T2: The Arcade Game

For the platform game for the Sega Mega Drive, see Terminator 2: Judgment Day. For the platform game for the Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear, see Terminator 2: Judgment Day (8-bit).

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Mega Drive Master System Game Gear
T2: The Arcade Game
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear
Publisher: Arena Entertainment (US/EU) Acclaim Japan (JP)
Developer: Probe Software
Distributor: Ecofilmes (PT) Hent Gruppen (SE rental) Tec Toy (BR)
Licensor: Midway Manufacturing, Carolco
Sound driver: Krisalis sound driver
Peripherals supported: Menacer
Genre: Shooting, Action
Number of players: 1-2, 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1994-02-25 ¥8,8008,800 T-81023 US 1992 $49.9549.95 T-81156 US (Menacer) 1992 $89.9989.99 EU 1992-12 T-81156-50 PT 199x UK 1992-12-17 £39.9939.99 T-81156-50 SE (Rental) 199x AU 199x BR 199x 044220 EU 1993-09 MK-27061-50 UK 1993-09 MK-27061-50 AU 199x JP 1994-02-25 ¥4,8004,800 T-81027 US 1993-09 T-81088 EU 1994-01 T-81088-50 UK 1994-01 £27.9927.99 T-81088-50
Non-Sega versions Amiga Arcade Game Boy IBM PC Super NES

T2: The Arcade Game (Ｔ２ ジ・アーケードゲーム), is a light-gun arcade game originally released by Midway Manufacturing in 1991. In its original form, it was simply known as Terminator 2: Judgment Day, after the film of the same name. When brought to home consoles the following year, it was renamed. It should not to be confused with the different Terminator 2: Judgment Day game released around the same period. Despite the change in title, this game is often referred simply as "T2", which is prone to cause confusion.

T2: The Arcade Game was ported to the Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear. The Mega Drive version of the game is compatible with the Sega Menacer.

A Sega Mega-CD version appears to have been planned (with a US release of August 1993), but was cancelled for unknown reasons.

Story

The story of the game falls in line with the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day: to save the leader of the Human Resistance, John Connor, and his mother Sarah from the T-1000, an advanced prototype Terminator bent on killing them both. The player takes the role of a T-800 Terminator cyborg, already captured and reprogrammed by the human resistance, and fights alongside them against Skynet in the year 2029. Eventually, the T-800 and John Connor penetrate Skynet's headquarters and destroy the system CPU. Discovering the time displacement equipment, the T-800 is sent back through time to John's childhood, with the mission to protect him from the T-1000 that Skynet has already sent back. In the past, John, Sarah, and the T-800 launch an attack on Cyberdyne Systems in order to prevent the development and creation of Skynet. The T-1000 catches up to the group and pursues them in a police helicopter and a liquid nitrogen truck. The T-800 is able to freeze and shatter the T-1000 with the liquid nitrogen, but it quickly melts and reforms in order to continue its pursuit of John. Ultimately, the T-800 must stop the T-1000 from killing John and blast it into a vat of molten steel to destroy it.

Two endings are possible, depending on the outcome of the Cyberdyne raid. If all equipment is destroyed, the player receives a message that Judgment Day has been averted; otherwise, the company's research will continue and Judgment Day remains a possibility.

Gameplay

Mega Drive version

The game is a first-person rail shooter. The first half of the game takes place during the human/machine war in 2029, and the second half takes place during John Connor's childhood in the 1990s. Stages scroll automatically. Sometimes a certain amount of enemies or locks have to be taken out to proceed. Various items are hidden that provide benefits such as increased firepower or extra credits. Players lose points at the end of the level for killing civilians.

The game supports play using a control pad or Sega Menacer. Using a control pad, the D-Pad moves the targeting crosshair. Unlike most light gun games, players are equipped with machine guns that are fired continuously by holding the trigger on the Menacer or on a control pad. While the gun has unlimited ammunition, it gradually overheats and loses efficiency, so players must let it cool off occasionally by not firing for a duration. Each player has a gunpower gauge that indicates this and decreases as the gun is fired. Players also have a secondary weapon, a rocket launcher in the stages set in 2029 and a shotgun in the stages set in the 1990s, which is fired by pressing the top button on the Menacer or on a control pad.

