Terminator 2D: No Fate is an unashamed arcade throwback. A run 'n' gun shooter based on James Cameron's beloved 1991 sequel, it harks back to the franchise's golden age—both on the silver screen and as interactive entertainment.

But there's one key difference between the '90s Terminator games and Bitmap Bureau's 16-bit mimic: Where the older games stretched the events of the films around specific mechanics or genres, Bitmap Bureau wanted its tribute to remain as true to the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day as possible. Achieving this required them to step outside the confines of traditional side-scrolling shooters, adopting systems and ideas from across the 16-bit era. Some of these ideas were only just starting to be explored at the time, found only in a handful of obscure titles.

"To do the movie justice and to please Terminator fans, we really needed to include those big moments and standout sequences that defined Terminator 2 as one of the greatest sci-fi action movies of all time," says Mike Tucker, Design Director on Terminator 2D: No Fate. "Although the bulk of the action would be run ‘n’ gun, scenes such as the Pescadero Hospital, the Biker Bar, the Storm Drain and the Steel Mill needed a different approach whilst maintaining the same viewpoint, so the title inevitably ended up spanning multiple genres."

Each of these sequences is designed to replicate the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day in a manner that makes sense for a 16-bit arcade title, yet remains recognizable from the film. For example, the Biker Bar scene swaps the run 'n' gun action for a more beat 'em up style experience, better reflecting the T-800's introductory fistfight.

For this sequence, Bitmap Bureau drew on its previous experience developing its own beat 'em up—specifically 2022's Final Vendetta, a spiritual successor to Final Fight. The difference? Final Vendetta was a full game, but with Terminator 2D: No Fate, the designers had to condense the mechanical complexity of a beat 'em up into a single level.

"It mostly comes down to creating hit boxes at the appropriate point in animation and how each kind of hit affects the opponent, and then checking whether the player and enemy are lined up vertically," Tucker explains. "There's a fair amount of depth in there given that the level lasts for just two or three minutes, and you can put together some pretty satisfying combos!"

Bitmap Bureau also adopted a tailored approach for Terminator 2: Judgment Day's two main chase scenes: the motorcycle/truck pursuit through Los Angeles's storm drains early in the film, and the nighttime freeway chase toward its conclusion. To adapt these scenes, Bitmap Bureau took inspiration from several arcade classics, with Tucker citing the "Turbo Tunnel" in Battletoads and the bike level from Contra III: The Alien Wars specifically.

"The Storm Drain and Freeway Chase levels in Terminator 2D certainly draw inspiration from these, forcing the player to weave in and out of traffic or static hazards while keeping the T-1000 at bay," he says. "We played around with a few ideas for both of these levels, with some implementations being too complex." 

One of these implementations included a reload system for weapons like the T-800's shotgun, but Bitmap Bureau concluded the system would "ultimately lead to frustration" for players. "I think that less is sometimes more with vehicle levels in arcade games, and the emphasis should be on speed and player reactions," Tucker explains.

By far the boldest scene adaptation in Terminator 2D: No Fate centers on Sarah Connor's escape from Pescadero Hospital in the film's middle act. For this sequence, Bitmap Bureau opted to implement a stealth system. 

"The hospital level felt like a good opportunity to change things up and present players with a different problem altogether," Tucker says. "Dealing with the hospital orderlies and security guards can be a challenge in itself, but the presence of the T-1000 adds an extra layer of tension to the proceedings as it's almost certain death if he catches a glimpse of Sarah."

Stealth mechanics are exceedingly rare in 16-bit games, to the point where it's reasonable to wonder whether such a sequence could have existed in the early '90s. There are a few examples though, such as 1990's Bonanza Bros, a cooperative game wherein players assume the role of thieves stealing items from mansions, casinos, and art galleries. 

"That formed the basis of our stealth gameplay, with the player being able to hide in doorways and alcoves, waiting for the right moment to ambush or sneak past enemies," Tucker points out.

