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The original Terminator sprang from a future even bleaker than Speedball 2's; a future where total nuclear war has all but destroyed humanity. Apocalypse was started not by accident or military madness, but by American's own automated defences. The state-of-the-art Skynet computer was developed to protect America, but by 1997 it had become intelligent enough to rebel. So it provoked nuclear war with Russia, and in the aftermath uses Terminator robots to eliminate the few human survivors. One man, John Connor, organises some resistance so Skynet builds a time machine to send a T-800 back to 1984 where it can kill Connor's mother - Sarah, ensuring he is never born. A human commando is sent back too, and a spectacular battle results.

The commando is ultimately killed, but not before falling in love with Sarah and making her pregnant with a son - John Connor! After stopping the Terminator herself, Sarah heads south, determined to prepare her son for his future...

Terminator 2 is set ten years later, John is a streetwise kid and this time Skynet has sent the ultimate T-1000 shapeshifter to kill him. A T-800 Terminator also arrives, but it's been reprogrammed to protect John. The ensuing battle is recreated in this huge, nine-level game beautifully presented with 23 bitmap screens. Each of the levels opens with an introductory pic, plus text explaining the plot, and closes with more of the same. The most impressive element is the superlative intro.

Level One is on this month's free Megatape and shows the first meeting between the two Terminators. In the movie they throw each other through walls, blast away with guns and so on. Here they simply go hand-to-hand. The background is unremarkable and the combat moves limited, but the size of the sprites is impressive and gameplay is well judged, initially tough but soon opening up. Contrary to the preview, the game now ignores the fact that the T-800 doesn't win this battle - unless you knock the T-1000 out for the count it's game over time. You also better win well - your energy level is carried throughout the game and there are no extra lives or continue plays!

In Level Two the revived T-1000 comes after John in a juggernaut, a scene shown from overhead with a vertical scroll. The T-800 has rescued John and he's on the back of its Harley Davidson, this gives you two energy bars to worry over. If you go too slowly, the juggernaut bumps into the bike and John loses energy, so it's best to keep the joystick pushed forward to keep accelerating. However, going fast means you have less time to dodge road obstacles, and each hit drains T-800 energy. It's a tough level, the basic course wraps around five times before you complete it. Once again gameplay is unoriginal; success relies on memorising the pattern of obstacles as much as good reactions. The scrolling background, with jumps, is reasonable while the big bike sprite is great.

If you get past this level, your energy is likely to be low, so thank goodness for Level Three. It starts with a picture of the T-800's hand-control wires in the correct order, then they're scrambled and a sixty-second timer starts. Use the joystick to move a cursor around, then press Fire to select a piece of puzzle which can then be pushed up/down, left/right to swap with the neighbouring pieces. It's easy to do, not really a puzzle at all, the only difficulty is in getting it done quickly! Fun gameplay is enhanced by a tune which accelerates as time runs out, while the hand graphic periodically twitches as if a nerve has been touched. Depending on your success here, you get some crucial energy back.

With the T-1000 temporarily lost, John orders the T-800 to help him rescue his mother, who has been committed to an insane asylum after trying to blow up a computer factory. Sarah isn't simply waiting to be rescued though, she's been training hard and Level Four sees her escape attempt. Armed with a sawn-off broomstick she takes on the orderlies and doctors in a multi-storey asylum. The level is basically a maze, you must run left/right looking for lifts to take you up/down. Sarah can duck down, but you need to be standing to bop the orderlies on the head - which needs careful timing to avoid getting bopped yourself!

The T-800 arrives to help complete Sarah's escape, only to meet the T-1000 for another fight (Level Five). This time, the T-1000 is wearing a different uniform, and the background has changed, but gameplay is much the same as Level One. It's a satisfying fist fight with the aime being to floor your opponent with the minimum of energy loss yourself.

Level Six sees T-800 with half his face gone - and the metal pieces scrambled! It's another puzzle level: once again the aim is to move the tiles so they resemble the start picture. The pattern's a lot more complex though, and unlike the wires each piece has its own individual slot, plus the control system seems tougher. Getting all your energy back here is a real challenge, and an increasingly frantic soundtrack increases the pressure.