Players have energy gauges that indicate their health. If the energy gauge is depleted, the player is defeated and can only continue playing at the cost of one credit. The score does not reset upon continuing. The quantity and positioning of enemies sometimes makes it impossible to avoid damage, meaning the game cannot be cleared without using continues.

The game supports two-player simultaneous play, with both players using control pads or with one player using the Menacer and the other player using a control pad. Players share credits. The number of starting credits can be set in the options menu.

Items

Items are collected by shooting them.

	Extended Rapid Fire Coolant
	Recharges the gunpower gauge and allows the gun to fire for a duration at full efficiency without overheating.
	Rapid Fire Recharge
	Recharges the gunpower gauge.
	Smart Bomb
	Destroys all enemies on screen.
	Body Shield
	Temporarily reduces damage done by enemies.
	Full Recharge
	Fully replenishes the energy gauge.
	Plasma Pulse Energizer
	Temporarily increases the power of the machine gun.
	Credit
	Gives the player an extra continue.
	Rocket
	Each rocket increases the supply of rockets by 3.
	Shotgun Shell
	Increases the supply of shotgun shells by 3.
	Microchip
	Gives a random item.
	Minigun
	Temporarily changes the main weapon into a six-barrel minigun.
	M-79 Grenade Launcher
	Temporarily changes the secondary weapon into a grenade launcher.

Stages

	The Battlefield
	The Human Hideout
	Trip to Skynet
	Skynet
	Cyberdyne Systems
	The game has two endings depending on how much equipment is destroyed in this stage. Only 100% destruction triggers the good ending, which differs only by the text displayed on screen.
	The Freeway
	The Steel Mill

Master System and Game Gear versions

The Master System and Game Gear versions play similarly and have the same stages. The D-Pad aims the crosshair, fires the gun, and shoots the secondary weapon.

Both versions are single-player. There are three selectable difficulty levels (Easy, Normal, and Hard). The Master System version does not support the Light Phaser and can only be played with the control pad.

Items

Items are collected by shooting them.

	Extended Rapid Fire Coolant
	Recharges the gunpower gauge and allows the gun to fire for a duration at full efficiency without overheating.
	Rapid Fire Recharge
	Recharges the gunpower gauge.
	Smart Bomb
	Destroys all enemies on screen.
	Body Shield
	Temporarily reduces damage done by enemies.
	Full Recharge
	Fully replenishes the energy gauge.
	Plasma Pulse Energizer
	Temporarily increases the power of the machine gun.
	Credit
	Gives the player an extra continue.
	Rocket
	Each rocket increases the supply of rockets by 3.
	Shotgun Shell
	Increases the supply of shotgun shells by 3.
	Microchip
	Gives a random item.
	Minigun
	Temporarily changes the main weapon into a six-barrel minigun.
	M-79 Grenade Launcher
	Temporarily changes the secondary weapon into a grenade launcher.
	MIRV Missiles
	Temporarily changes the secondary weapon to MIRV missiles, which fire multiple volleys and seek targets automatically.

Stages

	The Battlefield
	The Human Hideout
	Trip to Skynet
	Skynet
	Cyberdyne Systems
	The Freeway
	The Steel Mill

History

Legacy

The arcade game Revolution X, also developed by Midway, is a spiritual successor to this game. It was ported to the Mega Drive in 1995 and to the Saturn in 1996.

Probe Entertainment, which ported T2: The Arcade Game to home consoles, created its own spiritual successor, Body Count. It was released for the Mega Drive in 1994.

