Battle of the Ports - Terminator 2: Judgment Day / The Arcade Game (ターミネーター2) Show

[@professorofficer9609]

Crap game or not, the arcade cabin was an engineering masterpiece. That' s what I remember. The impressive cabin with the dual uzis.

[@johns6265]

The move to 3D really gave this style of on-rails shooter a new lease of life and a surge in popularity in the 90s, we've generally forgotten that these far more limited 2D forebears even existed.

[@ChikikyoKONAMI]

The Arcade game original can eat your goddamn money up. Such a quarter muncher back then.

[@losalfajoresok]

At first I thought you meant that the Terminator 2 movie was a "yawn fest", until I understood you meant the game. I very much agree with you!

[@RetroCore]

Oh no, T2 the movie is fantastic unlike this heap of crap game.

[@enigma776]

The other T2 game is better with more variety. Still not a masterpiece though

[@masterlee1988]

enigma776 Which one?

[@enigma776]

The one on the Amiga, C64. It has fighting, driving and shooting as I said its still not a great game but compared to the arcade game its alot better.

[@rafaellima83]

NO THIS GAME IS AWFUL FOR CHRIST SAKE!

[@loganjorgensen]

Never thought of that, yeah it doesn't exactly vary the gameplay differently all the way through. The GG screen is smaller but the sprites are more proportional than the SMS version, looks like micromen fighting in a warehouse.

[@inigomontoya9908]

I like how your "Battle of the Ports" serie have clean subtitles. Thank you

[@RetroCore]

You're very welcome.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

I LOVE this game, and the Snes port is hands down the best. It even supports the Snes Mouse! This remained my favorite Terminator game, right up until Bethesda developed Terminator Future Shock.

[@RetroCore]

I've never tried Future Shock. I should really check it out.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

Even though the visuals haven't aged that well, the atmosphere in Future Shock sucks you in regardless! You spend most of the time outside, sometimes exploring burnt out buildings and Skynet facilities. There's numerous enemy types, including endo-skeletons of course, and numerous HK models. Sometimes the game mixes it up with some vehicular missions too. And if you have the sequel Skynet, you can play Future Shock in "hi rez" 640x480 rather than the original 320x240!

[@dreamcastfan]

I had the GB game back in the day, and you're right it is way too hard! I could never get any further than the Cyberdyne level. I think in the end I beat it by using my Action Replay to find an infinite lives cheat. I think I bought it on the strength of the previous T2 game on the GB and because I'd been blinded by the arcade graphics and voice samples so much that I didn't notice the dull gameplay. I still love the attitude back then that any arcade game could be crammed onto the GameBoy, no matter how complicated it was. I do remember playing the arcade game in Torquay and it crashed halfway through level 1! It self-rebooted and seemed to remember I still had a credit so I was able to start a new game. Plus you've got to love how their Arnie sound-a-like would say "No way Jose" if you pushed the start button without putting any credits in!

[@thefurthestmanfromhome1148]

The Menacer was the only way to play this on the MD and this was the only title worth owning a Menacer for. Totally agree about the Human Resistance fighters, they are absolutely U/S

[@rafaellima83]

I never found this game to be boring, I actually liked it a lot , to the point I've finished it a few times playing on Amiga. Then a friend of mine got it (with the MENACE BAZOOKA for Mega-Drive ) and then I finished it there too (but playing with a joypad, not that ugly "menace" thing :D ) . I really think it was one of the most enjoyable games of its kind on Amiga ( I liked it more than Space Gun and Operation Wolf, both you already have reviewed here) I believe the SNES version also supports the Super Scope. I had never seen the Master System version, it looks pretty good for the system, with some nice graphics and parallax scrolling. I wonder if it does work with the Light Phaser pistol ? I doubt since at that point no one was supporting it, and that would be a shame. The Snes version lacks music which I always found weird. The Amiga version is one of those games where you can choose between SFX or Music but not both (its even more annoying when speech is still there with music, which comes to show we probably could had a couple of SFX with music playing and make the game feel less empty) Curious you mention the tough boss fights... even though I finished the game a few times, that level where you have to protect the truck (if I remember correctly its level 3) is FREAKING ANNOYING and it took me AGES to be able to beat it. Nearly everyone I know who tried this game got stuck at that level, it's insanely hard... I remeber people believing the game had some bug that made that level impossible to be beaten.... When you get the gripes with that particular level, the rest of the game never gets as hard as that point (even the similar later level with T1000 chopper trying to destroy the van, while being really hard, is not AS HARD as that one). The last boss in the other hand is pretty easy :)

