Not to be confused with T2-THE ARCADE GAME (which was a first-person
shooter), this LJN offering serves up the movie's plot as an adventure game
almost scene-for-scene, as an evil Terminator is sent back in time to strike
at Sarah Conner's son, John, before he can become the leader of the human
rebellion against Skynet and the Terminators in the future. Of course, John
grows up to be pretty smart and sends back a Terminator of his own to protect
him against the attacks of the evil Terminator. But, we all saw the movie,
so let's move on...
Graphics [6/10]:
Not this game's strong suit. There's really nothing here that couldn't have
been accomplished on the original NES, except perhaps, the larger size of the
characters and some of the cut scenes. Most of the characters look pretty
much like glorified stick figures and, in many scenes, it's hard to tell who
is who...especially when more then a couple characters on are screen at once.
The T-1000 is a disappointment once he shows up, too....just a liquid metal
mass that pops up out of the floor at you here and there. No real menace or
sense of threat as there was with the character in the movie. In fact, I was
more worried about the "real" cops...they were hurting me more!
Music and Sound [6/10]:
You'd think that with the technology flowing through the SNES by this point,
LJN could have at least attempted to adapt the movie's infamous theme for
this game. No such luck. We're stuck with pounding drums and long, droning,
sinister-sounding hums. Oh well. The sound effects are not so great,
either. Not horrible, but nothing that you might confuse with reality,
either. The screeches and squeals of bad guys (or is it uninformed good
guys?) and the occasional waitress who gets in the way sound more like
digital static, but... All-in-all, I'd say it's adequate.
Gameplay [6/10]:
Okay...no more. The first level requires you to punch and kick your way
through the famous biker bar scene until you find yourself a gun...a task
which sounds easier than it actually is. These hillbilly biker guys must
pack a pretty mean punch, as they'll drain most of your energy before you
even find a gun, destroy all those little "future objects" and get on out of
there. After that, you're hit with a motorcycle level, which finds you
searching for John Conner's house. Sounds like fun...it isn't. Your
motorcycle looks like little more than a dot on the screen and it's a pain to
work it. The slightest touch of the button thrusts you forward so fast,
you'll likely slam into a car in front of you...and enough of that and
KABOOM! And can someone explain to me just how to TURN at an intersection???
I've played this game a million times and I STILL have trouble with it! I
don't really think it was necessary to make players stand up, spin around, do
a couple deep knee bends, followed by a series of roundhouse kicks and
backflips JUST TO TURN A CORNER! Geez...
Challenge and Replay [7/10]:
Well, aside from the game's unintentional challenges mentioned above, the
game DOES offer some nice puzzles. Sometimes a little too nice. You'll
spend hours roaming around that shopping mall, looking for all the things you
need to complete the level, as not everything is clearly marked and most
shelves need to be "searched"...when there's a million shelves, this can be
tough. But, to be fair, walking back and forth and just blasting away with
your shotgun can be a whole lot of fun, if you're in the mood for that sort
of thing (which I usually am when I put this game in). I wouldn't imagine
wanting to play this too much more once it's been completed, however...
Conclusion/Overall [7/10]:
The best part of this game is how closely it follows the plot of the movie.
Three levels into the game (four if you count the motorcycle level, which I
do not) and you're only at the mall! That was pretty early in the movie,
remember? Yeah, this game is pretty thorough. So people who are fans of the
movie (the people who will be playing this game) will most likely love it. I
found it to be overly difficult in several areas and a little lacking in the
graphics department. But if you are a big T2 fan, this game is definitely
worth checking out. You might be surprised at how many times you find
yourself playing it again...just REFUSING to give up until you get to that
next level. But, overall, not much better than T2 for the original
NES...which was actually a bit easier.
