by Gamatroid 🕹️
Experience the events of ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’.
Play as Sarah Connor and the T-800 as they take on the T-1000 and try to put a stop to Skynet’s plans before the human race is annihilated. Lead the Resistance as John Connor in the future, fighting on the front lines as mankind’s only hope in the War Against the Machines.
In this unique story blending iconic scenes from ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ with original scenarios and multiple endings, humanity’s fate is yours to decide.
TERMINATOR 2D: NO FATE
- RELEASE DATE: 12/12/2025
- MSRP: $29.99
- DEVELOPER: Bitmap Bureau
- PUBLISHER: Reef Entertainment
- PLATFORMS: PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC
- PLAYED ON: PlayStation 5
At first glance, Terminator 2D: No Fate might look like just another retro-styled cash grab meant to tug at the heart strings of Gen-X and Elder Millennials without delivering compelling gameplay, but luckily this isn't the case.
While people expecting a Contra Hardcore-type game set in the T2 universe might be disappointed, for most gamers Terminator 2D: No Fate offers a great looking and playing adventure through the story of the movie. The game goes even further, however, with additional scenes incorporated to expand the story (don't worry - not in a bad way) and select decisions points that can alter the ending in meaningful ways (do you reprogram the T-800 or not? do you kill Miles Dyson or let him live?).
The visuals are outstanding, but that's the case for many of these retro-styled games. In the case of Terminator 2D, it's not just a pretty face; the gameplay is tight and the action is fast and fun. While it's medium-level difficulty (probably) won't result in any broken controllers, you only get a limited number of continues to clear the story, and you might fail the first few times through.
Run out of continues and it's hasta la vista, baby! Back to the beginning for you! Honestly though, that just adds to the game's initial replay-value. It took me several tries to clear the story mode my first time through; largely because I just kept making stupid mistakes or being too aggressive and running into enemy fire. If I had rolled credits on the game the very first time I played it, I might have just gone onto something else and not picked it up again. Since I had to make several runs through the game to see the first credit roll, however, it gave me a greater appreciation for the entire experience.
As an aside: if you are the type of retrogamer who likes CRT-filters on these types of games (like me), head into the options menu before you get started. The game looks great regardless, but the slight blurring provided by the CRT filter really makes the pixels look outstanding.
The music and sound effects are also excellent. While I might have preferred a chip-tune style soundtrack to match the visuals, honestly the audio is so great that I don't mind it being high fidelity. Who can complain when you're rocking out this hard?
While some of these recent retro-styled games don't seem worth their sticker price, Terminator 2D No Fate is excellent and well worth it, but given it was created by Bitmap Bureau, it's really no surprise.
If the name of the studio doesn't ring a bell, some of its games might. Bitmap Bureau also developed Xeno Crisis, Final Vendetta and Battle Axe; all retro-styled games that deliver excellent overall experiences, and their games have only gotten better over time.
Currently on OpenCritic, Terminator 2D No Fate sits at a 75 Top Critic average, and IGN gave it an 8 out of 10.
Besides being one of the best retrogaming experiences of 2025, I think Terminator 2D No Fate is also the best game based on Terminator 2, period. Although that's not too high of a bar to clear. While I'm sure some people have nostalgic memories of the past T2 games, the only one I ever liked was the arcade game, which was a lightgun shooter. Luckily it also came home to the Super NES and Sega Genesis, but for me, the arcade version remained the definitive experience.
In addition to the arcade game, there was a side scrolling action game created for both the Super NES and the Sega Genesis, but it was pretty awful. The magazine Video Games & Computer Entertainment gave the Genesis version a
4/10, and it wasn't even reviewed by EGM or GamePro; the Super NES version wasn't much better.
Especially considering the past console games, it's a miracle we finally got an action game worthy of the T2 license. While I generally wait for a sale before picking up games like this, I highly recommend you pick up this one regardless whether it's on sale or not.
If you want to see the game in action, you can check out some of my beginning gameplay in the YouTube video below:
I just hope future retro-styled games follow the excellent example Bitmap Bureau has set with Terminator 2D No Fate. Games like The Karate Kid: Street Rumble, Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind and G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra initially looked interesting, but fell short of expectations and were ultimately disappointing. I would like to believe their developers were trying to create something worthy of their source material, but they all could have used more refinement prior to release.
Terminator 2D: No Fate has set a new bar for retro-styled games and I'd love to see other classic franchises brought back in a similar format, but only if they are done as well as this game was.
On the PlayStation Store, Terminator 2D: No Fate currently sits at a 4.60/5 with 1.4k user ratings (92/100).
Even better, Bitmap Bureau is currently developing a new He-Man game, and it's looking great so far. You can wishlist it on Steam to show your interest and support.
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