[@Night-Jester]

Played the Sega version with a menacer heck yeah!

[@iwanttocomplain]

My neighbour had this with the Menacer and yes, its the only way to play it.

[@Charlie-Cat.]

IMO Mark, Terminator 2 Judgement Day was just okay for me. However, Revolution X starring Aerosmith is my favorite shooter from Midway that really improved this gun firing style from the company. If you do a Battle of the Ports version of that title, I'll be glad to see that one for sure. Nice work as always kind sir. Anthony..

[@RetroCore]

I agree. I can find enjoyment in Revelution X where as I can't with this game.

[@marioghernandez4960]

Well I kinda enjoy it too

[@PAKA62]

That DOS piano soundtrack sounds quite peculiar.

[@RetroCore]

It sure does. I was using the Roland Sound option for this game.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

In a lot of Dos ports back then, audio was treated as an after thought.

[@rbueno57]

As always, very nice comparison!

[@RetroCore]

Thanks.

[@WeskerSega]

Sure, the SNES version is arcade perfect or almost arcade perfect, but I don't like neither the arcade nor the SNES version because they lack the fantastic soundtrack that was composed especifically for the Probe developed home versions. Now that's a good reason to play this game.

[@RetroCore]

Fair point. I don't like the game at all to be honest. I find games like this to be less about skill and more about luck. Its impossible to hit everything unlike Japanese shooters such as Virtua Cop, House of the Dead or Time Crisis.

[@IMDRanged]

The original arcade cabinet with 2 full sized uzi controllers made the arcade game enjoyable despite its side scrolling shooting gallery gameplay. Of course I can't say the same with Revolution X with Aerosmith. Wow, only the SNES has all the digitized graphics like the Future Soldiers standoff against the wall, other ports has hand drawn sprites soldiers. Weird.

[@spoofersdomain9185]

You have inspired me to try out the DOS port of this game and see if I can squeeze decent quality out of the MIDI music. It sounds like it needs an MT-32 for the music based on the piano samples.

[@RetroCore]

I was actually using a rolland plug-in but it sounded pretty bad.

[@spoofersdomain9185]

Was it MUNT?

[@RetroCore]

I don't think so. To be honest I wasn't paying much attention.

[@spoofersdomain9185]

Welp, time for me to find a copy through SPECIAL means and try it on my MT-32 device. :P

[@bhirawamaylana466]

this game like screaming "hasta la vista baby"

[@SomeOrangeCat]

Another bit of interest about the Dos port, it had such stringent base memory requirements, that unless your autoexec.bat and config.sys kung-fu was REALLY good, you'd never be able to play it.

[@michaelwhite5641]

A friend used to swear by the Game boy version back then. Thankfully we mocked him mercilessly for it, still gets brought up sometimes.

[@pac-manqualityrips4638]

Gameboy port:Now that is pathetic! -AVGN

[@DeAthWaGer]

If you play the SFC/SNES version with a Super Scope the color palette changes completely. I remember the sky becoming pink.

[@iwanttocomplain]

You could say the snes was closer to the arcade in colour and level design. But that 8:7 aspect just looks so strange and that is a 30% reduction in play field, making the Genesis visually closer unless you ignore the 256px width snes res. I know you could say this of any snes game but sometimes it's just too glaring.

