For as long as there have been video games, there have also been bad movie tie-ins. And with the exception of the Nintendo 64 classic GoldenEye, the ‘90s was arguably the worst decade for turning movie gold into video game slop. Independence Day? Stinker. Cliffhanger? Utter bollocks. Men In Black: The Game? We all needed neuralising after that one.
Despite its smash hit success at the movie box office, 1991’s Terminator 2 wasn’t immune from this curse. It also experienced a less-than-stellar video game treatment, published by Ocean Software on the ZX Spectrum, Amiga, and other platforms, and not one of the many versions was even close to being worthy of the film’s classic status.
“I remember playing the Ocean T2 game from way back,” recalls Mike Tucker, designer and programmer at developer Bitmap Bureau. “I think they went all-out with the blend of game designs in there, including one where you had to rewire the Terminator’s arm. And then there’s a sliding block puzzle [to reconfigure the Terminator’s face].”
Tucker’s colleague, pixel artist Henk Nieborg, also remembers the Probe Software Terminator game, based on the first film and released for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. “It was just a very simple use of the license,” he says.
“If you look at the Mega Drive and Super Nintendo versions of Terminator 2, [they’re] pretty woeful really,” Tucker concludes.
Since the ‘90s, though, games like Spider-Man 2, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Alien: Isolation have proved that the tide has somewhat turned. Making a game based on a movie is no longer the instant critical failure it once was. And with no movie studio demands to launch alongside a brand new film’s opening weekend, any developer tackling The Terminator 2 now would have as much time as needed to revisit the 34 year-old classic. With that in mind, the opportunity to potentially right the wrongs of many previous failed Terminator 2 attempts wasn’t just something that the team at Bitmap Bureau thought would be fun to do… it was something they felt they needed to do.
“I got an email from Reef Entertainment asking me if I would be interested in doing a project with them, and it would be a licensed project,” Nieborg recalls.
“Terminator was on the table,” says Tucker. “And when it was offered to us, being huge Terminator fans, especially myself and Henk, it was just too good an opportunity to turn it down.”
“Having quite a big license attached to an indie game, that’s quite an unusual situation,” Nieborg adds.
It was an unexpected offer, but a welcome one. Bitmap Bureau’s specialty is retro-style games, with a back catalogue including the top-down shooter Xeno Crisis and side-scroller Final Vendetta. And so when a retro film license arrived in their laps, the team jumped at the chance to use their skills to develop what could be the ultimate Terminator 2 video game. And so Terminator 2D: No Fate was born.
The first step towards Bitmap Bureau’s goal was plotting out exactly what a Terminator 2 game would look like, down to the finest details. Afterall, with 34 years of legacy and expectations, anything less than a fully realised, ultimate Terminator 2 experience wouldn’t be good enough.
“It’s been a lot of fun adapting the various scenes of the movie into pixel form,” says Tucker. “Usually, when you make your own game, you can just do what you want. But within the confines of a license, you have to be very careful. You have to make sure you get all those iconic scenes in the movie and translate them into some kind of game.”
One of those iconic scenes was the movie’s opening sequence. Director James Cameron offered a small, unforgettable glimpse of the future war awaiting beyond Judgement Day, with a grizzled John Connor leading the resistance against Skynet. But while this sequence is visually impactful, it’s only a fleeting moment of the movie with no obvious gameplay translation.
“You don’t actually see that much of the future war in the first two Terminator movies,” says Tucker. “So yeah, we had to get creative.”
“We actually got a new boss in there,” says Nieborg, referring to the level’s main adversary. “I had to make that myself [and] get it approved by [movie production company] Studio Canal.”
“Luckily there was a lot of concept art flying around that we were able to make use of,” explains Tucker. “And there’s one boss in particular called Centurion, [a huge mech tank] which appears on the Terminator 2 pinball table, bizarrely.”
Expanding on small scenes from the movie is only one step towards creating the perfect Terminator 2 game, though. To make the ultimate experience, Bitmap Bureau set out to represent as many of the movies’ classic scenes as they could.
“I think the most contentious scene was the bar fight, which has the Terminator in naked form walking around, beating up bikers,” recalls Tucker. “I think we were trying to put that off for some time. We thought there’s no way we could do this. But we found a way, and I think it’s great. It’s a nice distraction from the rest of the game as well, which is largely run and gun. We had to be very careful what we could show below the waistline, of course. We did include some ‘creative shading’, let’s say.”
Another scene that initially didn’t translate well to the studio’s side-scrolling arcade game format was Sarah Connor’s prison escape. To create an authentic adaptation, the team had to develop and incorporate stealth mechanics and have them sit alongside the beat-em-up action. For instance, Sarah can duck into shadowy cells to avoid patrolling wardens.
“You can play [the level] as a stealth sequence, or you can just go around hitting the enemies with a nightstick,” explains Tucker. “But if you want to get an S-rank on that level, then you have to sneak through without getting seen.”
“You’ve got the T-1000 walking around as well,” he adds. “So if you bump into him, you’re as good as dead. So yeah, you really do need to find the right time and place to hide.”
34 years later is a long time after the event itself for a developer to revisit a movie to make a tie-in videogame. But how about 41 years later? Terminator 2 may be the most beloved of the legendary series, but it’s also (as the number suggests) a sequel. What stopped Bitmap Bureau going back to the 1984 original instead?
“I don’t think that was ever on the table,” Tucker says. “But maybe it will be in the future.”
“I think it’s probably easier to translate Terminator 2 to a game than the original Terminator, because [in T1] you just have one invincible enemy,” he explains. “Game design-wise, that’s quite tricky. I know Alien: Isolation did a good job with that, but translating that into a side-scrolling arcade game, I think would be tricky. But you never know. Perhaps we’ll get to translate that [one day].”
“Maybe if you play as the Terminator, then it would be fun,” Nieborg suggests.
In March 2025, Bitmap Bureau finally revealed their surprising project to the world. Despite initial fears of rejection, the team couldn’t be happier with the overwhelming positive response Terminator 2D: No Fate has received so far.
“It’s gone down really well,” says a relieved Tucker. “I’m always really anxious when we release a game because I’m just never sure how it’s going to go down. So yeah, that’s made us all feel really positive, and it’s given us that drive to get over the finish line and just polish the game up, get the bugs fixed, and get [it] out there.”
“It was incredible to see that reception,” agrees Nieborg. “I watched every hour to see how many views there were on YouTube. It just blew up and that was absolutely amazing to experience.”
Although the game isn’t in the hands of players (the true quality deciders) just yet, Judgement Day is fast approaching: Terminator 2D: No Fate launches on September 5. Early signs are pointing to the game finally providing the Terminator 2 experience we always wanted, though. If that’s the case, there will no doubt be demand for Bitmap Bureau to revisit other well-known action classics from the ‘90s that never got their big video game moment.
“I know a few licenses which I would love to take on,” teases Nieborg. “We’ll just see and let ’em come.”
“We do have other things in development, which I can’t talk about,” adds Tucker. “They might be in the same ballpark, let’s say. We’ve really loved working on T2, and I’m sure we’ll work on other licensed games again.
“But at the same time, we’re creative people and we like to create our own stuff as well. So luckily Reef Entertainment gives us that balance of working on license stuff and our own [original ideas]. So yeah, we’re going to continue in that vein for some time, hopefully.”
Dale Driver is an Executive Producer of Video Programming at IGN. Be thoroughly bored by following him on Bluesky at @daledriver.bsky.social