Even with Bonanza Bros as a framework, Tucker says Terminator 2D: No Fate's stealth systems went through "several iterations," at one point featuring a directional cover system. Ultimately, Bitmap Bureau decided it didn't want alerting enemies to be a hard failure, instead allowing players to confront "every enemy they come across." This decision was likewise inspired by games from the era. 

"Rolling Thunder and Elevator Action Returns also feature similar evasion mechanics," Tucker says. "And more recently, Huntdown featured cover mechanics, so we didn't think the concept was too alien."

While each of these sequences brought its own systemic challenges to solve, Tucker says the most difficult part of developing Terminator 2D: No Fate had little to do with game design. 

"I think the storytelling aspect was the biggest challenge for us—our previous titles had been fairly light on story, dialogue, cutscenes, et cetera, so we really had to step up in a big way here," he says. "That meant creating some animation sequences consisting of hundreds or thousands of frames."

Terminator 2D: No Fate isn't just a beat-by-beat retelling of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, however. It expands upon the film in several ways. Numerous levels are set during the Future War, where players assume the role of an adult John Connor and take the fight to the machines directly. "The Future War is perfect video game material in itself, so we had a lot of fun expanding on it with some great looking environments and boss battles in particular!" Tucker says.

Moreover, Terminator 2D: No Fate also features several new scenarios set in the present day. These mainly revolve around Sarah Connor, and her actions between the original Terminator and the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. "Sarah Connor is rightly regarded as one of the greatest action movie heroines of all time, and we felt that Terminator 2D: No Fate could be the perfect opportunity to see her take centre stage," Tucker explains. 

"Terminator 2D actually starts before the events of the film, with Sarah attempting to take down a Cyberdyne facility and research lab, which you hear briefly mentioned in the film," he continues. "There's also a nod to the original Terminator movie when Sarah is arrested and taken to the Police Station, which she subsequently escapes from."
While Terminator 2D: No Fate manifests events that are only referred to in Cameron's film, Tucker says that the game only draws from Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the original Terminator, and surrounding source material to create these sequences, and avoids borrowing from other Terminator films and media. 

"Terminator 2 is already such a packed film…we really didn't need to look much beyond the film itself for ideas," he says. "We did, however, use material cut from the final edit and deleted scenes for additional inspiration." Bitmap Bureau also used concept art from the film to expand upon the Future War sections, as well as an illustrated screenplay, "which really helped us visualize the game's levels and key beats."

Bitmap Bureau is highly aware of audience expectations with Terminator 2D: No Fate—and not just regarding its authenticity. The developer has earned a reputation for creating highly challenging arcade-style experiences, and while it wants to continue this tradition with Terminator 2D: No Fate, it also wants to ensure that the game appeals to everyone. 

"We had to accept that there could be some Terminator fans out there who might not want such a robust challenge," Tucker says, "So although our hard difficulty setting (Hasta La Vista) is commensurate with the usual expected difficulty level of our titles, the easy and normal settings should provide a gentler challenge."

PC players can also expect an additional arcade treat from Terminator 2D: No Fate in the form of global leaderboards. While the game already featured local leaderboards, Bitmap Bureau were inspired to add an online system as they designed and tested the game. "The developers and testers really enjoyed trying to beat each other's scores and times, pasting screenshots into our internal chat systems. So we decided to integrate global online leaderboards, so that players can enjoy trying to beat each other in various game modes," Tucker says.

By returning to The Terminator's heyday, Bitmap Bureau hopes it can rekindle the sci-fi magic of Cameron's first two films. "Since announcing Terminator 2D: No Fate, we’ve seen so much excitement and passion from Terminator fans and of course retro gaming fans as well," Tucker concludes. "We really worked hard to make sure that Terminator 2D functions not only as an adaptation of one of the best movies of all time, but also as an homage to the arcade classics that so many of us grew up with."

Terminator 2D: No Fate releases November 26 on the Epic Games Store.