[@StevenCusic]

I agree it's rad that's it's terminator based but the steel gunner games demolished this gameplay wise, but this was EVERYWHERE! and 90s mindset was different

[@RetroCore]

Yep, every arcade you went in to you could find one of these machines. It really was everywhere.

[@marioghernandez4960]

Retro Core I think it was there just to SUCK your WALLET DRY.

[@lightdark28]

I remember seeing this game at the arcades towards the mid 90s, I didn't think much of it at the time as it was quite repetitive , or at least I thought so. that said, its not nearly as bad as the T2 game I had on DOS (it was also on Amiga), I played it when I was 4 years old, and I still thought it was a pile of crap, not surprising it was made by LJN.

[@BlockABoots]

Friggin loved this game in the Arcades with the vibrating uzi!. Not sure where you dislike comes from for this game Mark as you didnt appear to hate Lethal Enforcers or Operation wolf when you did them!?. T2 plays more or less the same a Operation Wolf, Thnderbolt, Space Gun Lethal Enforcers, Beast Busters etc basically all lightgun games from the late 80's to early 90's all used the same blueprint, wasn't until stuff like mad dog and the namco and sega games did things change.

[@RetroCore]

Maybe I dislike this so much because it's got no variation in the level designs. It's T2, the biggest movie of the 90s. I feel this should have been so much better than it was.

[@marioghernandez4960]

One year earlier (before the year this game was released, I mean), Namco must have seen the first Terminator film. "Maybe if we make a game almost similar to this, we'll be rich!" they must have thought. And so, the Steel Gunner series was born. And it rocked. More than this heap of shit that still sits before me.

[@RetroCore]

You'd be surprised at just how many Japanese games were influenced by western films.

[@marioghernandez4960]

You get my point, though, right? That rule by which some of said games are somehow more popular than the source material.

[@RetroCore]

Yep.

[@Frikinautas]

Of course the Mega Drive version sounds good: it's another work from one of my personal references on videogaming, Matt Furniss. This was the very first lightgun game I ever played IIRC, and both as a player and as a Terminator fan (my fav film in the series is the first, though), I have a soft spot for this one, which is WAY much more than I can say about the other T2 game on the MD: what a piece of garbage!

[@gabrielloko30000]

Fun fact that i just notice now!: At 0:42 you can see a Credit attact screen and a bar with a R for Restricted, and in the very next second another screen apears with" For ALL audiences"....Yeah now if you guys still question why some R rated movies are converted for kids....there ya go some hints

[@RetroCore]

Well. Spotted. Its funny how big errors like that manage to get through.

[@Lightblue2222]

on the Mega Drive you can shoot missles as fast as you press the button. Just like the Arcade. But with Snes you have to shoot them one at a time much slower, it doesnt ruin the game, but it's why i think Mega Drive is the best one.

[@earlduran6419]

Not to mention that the crosshair won't move until you push the fire button on SNES while the Sega Genesis the crosshair does move no matter what you press the fire button.

[@topofbones]

One dark point to the genesis version...this skinned terminators doesn't look like Arnie!! xD Good affort to the 8bit versions indeed

[@fallofsaigon]

THANKS FOR THIS ONE! :) Made my entire day!!!

[@Siegfried39ify]

Didnt know game had so many ports. Arcade machine i played,was kinda glitched,when droping 1lat coin,for 5 games,wich i eqialent to around 2 usd,game had almost endless continiums.

[@RetroCore]

Even with endless continues I still wouldn't finish it. Boredom would settle in first.

[@DanielMonteiroNit]

maybe it's the footage that's playing a trick on me, but the GG port looks a lot better than the SMS. Being a Brazilian, I deeply miss playing the SMS with my friends - Tectoy mindset is "if there are kids to buy it, we will make it!"

