Terminator 2D: NO FATE

Terminator 2D: No Fate is a faithful recreation of the amazing movie that bears the same name. You get moments to play as Sarah, John, and the T-800, recreating some of the best moments from the film. However, a lack of longer or extra levels that could have added to the playtime of Terminator 2D: No Fate holds it back from being a true masterpiece.

Terminator 2D: No Fate is actually the best Terminator 2 game in terms of its visual style, music, and gameplay. It also reminds us that one of the most important representatives of the action and science fiction genres deserves to be represented by more great games.

Terminator 2D: NO FATE is an honest excursion into the nineties, which does not deny the short footage, repetitive structure or uncompromising difficulty, but balances all this with a genuine love for the golden era of action films and games. Bitmap Bureau, with respect for the original, serves up a brisk, imaginative and surprisingly atmospheric retro arcade that not only evokes nostalgia from the Terminator, but also offers solid gameplay and several pleasant ideas. If you enjoy the smell of the nineties, brutal fights and beautiful pixel art, Terminator 2D works as a great nostalgic ride.

Terminator 2D: No Fate is a conscious act of love towards a specific era of video games, recreated with technical skill and aesthetic taste that go far beyond simple nostalgic exercise. Bitmap Bureau once again demonstrates its mastery of the 16-bit language, crafting a title that seems to come from an alternative timeline where quality tie-in games never went extinct. The problem is that, just like a 1990s action movie watched on VHS, Terminator 2D: No Fate ends too quickly. The challenge is quickly overcome, the longevity remains limited even when exploring the variations offered, and the extra modes fail to transform the experience into something more lasting. It remains, therefore, an excellent game in its form, but limited in scope: a small instant classic, destined to leave an enthusiastic memory rather than occupy the player's evenings for a long time. A creative success, in short, that only needed a few more cartridges in the magazine.

Those with few qualms about duration will find a game made with evident love and affection for both the source material and the moment in time it was released. Its music is excellent--with perhaps the best rendition of the Terminator 2 theme to date--aiding the game's visuals in its mission to transport you back to a time when blowing into cartridges and inserting coins were the norm. Whether it's the T-1000's haunting fluidity of movement, Sarah Connor's one-armed reloading of a pump action shotgun, or the way the T-800 clambers onto the hood of a semi-truck to unload an entire magazine into its windshield, Terminator 2D: No Fate recreates the movie's most memorable moments with pitch-perfect authenticity. It's a shame it ends far too soon, but this is still the definitive Terminator 2 video game.

Terminator 2D: No Fate doesn't offer any groundbreaking solutions, but it is a very well-crafted adaptation of the film. However, you can complete the entire game in just... 38 minutes.

As a huge fan of Terminator 2 and the 16-bit era of sidescrolling action games, I certainly found plenty of things to appreciate about this faithful throwback from Bitmap Bureau. If you see NO FATE on sale for $10 and have the same nostalgia that I have for its inspirations, I’d give it a hearty recommendation. It becomes much harder to recommend a $30 purchase for a 45-minute long experience. But then again, it did remind me of that scene where Arnold kneels on the hood of a semi truck and unloads a full assault rifle clip into the T-1000. So it can’t be THAT bad.

If this game was released for SNES/Genesis it would be considered one of the best games on the system and a definitive movie tie-in game of the era. Of course the same could be said about a lot of 2D games, like Celeste, Meat Boy, etc, so it's not *entirely* fair to put this game on that pedestal. But this game is unabashedly going for an old school sensibility. It's not trying to be modern, it's being the best SNES game it can be, down to the digitized movie-stills for "cutscenes." It's all here. A lost masterpiece of the 2D era. The T2 game we dreamed of. If you are concerned about overspending on a game that's short, then wait for a sale I guess, but at $27 I feel I got my moneys worth. SNES games cost like $60 in the 90's. Adjust for inflation and T2 for $30 in 2025 is a bargain.

Um what a fun arcade game. I played it because I found it accidentally and decided to try it, and I was amazed by it. The 2D sprites were gorgeous, the gameplay was fun, and I loved it. The game isn’t very long, so overall I had a blast playing it.

A stellar presentation unfortunately saddles itself with derivative, shallow gameplay. While the arcade feel is spot on, repeating the earlier, easy levels quickly becomes tiresome, and a couple of the levels (sadly, some of the most memorable scenes from T2) are just bad. The soundtrack is so good, it almost justifies the purchase on its own.

Too short, too mediocre, shows nothing new, completely forgettable and definitely not worth it's original price ($29.99). Even if it is some kind of a passion project, ı don't know so ı can't speak for sure, but this game falls short to prove itself in that way and ı can't see it more than as a quick cash-grab to exploit terminator fans.

45 min mediocre run n gun licensed game for 30 bucks? Ask Team Cherry how they made a 60hour+ masterpiece and sold it for 20 bucks at launch. Unbelievable.