In the movie Sarah, John and the T-800 go off to the desert to prepare for crossing the border into Mexico. However, Sarah is plagued by nightmare visions of the coming nuclear war and resolves to do something about it. She decides to visit Cyberdyne Labs and destroy their prototype Skynet chips - technology developed from the remains of the first Terminator! The T-800 helps out and Level Seven sees it running through the labs maze in much the same way as Sarah's asylum jaunt. The difference is guns; both the T-800 and SWAT police sent to stop it are armed to the teeth. Ammo is unlimited but the cops wear body armour and take several hits to go down. The T-800 can duck bullets but must stand to fire. The pinky/pale blue Ritz hotel backgrounds are rather peculiar, but this is a fun level with a high action quotient.

Level Eight has the team escaping from the labs in a SWAT van. This is much like Level Two, with a vertical scroll and numerous road obstacles. Again there are two energy levels, the T-800's decreasing with collisions and Sarah's with fire from the pursuing police copter. This time though, Sarah can fire back and a targetting cursor floats behind the van. The most sensible tactic is to just keep the cursor central while dodging the obstacles and hoping the helicopter keeps in range.

The chase ends with the chopper exploding, not that it worries the pilot - our friendly T-1000 who takes on the T-800 for one last time in Level Nine. Stripped to the metal both characters are impressive, while the steelworks background is nice. The T-1000 has improved in toughness and beating him will need good energy reserves. Succeed and you get a few more pics to reveal the movie's ending.

Most people will find completing T2 difficult, but is it worthwhile? Well, there certainly isn't much in the way of originality, most of the levels show gaming rust spots - nor are they sensationally implemented, apart from the puzzle levels with the twitching fingers/face. It's also disappointing that the T-1000 never gets to show off its unique capabilities: if during one of the fight scenes one of its arms had transformed into a flashing blade that would've been great. But the programming team didn't see the film until relatively late, so maybe that's understandable. However, the levels are all well-programmed, the graphics are good and gameplay enjoyable. Apart from the superb intro music and puzzle soundtrack, in-game sound is confined to a low, ominous semi-musical drone - much as in the film - with the reasonable sound effect on top.

T2 is certainly a big game, so much so the tape version will probably be a bit of a nightmare. Thankfully for non-disk users Ocean have belatedly decided to put the game on cart, which is greet news and makes the game a great deal more fun. I played that version and the rapid access/brill presentation kept me coming back when lengthy tape access might have put me off for good. It's a shame that, as with SCI, a cart version wasn't planned from the start which perhaps could've included some shapeshifting graphics - but nevertheless this is one of the best carts we've seen. At £20 for 4 megabits, this is an Amiga-size game which should be a big hit.

This is the slickest cart yet with a great intro and excellent bitmaps keeping the game together far better than any Ocean game yet. C2Ners don't have the pleasure of the pre- and post-level bitmaps but at least the intro and end bitmaps are in there.

As for the actual game, I found it slightly disappointing for what is a major Ocean product: there just isn't that much innovation. However, the levels are very well crafted with pace and quality graphics, the subject is a sure-fire winner and the variety of gameplay should appeal to all.

I particularly liked the SWAT van and Cyberdyne levels, so it's definitely worth getting!

Presentation 94%
Brilliant intro, choice of keys or joystick, plus intro/outro pics and text for each load. On cart this is a really good game, disk could be almost as impressive - but instant access is tough to beat! Tape will be very frustrating though, even with reduced presentation.

Graphics 84%
Apart from presentation, T2 gets by on being professional and effective rather than stunning.

Sound 86%
Great intro track, plus adrenalin-inducing puzzle music, otherwise a low insistent drone (as in movie) with decent FX.

Hookability 84%
Although none of the levels are in themselves brilliant, there's a strong compulsion to progress. You want to see the movie/game develop, plus there's satisfaction in winning through with more energy (plus high scores!).

Lastability 88%
Nine levels provide a formidable challenge, on cart the size is a positive factor and you get a real kick banging it in, pushing yourself a bit further each time.

Overall 89%
A huge and professionally executed movie-tie-in, rarely brilliant but always competent and benefiting massively from cartridge ease-of-play.