Crash


Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Author: Mark Caswell
Publisher: Ocean
Machine: Spectrum 128K

 
Published in Crash #94

Arnie and his pals are back again with a blockbusting game of the smash hit movie. Nick Roberts often gets mistaken for The Terminator when he carries the Oozy 9mm around with him (and 'coz of his bulging muscles and macho stance, ha ha) so he got to do the review...!

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

It's the future, and the ultimate horror has come true. Man and machine no longer live in perfect harmony. It's war, but despite the machines having awesome power and strength, the rebels are still winning. The computer that controls all the machines soon had the solution, sending a Terminator back in time attempt to destroy the leader of the rebels when he was at his most vulnerable - a child.

The year is 1994 and John Conner is in danger. With a Terminator out for his blood, he doesn't stand a chance on his own. In a bid to save their leader from destruction, the rebels have sent a warrior of their own back in time to battle against the Terminator. One of its own kind. This is where you come in.

Hasta La Vista, Baby!

You play Arnie as the T101 Terminator and have seven levels of action to attempt. Level one sees you lace to face with the T1000, fighting the shape-shifting machine to delay its pursuit and allow John to escape. You then jump onto your Harley Davidson with John on the back, but the T1000 is in hot pursuit in a truck!

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Recreating a scene from original Terminator movie, Arnie starts twiddling with his arm for level threes sliding puzzle, then its back to the violence. The three game styles repeat with slight variations for the remaining levels of the game. The beat-'em-up sections have different backdrops, Arnie's bike is swopped for a SWAT van and the puzzle is to repair the big man's eye.

It's Nothing Personal

IT'S NOTHING PERSONAL The graphics in Terminator 2: Judgment Day are absolutely fantastic throughout. Ocean have got some wicked graphic artists working for them at the moment and they're making good use of them. Animation on both the T101 and T1000 in the fighting scenes is excellent. The T1000 melts and gloops around the screen very convincingly and there are plenty of fist-crunching moves to use against the computer-controlled meanie.

The game's big downfall is the lack of variety in the levels. Repeating three game styles to make up seven levels is a bit of a con, really, even though the difficulty's set so high most people will find it difficult to get past level two: I found riding the Harley Davidson through the streets totally impossible. The tips in the inlay say to follow the arrows painted on the road, but everything scrolls by so fast you don't get chance to see any flippin' arrows!

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Ocean have got a really strong line up this Christmas with every game highly polished and professionally presented. It is going to be hard for Santa to choose between this, Hudson Hawk, Smash TV, The Simpsons and the rest of them - they're all so brilliant.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a great conversion of the film, the repetition in the levels the only fault which I could find, and believe me. I looked hard! Buy it. No problemo.

NICK … 89%

Mark … 86%

'If you missed T2 at the cinema you're a very silly person indeed, it's the best film of 1991. Although not as gory as the original Terminator film, its budget of $80 million ensures it's packed with eye-popping effects. I'm sure Ocean haven't spent quite as much money on Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the computer game, but it's very good nonetheless. The sprites are big, bold and very colourful, although as with Total Recall, the Arnie sprite looks nothing like him (for licensing reasons, I suppose).

Don't get me wrong, this is a good game, but I must have a whinge about the contents of T2. If I paid a tenner for a game I'd want more for my money than a punch-up (with different _ backgrounds), a couple of car chases and a sliding block puzzle. In short, Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a fast, action-packed game that only just lacks the depth to make it a CRASH Smash.'

Mark CaswellNick Roberts

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