Retro Game Club - Feb 15 to 28 Let's Play The Terminator

[Anne Summers]

Thanks Loathsomeleopard for the nomination!

 

Using this to get round to playing a game that I've had on my shelf for a while but never got round to playing properly. 

The Terminator, for Mega Drive - I believe there are also Master System and Game Gear ports and it would be good to hear a bit about them too!

 

So I bought this a while ago (from a forumite, I seem to remember) because I love the film (of course) and was looking to flesh out my little MD collection with something a bit different. I'd heard it was a pretty good film conversion. 
I only gave it a brief play and while it seemed cool I didn't get off the first level, where you play Kyle Rees in the future fighting against terminators by throwing grenades. I'd like to see what lies beyond. I am hoping there is a cool 1990s video game recreation of 1980s Los Angeles for us to blow shit up in. 

It's (kind of) interesting that the game came out in 1992, after Terminator 2 came out at the cinema. So I guess it was a case of jumping on the hype created by that, and someone realised "hang on, we never actually made a game of the first movie did we?"

So let's see what it's all about and does it deserve this summary of its reception that it has received on Wikipedia:

 

Quote

On the Genesis, The Terminator received praise for its sound and graphics, especially its digitized stills from the film. Mega praised the "lovely dark, moody scenery" and "excellent futuristic" soundtrack.

Reviewers also praised the graphics and sounds of the Game Gear and Master System versions.

Critics found the gameplay monotonous, and lacking in variety and replay value. Game Zone wrote that it "looks great and plays well" but that it is "a bit weak" on gameplay.

Mean Machines called it a "potentially superb license ruined by complete lack of long-term appeal",[2] while MegaTech called it a "disappointing interpretation of a great film".

However, Martin Pond of Zero considered it a "competent interpretation" of the film.

Some reviewers found the Genesis version too easy.

Others considered the Game Gear and Master System versions too difficult.

 

 

 

 

[phillv85]

I really like this game (MD version), had it as a kid but found the meetings with The Terminator very stressful 😅

 

If you want to get further, try it on easy, you get the machine gun at the bottom of the first ladder rather than from behind the wheelie bot in the bottom left of the level. 
 

I’ve completed this game dozens of times, but it’s very easy to slip up. The music and atmosphere capture the movie really well, even if you can blitz through the game in a little over 10 minutes.

[Down by Law]

If you have access to it play the Mega CD game. It's a completely new game and far,far superior IMO to any of the other 16 bit versions. Excellent pixel art and animation, and the soundtrack is an absolute all timer. 

 

 

Sega Retro - The Terminator CD

 

[Barnard]

My mate Rich and I took this back to the Video rental shop because we'd seen it all after about 20 mins.

 

Beautiful game but very, very short!

 

Going have a look at the Mega CD version later.

 

[Paulando]

Yeah, doesn’t it have 4 levels or something? Never played it though, so I’ll definitely give it a go.

 

@Down by LawThat Mega CD version looks fab, will give that one a go too.

[Down by Law]

It's great. Soon as you get the full auto gun early on in the first level it's non stop action until the end. It's my favourite game on the Mega CD. 

 

Nice overview here with a bit of background on the Mega Drive version here too 

 

 

 

 

 

[loathsomeleopard]

Gave the Megadrive version a crack this morning. One of those games I was aware of back in the day, but IIRC reviews were very mixed, and, well, it was a movie game in an era where virtually all movie games were a bit shit.

 

Feels very much like Alien3 for the MD, and clearly that's not coincidental being a Probe game. Only not quite as refined; while there's some fun here it's a bit more staccato and unrefined, almost as if a little bit of gameplay tweaking would have helped. On normal difficulty it's also a bit brutal and in some ways random; my survival on that first level before getting the machine gun (I guess it's a phased plasma rifle in the 40W range?) largely seemed to come down to whether the many terminators would drop health pickups or not. Easy is much more forgiving in this way.

 

One thing this does get right is the tension, and specifically the tension inherent in the original flick; while it came out in the T2 era, and that's very much an action flick, The Terminator is one big long tense chase sequence. You shouldn't just be blasting terminators like they were space invaders, because they're very, very bad news. 

 

Will see if I persist on normal to finish out the MD version and may then give the Mega CD version a spin.

[loathsomeleopard]

A lunchtime crack at the MD version on Easy cleared it. That's... not a long game at all, is it? 

 

So for variety I fired up the Master System version. Which in some ways is more fluid than the Megadrive version, although clearly less visually sharp. Can't seem to get off the first level though; the laser firing hunter killer on the second above ground bit shoots endlessly and just one shots me every time.

