The Terminator (Super NES, 1993)

 

What's really weird...is that this game came out AFTER T2 for the Super NES. Yeah, they went back and did the first. They had to cover all their bases and really milk Arnold. This is actually a fairly playable game mechanically. The problem is that the design can't get out of its own way, which ruins it regardless of how mechanically playable it is.

We get a good intro sequence with an HK flying past a bunch of laser shots. Basically identical to the beginning of the movie. This is definitely an actual Terminator game, unlike the previous game I played which could have been anything with the name slapped on.

Digitized title screen that also looks good. Unfortunately the first ten seconds of turning this game on are the high point of the experience. And yeah, 1993... T2 for SNES came out in 1992, so I wonder how well this one actually sold at this point.

Things start out in a good-looking future battle. Only visual issue is that the laser shots don't look right, and resemble pellet-shots rather than beams. This absolutely blows away the previous game visually, in any case.

We've got diagonal shots! Can't shoot straight up, though, which would have been a huge help. The endos also look kinda...weird. Why's their posture so bad?

One big issue is that the endos fire almost immediately after they walk onto the screen, and your character is too far over when you move, so you get hit before you can even react. The answer is to move forward a few steps at a time and duck, in case shots are incoming. This inching forward looks ridiculous but it works. Maybe they could have given the endos a slight delay on firing, or, I dunno, put in some heals so it isn't so mission-critical to not take any hits.

Like I mentioned, the game is very sound mechanically, with good jumping n' shooting. It's WAY more respectable than the previous one. The thing that ruins it is the design. First and foremost, the stages are super long. This first future stage goes on for about the duration of 3 levels in a normal game. Also there are no checkpoints, and...

...this is yet another of those games that sends you all the way back to the beginning when you run out of lives. Though with the lack of checkpoints, you're basically back to the beginning on every death regardless.

Dammit, I need to play something else. That's right, I didn't even make it out of the first stage with this one.

Whoa! What's Darby Allin doing in Shin Megami Tensei II?

Anyway, back to the game...which I've already tapped out on. TO THE YOUTUBE!

These guys that fire diagonally down from the upper level are the source of almost all the hits I took while playing.

Midway through the first stage is this HK chase, and it's functionally a lot better than the one in the NES version. You can actually aim, and it looks great.

Man, I really wish this game was good, because it has all the tools to be good. Visuals, sound, gameplay. Then they just dropped trou and dumped on all of it by making so many design mistakes.

Get past the flying HK and you'd think it's on to the next stage. NOPE! This stage just continues like nothing happened. Were they not able to divide this level up into sub-stages or something? Games have been doing that since Super Mario Bros for a reason.

Next is another boss, the Ground HK. Another solid fight, impressive boss, good stuff here.

Then the stage STILL GOES ON. If these guys made Super Mario Bros, Level 1 would go all the way up to and through 1-4. If Bowser got you, you'd go back to 1-1.

This is pretty much the end though. Next up is, FINALLY, level 2.

In this one you face hordes of gun-toting Stone Cold Steve Austins in 1984 Los Angeles. At least Kyle Reese has a shotgun. That previous game where he had to punch and kick everything seems like a horrible fever dream.

Annnnnd level 2 just goes on and on and on. Even moreso than the first level, and it's worse because this place is a maze that also extends vertically, with all kinds of ladders that go nowhere.

Small blocks over a pit. In 1984 LA. Of course!

If you don't die of old age, eventually you reach the stage boss...

...a heavily-armed attack helicopter. Damn, the authorities are really serious about stopping Kyle Reese from beating up Stone Colds.

Nice still frame before the next level. Well, nice for the level of standards we're working with here.

Next is an oddball car chase level that's in a pseudo-Mode7 style. You have to basically keep the terminator (and his stolen car) behind and a little to the left to pelt it with shots while also dodging the oncoming traffic.

Next is either the police station or the motel. I seriously can't tell which. You have to open doors to try and find Sarah, while fending off all kinds of foes. The Stone Colds and the police have joined forces! Kyle is such a uniquely evil threat to humanity that even the Bloods and Crips have unified to stop him.

Eventually Sarah is found, and the level ends. This level is quite short, and there are two more short levels after this. So basically... Level 1 is about 40% of the game, Level 2 is another 40%, and then the last four levels are like 5% each. Then again it's hard to imagine many kids getting this far, considering the game overs. Not even a cheat code to help out here.

Still don't know whether this is the station or the motel, and this is made worse by the fact that it shows a post-station screenshot (Arnold pursuing them outside the station) both before and after the level. Yes, it shows the same shot twice. Which makes it look like the stage in-between is the motel. Wait, I just realized, I don't care about any of this.

Next level is another chase, just like the other chase, and over just as quick.

WHOA. If this game were nothing except the between-level shots, it would be an improvement over what we've got because it wouldn't take days off of your life. It's still superior to the Bebe-level previous game, and at least it's playable unlike Gremlins 2. Boy, checked out a lot of bad games this year.

Last level has Kyle running from the T-800 while whacking it with a pipe. This section autoscrolls and the T-800 has a life meter. It's pretty much just a matter of striking, backing up a few steps, striking, backing up, over and over like 30 times.

Get its life meter down and you'll reach Sarah, then Kyle uses a pipebomb to take out both himself and the T-800. And that's it, the T-800's defeated with no input from Sarah. At least Kyle didn't use the hydraulic press.

Why are all of these games getting the ending wrong?

Welp, that's it for this one. Think I summed it up already. Mechanically it's fine, design it's not. I can see what they were going for here but they missed the mark by a lot. There isn't that much else to say about this one. It isn't bad enough to rip apart, yet it also isn't good or worth playing.

I guess the most noteworthy thing about this game is how damn close it got to being good. Just a few better decisions and it would have been there. Much like how Gremlins 2 could have been a great game if they gave you the bow from the start of the game rather than saving it for the final boss and making you use bump combat for the rest. This game just needed checkpoints, continues, properly-divided levels, and maybe more accurate-looking laser beams. It probably could have been fixed in a day.

The Sega Genesis version is a lot better...and still not good.