Versions

Compared to the arcade version and the Super NES port, the Sega Mega Drive differs greatly in terms of visuals and slightly in content. Visually, the Mega Drive game mainly features redrawn pixel artwork instead of the digitized graphics of the arcade and Super NES versions, and the palette has been considerably brightened. In terms of content, enemy layout has been altered. There is no wall and no resistance soldiers before stage 1 boss, no elevator in stage 3 (also missing in the SNES port), no enemy helicopters in the Cyberdyne stage, no rope SWAT in the Cyberdyne stage and final stage, and other changes. There are also some missing speech samples (most notably in the final stage after meeting the T-1000 for the first time the liquid nitrogen fight). In both the Mega Drive and SNES versions, the ending cinematic has been replaced by a single picture of John Connor.

The 8-bit versions contain differences in stage layout and item placement. They contain the MIRV warhead item, which is also present in the arcade and Super NES versions but absent from the Mega Drive version.

Production credits

Mega Drive version

Acclaim Development by the Black Team

• Billy Pidgeon, Michael Arkin, Carol Albert, Tom Rademacher, Jay Mazziotto
• Special Thanks to: Eric Samulski, George Petro

Probe Development by the Pink Team

• Producer: Tony Beckwith
• Graphic Artist: Mark Knowles
• Additional Artwork: Nick Bruty
• Tester: Barg
• Music: Matt Furniss
• Music Driver: S. Hollingworth
• Programming: Paul Carruthers
• Special Thanks to: Bill Allen, Stu Gregg, Jeff Fort

Source:

In-game credits

Master System version

• Programmed by: David Leitch
• Graphics by: Terry Ford
• Music by: Allister Brimble
• Produced by: Tony Beckwith

Acclaim Production by 'The Black Team'

• 'Strange' Mark Flitman, 'Iron' Mike Arkin, Tyrone Miller, James Fink, Joseph Mazziotto, Joe Allocco
• Special Thanks To: George Petro, Linda Spelman, Dave Schmidt, Joti and Martin

Source:

In-game credits

Game Gear version

Acclaim Production by the Black Team

• Strange Mark Flitman, Iron Mike Arkin, Donn Nauert, Tom Rademacher, Jay Mazziotto, Joe Allocco
• Special Thanks to: George Petro, Linda Spelman, Dave Schmidt, Joti and Martin
• This was...A Probe Development

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: T2: The Arcade Game/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: T2: The Arcade Game/Promotional material.

Physical scans

Mega Drive version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) 79 №6, p56/57 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) 85 №6, p56/57

	82
Based on 2 reviews

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 50 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 60 Alaab Alcomputtar (SA) 80 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 62 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 55 Cool Gamer (RU) 60 Computer & Video Games (UK) 90 Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U 88 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU) 60 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 72 Game Power (IT) 71 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 95 GamesMaster (UK) PAL 80 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 50 Joypad (FR) 83 Joystick (FR) NTSC-U 80 Mega (UK) PAL 82 MegaTech (UK) PAL 86 Micromanía (segunda época) (ES) 89 Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL 75 Player One (FR) 85 Play Time (DE) 62 Sega Power (UK) PAL 88 Sega Power (UK) PAL 89 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 94 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 92 Sega Zone (UK) PAL 89 Sega Force (UK) PAL 92 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 54 Supergame (BR) NTSC-U 91 Supersonic (FR) 86 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 84 Video Games (DE) PAL 78

	77
Based on 33 reviews

T2: The Arcade Game

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US (Cardboard Box)

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, PT
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, SE (rental; Hent; orange)
Cover

Mega Drive, AU
Cover

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Cart PCB

Master System version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Joypad (FR) 69 Score (CZ) 53 Sega Magazin (DE) 38

	53
Based on 3 reviews

T2: The Arcade Game

Master System, EU
Cover
Cart

Master System, AU
Cover

Game Gear version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 58 Consoles + (FR) 79 Computer & Video Games (UK) 80 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 50 Joypad (FR) 75 Player One (FR) 70 Power Unlimited (NL) 90 Sega Power (UK) PAL 64 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC 71

	71
Based on 9 reviews

T2: The Arcade Game

Game Gear, JP
Cover
Cart

Game Gear, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Technical information

Main article: T2: The Arcade Game/Technical information.