Terminator 2D: No Fate is a perfect case study of a mediocre game being enhanced by its theming and aesthetics. If you want a great Terminator game, the best you can hope for is Terminator: Resistance, and if we’re lucky, Survivors might be ok. It’s a shame there are so many terrible games based on this film series, because its premise is seemingly built for a long-lasting game franchise.
Ever since the first film, we have had some pretty heinous games. The sequel was especially abused in video game format, with LJN titles released on both NES and SNES. The best you could hope for was RoboCop Vs The Terminator on Sega Genesis, but even that was technically based on a comic book and not the films.
Where does everything go wrong, and where does everything go right? Is this the best Terminator 2 can hope for? Find out in our Terminator 2D: No Fate review!
Terminator 2D: No Fate
Developer: Bitmap Bureau
Publisher: Reef Entertainment
Platforms: Windows PC, Linux, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch (reviewed)
Release Date: December 12, 2025
Price: $29.99
By now, everyone should be familiar with the story of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. After a nuclear holocaust, the leader of a human resistance against an AI menace leads an assault to end the war. Skynet, the self-aware machine mastermind, deploys a highly advanced assassin infiltrator, designed solely to eliminate John Connor, the future leader of the resistance, while he is still a child in the 1990s.
Anticipating Skynet’s final attempt to ensure its survival, Connor reprograms a Terminator to obey his commands and sends it back in time to track the assassin and protect his younger self from being killed. What follows is a surprising human drama about a mother who failed her son, but finds redemption in trusting a machine that unwittingly becomes the ultimate father figure for a boy who desperately needed one.
This is a timeless and perfectly told story in the film and is still worth watching today. No Fate is slavishly faithful to the movie and includes a few sequences based on offhand references mentioned by characters. The first level is based on the early days when Sarah was raising John to be a fighter and had to go rescue him from a Mad Max-like gang. Since No Fate doesn’t tell the story of the first film, introducing Sarah like this helps center her character.
Some of the best moments are scenes invented for the game. The time when John mentions how his mother tried to blow up a computer factory becomes a full-on level, complete with an early Miles Dyson cameo in the background. Adult John gets several levels of his own in the future, where fans get tasteful callbacks from the first film and even a subtle nod to T2 3-D: Battle Across Time.
The adult John levels are very Contra-inspired. Unlike Sara, who comes to a complete halt when she fires, John runs and guns, and also has a Metal Slug-like grenade throw. Even the bosses are amusing homages to classic Contra and Metal Slug bosses. Regretfully, No Fate isn’t as polished as those classics, and if it weren’t for the iconic Terminator 2 theming, it would be utterly forgettable.
An annoying feature is John’s power-ups being on a time limit. In real 16-bit action platformers, you keep your power-up until you get hit, which would force you to play better because nobody wants to lose the spread gun. In No Fate, all of John’s power-ups last only 30 seconds, no matter if he gets hit, unless you’re playing in one-hit death mode.
The platforming feels finicky, and the jump height is too low. This affects all playable characters, which is frustrating because it forces you to rely on abusing i-frames from the dodge roll instead of jumping over bullets or taking cover. The levels are too short and feel like a series of vignettes tied together by the Terminator 2 storyline, rather than forming a cohesive adventure.
Fortunately, there is plenty of variety to choose from. No Fate is dense with unique gameplay stage gimmicks that keep it feeling fresh to make up for the average gameplay. Some vehicle stages play out like the hoverbike levels from Battletoads, but much easier, and there’s a hilarious beat ’em up stage where you take control of a naked Uncle Bob, brawling against a gang of pool cue-wielding bikers.
The nude brawler stage is a highlight for its absurdity. Notably, the developers secured the licensing for the music used in the scene as heard in the film. Remember the bar owner who threatens Uncle Bob with a shotgun? He becomes the stage boss, complete with George Thorogood’s Bad to the Bone as the boss music.
As faithful as No Fate is, it’s surprising when it cuts corners with the plot. This is a very short game and misses the chance to add value due to glossing over a few scenes from the film. There is no level set in the Galleria Mall, no sequence set in the mental hospital underground parking lot, and you never get to fight Officer Austin as Uncle Bob.
There should have been more future war stages with John Connor. Instead, there’s the infinite mode where players fight endless enemies. It’s disappointing that No Fate does not go far enough with the stage variety. The game feels kind of anemic as is. What’s here is spread very thin across the bonus modes.
At least the audio/visual aspects of No Fate impress. The pixel art and animation are top-notch notch and great care was put into capturing the look and feel of James Cameron’s film. The color palette and lighting are especially faithful and transport you right into the movie’s scenes. It may not be all it could have been, but you won’t find a better 2D action game based on Terminator 2.
Terminator 2D: No Fate was reviewed on Nintendo Switch using a code provided by Reef Entertainment. Additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy is here. Terminator 2D: No Fate is now available for Windows PC (via Steam), Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