 

 

[fat flatulent git]

The combination of tiny screen on my anbernic and freezing cold fingers meant that I didn’t really get far in this.  I was surprised that my character didn’t have a gun of any sort.  Instead he had arching bombs and some other bomb which served to blow doors open.

[Paulando]

Has anyone played T2: Judgment Day (not the on rails shooter?):

 

 

[phillv85]

Yeah I've played it, it's really fucking bad 😂

[Paulando]

47 minutes ago, phillv85 said:

Yeah I've played it, it's really fucking bad 😂

Oh 

[Stoppy2000]

1 hour ago, Paulando said:

Has anyone played T2: Judgment Day (not the on rails shooter?):

 

 

The motorcycle sections are absolutely ludicrous. 

[Paulando]

5 hours ago, fat flatulent git said:

The combination of tiny screen on my anbernic and freezing cold fingers meant that I didn’t really get far in this.  I was surprised that my character didn’t have a gun of any sort.  Instead he had arching bombs and some other bomb which served to blow doors open.

You get a gun as soon as you go down the first ladder (just to the right iirc).
 

On my first go I got too close to the first enemy and got an instant game over 

[jdanddiet]

The Mega CD game is one of my favourites of all time. It has a stonking techno rock soundtrack, and you could use the CD in your car 😉

[PikaStu]

The soundtrack is pretty great, which pains me to admit, as it’s by Tommy Tallarico lol. 

[Down by Law]

Funnily enough this popped up on my YouTube feed as it was only posted recently  - an overview of all the T1 games. Never knew about that PC version at all.

 

 

[Anne Summers]

Finally got 30 minutes free to sit down and give this a play. 

Stuck it on easy mode as recommended above. It definitely helps to get that machine gun early. 

I still haven't got off the first level, due to the fact I keep coming up against doors I need to dynamite through, and I've used all my dynamite. It seems I have to go right back to the start to collect more - is this just a bad bit of design or am I missing something?

Aside from that:

 

The good:

• Presentation is really great, in terms of atmosphere building and giving the impression of being a quality production that people have put some thought into, rather than it just being a rush-job to cash in on the licence. 
• I like the fact it starts you off with a fight against a massive enemy rather than slowly building up by killing generic terminators first. Original gameplay design rather than just following the established norms. 

 

The bad:

• Main sprite looks very generic.
• Doesn't move / animate that well, can't fire or throw while jumping etc. 
• Once in the base just fighting hundreds of generic Arnie terminators so far (shouldn't they be the skeletal ones at this point in the story? Like the ones you see breaking into the human base in the flash-forwards in the first film?)

 

Once I've worked out what's going on with the bombs/ doors, doesn't feel like this is going to be much of a challenge, especially on easy mode when the health drops are plentiful. Haven't had a problem with dying at all so far, just with those bloody doors. Looking forward to giving it another go later today. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[phillv85]

You can get more bombs from the top left of the underground bit if that makes sense. When you finally get off the first long corridor, jump up top left and go to the end, the bombs spawn there. Alternatively at the start if you hang around more bombs will appear there before you fight the HK.

[loathsomeleopard]

Yeah, just hang at the start to get more bombs - 9 max I think.  I did that almost by accident while working out how to beat that first boss robot thing. 

[Anne Summers]

Ok, bombs sorted ... thanks. Now I'm having problems as I found a bit where I go outside again after being in the underground section for a while - get attacked by another flying terminator aircraft, then get to a door that looks like it leads to another bunker but is protected by a constantly-firing laser gun that kills me instantly with one hit (no warning that it isn't just going to knock a little bit of my energy bar down, like most things in the game do). 

Is there a way to switch back to grenades now I've got the machine gun? Can't seem to find a way to do so, if there is, and can't see how the timed explosives will help me get past this bit ... do I need to go past here yet or should I be exploring more underground?

 

I think I found the explanation for why I'm fighting Arnie terminators rather than skeletal terminators, in that video that someone linked above (pretty good video by the way, but kind of made me wish I'd chosen the PC version as my Retro Game Club game). 

[phillv85]

Hints in spoiler below:

 

Spoiler

You need to take out the cooling system or whatever it is in the bottom right of the underground (three big orange things), that'll then start a timer and you need to get to the outside bit you're talking about then. That's the time machine.

 

[loathsomeleopard]

Gave the Mega Cd version a spin earlier. Interesting - clearly a lot more work went into this one, the soundtrack is indeed excellent… but while it’s a better “game” I do think it does a worse job of representing its source material.
 