[@mleolv426]

Daniel Monteiro way more happening on screen on the gg version

[@RetroCore]

Upon looking at the footage, you are right. The GG version does seem to have more going on and does look a little better.

[@mleolv426]

Seemed to be more parallax scrolling and probably due to resolution the sprites are bigger.

[@RetroCore]

Yes, it does seem so. I didn't notice when recording the footage. I was just wishing I could get over and done with aying the game :p I really am not a fan.

[@mleolv426]

Retro Core I agree it's a bit monotonous. I much prefer alien3 the gun game for this type of fun.

[@masterlee1988]

I'm guessing Captain Commando for Battle of the Ports will come later on. Anyways, yeah, I'm not the biggest fan of this game, I mean, it's not completely terrible, but I definitely prefer quite a bit of other light gun games over it!

[@RetroCore]

Captain Commando is actually coming next week.

[@masterlee1988]

Retro Core Ok, cool. BTW I read the PS1 version requires a cheat code for four players. And the SNES version is missing a lot of stuff from the arcade version.

[@ProtoxZero]

Dear friend ... why did you get the subtitles in your videos ?, at least they helped me a lot to understand English, greetings from Chile and I love your videos :)

[@RetroCore]

Thank you for the comment. I started to add subtitles so people who spoke English as a second language could understand more easier. I'm happy that you find the subtitles useful.

[@geoserenity]

good point: the snes got a good port of this bad point: the snes got a port of this ...hah...on to the next eagerly awaited video! -erm...please

[@jasonedmunds5821]

What an abysmal looking game!? Don't think I played it even on the arcade let alone buy it for my home systems. Operation Wolf did this sort of thing way better!

[@JudgmentStorm]

I like the Mega Drive version best. Its difficulty is high, but not unfair like the arcade is. Someone good enough could probably 1CC the MD port. The MD's soundtrack is better than the arcade, though I wish it had the arcade's ending theme (which Williams uses in T2 pinball for jackpots) instead of silence during the credit roll.

[@sgan8729]

Well, when a was a kid/teen, I really liked the GameBoy version, and I was able to finish it with no problem, it was hard, but finishable

[@lurkerrekrul]

I've always considered Terminator 2, no matter which port, a stupidly hard game. There's too much stuff on the screen to ever be able to shoot it all, no matter how good you are. In my opinion, if you're good, you should be able to shoot everything (enemies, missiles, etc) before it has a chance to hit you. Or there should be enough health that it's possible to keep replenishing it at regular intervals. When a game throws so much stuff at you that it's impossible to keep your health bar from draining, it's not a fair game. I once watched a guy playing the arcade game. He seemed reasonably good at it, but even he couldn't keep from dying. He had a stack of tokens and every 45-60 seconds or so, he'd have to feed another into the machine.

[@sgan8729]

It's curious, I had a lot of fun with the arcade (it doesn't means that it is good), but, the other version I really enjoyed, was the GameBoy version, it was really hard, of course, but I had a lot of fun with it, and I got really satisfied when I was able to finish it. Anyway, replayability = 0

[@RetroCore]

As long as you enjoyed something is all that matters 👍

[@krazycharlie]

I agree with you on one thing: while the arcade difficulty is justified, it should have been toned down on consoles. Back in the day, arcades were designed to squeeze all the money they could from arcade gamers, but the whole point of arcade ports was that console games were to be enjoyed without having to spend a small fortune on coins. I remember one time watching a guy my age playing the game up until he arrived to the N2O rig. By that time, he had spent about $50 or more on coins. With that money, he could have afforded the SNES port. As for the quality of the ports, the Game Boy is no surprise. The real shocker for me was how good the Game Gear is, given its limitations. It should be considered a hardware limit pusher game. Well, I guess next up is your other hated game: Area 51. Looking forward to it!

