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TERMINATOR 2D introduction text to lead into the Interview about T2D No Fate of Scene World #36

The Terminator film franchise is all about time travel, and Bitmap Bureau are taking players on a trip back in time with Terminator 2D: No Fate. With its pixel-art style, key moments from Terminator 2 are recreated, with players controlling John, Sarah, and the T-800 to survive against the odds, with multiple endings based on how you perform.

In many ways it harks back to the official licensed game by Ocean Software, available for the C64 and C64GS on a cartridge. This allowed fast loading of presentation screens, including a fabulous intro containing a scrolling picture of the T-800 exoskeleton and the classic Brad Friedel theme tune recreated for the SID chip. There was even a special C64C Judgement Day pack, containing the computer, a joystick, a special Commodore Format mini-magazine with playing tips, and the game cartridge.

Programmer Bobby Earl created the C64 game, using overlaid sprites to give extra detail. There were one-on-fighting levels taking on the T-1000, John Connor and the T-800 escaping through the storm drains on a motorbike, and Sarah Connor trying to get out of the asylum. There were two puzzle levels, based on the film’s reprogramming sequence, where you rearrange sections of the T-800’a face and repair wires in his arm. The stylish bitmap screens introducing each level are also well made. It was one of Ocean’s many film licenses that remains fun to play. It will be interesting to see how Bitmap Bureau’s title adds to the gaming legacy of the Terminator franchise, as Scene World talks to key members of the team.

Read the full interview either in our latest diskmag issue #36 (online or in your emulator/on your C64)  or in this PDF