trying to enactment that disconnected for immoderate time. We thought there's nary mode we could bash this. But we recovered a way, and I deliberation it's great. It's a bully distraction from the remainder of the crippled arsenic well, which is mostly tally and gun. We had to beryllium precise cautious what we could amusement beneath the waistline, of course. We did see immoderate ‘creative shading’, let's say.”

Another country that initially didn’t construe good to the studio’s side-scrolling arcade crippled format was Sarah Connor’s situation escape. To make an authentic adaptation, the squad had to make and incorporated stealth mechanics and person them beryllium alongside the beat-em-up action. For instance, Sarah tin duck into shadowy cells to debar patrolling wardens.

“You tin play [the level] arsenic a stealth sequence, oregon you tin conscionable spell astir hitting the enemies with a nightstick,” explains Tucker. “But if you privation to get an S-rank connected that level, past you person to sneak done without getting seen.”

“You've got the T-1000 walking astir arsenic well,” helium adds. “So if you bump into him, you're arsenic bully arsenic dead. So yeah, you truly bash request to find the close clip and spot to hide.”

Sarah Connor's situation flight becomes a high-stakes stealth mission. | Image credit: Bitmap Bureau

34 years aboriginal is simply a agelong clip aft the lawsuit itself for a developer to revisit a movie to marque a tie-in videogame. But however astir 41 years later? Terminator 2 whitethorn beryllium the astir beloved of the legendary series, but it’s besides (as the fig suggests) a sequel. What stopped Bitmap Bureau going backmost to the 1984 archetypal instead?

“I don't deliberation that was ever connected the table,” Tucker says. “But possibly it volition beryllium successful the future.”

“I deliberation it's astir apt easier to construe Terminator 2 to a crippled than the archetypal Terminator, due to the fact that [in T1] you conscionable person 1 invincible enemy,” helium explains. “Game design-wise, that's rather tricky. I cognize Alien: Isolation did a bully occupation with that, but translating that into a side-scrolling arcade game, I deliberation would beryllium tricky. But you ne'er know. Perhaps we'll get to construe that [one day].”

“Maybe if you play arsenic the Terminator, past it would beryllium fun,” Nieborg suggests.

In March 2025, Bitmap Bureau yet revealed their astonishing task to the world. Despite archetypal fears of rejection, the squad couldn’t beryllium happier with the overwhelming affirmative effect Terminator 2D: No Fate has received truthful far.

“It's gone down truly well,” says a relieved Tucker. “I'm ever truly anxious erstwhile we merchandise a crippled due to the fact that I'm conscionable ne'er definite however it's going to spell down. So yeah, that's made america each consciousness truly positive, and it's fixed america that thrust to get implicit the decorativeness enactment and conscionable polish the crippled up, get the bugs fixed, and get [it] retired there.”

“It was unthinkable to spot that reception,” agrees Nieborg. “I watched each hr to spot however galore views determination were connected YouTube. It conscionable blew up and that was perfectly astonishing to experience.”

Although the crippled isn’t successful the hands of players (the existent prime deciders) conscionable yet, Judgement Day is accelerated approaching: Terminator 2D: No Fate launches connected September 5. Early signs are pointing to the crippled yet providing the Terminator 2 acquisition we ever wanted, though. If that’s the case, determination volition nary uncertainty beryllium request for Bitmap Bureau to revisit different well-known enactment classics from the ‘90s that ne'er got their large video crippled moment.

“I cognize a fewer licenses which I would emotion to instrumentality on,” teases Nieborg. “We'll conscionable spot and fto 'em come.”

“We bash person different things successful development, which I can't speech about,” adds Tucker. “They mightiness beryllium successful the aforesaid ballpark, let's say. We've truly loved moving connected T2, and I'm definite we'll enactment connected different licensed games again.

“But astatine the aforesaid time, we're originative radical and we similar to make our ain worldly arsenic well. So luckily Reef Entertainment gives america that equilibrium of moving connected licence worldly and our ain [original ideas]. So yeah, we're going to proceed successful that vein for immoderate time, hopefully.”

Dale Driver is an Executive Producer of Video Programming astatine IGN. Be thoroughly bored by pursuing him connected Bluesky astatine @daledriver.bsky.social