[@RetroCore]

That guy spent 50 dollars playing the Arcade version? Wow, he really must have loved that game. No Area 51 for a while. I need time to recover from playing this :p

[@krazycharlie]

If not for that silly difficulty, T2 should have been on my top 5 favorite arcade games. By the way, that guy wasn't me, I would have bought the SNES port instead. Looking forward for your next BOTP video, regardless of the game. Edit: if I remember correctly, next game on your list is Captain Commando, right? Not exactly my favorite CPS# based game. Too bad it's not Cadillacs and Dinosaurs instead.

[@AllGamingStarred]

The SNES version is bad which is surprising but then you realize just who made it and it all makes sense

[@PotbellyPunch]

this really is the dynasty warriors of light gun games. non stop shooting and tons of enemies. this game was never good but the fast action, good graphics and sounds from the movie made it a good attraction in the early 90s. it's also hard as balls. I played way too much of the game gear version of this as a kid. loved it and fought so hard to finish the game. it's too bad you didn't show some late game levels as there's actually some interesting unique mission objectives and gameplay. should have turned on some cheats and seen the later game.

[@RetroCore]

I did want to show the later levels but in all honesty I became really bored playing this. The levels just drag on and on.

[@PotbellyPunch]

Retro Core it's probably the nostalgia talking but I just loved the game gear version of this. I should play the master system version and see how I find it these days. when you say no strategy require the cool down for the guns definitely requires strategy and tight timing in stages like the truck you have to protect and when you have to destroy a certain number of items in the cyberdyne facility.

[@CaspisSinclair27]

On the SNES I could never figure out how to get past the level where you have to defend the truck against the HKs. I'm not sure if it still works but years later when I played it on an emulator you could just use the "fast forward" function to easily win. I never reached the end out of sheer tedium.

[@dezm101]

I was just about to comment this! never beat the damn truck escort level without cheating before! seems impossible

[@RetroCore]

That's the problem with this game. The levels drag on forever.

[@BlockABoots]

Have you done, The Ninja Warriors yet?

[@RetroCore]

Yep, a very long time ago. A quite Battle of the Ports Ninja warriors search will bring it up.

[@chrisdavis4292]

The best port I think is definitely the snes version. Just wish that they could have added more voices just like in the arcade version.

[@Clay3613]

This game is very hard to play now that most people don't have the proper TV for lightgun support and the Mega Mouse is not easy to find.

[@alexq2930]

yes, the Snes port is the better port but it doesnt matter really because every port including the arcade is a mess IMO.

[@RetroCore]

Agreed.

[@Lightblue2222]

except for one major flaw.. you cant shoot the missles as fast as you press the button. unlike genesis and arcade

[@earlduran6419]

Still, Terminator 2: the arcade game is still better than LJN T2 games

[@RetroCore]

True but not by much 😊

[@theshitpostdumpster91]

hasta la vista, baby!

[@wongyc5585]

They should have developed a NES version as well. The nes mechanized attack was quite good.

[@kurati]

Another great video. Terminator 2 the arcade game is a bad game even in arcades.

[@GlenLehane]

If you didn't like this, what did you think of Ocean's movie licensed PAL game?

[@SebasHCG]

you said all in one sentence Mark. _we are far of SEGA or NAMCO gun games_ so do i like this game ? na, never liked it. & good job as usual.

[@RetroCore]

Yeah, I honestly do think that the Japanese know how to make an exciting light gun game.

[@rob45x]

I had this Game on the master system. finding it hard to find a copy these days

[@rob45x]

but it was nothing like the one in your video. it was a side scroller

[@RetroCore]

That's a different T2 game :)

[@dr3344]

it was create on the same Hardware like Mortal Kombat 1, from the Midway House. Has got the almost similar Hardware Specifications and Abilities.

[@RetroCore]

To be honest, that doesn't surprise me. The graphic do have a resembling look to them.

[@dbnpoldermans4120]

Only megadrive & snes version support light guns according to this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gun_games

[@RetroCore]

That's right. It's really odd that the Master System version didn't support light guns.