The MD version is bleak because it does show the essential chase nature of The Terminator. It’s not an action movie, it’s a horror flick with a sci fi flavour, all about getting away from the relentless killing machine. Turning it into a run and gun is more arcade satisfying, but not representative.

 

Secondary realisation: The MD version must be one of only a handful of western games to feature nudity - there’s still shot of Reese’s backside in the time skip back to LA in 84. I wonder how they got away with that?

[Skull Commander]

I have played this before but never really persevered as found it too difficult. I swallowed my pride today and tried it again on easy level. It's absolutely dreadful ! I made it to the nightclub part of the second stage but don't think I want to try it again. Unresponsive main character, crappy gunplay and starting from the very start upon death means this isn't an experience I want to repeat anytime soon. 

 

I don't think the game was that positivity received back in the day in the playground (from memory) but it really hasn't aged well at all. On the positive side the music is OK though. 

[Anne Summers]

After several more sessions I think I mostly agree with the assessment of Skull Commander. This game really could have benefitted from level passwords which were pretty standard fare at the time of its release. I guess they thought no one would really need them because the levels are pretty short. But in today's reduced-attention-span age, I can't be bothered playing through the early levels just to try and get a bit further on a later one when I die either because of a crap gameplay mechanic (the no-warning insta-kill laser turrets guarding the time machine, for example) or the unresponsiveness of the main character. I think back in the day this game must have coasted through on the coolness of the license the just-about -adequate production values. 

 

I will try and get round to trying out the Mega-CD version if I can "find" a copy somewhere and get it running in an emu in the next few days, otherwise I'm satisfied that I have fulfilled my obligations as a Retro Game Club instigator and nominate @jdanddiet for the next one. (hoping he will have the balls to do what I didn't and pick an obscure Spectrum game 😉)

[jdanddiet]

20 hours ago, Anne Summers said:

After several more sessions I think I mostly agree with the assessment of Skull Commander. This game really could have benefitted from level passwords which were pretty standard fare at the time of its release. I guess they thought no one would really need them because the levels are pretty short. But in today's reduced-attention-span age, I can't be bothered playing through the early levels just to try and get a bit further on a later one when I die either because of a crap gameplay mechanic (the no-warning insta-kill laser turrets guarding the time machine, for example) or the unresponsiveness of the main character. I think back in the day this game must have coasted through on the coolness of the license the just-about -adequate production values. 

 

I will try and get round to trying out the Mega-CD version if I can "find" a copy somewhere and get it running in an emu in the next few days, otherwise I'm satisfied that I have fulfilled my obligations as a Retro Game Club instigator and nominate @jdanddiet for the next one. (hoping he will have the balls to do what I didn't and pick an obscure Spectrum game 😉)

 

Gosh thanks mate, are there any rules?

[K]

Those Probe film license platform games were almost a genre in their own right, but the Mega Drive Terminator game is a pretty poor example. The level design is just so basic - every level feels like you're just going from one side of the level to the other, traversing a ladder or some stairs, and then going all the way back to the other side. It came out the same year as Alien 3, but that game was much more sophisticated (inasmuch as a Probe film license game can be sophisticated).

 

I remember the Terminator having loads of hype, and Sega Power rhapsodising about the attention to detail and animation - Kyle Reece throws his coat back when you fire the shotgun on the LA levels! - but it's really not that impressive. It feels like it was developed in a hurry. About the only positives are the hilarious speed that Kyle Reece climbs ladders, and the music which is legitimately brilliant, especially the tune from the Tech Noir sequence. I'm so used to the PAL version that the music sounds way too fast when played at the correct speed, but the Tech Noir tune is still an absolute banger.

[Anne Summers]

2 hours ago, jdanddiet said:

 

Gosh thanks mate, are there any rules?

Nope! Just pick a game and make a thread for it ! I guess your dates will be March 1st to 14th?

[MagicalDrop]

@jdanddiet No rules as such but:

- it makes sense to pick a platform  that is easily emulated

- worth choosing a game that is highly rated to attract the most players and keep us entertained for 2 weeks

- something with a high score mechanic or completion criteria will likely keep some of us playing

 

[fat flatulent git]

Just to add to the above, I think it’s worth choosing a game that hasn’t been discussed to death already.  For example, I love Final Fight but would struggle to have anything to say about it that I haven’t said many times before on here and other forums.  But up to you.

 

Couldn’t get into Terminator at all.  Tried a few times but gave up.