Review: Terminator 2D: No Fate (PS5) – A Brief Blast of 16-Bit Nostalgia

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Terminator 2: Judgement Day is one of those pop culture moments that may never fully die off.

Honestly, ever since 1991, people just haven’t stopped talking about it! I really think it’s the main reason why we’ve gotten so many sequels, movies, and even TV shows based on this series. It’s a total phenomenon!

The original film was so impactful that, nearly 35 years later, they’re able to make Terminator 2D: No Fate, a movie heavily based on nostalgia that really captures the feel of the early 1990s.

This fast-paced arcade game has a classic pixel art style, strongly reminiscent of the best games from the SEGA Genesis.

The game lets you play as different characters – Sarah Connor, a future John Connor, and the T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) – and focuses on fast-paced action where you’ll fight waves of enemies with constant shooting.

The game mainly involves a lot of shooting. Most of the 15 levels are side-scrolling stages filled with enemies and obstacles that you overcome by shooting them. You have unlimited ammo for your main weapon, so feel free to fire as much as you want – only grenades are limited.

Honestly, playing this feels super classic – like I’m back in the arcade! It’s a blast just running around taking out enemies. The bosses are where things get interesting, though. It’s all about dodging their attacks for a bit, then just holding down the fire button until they go down.

Of the three characters, John’s future sections are the most fun.

Throughout the game, you’ll find opportunities to collect gun upgrades that add powerful abilities, similar to those in Contra, such as a beam or spread shot. These upgrades are available for a limited time, but they can help you defeat groups of enemies quickly.

The only real drawback is that you find upgrades within each level itself, rather than getting them randomly from enemies. This means upgrades are tied to specific areas.

But the game does mix things up every now and then, even though not every experiment pays off.

The first time you see the T-800, it’s Arnold Schwarzenegger in a bar fight, but the hand-to-hand combat isn’t as impressive as the gunfights later in the movie.

If you don’t enjoy fighting games where precise timing is crucial to hit your opponent, you might find this a bit challenging. However, this only happens in one short level, and it’s quickly over – usually in under five minutes.

The driving sections are enjoyable overall. When you’re escaping in a vehicle, the game features a chase sequence reminiscent of Battletoads, but it’s much more manageable than the original.

During the game, you’ll need to quickly switch lanes based on on-screen warnings to dodge incoming traffic, and occasionally defend yourself by shooting at those chasing you. These fast-paced sections offer a fun change of pace from the rest of the gameplay, really putting your reflexes to the test.

A neat feature of Terminator 2D: No Fate is that it offers branching storylines. However, you can’t explore these alternate paths until after you finish the main game.

Your first playthrough will likely take a few hours, though a quick run can be completed in around 40 minutes. It’s frustrating, however, when the game presents you with choices that ultimately don’t matter, forcing you to follow the same story as the movie. Unfortunately, there’s no way to jump between sections, so you’ll have to start the game over each time you want to explore different paths.

This game really makes you work for its unlockables. Even something like a cheat menu requires completing the game on the highest difficulty setting. And to unlock that challenging difficulty, you’ll first need to finish the main game, explore all the alternate storylines, and conquer a special mode called Mother of the Future.

The game doesn’t take long to finish, but you’ll need to repeat sections multiple times to unlock everything.

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2025-12-12 11:37