[@MrNightshade2010]

am I the only person that never got past the pickup truck attack? i had the gb version too it wasnt too horrible ......you gotta admit this was better than revolution x tho......

[@fulgenzio1973]

When you'll cover Arkanoid and Revenge of Doh?

[@RetroCore]

Sometime in the future. It will be covered however since that game has a billion Ports it will take an awfully long time to put together. When I get some time off work I'll make it.

[@retrovideogamejunkie]

so revolution x is better? xd

[@RetroCore]

Much better because that has more variety to the stages. It's still not as good as the likes of Sega or Namco gun games but it is fun.

[@jesuszamora6949]

Looking at the SNES version, I guess it didn't work with the mouse?

[@RetroCore]

I don't recall it did but I could be mistaken.

[@Silanda]

Hmm. Been playing the Mega Drive and SNES versions of this recently. It's not exactly my favourite game as it's unfair by design. The Mega Drive version is probably the fairer of the two, and I can complete that with relative ease. The SNES version I can only complete with mouse control or by cheating. Probe really made some baffling choices when porting this to everything other than the SNES. Why replace all the digitized sprites, bar the John Connor sprite on level 3 and 4, with hand drawn ones? Why is the sky in the Mega Drive version red? Etc. IMO, it's got a bit of the feel of a lot of western home computer ports: faithfulness to the original wasn't really important as long as it vaguely resembled the original game.

[@evoGage]

I swear I will not kill anyone.

[@realevostevo]

Everyone is supposed to have laser rifles and now that I think about it maybe that's why this game never interested me back in the day.

[@PacManEntertainment2]

Now that is pathetic - AVGN/Game boy port

[@TeriTheLemon]

I want your boots, your clothes and your motorcycle

[@lurkerrekrul]

You forgot to say "please".

[@RyuHayabusa06]

The SNES port is the closest but the game overall just isn't very good even in the arcade. This kind of quartermuncher shooter like T2, Revolution X, Area 51, etc never appealed to me.

[@RetroCore]

I have the same feeling although I do kind of like Revelation X just for its crazy plot.

[@jagripino]

This is an awful arcade game, so no surprise all versions are crap.

[@pixel_infusion8281]

calibrate your gun properly dude! 128,0,255

[@Seth-nt9bf]

This game is absolute shit! It's been proven impossible to 1cc. Definitely one of Midway's worst games.

[@RetroCore]

I agree 100%.

[@marioghernandez4960]

Makes you wanna play Steel Gunner instead, huh?

[@RetroCore]

absolutely. I honestly find most American gun games to be a really boring.

[@StevenCusic]

Mario G Hernandez haha seems like we all agree on steel gunner series

[@marioghernandez4960]

stevacus And when I try to play this game, the aiming is always miscalibrated. (I mean T2)

[@StevenCusic]

Mario G Hernandez but steel guner on he other and lol

[@roudanskalamir9251]

Retro Core Even Carnevil?

[@jamesburchill7522]

Terrible, quarter munching madness...is all this was. Single player, it was nigh impossible to beat within a reasonable amount of money.

[@DragonSlayerKyo]

Good old Beam Software.. They were responsible for a lot of crap back in the day.. The GB is a respectable machine that can do some great things in the right hands... but that description doesn't fit Beam at all.. To my knowledge the only good game they ever made was Test drive lemans. and really, these racing simulators aren't for everyone.

[@RetroCore]

Yep, Beam Software were another one of those shitty companies that seemed to get a lot of work back in the day.

[@roudanskalamir9251]

Retro Core I personally see Beam as a hit-or-miss company. For as many bad games that they may have made (probably the most infamous being Back to the Future for the nes), they've also made quite a few cult classics such as Nightshade and Shadowrun for the SNES. After they changed their name to Krome, they went on to make KKnD which is one of my favorite rts games.

[@ghostofshady9560]

#1 :D

[@RetroCore]

Congrats :)