Terminator 2: Judgment Day (NES)
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Terminator 2: Judgement Day is an action beat-em-up game based on the movie of the same name. It was developed by English game development studio Software Creations by a team of 3 people; programmer Stephen Ruddy, artist Anthony Anderson, and music by Geoff Follin.
The game takes you through 5 levels; each based on locations from the movie. The first level is the truck stop, where the Terminator must persevere through hordes of biker gangs. The second level is the flood channel, which takes place in an isometric view where the Terminator must escape the T1000. The third level takes place at the hospital where you must rescue Sarah Connor. The fourth level takes place at Cyberdyne, where you must collect the bombs. The fifth level is the steel mill, where you will face off with the T1000. The game received mixed reviews.
Years after the game's release, the game's programmer released a ROM of a more complete version of the game with a high scores list, and other enhancements. Also, the music cart for the game was released by Ruddy as well.
Contents
Screenshots
Music
The game's music and sound effects were all written by famed video game musician Geoff Follin. Geoff does some very avant-garde things with the NES, and pushes the NES's 2A03 sound chip to its limit, even making weird sounds not heard in other games (for example, the sounds at 0:50 in Level 3). Most of the songs don't have a melody, but rather have a bunch of rhythmic ambience with a beat in the background. The music for Level 2 & 4 has two different songs merged into it; separated by a long, dead silence. Some people who have heard the soundtrack aren't even aware of the second part because of how long the pause is, also because the level doesn't usually play long enough for players to hear it. Another unusual thing Geoff does is make all the level themes over 3 minutes in length, whereas most games on the NES contained songs about a minute in length. This keeps the music from getting repetitive or boring, even after playing the levels for an extended period of time.
There is also an unused song, which sounds like it was meant to play when the player either lost a life or got a Game Over. However, both of these just keep the in-game music going.
Geoff had to write the music in 6502 assembly language on Stephen Ruddy's sound driver.
The PAL version actually plays at the same speed as the NTSC version, but still plays a half-step lower. The game's test cart and prototype versions should be recorded, since the music features alterations to the released version's music, as well as containing an extra track that didn't make it in the final game. The PAL version is most likely how Geoff intended the music to sound, as the game was developed in England, a country that uses the PAL format.
Recording
1 - NTSC (US/Japan)
| # | Title | Composer | Length | Listen | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 101 | Title Screen | Geoff Follin | 2:50 | Download | |
| 102 | Cutscene Theme | Geoff Follin | 0:18 | Download | |
| 103 | Level 1 | Geoff Follin | 3:29 | Download | |
| 104 | Level 2 & 4 | Geoff Follin | 3:31 | Download | |
| 105 | Level 3 | Geoff Follin | 3:20 | Download | |
| 106 | Level 5 | Geoff Follin | 3:27 | Download | |
| 107 | Level Complete | Geoff Follin | 0:05 | Download | |
| 108 | Unused Song | Geoff Follin | 0:05 | Download |
2 - PAL (Europe)
| # | Title | Composer | Length | Listen | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 201 | Title Screen | Geoff Follin | 2:50 | Download | |
| 202 | Cutscene Theme | Geoff Follin | 0:18 | Download | |
| 203 | Level 1 | Geoff Follin | 3:29 | Download | |
| 204 | Level 2 & 4 | Geoff Follin | 3:31 | Download | |
| 205 | Level 3 | Geoff Follin | 3:20 | Download | |
| 206 | Level 5 | Geoff Follin | 3:27 | Download | |
| 207 | Level Complete | Geoff Follin | 0:05 | Download | |
| 208 | Unused Song | Geoff Follin | 0:05 | Download |
Credits
- Ripper:
- Recorder: Doommaster1994
- Game Credits:
- Uncredited Composer: Geoff Follin
- Programmer: Stephen Ruddy
(Source: ROM text, verification from programmer; game lacks credits.)
Like many Software Creations titles on the NES, this game does not contain any credits, most likely at the request of the publisher, LJN. However, one can find the programmer Stephen Ruddy's name hidden in the game's ROM image. Stephen Ruddy has confirmed Geoff Follin as the composer. Interestingly, the beta version did have a credits scroll, something that was not on the retail version.
Game Rip
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Ripping NSF music is an arduous process that is beyond the scope of this site.
Audio Devices
The game uses the NES's RP2A03. It uses Stephen Ruddy's sound driver.
Releases
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Links
- mobygames.com/game/nes/terminator-2-judgment-day_ - MobyGames.
| Terminator | |
| Terminator 2: Judgement Day | 
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| Terminator 2: Judgment Day - Chess Wars | 
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- Games Released In 1992
- Games Developed By Software Creations
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- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (NES)
- Games By Geoff Follin
- Games By Stephen Ruddy
- Games Without Credits
- Games That Use NSF
- Games Released In USA
- Nintendo Entertainment System Games
- Games Published By LJN
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- Games Published By Pack-In-Video
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